Mired In The Mud
Although results elsewhere conspired to leave Grilled in fifth place despite the heavy loss, Grilled head coach
Djan Bacelar was under no illusions about the team's preparedness. "Trust me, starting Hoàng and Won was not done for fun. We have limited options with the younger set still very much works in progress, and squeezing play was the best available to us today."
"
Rinor Isufi did impress as an impact sub, and maybe he will return against Controlar, but I can't guarantee that. Not forgetting
Yuki Irie, who gave his all. Thankfully, the doctors have confirmed that nothing important was busted, but he might have to take it easy for a few days."
On paper, Grilled will have few better remaining opportunities to pick up some precious points, than next week's visit of bottom-dwellers Controlar to The Cooking Pot; however, Controlar are probably rather better than their position would indicate, going by how hard Claseek had to work for their 2-0 win at Sweet Science Arena.
"We know it won't be easy from our draw there."
Tian Yonghang continued. "They had few true weak spots, and are maybe a couple of classy attackers from being a possible contender."
FC Barca Singapore, who are probably the only obstacles between Be Champions FC and an unprecedented treble, were clearly holding a little something back against The EV. This led to their first points dropped this season, but they at least got out of it with no selection problems.
Finally, Batok Earthquakes appeared slightly unprepared for their visit to Club Dinosauria, and lost 1-2. Miguel Ángel Gutiérrez de Solar and Ma Jing scored for Deinos within the first eleven minutes, and a spectacular return on the counter by former national centreback Ibrahim Mohd Azmil was insufficient for a share of the points.
In III.11, Test Runz Spurs edged Farmer Bunnies to condemn the Pinks and Whites to the bottom half of the table, with Low Da Tse converting the penalty winner.
Solihin Noor Yadah continued maintaining that he had been robbed by Łukasz Chabiniak's dive even long after the final whistle, and from the replays, he might have a case.
"I definitely don't think that there was any measurable contact, but what can we do?" gaffer
Sikong Darong sighed. "But then, we were mostly looking just to stay up, which we still have a fair shot at. Also, the squad are all squarely focused on the Consolation Cup currently, and I can't fault them for that!"
