By Song Sung Hai

It was another night in an all too familiar tale for the Jaguars as they fell 3-0 to Route One specialists, Balestier Khalsa, amidst controversy despite playing the better football at Queenstown Stadium last night. The central Tigers had three real attacks and they made the most of it.

Only six minutes had gone in the game when Kim Min Ho exchanged a slick one-two with Park Kang Jin outside the box and the latter’s return pass freed Kim. A rather weak shot took a deflection and the ball strolled in to the far corner of goal past the outstretched arm of Aurelien Herisson.

The Jaguars took control of the game after but some stubborn and physical defending ensured that the likes of Monsef Zerka and Kamel Ramdani could barely get shots in. Sebastien Etiemble had difficulty stringing passes as the Tigers flooded the middle with all their players.

Still Firdaus Idros tried his best to find openings down the flanks but crosses and passes into the box were readily cleared by the defence. Then came the controversial second goal for the Balestier Tigers.

A random punt up just after the half hour mark had earned the Tigers a precious corner kick and Goran Ljubojevic had managed to get his head to the ball which ricocheted off Ahmad Latiff, spinning towards goal. Just as the ball was about to cross the line, Aurelien somehow got his hands to it and pushed it out. The hawk-eyed assistant referee, however, deemed it to have crossed the line and referee Jensen Foo complied, awarding the goal to the Tigers which made the game a pretty awkward shape for the Jaguars.

The Jaguars’ persistence never really paid off though Firdaus Idros had the best chance to pull one back for the Jaguars just before half time. A corner kick in from Monsef reached Asraf Rashid, whose header found Firdaus Idros’ head but he failed to direct it towards goal.

The Jaguars began the second half in the same manner they ended the first one with both Tengku Mushadad and Firdaus Idros having attempts under the first 10 minutes but to no avail. Alas, it was Park Kang Jin who, with his first and only clear chance at goal in the 57th minute, saw his shot from outside the box fly past Aurelien Herisson and into goal.

Try as the Jaguars might but the 11 men Balestier defence from then on proved too hard to break and the lack of luck ensured the scoreline remained as it was.

Head Coach Patrick Vallée cut a dejected figure after the game and could not hide his disappointment at the result.

“We did not play and perform as we can so at the end of the day, this result is normal. However, we will keep on working hard for the next game,” he added. “The next game is on Saturday and my players will be eager to bounce back and get a good result against Woodlands. They have a very good mindset, which is important, and I am sure they will fight hard.”

The Jaguars will travel to Woodlands Stadium this Saturday to face a Rams side still smarting from their 5-1 defeat last week to Geylang International and will want to forget that with a good showing against the Jaguars.

Till next time!

LINE UPS

Tanjong Pagar United: Aurelien Herisson, Hafiz Osman, Ahmad Latiff(c), Ruzaini Zainal, Sazali Salleh, Tengku Mushadad, Kamel Ramdani, Sebastien Etiemble, Firdaus Idros, Monsef Zerka
Head Coach: Patrick Vallée
Substitutes: Shamsudin Hashim, Anthony Aymard, Hanafi Salleh, Shafiq Noh, M Arvin, Zairul Rahmat, Firdaus Ali

Balestier Khalsa: Yusiskandar Yusop, Emir Lotinac, Goran Ljubojevic, Zaiful Nizam, Tajeli Salamat, Jonathan Xu, Nurullah Hussein, Zulkifli Hassim, Kim Minho, Park Kang Jin, Syed Taha
Head Coach: Marko Kraljevic
Substitutes: Zakariah Nerani, Sofiyan Abdul Hamid, Jaslee Hatta, Ruhaizad Ismail, Ridwan Jamil, Poh Yi Feng, Amir Asyraff

Referee: Jansen Foo
Asst Ref 1: Ong Chai Lee
Asst Ref 2: Mohd Hidir
Fourth Official: W Ravisanthiran