BoLASEPaKO.com - A Blog on Singapore Football

Tampines faced an aggressive opponents in Ceres (black) Tampines Rovers knew that something wasn't quite right when they took on UFL side Ceres La Salle in the returning leg of their RHB Singapore Cup semi-final fixture at the Jalan Besar Stadium last evening. The Stags were a depleted side with several notable absentees like skipper Fahrudin Mustafic (suspension), Fazrul Nawaz (injury), etc. thus taking on an aggressive side like Ceres would meant to see both their mental and physical strength being put a test right from the start. Encounters like this were common occurrences  Which was eventually the case when the team from Bacolod raided the designated away side with sheer aggressiveness that barely allowed the latter any freedom to roam around. Not less than three times in a space of fifteenth minutes since the kickoff saw Ceres being awarded free kicks from the edge of the box after Azkal international Patrick Reichelt effectively forced Tampines committed those

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

Yasir Hanapi (middle) scored the winner After seven five years in wilderness, Tampines Rovers finally made it out of the group stages of the AFC Cup tournament by beating Malaysian powerhouses Selangor FA one-nil at Kallang in front of a crowd of 11,875. The solitary goal was a well-taken attempt from Yasir Hanapi in the 32nd minute that was deemed enough to pave the way for the Stags into the Round of 16. “It was a great goal." said Tampines' coach V Sundram moorthy after the game of the match winner. "He (Yasir) took it well, bend the ball away and it's goal of a match winner." Noh Rahman (5) denied R Gopinathan (25) from advancing Little much were said by the shy 27-year-old midfielder who was also named Man-of-The-Match at the post-match media gathering when asked on his thoughts for scoring that all-important goal. "I am very happy to score that (winning) goal and I can't describe my feelings now." replied Yasir who only joined

Referee Muhd Taqi (right) sticking close to action  The night ended in a misery for Tampines Rovers for not only unable to clinch the S.League title as a farewell gift for their long-serving former chairman and benefactor - Mr Teo Hock Seng but also saw the one-all draw against Harimau Muda ended in an undesirable manner when two of their players were accounted for the three marching orders flashed out by referee Muhd Taqi. Prior to the start of the match at Jurong West, the equation was simple - the Stags, for having trailing large part of the season behind eventual winners Brunei DPMM, need to beat Malaysian developmental squad by two clear goals while hoping Balestier Khalsa could repeat another giant-killing act by defeat the Wasps at home to ensure the fifteen-kilogram silverware remain in the Republic (although the league authority had it flown to Brunei, as reported in the papers). Referee Taqi flashed his first red in the 35th minute to Isa Halim Mateo Roskam (lef

Coach Sundram (right) looked away as Tigers celebrate For some reasons, there is a saying - not to be on the losing side of the final home match of your season, even at the expenses of a close friend of yours and the 4-3 win by Balestier Khalsa over title-contenders Tampines Rovers proven the theory. Prior to the match at the Toa Payoh Stadium, the home ground of the Tigers, things were looking up for the visiting Stags who were looking nothing less than maximum points to narrow the gap between league leaders Brunei DPMM and themselves, especially when the men from the sultanate were upset by Geylang International two days ago. Pacheco was having a bad day in office However, Tigers’ coach Marko Kraljevic had to put aside any thoughts of cordialness for that ninety minutes and had his counterpart and close friend V Sundram Moorthy left the ground on a heavy heart when the former national striker is to resume his role as one of the assistants to national coach Bernd Stange fo

Watched the game from the media tribune  Warriors FC bounced back from their midweek debacle to claim maximum points in 3-2 win over arch-rivals Tampines Rovers at the Jalan Besar Stadium. A pleasing Alex Weaver walked into the room before attributed the factors behind the comeback win over the Stags. "Two factors behind the win tonight," said the Warriors tactician. "First, we have tremendous spirit in our team." "And good teams win games when they don't dominate the game. Secondly, it's the attacking strength in our team that I thought we did relatively well other than the two sloppy goals we conceded." First of that two sloppy goals came in the 21st minute when veteran ace Indra Sahdan made no mistake from a ball centered from the left by Brazilian Rodrigo Tosi with a jaded Warriors' backline gifted with that assistance. As suggested by the Englishman that Tampines being the more dominant side in the first half, but failed to

(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

First and foremost, I would like to extend my congratulations to Warriors FC in clinching the S.League title (which they last won in 2009 when they were still known as SAFFC). Secondly, I would like to pay my compliments to Brunei DPMM for being the pace-setters for large part of the campaign that pushed the benchmark to see another nail-biting ending. End of an Era Lastly, it is for Aleksandar Duric for being such a wonderful ambassador to the local game since making his debut with Tanjong Pagar United back in 1999. Much had been said about the former Olympian's journey to this part of the world that I shan't dwell and recap that. To me, it's a great honour to know him personally and he's always have the smile on his face whenever we met. Presented a BOCAP to the legend before the match "My man!" he would always said when I would be within his sight with my camera sling around my neck. Throughout my snapping experience in local matches, h

Zaiful dived to deny Mustafic's spot-kick The fairy tales continued for Balestier Khalsa after they secured a berth in the RHB Singapore Cup Final, where they are going to face either Home United or Brunei DPMM on the 7th of November at Jalan Besar, after knocked out Tampines Rovers 4-1 on penalties in the semi-final at the Toa Payoh Stadium last evening. Following a nail biting end to their Round Two league fixtures that saw pipped ahead of their "Pinball" rivals, Hougang United to be among the top echelon of the league table, the Tigers had to endure another nerve-wrecking moments before making to another major Cup Final second year on running (they won the League Cup last year). The ball hit my shin in the end after out of play Starting the second leg of this series on a one-goal disadvantage, Balestier coach Marko Kraljevic had declared his team would opt for an attacking tactic which he felt was a more viable option. Speaking to the official site (sle

(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) "I Bianconeri" in Singapore No Carlos Tevez after all ... Juventus are in Singapore for their final leg of the #juvetour and be playing the very first match stage in the new National Stadium. There was a stadium tour earlier of the day before the Singapore Selection had their training on the new surface. The "Grand Old Lady" of Italian football held their one-and-only public training session on the following day (15/8) in front of their adoring supporters. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO SEE THE REST OF THE PICTURES Football Returns to Kallang... (16/8/2014) The sandy surface was the main talking point The much-awaited football match to be play in the new National Stadium took place on 16th of August when the Singapore Selection took on

Agu Casmir (left) scored the first goal Tampines Rovers' hopes of retaining the S . League title suffered a massive setback with a 2-0 defeat in the titanic clash against fellow title contender Warriors FC at the Jalan Besar Stadium. Prior to this rain delayed fixture, the Stags were given two opportunities to dethrone league leaders Brunei DPMM from the summit in the recent days, but defeat at home to Tanjong Pagar United that was followed by a draw away against Albirex Niigata (Singapore) had set this "do-or-die" battle for the reigning champions. This televised match was delayed for close to two hours due to the activation of the Lightning Warning System (LWS) because of the downpour around the scheduled kick-off time. Tribute to late Lee Kok Seng The match eventually got off approximately fifteen minutes past nine when the sky cleared up for the match that was preceded by a minute of silence tribute to late Lee Kok Seng, the former national skipper who pas