By Song Sung Hai

It was a game which promised to be one filled with plenty of adventurous attacking football, if not goals, yet hosts Balestier Khalsa decided to dig in and turned into ‘Route one’ connoisseurs at Toa Payoh Stadium, coming away with a 1-0 victory over the depleted Jaguars.

Both teams leapt at each other’s jugulars straight from the start. The Balestier Tigers went in hard for the Jaguars and it was obvious to see that the game was going to be tough for us.

Only four minutes had passed when totally against the run of play, a long ball in from the middle which was to be the standard Balestier Khalsa modus operandi of the night, slipped past Hafiz Osman and Ljubojevic stunned the Jaguars with a delightful, and most definitely fortunate, lob over Aurelien Herisson who was way off his line.

The Jaguars were taken aback by the sudden setback but were determined to claw their way back into the game. Firdaus Idros came close to equalising three minutes later when a low cross in from Monsef Zerka found him unmarked but his shot could not find the target.

The Jaguars were continually frustrated by the Balestier Tigers’ defensive tactics in their half with every loose ball punted back into Jaguars territory in the hopes of finding Goran Ljubojevic, who might do something like he did in the 4th minute.

Balestier came close to scoring again though, when a quick free-kick taken from the middle of the pitch caught the Jaguars’ backline off-guard. Fortunately, with only Aurelien Herisson to beat, Zulkifli Hashim guided the ball wayward from a distance where even a wooden-legged pirate captain would find it harder to miss.

A tantalising cross in by Firdaus Idros in the 52nd minute escaped defenders in the box but Monsef Zerka just could not get his head to the ball.

Masrezwan Masturi then received a straight red card a minute later when upon falling after getting shoved in the back by Ridwan Jamil, his leg struck out and caught Park Kang Jin in the shin. One would expect the parlous state of the Jaguars to benefit the Balestier Tigers but instead, the Jaguars’ offensive forays never ceased.

Firdaus Idros once again came close when his shot from outside the box evaded everyone and ultimately, even the right-hand post by mere centimeters. Further attempts late in the second-half by Sebastien Etiemble and Firdaus Idros simply would not embrace the back of the net.

Yusiskandar Yusop escaped a definite red card just 5 minutes past the hour mark, when his seemingly malicious elbow caught Hanafi Salleh in the jaw but referee Jansen Foo deemed it worthy of only a yellow card.

Jaguars Head Coach Patrick Vallee once again rued an undeserved defeat for his lads and chose to focus on the positives.

“My team cannot be blamed for the result. Last game we conceded a goal three minutes before the end and today, we conceded 3 minutes into the game. It was just one small error and Balestier scored,” Patrick lamented. “After all, Balestier Khalsa did not have many chances. My team built the game back up, played on the ground, created a lot of opportunities and that made me happy because it is the way I want them to be.”

Patrick Vallee also recognized the lack of luck his Jaguars have had in their past two games but stressed that he will work hard with the team to invite Lady Luck back to the team.

“We have a good team and we can make things happen. We will work hard week after week in order to bounce back into the league but first we make sure everything is with us,” he concluded.

So it was then that Balestier Khalsa recorded their third win in a row against us in a display which will have Tiger Woods beaming in approval. Tigers’ coach Marko Kraljevic will also be pleased with the fortunate result against a tough, skilful and resilient Jaguars side.

Though we have lost two games in a row, it must certainly be noted that both defeats were only by one-goal margins with the Jaguars being the better team.

Another positive to note is the return of Sazali Salleh, finally back after 9 months ever since that horrific tackle, and his efforts in the middle of the pitch was second to none. He surely is eager to be making up for lost time.

Till the next game!

LINEUPS:
Tanjong Pagar United: Aurelien Herisson, Hafiz Osman, Hanafi Salleh, Tengku Mushadad, Nor Azli Yusoff, Sazali Salleh, Asraf Rashid, Monsef Zerka, Sebastien Etiemble, Firdaus Idros, Masrezwan Masturi
Substitutes: Chua Lye Heng, Shafiq Noh, Jasvinderpal Singh, M Arvin, Ng Zhi Yi, Afiq Tan, Lucas Jester
Cautions: Firdaus Idros (42′), Hafiz Osman (64′), Asraf Rashid (83′)
Expulsion: Masrezwan Masturi (54′)

Balestier Khalsa: Zaiful Nizam, Yusiskandar Yusop, Emir Lotinac, Paul Cunningham, Ruhaizad Ismail, Ridwan Jamil, Goran Ljubojevic, Zulkifli Hassim, Kim Minho, Park Kang Jin, Syed Taha
Substitutes: Sofiyan Hamid, Tajeli Salamat, Jonathan Xu, Nurullah Hussein, Poh Yifeng, Naqiuddin Nodin, Ahmad Syahir
Cautions: Ridwan Jamil (22′), Yusiskandar Yusop (63′), Poh Yi Femg (74′), Park Kang Jin (82′)

Referee: Jansen Foo
Assistant Referee 1: Ong Chai Lee
Assistant Referee 2: Syed Ibrahim
Fourth Official: W Ravisanthiran