A photograph of new villian Han Lik-Tsun smiling wryly as Bousquet's last-minute winner hit the back of the net will do nothing to endear him to what remains of his supporters, but the soon-to-be-ex-coach shrugged all criticism off. "I could have said that we were denied a legitimate penalty, but I would rather commend Lights for a perfect smash-and-grab. Heck, we have tried this strategy often enough ourselves."

"You lot know that I dislike pushing the blame onto luck, but what can you say after we were taken for two goals in the last three minutes? The opponents did nothing but defend, and defend well, up to that instant. Stanca is a fortunate man, though, he will find wins much easier to deliver in Division Three."

While it is not completely inconceivable that Grilled can claim sixth spot with four matches left, realistically it will take three wins from those games, and a trip to the formidable Avengers Apocalypse is perhaps the worst place to kickstart a run. While Arrogancae may have a Cup final to think about, it might turn out to be a non-factor in the end, as seen with CharlesCheesePie. As heimu XI have shown today with a 1-0 win, however, they are certainly not unbeatable.

Unlike the walkovers of previous seasons, the league title is still up for grabs, with three teams level on 18 points. newbies caught up with CharlesCheesePie at the top after a late Zhang Kanghang winner in the 84th minute, and the two are joined by Shining Lights with their win at the Pot. This has led to unprecedented interest at the betting shops, with sizeable returns available on all options.

Grilled's future hopes now rest heavily on the Chicken Wings juniors, who however missed the composure of Sagar Meshram badly as they were beaten 7-2 by Freezer in the final round of the National Youth League, finishing three points and 14 goals behind champions ArseVikids. Chief scout Tham Beng Li sees good things to come.

"We're stocked with defensive potential at the moment - mark my words, Gay Tze Kok is nailed on to be a pro if he doesn't get distracted, then there's Ang Guang Rong, who's simply waiting to fulfil his eligibility, wingback Chua Meng Li is big, which never hurts, and Tan Pin Meng is a bit older than the rest, but also brings some extras to the table. And oh, that expatriate kid who just joined us, Yuki Irie, he knows how to stick to his man - and he scored today!"

"Of the others, keep an eye on winger Ma An Dong - Abhiram Iyer and Aden Abu-Abdel have some potential, but they're late bloomers. Leong Wan Kang is still finding his best position, we do know he's not a defender, but he has lots of time. And have I mentioned that for some reason there are no 16 year-olds left in the squad?"