Another season went by with the clubs doing well in the leagues, but not quite well enough to take the next step up. Although Grilled Birds steamrolled the also-rans, they laboured to stand up to teams that went at them with initiative, and came away with just one point from four games against -Blitz- and ArSenal U21. League winners Robbie Football Club would also beat them on final day, but Grilled's fate was set long before that.

Personnel stability hardly helped them in the cups either, as they were ousted in the fourth round of the Singapore Cup by Oneteamtoplay, and then put out of the Sapphire one a fortnight later by The Sing Tigers. Djan Bacelar would constantly attribute this underwhelmingness to a less-than-optimal mix of players, but one sensed that the supporters were getting tired of excuses, after his eleven seasons at the helm.

Although Chan Ze Han mostly lived up to his hype as the Birds' most-watched star of a generation, it was evident that he was being overexposed, and his performances would fall off towards the end of the campaign. Other than that, Mohammad Ramli Saliman had to endure much possibly-unwarranted knocks, as the rest of Grilled's seniors put in competent if not exceptional shifts.

Farmer Bunnies continued to be stuck with the label of a club on the up-and-up, while ultimately being unable to deliver against a canny Kim Tae Hee FC. Player-wise, it was difficult to argue against a team that had two more defenders - Tham Leng Teck and Kwek Yun Jie - capped for the national side, as they were moreover joined in the Lions' colours by former Joker 9 favourites Morgan Hu.

The S$15 million transfer felt that it had less impact than it did, however, probably as it didn't address the Buns' most glaring weakness: finding goals. Abderahim Bentellis would be preferred as Enzo Paolo Panzarino's partner over Liderhan Kadyr, but it was soon sadly evident that neither had what it took to break down top defences, whatever the competition.

As for Grilled International, not as much was expected, and a third-place finish in VI.113 was par for the course, especially as they were for one legitimately engrossed in youth development. It had been a good crop for the Busy Bees, with teenagers Wang Hanxuan, Sazwan bin Hj Muhd Salleh and Wang Chu Chi all being recognized as national-level prospects in midfield.

They would all still be overshadowed by the brilliance of comeback story Micky bin Kadir, who emerged out of nowhere to claim the league Golden Boot with an astonishing better than a goal-a-game scoring record. A strong finish involving seven wins in their latest eight league matches bodes well for Tajit bin Mohd's side, and he has expressed an intention to push for promotion - same as for the Birds and Buns.