Three Trophies
It would be Farmer Bunnies and Grilled International to bring the cheer for this season's feast, as both could boast of a league title - and promotion to boot. Not only that, the Buns would have the Singapore Consolation Cup on display, to finally officially complete the clubs' collective collection of all major domestic trophies.
This would be a personal triumph for
Vishnu Tallapaka too, as the young squad that he had brought up, would begin reprising the road that his own golden generation had trod, so many years ago. "I'm proud of them, but this is just a start." the Buns boss grinned.
With silverware glittering in the centre of the hotel ballroom, the presentations would begin, and
Brian Reddy was named Grilled's Player of the Season in one of the most competitive selection processes in some time. With Gústav Thoroddsen leaving midway, the field was wide open, and both
Federico Parada and
Lim An Keng looked very reasonable choices too, not to mention the heart - and goals - that
Gandhik Chitre had contributed. At the end, however, the 31 year-old Reddy beat out Parada by the lone vote.
Young Player of the Season went to Wings graduate defender Smaran Joshi, who had done well in Israel with sixth divisioners Beer Sheva City, chalking up six appearances in their run to the league title. While he would be sent off early in Sheva's 2-1 victory over Mandolin F.C 2, this was evidently not held against him. Current academy players Woo Xin Su and Lim Chang Ze earned honourable mentions, but did not quite have the feats to mount a serious contest.
Similarly, the Buns faithful had a tough choice to make, but it would be
Gilberto Sorondo to pick up his second club individual accolade in the end. Given that he had been indispensible in both their cup final, and their promotion match - saving twice and scoring himself in the shootout for the latter - fellow nominees
Amirul Jufri Khairil and
Guan Ming Kum could not have been too disappointed. "He deserves it." Amirul agreed sportingly. "Those were some clutch moments from Sorondo!"
The Rancher Rabbits had potential to spare, and the coaches' choice would be budding winger D'Andre Kawasaki, who had enlivened The Purple Plantation more often than not. Otherwise, forward Lincoln Aoki's presence in the box, Robert Truong's reliability in midfield and Mohd Zaharul Aiman Husain Khairul Akmal's shifts in defence caught some notice.
Grilled International had a tough choice between
Chua Jun Long,
Umut Koza and
Egidius van der Duin, with the former two having shared the Golden Boot, and Koza would eventually get the nod for his first PoTS award. That Chua had already garnered five of them probably made the decision a lot easier, and the man himself seemed almost relieved, as he embraced his strikemate on the announcement.
Finally, for International's Young Player of the Season, silky dribbler Mardi bin Ahmad would receive the nod ahead of flashy wingman Mohd Fazren bin Cucu and big centre forward Razin Abdul Rafi Dhiyauddin. This admittedly left out a number of other fast-developing starlets in the Bees, and had recent recruit Zambin bin Said been at the academy longer, he might well have been in the mix.
