Burana Buried
Chia Kwang Tse remarked that the squad had been quietly confident of prevailing before the game, but were still pleasantly surprised by how well they had controlled play. "Let's be honest, the ground was lousy for football, but you don't get to pick and choose." the stand-in striker said. "We just made do as best as we could."
This meant that Grilled were in the last four of the cup competition - and pitted against fellow former S-League champions and regular league rivals Sarcastic Fringeheads, after a ten-season hiatus. Fringeheads have, like the Birds, paid their due in Division Three in that period, and a stirring brace from Colombian forward Camilo Esparza propelled them to a 4-3 result over Glory Paradiso in an accompanying quarterfinal match.
That brought back memories for
Chan Ze Han, who started in Grilled's fifteenth and latest match against Sarcastic Fringeheads, a 4-6 away defeat in the top flight. "Those were the days - but I can feel it, we're slowly but surely getting back to that level."
Farmer Bunnies were under far less stress as they hosted their first friendly of the season against Kyrgyzstani III.8 club Burana Tower FC, which saw
Ho Ah Kian grab a hat-trick - and nearly a fourth, were it not for Simón Zarandona's elite reflexes - in a 4-0 cleanout. "Yeah, Ho made an excellent case for himself today." head coach
Vishnu Tallapaka conceded. "He definitely didn't move like your usual 37 year-old out there."
Grilled International got a 3-1 home victory off Grenada II.2 visitors Trainspotting Football about the same time, as
Remond Bergervoet excelled with two before
Chua Jun Long's tap-in, and Abel Landaeta's late consolation. A farcical accident about the 34th minute had
Safari bin Hj Jali and
Tamit bin Said collide at full tilt as both went for a header without looking, however, which might be the end of Safari's long and illustrious pro football career.
The International skipper mused that it happening on his forty-first birthday could be a sign. "The missus has been bugging me to quit for a couple of years to spend more time with the kids." Safari revealed. "So at least one person will be happy tonight!"