After the great achievement of last season, where Feirense managed to avoid relegation for the first time ever while playing on top flight, ‘Fogaceiros’ did it again this season, but with much more troubles than they did on the previous time. Nuno Manta wasn’t able to reply the enchanting football of last season, as the team got too nervous and needy of points at some point, which clearly called for another approach.
After a clean start with four games without losing, Feirense got immediately into a depressive phase. In the following 10 rounds, Feirense collected only a win, having lost all the other nine encounters, including a couple of home matches against direct rivals on the table. Things seemed to be getting back on track around the 15th round, when Feirense started a new period where they got 3 wins and only two defeats, one of which a predictable loss to leaders FC Porto. However, on round 20, Fogaceiros started a new bad period, where they were only able to get a win and a draw in 11 games.
Feirense was lying below the relegation line for the final and decisive four rounds. That was when Nuno Manta’s boys dressed up the working suit and faced those final four games as if their lives depended on it. A win against Guimarães, at home, and another one on the following week when visiting the direct contender Setúbal set up Feirense for success. An expected, yet very narrow defeat at Estádio do Dragão would not be too bad, provided Feirense could deliver in the last match. One point was needed in their game against the struggling Estoril, and one point they had in that match as the game ended with a highly celebrated 0-0.
Midfielder Tiago Silva was unquestionably the classiest player on the whole squad. His playmaking ability had no matching in the rest of the team, and whenever Nuno Manta was not able to count on the Portuguese midfielder, the team immediately suffered with it. The also talented Luís Machado was having a season way below expectations for the most part, until finally he recovered his best for late on the season, but not too late as it helped Feirense in their most critical moment. Caio Secco had a pleasant debut season between the posts, while Tiago Gomes, as left-back, and striker João Silva had also positive seasons.
