By Song Sung Hai

Last Season’s Results
TPUFC 3-1 BKFC
BKFC 2-1 TPUFC
TPUFC 0-1 BKFC

We now come to the third round of the S.League after a substantial break. The Jaguars are eager to get our season back on track especially after the unfortunate setback against Hougang United at home two weeks ago which threatens to derail our good start to the season.

This time, the Jaguars travel to Toa Payoh Stadium to face an ambitious Balestier Khalsa side who come equipped with Marquee Signing Goran Ljubojevic, the former Croatian U21 player. He has also played for notable European clubs like Dinamo Zagreb and FC Genk. Thus far, Ljubojevic has scored twice in two games and will look to posing a threat to the Jaguars.

The central Tigers’ Chairman has targeted qualification for the Asian Champion League next season and he will surely be reminding his players what that means. The Khalsa Tigers will also not want to sully a near perfect start to the season, with a 4-0 win to Courts Young Lions and a 1-1 draw with Woodlands Wellington.

The Jaguars will still be missing Kamel Ramdani to injury and joining him tomorrow will be Anthony Aymard and Zahid Ahmad. Ruzaini Zainal will also miss the game due to suspension.

The Jaguars will be banking on the likes of Sebastien Etiemble and Monsef Zerka to drive the creativity engine forward. Firdaus Idros and Masrezwan Masturi are major threats to any opposition on their day and they will want to impress as well.

Jaguars Head Coach Patrick Vallee is confident of a result nonetheless and will look to his players to continue their style of play.

“I want to see the same game they played against Hougang United but hopefully with a better result this time. The team also needs to keep the run of confidence in their style going and a win will definitely help our cause.”

Patrick Vallee acknowledges that the Tigers’ marksman, Goran Ljubojevic, is a good player but will not be his main concern.

“He scored two goals in two games, good for him, but my plan will not revolve around handling just him. Balestier Khalsa have got other good players who can score and I am more concerned about planning to deal with the whole Balestier Khalsa team. I am not familiar with Marko Kraljevic but he has been in Singapore for a long time now and played in the S.League before so I think he knows Singapore football well. It won’t be a problem for me, though.”

The Jaguars met Balestier Khalsa thrice last season, winning once and losing twice in encounters hardly bereft of incidences and action, which means the game tomorrow will be a tough one to call. Fans can expect to witness yet another fast paced and hard-fought S.League fixture as our mettlesome Jaguars seek to end Balestier Khalsa’s unbeaten run in the league.

The presence of Jaguars in the stands can make the difference in this potentially harrowing encounter against the self-declared aspirants to the S.League throne at Toa Payoh Stadium.

Let nothing hold you back!

See you there!