By Song Sung Hai

Last season’s results
• TPUFC 1-1 HM(B)
• HM(B) 3-0 TPUFC

Our season finally begins tomorrow! Tanjong Pagar United travels to Pasir Gudang Stadium to face Harimau Muda B, another side we did not manage to beat last season.

Patrick Vallee will be eager to erase the memory of last year’s 3-0 defeat at the same venue and it looks to be a strong possibility with the current squad he has in hand. The Jaguars were undefeated in our pre-season warm ups and the players will be eager to carry that fine form over into the S.League.

A victory in the first match will definitely help make things easier if the Jaguars are to mount a serious challenge for a top-three finish in the league. Players like Firdaus Idros, Masrezwan Masturi and Sebastien Etiemble will be eager to impress. Spearheaded in attack by Monsef Zerka, our team will definitely give the young Malaysian team a busy day in the office should we play to our potential.

Harimau Muda B will be fielding pretty much a new team and hence will be hard to estimate for now. Bolstered by the return of Asri Mardzuki, who joined back after a training stint with the ‘A’ team in Europe last year, coach Razip Ismail will definitely look to not losing on home soil.

If trends are to be followed, then the past Harimau Muda teams playing in the S.League tells us that the current team will be nothing short of energy, feistiness and pace.

Winning at Pasir Gudang Stadium is never an easy feat but the Jaguars are more than capable of redeeming last season’s misery there for the fans and Head Coach Patrick Vallee, especially with the game kicking off in the evening, as opposed to the scorching mid-afternoon fixture there last year.

Fans, it is time to get the season rolling and excitement awaits! So, if you can make it down to Pasir Gudang Stadium for what will most definitely be a tense and adrenaline-pumping affair, we have only one thing to say to you.

See you there!