Phua Featured
Despite coming out tops in their personal battle today, Grilled star
Lim An Keng paid tribute to newbies' Li Choon An after the game. "Li was probably the most influential player on the field today." he praised. "We had a good day overall still, and 5-3 was a fair result."
This victory returned the Birds to the top half of the table, if barely, coming after Queenstown MZKs defeated Joker 9 by the same margin with Tomáš Aron raising his game. Singapore Red Dragons were perhaps not going at full tilt against Bukit Regency, but still got a 3-1 win, which maintained their four-point lead over Arcturules - who had just vanquished Glory Paradiso 5-1 with Nabeel Jamal controlling midfield.
Farmer Bunnies are in serious trouble after a 0-2 loss to Featureship FC, with relegation all but certain given that this leaves them ten points adrift of AMDK FC in sixth, with only four rounds to go. Bert-Jan Limaye and Leong Beng Kian struck in either half - with Limaye having the luxury of missing a penalty - as early counters from
Prakash Bhujbal and
Dušan Václavík went nowhere.
Buns captain and goalkeeper
Gilberto Sorondo refused to concede yet. "I'm not accepting that we are going down, until it becomes mathematically certain... and maybe not even then!"
Still, it is hard to see how the Buns can save themselves, though next weekend's trip to Pasir Ris Corsairs should be as good an opportunity as any, with the Corsairs hammered 0-7 by league leaders Moeinsingapore today. Dragon Devil's stayed within a point by edging AMDK FC 2-0, as Crypto Moon did well to mount a comeback against frunzelite's 2-1 lead, to prevail 5-2 after a very strong second half.
Ironically, Grilled International probably have a better chance than Farmer Bunnies of avoiding the drop despite being bottom of H.I. IV.5, all the more after taking a point off FC Cuba Lötschen today. Juan Manuel Montes and Alexis Cuevas put the Cubans ahead in turn following a barrage of early long shots from International, but
Phua Li Kong's 66th minute equalizer and generally solid defending salvaged something for his team - with a little help from
Remond Bergervoet's right boot.
This leaves International three points from a qualifier, as DAB Ceuta fell into the danger zone following a 0-3 drubbing by a resurgent LEGIA GDAŃSK 2017. Things are getting interesting at the top too, as No gun but Roses FC pulled within two points of CD Barcelota after a 4-2 result in their table-top clash, as Miki Muster and Atletico Zvedza CF played out a tension-filled nil-all.
