The Winning Habit
That Grilled Birds had lost their last five matches against Claseek made today's reverse all the sweeter, as head coach
Tian Yonghang recalled coming on as a substitute in their extra-time defeat in the Singapore Cup, some 26 years back. "It was no fun at all facing them in II.1 back then." he reminisced. "We're slowly setting it right now."
More than that, the Birds would be the only club in the league to win both their opening games, as Ambush F.C. were beaten 1-4 by Queenstown MZKs at home, with Jasper Leu sustaining an ankle injury into the bargain. Joker 9 managed another draw with newbies unable to parlay Au Kong Su's early brace into a win, with it ending 2-2 at Aljunied Bridge. As for Singapore Red Dragons, they rebounded with a 2-0 takedown of War Nation FC, as the Nationals discovered that a strong defence alone was not enough in the second division.
Farmer Bunnies savoured their trip to Dolphins Stadium, as they eased to a 3-0 result against Geylang Dolphins.
Prakash Bhujbal came up with a first-half brace, as
Koushan Khatibi and
Louis Lee started at fullback thanks to a lineup reshuffle due to injuries.
Lau Keng Kwang contributed the third in the 60th minute after coming on for
Dušan Václavík, as
Amirul Jufri Khairil rampaged up the left to spread the hosts thin.
This had the Buns level with kaloons on six points too, if seven behind on goal difference after their slamming nine past Singapore rovers 2 today. Notably, Rovers were actually ahead after eight minutes from Harold Griffiths' silly own goal, but might have wished it otherwise from how the reaction went. Elsewhere, Mangrove Pittas drew 4-4 with Really McCoys - who had to stage a late comeback at home, and FC Jurong Rovers crushed Jerza Singapore, 5-1.
Grilled International had no problem with goals, as they entered double digits against Norway's Snipp BK.
Mohsen Zeynali's second minute strike got International going, and it would be easier to list those outfielders who
didn't score - namely
Snæbjörn Sigfússon and
Redhuan bin Mohd Aleshahfezan - than those who did.
Leri Bezhanishvili was the only multiple goalgetter, with a nifty header off Sigfússon's 34th minute cross, and another after 50 minutes.
hope and love stayed on International's tail as they thrashed Biri Heart 6-1 in Australia, with Israeli playmaker Grégoire Le Gall getting two as Todd Armitage and Cole Mahoney were put in the treatment room by H&L's physical approach. FC Inter Ottnang came good with a 3-0 shutout of Trgystar, while Grandes de Extremadura outlasted Athletico Chiapas, 2-1 away.
