Couto Grounded
Grilled captain
Ha Qicai lauded
Chia Kwang Tse's form, after observing the newly-minted forward from the touchline. "Chia is one heck of a player when he gets going." the Hong Kong defender surmised. "We are badly missing our strikers, it's hard to hide that, but Chia is doing better than we - or at least I - have dared hope."
The Buns would lose 2-3 to German H.A.L VI.221 hosts Connewitz Old Boys, as German fullback Jörg Heinrich Duregger enjoyed the game of his life. Two unstoppable free-kicks past the unconvincing
Arvind Shah.
Toh Eng Guang and
Judah Cho had them on equal footing by the 52nd minute as Bunnies unleashed a spate of counters, but it was Duregger who settled it from the penalty spot following Egidio Bronzino's point blank stop off
Ong Li Jing, eleven minutes into extra time.
Well, the newly-crowned Buns won't be mulling over that for too long, with an important promotion decider up ahead. Elsewhere, Grilled International lost
Querubim Santos Couto in their 1-0 home win over Belize II.1 club The round Balls, after the long-serving Portuguese goalkeeper tore a ligament in his right foot making a routine clearance, as extra time dwindled to an end.
Safari bin Hj Jali would score the winner from a
Hardi bin Besar corner right after the game was restarted, and the International elder dedicated the victory to Couto, after hearing that the injury was almost certainly career-ending. "It sucks, but at least it happened after a full playing career." Safari opined. "Not only that, Couto has his coaching badges already, so this might not even be the last we see of him here."
