BoLASEPaKO•COM - A Blog on Singapore Football

(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) TNP League Cup - DPMM 3-0 Balestier Khalsa 110717 "Carry On With The Game ..." The meeting up of the two former winners saw the three-time winners Brunei DPMM FC defeated Balestier Khalsa Football Club three-nil. Ironically it was back in 2013 saw the Tigers won their first major silverware by beating the sultanate's only professional team on the same ground. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO SEE THE REST OF THE MATCH PICTURES TNP League Cup Final - Warriors FC 0-1 Albirex Niigata (S) 210717 Contrasting Emotions Warriors Football Club gave a good account of themselves but luck wasn't on their side when Albirex Niigata FC Singapore snatched the winner in the extra time to deny any local club to clinch any of the major titles offered by Singap...

Veteran Noh (center) shown who is the boss in the match I thought it more or less tells it all when Tampines Rovers' skipper Noh Rahman did well to contain someone fifteenth year old younger than him in The New Paper League Cup Group A fixture against Warriors FC at the Jalan Besar Stadium. Croatian youngster Marijan Suto found himself in a fix for his inability to get pass the 35-year-old former Singapore international and things couldn't be more worse off when the 20-year-old striker was largely an isolated figure upfront. In a first half with little much to cheer about and many would thought it would be a goal-less affair before the interval, a freak opener by former Irish Republic youth international Billy Mehmet opened the account for the Stags moments before referee Jansen Foo signalled for the break. Fabian Kwok (right) in an aerial duel  An uncharacteristic blooper by Warriors' custodian Basil Chan saw the ball fumbled into the goal much to the astonis...

Geylang International's Hasrin Jailani Following his side's exit from the RHB Singapore Cup on aggregate after the two-all draw with defending Cup holders Albirex Niigata (Singapore), Geylang International coach Hasrin Jailani is a worried man. It wasn't the outcome on that evening that bothered him when he saw his Eagles surrender a two-goal lead at half-time which was cancelled by the double from an impressive Atsushi Kawata in the second half. In fact, he was pleased with the team's performance, nonetheless, his main concern is he will see several of his players away for national team duty soon. "I will see seven of my players call up for the national team," said the former national midfielder after that match on the announcement  released on the same evening before the last Friday game at Jalan Besar Stadium. Dan Bennett (c) is back in the Lions setup again  It saw the return of veteran Daniel Bennett to the national setup after a three-year...

Group photo at the end of the session Perennial absentees Garena Young Lions will not be competing in this year's The New Paper League Cup for the third consecutive year after they last featured in this tournament back in 2013 which they finished as “Plate Final Runners-up”. This notion was confirmed when the de-facto national U23 squad was not on the drawing list with the remaining eight teams of the Great Eastern-Yeo's S.League having their fate in the competition decided in this afternoon at the News Centre. Confirming another earlier report which was  mentioned by citing unconfirmed sources a day before on this blog's Facebook page , was the omission of the amateur National Football League (NFL) sides from this season's edition, thus making this a genuine solitary League Cup contest. S.League CEO Lim Chin In his opening speech, S.League CEO Lim Chin thanked The New Paper (TNP) for their continuing support as the tournament's title sponsors and l...

Albirex won the Cup for the second time It was thought the match would proceed into extra time after Fumiya Fogure levelled the scores in 75th minute to place Albirex Niigata (Singapore) on equal terms with Balestier Khalsa with minutes ticking away in The New Paper League Cup Final. But Kento Nagasaki's 90th minute strike ensured everyone at the Jalan Besar Stadium could head out for their supper on time after the Japanese side claimed their second win of this trophy which they last won back in 2011. "I am not worry to see the game head into extra time, as I have confidence on my team to get the goals within the full 90 minutes." said Albirex's coach Tatsuyuki Okuyama after the match. Jubilation after Albirex equalized On the contrary to the lacklustre display in their last match against Geylang International that clinched them the final berth, the White Swans did turn up for the occasion against Balestier by dominated much of the possession right from ...

Atsushi Kawata headed home the lead Geylang International coach Jorg Steinebrunner couldn't hide his disappointment after saw his men conceded three goals without reply against a less intense Albirex Niigata (Singapore) in the first semi-final played on past Sunday. "We just don't have the physical presence in the first half where we gave away the (first) goal cheaply," said the German coach. "I am disappointed with the standard of play that after two days we played against (Brunei) DPMM when we had play with such high intensity, the desire was missing today." added Coach Steinebrunner. Tatsuro Inui (left) facing hurdles in the match The remarks from the former Woodlands Wellington coach could be felt by many at the ground where the Eagles looked jaded and simply failed to strike a rhythm against a resilient White Swan who sat back to defend in numbers after took the lead in the 10th minute with a header from Atsushi Kawata who rose above the s...

Kristic (center) got a hat-trick This could be the only trophy not within the reach of the most successful club in the S.League anytime soon, given the kind of display the Warriors dished out hours earlier. The local scene got back to action after the SEA Games recess with The New Paper League Cup kicked start last evening with Alex Weaver led his troops to Toa Payoh to face their fellow AFC Cup representatives - Balestier Khalsa whom themselves were former winners of the Cup back in 2013. Nico Velez (10) closed down by Ho Wai Loon Ironically, the Cup, which is title-sponsored by a local newspaper of the same name this season, has never been won by any of those powerhouses of local football with the Warriors (when they were still known as SAFFC) came close in 2009 as runners-up to Brunei DPMM who are the most successful side in the tournament with three victories under their belt. Due to the ongoing Ramadan period, all fixtures in this tournament are scheduled for 8.30pm ...

A new milestone with TNP sponsor the League Cup The New Paper League Cup, which will be title-sponsored by the local daily of the same name, held its draw earlier of the day at the Singapore Press Holdings (SPH) headquarters at Toa Payoh North. Being the first trophy of the local domestic football scene up for grab every year, the tournament will see the participation from eight S.League clubs (with the exception of Courts Young Lions and Harimau Muda) and two NFL representatives in the likes of Singapore Recreation Club (the reigning FA Cup winners) and Sporting Westlake (the current NFL Division One champions) in this edition. The objective in recent years to include teams from the NFL in this tournament is to see the gap between the them and the professional sides of the S.League to be narrowed through competition like this that offers rare interaction among the two. LTC (Ret'd) Kok Wai Leong outlines the tournament rules While the Cup may have seen foreign clubs c...

(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) Long before you think I am not longer taking shots from the pitchside as active as I used to, I managed to compile a few along the way sporadically (After all, it was quite an investment I had for those gears). AFC Cup - Home Utd 2-1 Churchill Brothers 2/4/14 Home United was one of the two sides played in the AFC Cup tournament few months ago and didn't make it to the next phrase like they last did in 2012. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO THE REST OF THE MATCH PICTURES Touring of the new National Stadium 21/5/14 Glad it is ready by now that when I was there to see the pitch surface of the new stadium, I did have my doubts with all those rumbles and constructions still ongoing around the arena. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO SEE THE REST OF THE SHOTS ...

To sum up this year's Starhub League Cup is nothing less than the number of weird occurrences that took place before and during the proceedings. Started off from the line was the relevant body that oversee this mid-year spectacle placed a full-page print advertisement on The New Paper to drum the awareness. The print advert on TNP on 6th July Nothing wrong for that until a friend of mine texted me to raise a few issues and for my concern was the League Cup trophy, itself, wasn't featured beside the World Cup trophy on the page but the S.League title trophy. Rounding up the embarrassment was enticing the fans to turn up at any stadium "near" their home for some League Cup actions, before heading off to the community clubs to watch the action in Brazil, whose broadcast rights were held by another provider, a rival to Starhub. It wasn't that long before incidents on the field hogged the limelight. The match scheduled between Tampines Rovers and Warrior...

Coach Vallee led Jaguars to two Cup Finals Two defensive errors that took place before the interval and shortly after the break proved fatal for Tanjong Pagar United that eventually saw them went down 2-0 in the hands of Brunei DPMM, the current league leaders in the Starhub League Cup Final played last evening. The mid-year spectacle had proven to a resuscitation of form for the Queenstown-based side of having a chance to live up to their full potential that was hindered at the start of the year due to injuries of several key players. Thumping victories in the group stages over Albirex Niigata (Singapore) and Police SA had drawn the Jaguars to face powerhouses Warriors FC in the quarterfinals and a hard fought victory against Hougang United in the semis before clinching the berth to their second successive Cup final. Monsef Zerka (11) in aerial duel  However, things didn't go according to the plan for Patrick Vallee's men in this televised showdown in front of ...