There was to be no Hattrick Masters excitement and no domestic joy as Grilled suggested that they had hit their peak. The S-League traded one former winner for another as ChAmPzz was replaced by FC RaZer Infernus, while Chemistry and Titus Titanium IV came up through the ranks.

Tellingly, Grilled only managed to do the double against RaZer, as their unchanged squad proved stale and easy for the other sides to deal with. The only transfer of note in the entire season was Estonian striker Jaan Kadak's late-season move to fc h.k. for a measly four million dollars, as the club grappled with souring finances in a bearish player market.

A distinct lack of vitality was apparent in the later stages as Grilled found themselves with nothing to play for, following an aching but unsurprising 4-2 loss against big-spending Uchiha Clan in the eighth round of the Singapore Cup. Packed with stars like Eustacio Perez, Paul-Francois Grondin and ex-FC Tenochtitlán forward Hyu-i, Uchiha Clan ceded possession to the Birds but were still overpowering. Uchiha steamrolled their way past ChAmPzz and BravoRavo to the finals, but were themselves punished 2-6 by Robbie Football Club to end up as bridesmaids.

Grilled drifted into sixth position and a qualification match against yo-yo side CherNox, who had sprung from Division Three to second place in the S-League in just four seasons a long time ago, then fallen back down to Division Three and then clawed their way up to top a Division Two league once more.

The Birds were not about to go down that easily, though, and prevented CherNox's return to glory by racking up a four-nil lead in good order. Mohd Firdaus bin Aziz eventually got something for the challengers after Sid screwed up a penalty, but it was far too late for his club; Grilled were however still left with the problem of arresting their slide down the table.