BoLASEPaKO.COM - A Blog on Singapore Football

Song Ui-young tussled with Hafiz Nor (11) The league opener for the Uniform Duo of Home United and Warriors FC ended in a two-all draw in the last evening at the Bishan Stadium, which last staged an S.League match back in 2014 after it was selected as one of the venues for the biennial South-East-Asian Games a year later. Prior to the start of this much-hyped campaign saw both sides went through a massive reshuffling in their squads that saw a few notable signings laden onto their rosters with likes of Madhu Mohana, Yazid Yasin recruited from the disbanded Lions XII and Geylang International respectively to Warriors who also welcomed back the likes of Hafiz Osman, Shaiful Esah and Ismail Yunos to the fold. While Home United impressed upon the rest with new names like Faris Ramli, Khairul Nizam, Zulfahmi Arifin (from Lion XII), the two sons of local legend Fandi Ahmad – Irfan and Ikhsan Fandi while retained the core of their squad from last...

Fans waiting patiently for their turn Not very often we would have an S.League club do something like this before the start of any season, but it is an encouraging sign. Judging from the turnout at the “Meet and Greet” session organized by Home United at the Bishan Stadium this evening which, at the same time, allowed supporters to catch a glimpse of the players' training session. Prior to the start of the first autograph session, both players and backroom staff were individually introduced to the crowds before it was adjourned to the open training session that was concluded with a match between “Team A” and “Team B” with the former scored a 4-1 victory over the latter. By then, eager fans were already formed along the stairways of the main stand for the second autograph session with new signings like Faris Ramli, Khairul Nizam, Irfan Fandi with skipper Juma'at Jantan at the first of the row on the limited edition posters that went on sale in conjunction with the even...

(P.S: If you access this site via "come.to/matchpix", please click the "Facebook" icon after you click "HERE" when you want to view the album as that will redirect you to the album, thank you) S.League: Home Utd 0-1 Geylang Int'l 8/5/15 Aerial Duel at JBS The Eagles claimed the "Triple Crown" of their own after this win over the Protectors following earlier victories against Tampines Rovers and Warriors FC. Before the match saw the presentation of the Player of the Month award to Warriors FC's striker Fazrul Nawaz. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO SEE THE REST OF THE MATCH PICTURES Barclays Asia Trophy: Promotional Events 12-13/5/15 "Want some noodles?" Former Premier League stars like Ian Wright (pictured left), Graham Stuart (pictured right) and Mamady Sidibe were in town to promote the upcoming Barclays Asia Trophy 2015. This tournament will be played in July at the National Stadium featuring BPL sides Arsenal, E...

An end of an era, as Indra retires It was only a brief one-liner in a recent article that confirmed the retirement of another former Singapore captain - Indra Sahdan Daud, from professional football. The 35-year-old former goal poacher is probably one of the few players I witnessed the rise to prominence till the day that pair of boots were hung. Indra first came to my notice when he alongside with some of his peers (i.e.: Ahmad Latiff, Yazid Yasin, etc.) starred in the Lion City Cup at the old Jalan Besar Stadium in 1995 and led the team to victory that year. Two years later, I was there at the old National Stadium to see the then up-and-coming making his international debut against Kuwait (26 April 1997) when he came on a substitute and thrilled the crowds with his pace that rejuvenated life back to a dull game. Indra played for Sengkang in 2009 "UNBUYABLE" AND "UNCOACHABLE" Since then, it was no looking back with him went on to build a legacy...

(P.S: If you access this site via "come . to/ matchpix ", please click the "Facebook" icon after you click "HERE" when you want to view the album as that will redirect you to the album, thank you) Thank You Aleks 31/10/2014 Aleks watching the video tribute It was an emotional evening when the time has come to call it a day for Aleksandar Duric and thanks for being the perfect model since I took up football photography. A tribute prior to the kick-off and after the 2-1 win over Brunei DPMM FC had the big man in tears as we saw the last of him in action on a football field. Thank You, Aleks. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO SEE THE REST OF THE MATCH PICTURES Singapore Cup Final: Balestier Khalsa 3-1 Home United 7/11/2014 Hoist the Cup, Tigers! As what Balestier Khalsa Football Club's chairman Mr S Thavaneson said this is "significant victory" for the club for being one of the founding members of the league. And more significantly, the ...

Zaiful (yellow jersey) dominated the play in his box Just like how he did in the semifinals that aided Balestier Khalsa to the RHB Singapore Cup final after knocking out Tampines Rovers on penalties, custodian Zaiful Nizam is the Tigers' star of the night again. The former Lion City Cupper put up another stellar performance for the Toa Payoh-based club in front of 6,000 at the Jalan Besar Stadium to beat defending holders Home United 3-1 to clinch the side's second honour for the consecutive season (Balestier were the League Cup winners last year). Staying true to the spirit of any Cup fixture, the designated home side did not sit back to allow their neighbours across Braddell Road to take any advantage of having a more potent frontline that would win any game on their day. Sadly though, the night did not belong to the Protectors who were left frustrated for much of the game, not just because of Zaiful's heroics, but also due to the well-marshalled backline led b...

Balestier's coach Marko Kraljevic (file picture) It is by no mean an easy feat to see Balestier Khalsa's coach Marko Kraljevic to lead the unfancied Tigers to the club's second Cup Final on consecutive season. After all, the Croatian is considered a rookie for taking charge a S.League senior side for the first time in his coaching career that saw him once handled the Prime League squads of both Balestier and Woodlands Wellington in recent years. Speaking ahead of tomorrow's RHB Singapore Cup Final against Home United, their much illustrious opponents across Braddell Road, the 49-old-year appeared confident when sat down with this blogger after his team's training session at their Toa Payoh base last evening. Said the former Tampines Rovers midfielder:"I believe with the high spirit, we are having at this moment, we can win the Cup, "This is especially after we made it to the top-six of the league (after Round Two), everything started to be on ...

This entry supports #mysleagueticket ( source ) A small hiccup in the second minute that saw Kazuya Okazaki notched in the early lead for Albirex Niigata (Singapore) did not cause much distress to Home United as the latter eventually sealed the game 4-2 at the Bishan Stadium in a mixed outcome. The win by the defending Singapore Cup holders had leapfrogged them over the Japanese club in the league standings by placing themselves on the third spot with merely three points away from league leaders Brunei DPMM who suffered an almost frightening experience by scraping away with a 3-3 draw against Balestier Khalsa in another fixture of the night. The home team gradually got their act together with a kind of football that seems to flow on the ground effortlessly in front of national coach Bernd Stange, who mentioned earlier in a report that the core of the AFF Suzuki Cup would be from the 41 players he brought to the Austrian training trip "unless there’s a player who is shinin...

Credible display by SRC (white shorts) Despite losing both their group matches in the Starhub League Cup on close margin, NFL side Singapore Recreation Club (SRC) had won applauds for their efforts by bowing out gracefully after their 2-0 defeat to Home United at the Bishan Stadium last night. The defeat against the Protectors came days after they were narrowly beaten 1-0 by another S . League side Woodlands Wellington on last Friday. Unlike Police SA, their fellow NFL peers in the same tournament who suffered heavy losses in their campaign, the Padang-based club filled up their roster with a number of players who had experience in the professional scene, as compared to the law enforcers's base of mainly regular officers and full-time national servicemen. Aliimaran Lomri clears the ball In the meantime, owing to the tight fixtures that are scheduled ahead, Home United coach Lee Lim Saeng did not start a number of his regulars on the starting eleven with stars like Ko...

HUFC's coach Lee Lim Saeng after 3-1 win With Brunei DPMM losing to defending champions Tampines 2-1 at Clementi that corresponded with Home United's 3-1 win at their Bishan base over the cellar-dwellers Harimau Muda last night, the S . League title threw wide open with merely one to two points separating the four teams at the summit. These came after third-placed Warriors FC hit the kerb on last Sunday when they lost to Hougang United 3-2 that thwarted their chance to dethrone the Bruneians from the top of the standings and interestingly included fifth-placed Cheetahs in the title bid with only six points apart from the leaders. HOME UNITED 3-1 HARIMAU MUDA The Protectors' second victory in five days (after they beat league leaders DPMM last Friday at Berakas) elevated them to the second spot of the standings that had them levelled on points but a superior goal difference ahead of their uniformed rivals. This marked a stark contrast for Home United Coach Lee L...

(P.S: If you access this site via "come.to/matchpix", please click the "Facebook" icon after you click "HERE" when you want to view the album as that will redirect you to the album, thank you) AFC Cup Home Utd 1-1 Persipura Jayapura 11/3/14 Eye on the ball on a hazy night This was the first time I wore a mask to shoot the match, as it was so hazy and choking that evening. Much better display from a S.League side with Home United drew 1-1 with Persipura Jayapura in this fixture, but the Protectors paid the heavy price for having a thin squad for this campaign and made things look very difficult for them at this stage. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO SEE THE REST OF THE MATCH PICTURES Paul Scholes at Court Megastore Paul was looking at me ... Manchester United legend Paul Scholes was at Court Megastore on the invitation by the IT and furniture retailing giants. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO SEE THE REST OF THE PICTURES S.League - Home Utd 2-2 Hougang...

Indra Sahdan (no . 19) scored the winner Save for the own goal resulted by Precious Emuejeraye's touch in the 26th minute that led to the equalizer for the visiting Churchill Brothers, it was, otherwise, a dominant performance by Home United in this returning AFC Cup Group E fixture at the Jalan Besar Stadium. The Goa side beat the reigning Singapore Cup holders 3-1 in their earlier meeting and with defending S.League champions Tampines Rovers defeated another Indian side Pune FC a day earlier in another group match, it was without any doubt that the Protectors were determined to duplicate the same outcome. Fazrul (right) can't stop scoring since his return Izzdin Shafiq (right) tussle with Balwant Singh All hard works eventually paid off when 35-year-old striker Indra Sahdan Daud, who came on as a replacement for Emuejeraye in the second half, scored the winning goal in the 72nd minute to signal his comeback to the scene after long lay off since last Sept...