Tanjong Pagar United 0-1 Balestier Khalsa
4 November 2013
Jalan Besar Stadium
Scorers Hamqaamal Shah 56'

Tanjong Pagar United missed a late flurry of chances to conclude their 2013 season with a narrow 1-0 defeat.

Balestier Khalsa drew first blood when Park Kang Jin released Hamqaamal Shah to fire past a static defence and into goal.

How different a story it could have been for the Jaguars having weathered the storm for much of the first half.

The score remained unchanged towards the end of stoppages and with it, a sixth-placed finish with 36 points.

Pre-match, Club captain Hafiz Osman and K Vikraman's suspension and the continued absence of Sazali Salleh and John Wilkinson resulted in changes.

While Ismael Benahmed made the bench Azhar Ahmad, Hafiz Nor and Zahid Ahmad all returned to the starting lineup.

The visitors made most of the early running as possible as both Qiu Li and Park probed and attempted to make inroads.

However, Kim Min Ho lashed wildly over the top from the edge of the box after ten minutes.

Zulfadli Emran, on the turn, then conjured up a similar goalscoring opportunity but it did not test Zakariah Nerani sufficiently.

Otherwise, both midfields sought to close each other down denying room and space to good effect.

Mindful of their previous encounter which somehow ended 2-1 in favour of the opposition, Tanjong Pagar ensured they were up for every challenge.

But that did not prevent Qiu from muscling in, pummelling his shot well wide following a misplaced pass.

That was to be the final act of a cagey first period.

Action resumed after the break and all remained much in the same vein until Hamqaamal netted the opening goal of the match.

The same player was in the act again minutes later, slicing wide from an acute angle under close attention of the Tanjong Pagar defence.

Kim was next on the horizon but the athletic Aurelien Herisson stood tall as he nullified the danger, palming the ball away to safety.

Slowly but surely, the hosts gradually played themselves back into the match and could have got justified reward for their endeavours.

Asraf Rashid sought to find a fellow teammate following a well-worked free kick into the bo in the 72nd minute.

Unfortunately, after Monsef Zerka had laid the ball off for Zulfadli the latter's line of vision was blocked and a chance was gone as a result.

Zerka had two glorious opportunities to level the scores eight minutes from time, but after Zakariah Nerani denied him at point-blank range, a defender stood on the line as he was about to follow up.

The Moroccan then proceeded to press the trigger having received Ahmad Latiff's teasing centre, but found Obadin Aikhena a huge stumbling block.

Substitute Rizawan Abdullah tested Zakariah with a stunner but the goalkeeper priced equal to the task.

Though disappointed, Head coach Patrick Vallee remained upbeat as he lauded his side's achievements this year.

“Benahmed and Ramdani had previous injury and flu respectively, it's not planned but it's better to have a player who can play 100%. It's never easy to play Balestier but the schedule is like that; you cannot think about Friday, you must fight, focus on the (next) game and try to win.

“It's the same everywhere and as with the last game of the season, it's hard to motivate when you playing for nothing. I don't like the defeat which is a bad result. I like to win and we must win. It is not easy to work with me, a demanding coach, on a daily basis but it had been a good season for Tanjong Pagar.

“Sure, our aim is to finish top three and as a club we must be realistic. We are ambitious but we must also know what we can do. If it's too easy, I don't like – I like a challenge. To coach one local team is my dream, and I'm very happy (with the team) this year. I'm always focused when the season (is in progress). As for next year, we'll plan after the season is over.

“Our aim is to win and we must win the Singapore Cup.”

Tanjong Pagar United: Aurelien Herisson, Anthony Aymard, Zulfadli Emran, Hanafi Salleh, Azhar Ahmad, Asraf Rashid (Rizawan Abdullah 77'), Ahmad Latiff, Hafiz Nor (Ismael Benahmed 84'), Monsef Zerka, Walid Lounis (c), Zahid Ahmad
Booked: Hanafi 19', Latiff 40'

Balestier Khalsa: Zakariah Nerani, Shafuan Sutomoh (Patrick Paran 85'), Hamqaamal Shah (Ruhaizad Ismail 80'), Paul Cunningham (c), Ridwan Jamil, Qiu Li, Kim Min Ho, Park Kang Jin, Poh Yi Feng, Syed Thaha, Obadin Aikhena
Booked: Shafuan 35', Poh 37', Aikhena 53', Hamqaamal 71'

Referee: Mohd Taqi
Assistant Referees: Ronnie Koh, Ong Chai Lee
Fourth Official: Ahmad A'Qashah