Grilled and heimu XI scuppered each others' title aspirations, leaving CharlesCheesePie to vault over both of them to the trophy when the dust settled in one of the most improbable final rounds of the league's history. The Birds had only themselves to blame for wastefully throwing away an early two-goal advantage, something which will have to be looked into by head coach Niculae Stanca.

For all that, victory at Blackwood Field was far from a given - Grilled had not gotten a point from the Pasir Ris stronghold since a 6-0 whitwash four seasons ago, and have in fact not won against heimu XI in their last five meetings. Add that to the hosts having by some distance II.2's stingiest defence, having let in only 13 goals in 13 league games, and Grilled's odds appeared far dimmer than the optimistic travelling fans would have it.

They were however bolstered by the availability of Seytek Djekshenkulov, but Abdul bin Jantan again warmed the bench with Woon Shun An preferred in midfield. heimu XI went for a 3-5-2 with the forwards helping out, with play revolving around Lithuanian Rimgaudas Gilucevičius, and with Lee Chao Cheng again organizing a formidable backline, though without late-blooming national defender Zhu Aobo, who decided to direct affairs from the dugout in his capacity as coach.

The Pandas were not without their own ambitions, but it was the Birds' relative youth that brought down the house initially. After being hemmed back for a bit, Djekshenkulov showed what the team had been missing as he rode two challenges on the left before slicing the ball back into the six-yard box. Chow Ying Lee and Tian Yonghang were both onto it, and it was the latter who stuck it past Sébastien Ledet in the end.

It was the home team who had easily the more chances despite that, but they had the misfortune to meet an inspired Dexter Stacey. The unpredictable Canadian first made saving a respectable effort from Grgurović look easy, before pushing a deadly strike from longtime thorn in the side Tobies Turu around the post.

heimu's short corner turned out to be ill-advised as it was nicked by Paolo Iten, who delivered a delightful searching ball right into the gap between Lee and Giorgio Facciolo. That was the signal for Mohd Safri bin Mohd Kassim to wedge himself in between them and clip the high bounce forward, before beating them to it and whipping it powerfully beyond Ledet.

Even heimu's experienced team could not help but be affected by the second goal, and morale in the away stands was burgeoning as news filtered in that the Pies had just too made it two-nil at See Mee Lan Park against Siegmund, which had Grilled top of the live table and on track for the championship. The expectations weren't hurt as Turu pulled his shot wide in the 33rd minute, and Grilled began to look increasingly dangerous.

They would not be denied indefinitely, though, and Turu found more success as a provider as he swung in a corner kick with good depth in the 40th minute. The Grilled defence had neglected to guard against Willy Hinderdael on the far side, and the lanky Dutchman made the Birds pay with a looping header that sailed over Stacey and dropped beyond Alex Fonseca's despairing flying clearance attempt.

Chow Ying Lee was then haunted as he fizzled on an opportunity to restore Grilled's cushion immediately, as he sprung heimu's offside trap attempt only to crash his effort off the post with only Ledet to beat. He was consoled by Mohd Safri bin Mohd Kassim in a reassuring show of solidarity, although that must have come as little consolation at the final whistle.

By this time, Siegmund had pulled one back, but Grilled were still provisionally at the top. heimu XI were however very much in it too, now needing just two goals to wrest first place from the Birds, and it showed as they nearly got one of them right after the restart. Paul Obojes dug in to direct a booming riser at the top corner, only to watch it skim barely over.

Grilled were desperately hanging on until the booking of Grgurović for an untimely foot out against Woon Shun An bought them some breathing space. With twenty minutes to go, Zhu could not wait to make a tactical switch, but his introduction of Raúl Chumbita for Turu nearly led to a fatal blowback. Paolo Iten dodged left and right to clear both the defence and the goalie, but Lee saved heimu's hopes with a controversial off-the-line clearance that was passionately contested by half the Grilled team, but to no avail.

Niculae Stanca evidently had not taken Zhu's lesson to heart as he swapped Alex Fonseca out for Lin Jungui, who immediately paid the price against his originating club as he hesitated and dived carelessly into a telegraphed tackle on Obojes. The German read that easily, sidestepped and found Stanisław Babul on the edge of the box, who took one step and chipped Dexter Stacey perfectly.

This left Grilled's players shaking their heads, but there was still business to be done with the match now a winner-take-all contest for the title. No hero stepped up to write his name into his club's forklore, sadly, as Tang Hengcai ran about like a headless chicken upon being thrown on, while heimu's frontline looked expended in contrast. In the end, it would be CharlesCheesePie who would dance in the rain all the way over at Serangoon, as both sets of players at Blackwood Field could only wonder at what might have been.