Bunnies Expanding
Grilled could only accept that they had not done enough, as Pichot blew for time at the end of a generous two minutes added on, and it was perhaps inevitable that attention would turn to
Tian Yonghang's atrocious miss from ten feet, which would probably have won them the title.
To this, the twenty-two season veteran could only shrug resignedly. "I should have hit the target on that one, but it's over now. I'm very proud of all of the players -
Florus Romijn was a monster today - and even if we didn't quite succeed this time, I'm sure that we'll be even better-placed next season."
Whether Changi Genius will continue to be a part of that story remains to be seen, as the draw meant that they will come up against II.3's Asparagus in their promotion game - and without the suspended Raymond Poon. newbies are newbies sent Pearl Divers down with a 6-0 thumping, while ArSenal U21's momentum deserted them against Really McCoys, as they had to earn a 4-4 draw the hard way. Not that it did McCoys much good, as sealion stayed above them easily with a 10-0 whitewash of hapless Quipersss, who bowed out with a goal difference of negative 108.
The league Golden Boot was a three-way tie between ArSenal's Étienne Höckelsberger, newbies' Chia Loong Ping and Changi Genius' Edy Goldschmidt on fourteen, with Grilled's top man
Cyril Künzler languishing three goals behind. "I'm always prepared to improve." the Polish winger commented modestly.
Farmer Bunnies were too held to a draw, nil-all hosting Kim Tae Hee FC, and also had a forward injured. 33 year-old
Liderhan Kadyr landed awkwardly on his right foot after jumping for a header in the 50th minute, and while the doctors have ruled out an ACL tear, the prognosis is still not good. "We're talking about a month out at least, more to be safe." head coach
Sikong Darong said.
Then again, there won't be much business in the off-season, with Sporting VDF winning automatic promotion as expected, with a 5-0 win over New East Coast. This gives the Buns a nice window to expand Carrot Field from its existing capacity of just under sixty thousand, which led to them having to turn away thousands for today's game.
"We've done the projections, and eighty-odd thousand is a good number, considering our ambitions." Sikong purred. "Dare I say it, the S-League in five seasons?"
Grilled International will surely have a much longer wait in comparison, as the Brunei-based expansion club finished in second-last place after a tame 0-1 loss to The sons of Taima. This has at least pinpointed their main weakness, as they ended up without a goal despite holding over sixty percent of the possession throughout.
Tajit bin Mohd acknowledged the need for a consistent finisher, but reminded reporters of their tight finances. "It's not as if we can receive cash infusions from Birds or Bunnies." he explained. "We've got to work our way up, by ourselves. It'll take time."
