Welcome The Three
After the dust settled on qualifier day, II.2 had three new sides for the next season.
League winners Arrogancae failed in their bid to return to the S-League, as opponents Joker 9 prevailed through a late, late goal from defender Mohd Ezmi bin Muhammad Fahmi; Grilled will now travel to Avengers Apocalypse on opening day, and hope to take their first points from that stadium since Subri and Rotteveel gave them a 2-0 win, eight seasons ago.
Edbe FC were relegated after losing on penalties to Brutus Dominion Spartacus Maxima Futbol Club, the newly-renamed TEAM SPARTANS, who make their first appearance in Division Two. Their excellent forward tandem of Wira bin Mahmood and Lee Siong Nie, who plundered 31 league goals between them last season, will have to be watched.
In contrast, CharlesCheesePie came through with a comfortable 3-0 against Whampoa Siao to stay up. Grilled youth goalie Fan Lixing, who spent some time in the Turkish leagues, was injured playing for Whampoa. Word is that Grilled are still tracking his progress.
Finally, auto-promotees heimu XI and Changi Genius replaced Sentosa sonics and soccerid. heimu XI require little introduction, as Grilled are but one season removed from their battles in III.13, while the defensively-oriented Changi Genius, like BDSM FC, will experience the second division for the first time.
Grilled head coach
Han Lik-Tsun was, as usual, cautious in his assessment of the teams. "I seriously can't see any easy fixtures in the upcoming schedule, and we'll just have to take each match as it comes. I wish I could say that we will improve on out current finish, but realistically a top-half finish would do just fine in the middle of a rebuilding process."
