Khairil Reprisal
It was close, but the points were just what Grilled needed to stay ahead of Phantasm Hotspurs, who had little trouble in destroying EF City 5-1 away. Mak Hao Heng kept on
Chan Ze Han's tail too with a brace of his own, as Reid Shim - who had opened for EF City - failed to finish the match after pulling his calf in the 60th minute.
This suggests that it will come down to a winner-take-all showdown between the Birds and Hotspurs in Week Thirteen, which
Aw Keng Chuan was looking forward to. "Mayuyu cut it very close today, but we did it, just as we are looking to against Phantasm in three weeks. If anybody can stop them again, it has to be us!"
The Buns are on the brink in comparison, with WhiteSandsMechs hauling themselves eight points clear on a 2-3 result at Carrot Field. Krystian Wasąg put it in within four minutes as Fahed Al-Kaabei worked the overloaded left wing expertly, and it would take
Gilberto Sorondo flying acrobatically to save a Nicola Lodolini stunner, that kept the Mechs' lead to one for the first half.
Lodolini gave Sorondo no chance with an incredible twisting strike two minutes into the second half, however, and Teemu Siltaoja then connected sweetly on Bogdan Sigmund's put-through, to loud groans from the gallery.
Amirul Jufri Khairil gave the Buns faint hope as he took his time on a promising counter in the 62nd minute, but things got a lot more exciting when they defended Lodolini's advances later on, with Khairil again getting it past Cătălin Tătărici with a crisp right-footer around the goalie.
Vishnu Tallapaka's gamble on
Mushtag Al-Nameeri as supersub for the wrung-out
Vitaliy Efendiev didn't pay off, sadly, which leaves the Buns ahead of Leeds Celts only on goal difference. "We will have to try and get something against the Pittas next week." Tallapaka sighed. "But the Celts came close enough today. It's not impossible."
