There could realistically be little expectation that Grilled Birds would be able to follow up their all-conquering domestic feats by doing it a second time, and yet they came as close as they could - reaching the Singapore Cup final against Haha, and then going into their final league fixture against Sarcastic Fringeheads with the S-League title at stake. Unfortunately, they would fall at both hurdles, not helped by importunate injuries to their key personnel, as the season dragged on.

There was, certainly, not much more that the Birds could have asked for, from the first half of their campaign. A 1-3 league loss to Haha and a close 3-4 stumble against Omani champions Sol Mar in the Hattrick Masters besides, the Birds would win their other fourteen competitive matches, most of them by quite exaggerated margins. Grilled certainly had good reason to dream of a reprise after they edged UDNTK FC in the cup semifinals, with Haha seen as a favourable finals opponent compared to Fringeheads, their early season win notwithstanding.

Alas, this would be a bad miscalculation, as Haha clung to the same counterattacking tack that had seen them grind through. Future analyses have had the Birds prevailing more often than not, but what mattered was how Nasrul Haq Khairil Syahmi seized the actual day - which Grilled's men did not. It wasn't exactly pretty, but Haha would certainly not mind, as they captured their first major silverware.

That arguably deflated Grilled as they crashed against the struggling Bot Team FC next, with the Bots' grudge from last season's edition carrying them to vengeance at home. The cup influence would stick as UDNTK FC were next to have their own back, as they dealt the Birds their worst league defeat in many a season, with three league rounds remaining. A draw at home against Haha kept Grilled barely in the running, but Fringeheads made sure of it themselves at the finish.

Grilled captain Moey Xin Seng, despite being dropped for several critical matches in the rundown, reiterated his support for the coaches' decisions. "Not many of us could have given more. The margins were very, very fine."

Eren Serpin would prepare for the next go by replacing first-choice goalkeeper Massoud Dob with Jānis Salmiņš, with Teo Chuan Yong also being bedded in as Neeraj Muthyala's direct replacement. The returning Teo has however gotten a probably undeserved reputation for poor luck in his few outings with the Birds - something that he'll be out to set straight pronto.

Farmer Bunnies would not encounter much of a challenge in the third division, and could afford to flog off a good number of their former starters besides. Morgan Hu, Jon Benson, Sofian Azfar, Brendan Leung and Aswad Mohd Jafni would all depart, and to be frank, they were well into the twilight of their careers.

The remaining loyalists such as Tham Leng Teck and Kwek Yung Jie would be melded with the new generation of defenders, of which Aitykul Zaripbekov and Djoko Tambusai stood out the most. This was not enough to handle Fringeheads in the Singapore Cup, however, and hopes of a Challenger Cup as a parting gift were dashed, as Villains F.C. outdid the Buns at their own game.

It was much of the same for Grilled International, who sleepwalked through Division Five after their extremely disappointing relegation in the previous season. There were goals aplenty as International crushed V.208 in their natural attacking style, with Atzerhain and Wang Hanxuan sharing the Golden Boot. Hardi bin Besar wasn't far behind, with twelve goals to their fourteen.