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Tampines lift gloom of mid-week thrashing with laboured win over Balestier

SINGAPORE- Tampines Rovers recovered from a mid-week drubbing in regional competition to pull off a 1-0 victory - albeit an unconvincing one - over Balestier Khalsa at the Toa Payoh Stadium on Saturday (Mar 11) as both sides finished the game with 10 men each.

Tampines striker Ivan Dzoni leaping into the air with joy after scoring his side's opening and only goal of the game. Photo: S.League

Tampines striker Ivan Dzoni leaping into the air with joy after scoring his side's opening and only goal of the game. Photo: S.League

SINGAPORE- Tampines Rovers recovered from a mid-week drubbing in regional competition to pull off a 1-0 victory - albeit an unconvincing one - over Balestier Khalsa at the Toa Payoh Stadium on Saturday (Mar 11) as both sides finished the game with 10 men each.

Perhaps still smarting from their 5-0 thumping by Philippines side Ceres FC on Tuesday (March 7) in an AFC Cup match, the Stags were in sombre mood during their pre-match warmup as they were put through their paces by the coaching staff. 

However, the dark clouds hovering over the squad would eventually be lifted as the referee blew for the final whistle to end what has been a frustratingly forgettable week for Tampines. 

"I spoke to the team (after the loss) that everything went wrong on on Tuesday and those kind of things happen once in 100 games so we have to forget that and move on," quipped Tampines coach Juergen Raab post match.

"Good teams show that they come back well after a bad defeat and today was not easy against a difficult opponent and a difficult pitch so I am happy with the result."

After an anaemic first half, it took just five minutes after the half-time break for the game's solitary goal to be scored.

Balestier failed to clear their lines from a through pass into the box and the loose ball was lashed past Tigers goalkeeper Zaiful Nizam by Croatian forward Ivan Dzoni who ran to the bench to celebrate his second goal of the season. 

Dzoni could have added another to his tally after he was hauled down in the box but to his agony, he saw his spot-kick palmed away by Zaiful. 

This was the Tampines frontman's second miss from the spot after he skied a penalty kick in the opening day 2-1 defeat to Albirex Niigata (S).

The game would end in unsavoury fashion as both sides were reduced to 10 men in the 90th minute when an off-the-ball incident resulted in Tampines substitute Jamil Ali and Balestier's Sheikh Hadi being dismissed. 

While the Stags will now look to build on from the victory, the Tigers were left with their tails between their legs after suffering their third successive defeat in as many matches this season. 

Coach Marko Kraljevic however felt that his charges have been trying as hard as they can as he talked up impending changes to solve his team's lack of cutting edge up front. 

He said: "Everyone is working very hard and you could see today, Tampines couldn't create clear chances."

"I appreciate how the team defends and I'm happy with their efforts.

"We are waiting for June (opening of the transfer window) to look for new players so that we can have a forward, but for now we may have to find a solution from (within) the squad."

In the night's other game, Hougang United's Fumiya Kogure scored his third goal of the season as the Cheetahs beat the Garena Young Lions 2-0 at the Hougang Stadium. Fareez Farhan opened the scoring on the stroke of half-time when he turned his marker before firing the ball into the net.

Japanese midfielder Kogure then curled a freekick from the edge of the box in the 63rd minute to condemn the Young Lions to their third defeat of the season, the consolation for the U-22 FAS club side being that it was their 'best' result of the season so far after losing their first two matches 1-6 and 0-5.

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