Dent And The Man
44 year-old former Birds and Phoenixes star Kalki Parvathaneni was the special guest commentator at Phoenix Park, and the now-marketing director would hail an entertaining game - and better days forward for both. "It didn't feel right to root for just one of them, but I can't help but be delighted for
Federico Parada - he radiated joy out there, and reminded me of how fun football can be, running in from the left."
The victory wasn't enough to lift Grilled back into the top half of the table, though they did get closer to Glory Paradiso and newbies are newbies, who shared the spoils in a nervy 1-1 draw. Arrogancae are now title favourites after thrashing Joker 9 5-0 via Daniel Pălcuţ hat-trick in the lead-up to an Emerald Challenger Cup semis against Yew Tea, while Queenstown MZKs put some distance between themselves and the drop zone, with a much-needed 7-0 boost after hosting The Sing Tigers.
Farmer Bunnies continued piling up the points, as they scraped to a 1-0 home win over Mangrove Pittas, as
Louis Lee came up with a third goal in four matches, powering it into the top right corner of goal in the 39th minute after a painful Tonio Gonzato miss. The 22 year-old Lee professed not to understand his newfound scoring prowess. "Maybe I picked up the wrong boots from the cleaners!"
There would be a minor calf injury for
Lau Keng Kwang that saw
Gabriel Priebe on as a precaution at wingback, which also made it an unplanned debut for the former American international. Priebe appeared to be a little conservative in not overlapping
Guan Ming Kum as he was obviously capable off, which was probably a letoff for Pittas.
It was a home sweep in III.9, with the biggest shock being Consolation Cup opponents FC Phondle falling to Pasir Ris Warriors, with Siew Ming Jia grabbing the winner from a 41st minute corner. Really McCoys took over at the top as they beat kaloons 4-1 at home on extended possession play, while FC Jurong Rovers picked up a free three points, with a 9-0 whipping of Livernuts.
Over in Brunei, Grilled International maintained their five point lead over Nice AS as they downed third-placed Dentinhos 7-1, as
Chua Jun Long,
Leri Bezhanishvili and
Egidius van der Duin got two each, and
Remond Bergervoet one. Polish wingman Sławomir Met exuded defiance with his equalizer in the 21st minute, but Dentinhos ran out of steam as half-time approached.
It remained tight in the mid-table as Elefanten der Wüste continued their fall-off with a 1-4 loss to Nice AS, courtesy of a brace from French forward Mickaël Lacroix. AC Rabissale saw Baboon Show St. Pauli off 3-0 with a late rally to open up a six point gap between themselves and the Baboons, while Ponyhof and SFK Ajaks ground out a goalless draw, that more or less reflected the state of the bottom-dwelling duo at present.
