BoLASEPaKO.com - A Blog on Singapore Football

(P.S: I think I made a blooper out of this fixture, must be the heat of the 5pm that heat-stroked me.. I'm sorry for the mistake made earlier with necessary amendment made accordingly.) SHORT SCRIBE For the record, the match concluded with a 3-2 victory for the Rams over the Eagles - the two glamour teams way back in the founding year of the league ( remember 28,000 paying fans witnessed a top-of-table clash between perennial powerhouse Geylang United and "New Kids On the Block" Woodlands Wellington at the National Stadium in 1996's Tiger Beer Series?). Anyway, managed to rush from Hougang to Bedok for this friendly fixture under the scorching sun is by no mean an easy feat. It's not because the journey involved, rather the fact that heat was unbearable as the sunlight was so bright that it's rather difficult to snap some shots using my S2000 , due to its setting limitations. PICTURES FROM THE MATCH Former Eagles skipper Noor Ali (pictured left) now with Wo

SHORT SCRIBE Attended my second pre-season friendly today at the Toa Payoh Stadium, where Balestier Khalsa played hosts to the visiting Woodlands Wellington. For the record, the guests Rams, who only played their first friendly since their season preparation today, defeated their hosts 1-0 with a solitary header from Asraf Rashid in the first half. PICTURES FROM THE MATCH Daniel Hammond (above pictured first from left) is one of those few featured players switched sides between Balestier and Woodlands in this friendly. Making his return to S.League is Moroccan striker Laakkad Abdelhadi (above picture right), who was the S.League Player of the Year in 2006 and leading scorer in that same year. Some actions in the Tigers' box in the first half. Balestier's 'keeper Ahmadulhaq Che Omar (above) played for the Rams last season, while his opposite number Hafez Mawasi was on Tigers' payroll last year. Anand Rajan (running with the ball) is one of the players retained by Balesti

Shortly after the match at Woodlands Stadium, both coaches gave their brief assessment of the match. (P.S: Sincerely apologize for the fact of the poor audio as it's been a long time I'm using my "Ranger"DV camera) Balestier coach Nasaruddin Jalil shared his thoughts Woodlands coach Nenad Bacina shared his thoughts

DPMM's fans outside the ground celebrating their team's win (Sorry for the quality as I used my mobile to snap this) The first thing that came to my mind on the Monday morning was whether DPMM would be able to sustain their run with their hard and tough aggressive that won admiration from most lately. The answer a definite yes, Woodlands Wellington were clearly outclassed by the in-form Bruneians who slowly revealing their true abilities. Two well taken goals resulted from some attacking plays bore the testaments that whoever are going to face them will face a very tough fight. Despite that coach Vjeran Simunic was not pleased with the result. "Unfortunately, tonight we only won 2-1 and I'm surprised as we had created five, six chances in the game." said coach Simunic in his post match assessment. "It shown we are improving after every game we played and proved that my players as good as players like Noh Alam Shah.” he added. (note: Not sure if there were som

Young Lions fans at the stands Sometimes, you really need a kick at your butts to get things going. After their coach Terry Pathmanathan's outburst on Monday , the Young Lions restored some pride after they came from a goal behind to draw level with Woodlands Wellington at the Jalan Besar Stadium. "It was a good game as compared to the last two." said the former national team skipper (above). "I think one point (from this game) is a consolation for us, though it should have been three points. "We fought and worked hard but have to make some tactical moves to attack as that's the only way (to play) when we are one goal down." added coach Pathmanathan. "My players were under pressure after we lost our last three games." commented Woodlands' coach Nenad Bacina (above) when he addressed the press. "We were slow to open up the game but we scored at the right time and from set-pieces. "We were confident of getting all three points but

(Picture on the left: with the league trophy, it's very pretty heavy, precaution required if you ever got a chance to lift it!! Many thanks to Mr Samuel Panthradil for making this picture possible in Oct 2005) Although the ultimate target is the league championship, it's equally important as well to be the early pace-setters too. Being the team that set the momentum right from the start is so important that it could decide whether the big guns would eventually catch up and grab the prize OR the team itself able to last the whole campaign and create a surprise of its own (which is or was never the case anyway). Young Lions did it in 2006, Super Reds were the stars of last season and on both occasions SAFFC, with all its might and discipline, were crowned the champions in the end. It's fair to say that the fact pace setters WILL NEVER be crowned as the champions, still its role is significant in creating the buzz that is necessary to keep everyone at the edge of their seats.

Was at the Toa Payoh Stadium to check out Balestier Khalsa and Woodlands Wellington. In an unusual format, the match was split into three halves with 30 minutes each which in the end saw Englishman Daniel Hammond, signed from the Young Lions, scored the only goals to seal the game for the Rams. PICTURES FROM THE MATCH The customary handshakes before the kick-off. The Tigers' bench in the foreground, while the Woodlands' at the back. FROM THE SIDELINE... Despite only arrived in Singapore on the day before, new Woodlands coach Nenad Bacina (above) is confident of putting up a good show for the upcoming season. After leaving Singapore in 2004, former SAFFC skipper Bacina, at one time, served as a coaching adviser to M-League side, PDRM and earned himself a UEFA "A" license coaching badge while back in Croatia. Jeykanth Jeyapal , the Woodlands club manager has some exciting plans lining up for the new season, such as setting up a soccer academy based in the Woodlands regi

Ok guys, this is gonna be a short one as hours later I need to be my mum's stall before she scream at yours truly... (L-F: SAFFC's Shaiful Esah - in white, coach Richard Bok and Woodland's coach Jorg Steinebrunner) If you were at the post-media conference of the RHB Singapore Cup final moments ago, you can't help but feel sorry for Jorg Steinebrunner , the out-going coach of losing finalists-Woodlands Wellington. Due to the cost management exercise that's going to be implemented next year, Woodlands are likely to unload number of players from their payroll and fill the spots with younger players, therefore guys like Jorg, stars like Laakkad Abdelhadi, Park Tae Won, Akihiro Nakamura etc. will be packing up and move out of the north. Jorg in his farewell (sort of) speech thanks the club management for giving him the opportunity to kick-start his coaching career. While at the meantime, it was confirmed Warrior's Shaiful Esah will be drafted into the national team

The SMS update did the trick again as I was informed hours ago that Woodlands Wellington's Korean star Park Tae Won had just joined the exclusive S.League centenary club (for whoever score 100 goals in their S.League career). At least, Park will be guaranteed a moment of appreciation in the annual S.League Awards Nite, although the damper of the night was that his team lost to Gombak. Anyway, Congrats to you, Park and at the meantime, it's confirmed that the much-anticipated showdown at the Floating Platform for the RHB Singapore Cup Final WILL NOT go ahead as the league authority had decided to stage at the usual venue - Jalan Besar Stadium on 21st November.