Relegation
Empire Falls
The curtains were closed on Grilled's second and longest stint in the S-League, as Isle of Flames beat the Birds 4-2 at their own stadium to claim their place in the top flight. It was a worthy victory for the challengers, who were a superior attacking force, and Grilled can have few complaints about the result.
Losing their final four league games going into the qualifier was clearly not the best of preparations, but Grilled were still confident at the start, with only
Zoltán Árva unavailable. It soon became apparent that Flames were more up for it, however, and winger Søren Moskjær sounded fair warning with a raking strike from some distance outside the penalty area. If the ball was heavy, it didn't show as it flashed past the far post with Valdir immobile.
Despite two ex-international centrebacks being in Grilled's side, Israeli forward Omer Abbas Al-Rasheed still made light work of a slip by Lik-Tsun in the box. He pounced instantly as the Singaporean lost his footing on a wet patch of grass, and got a snap shot off before Talib could come to the rescue. Valdir tried to fall on the ball, but couldn't slow it sufficiently to make a difference.
Although the rain affected Flames' players too, they managed to ignore it when it mattered. Valentin Sukhoruchenkov, who had previously been quite atrocious in possession, whipped up some magical dribbling against a demoralized Sid on the left flank. He could not be contained as his teammates took up good positions in the box, and smartly curled a shot with pace into the near corner of goal.
It appeared all over when Marquart scored with an overhead kick with three minutes to go in the first half, a truly unsaveable effort that Valdir could only shake his head in dismay at. Grilled needed a goal before half-time to remain in the game, and Subri supplied it as he rammed a swirling cross from Penati past Baaijens at close range.
Not content with a two-goal advantage at the break, Flames went on an all-out offensive in stoppage time. It didn't end well for them, though, as Marquart was carded for a delayed dive and Sukhoruchenkov injured after a collision with Branbilla. They were still by far the happier team going into the tunnel, of course.
Grilled came out with more energy in the second half, and Subri hinted at a great comeback when he picked off the Flames defence with a series of one-twos. Rotteveel supplied the final ball, and Subri hit it unstoppably into the top corner. The visitors appeared to be regretting their decision to adopt a defensive gameplan after their formerly commanding lead was cut to one, and reverted to their original attacking nature.
They were justified as Grilled looked uncomfortable defending on the break, and Fienbier took full advantage of Sid's sloshing about in the mud with a simple direct run along the sidelines. There was still everything to be done as Omer had Talib on him when the ball came in, but a deft turn followed by an equally deft chip made it four for Flames.
Marquart and Spirig would hit the woodwork as the match wound down, and an injury to Flames goalie-captain Baaijens encouraged Grilled to pepper the opposition goal with wayward shots, but the visitors had done enough to secure their promotion and send Grilled down.
