Grilled's forward drive stalled as, after losing out on goal difference the previous term, they could only wind up in third behind Rapala FC and newbies are newbies this time around. They had no-one to blame but themselves, as away defeats to the above two sides, as well as fourth and fifth-placed JUtd and CCP, meant that the Birds never truly deserved it.

This was offset to an extent by an excellent home record of six wins and a draw, with only JUtd managing to take anything from The Cooking Pot, in the process becoming the only opposition to keep Grilled to less than three goals. The other team to do that were old rivals Chemistry, who beat the Birds 4-2 in the Cup.

The back two of a slowing Qassem Madaini and sometimes-irresponsible Ling Fuquan were easy scapegoats among the supporters, though it would probably be fairer to give other teams their fair due, as well as to acknowledge the bad that comes with the good - that is to say, irrepressible firepower.

On that brighter side, a Grilled man captured the league Golden Boot for the third season running, as Tian Yonghang achieved what Mohd Safri bin Mohd Kassim and Chow Ying Lee had. His seventeen, once more without penalties or free-kicks, was a very promising sign that proved that any of the Birds' three frontmen now had the ability to lead the line by himself.

The squad could be said to be well-settled as Niculae Stanca made no additions or removals throughout, and the head coach has stated as much that he views it as mostly complete. Furthermore, Mohd Safri and Chow's cross-training has caught the eyes of national scouts, and if performances are anything to go by, the likes of Tian, Zhu Changchun and Woon Shun An will be hopeful of donning national colours at some point in their career.

That might be a realistic target for the incandescent Santosh Manik too, as he made history by becoming the first academy boy to win the Young Player of the Season award without experiencing a single senior match. The Chicken Wings will not even miss him too much as Fang Tong Rong looks set to follow in his footsteps, while grooming a gaggle of promising midfielders on the side.