BoLASEPaKO.com - A Blog on Singapore Football

We tried but it has been largely a futile effort to see some clubs fused into the vicinity they based despite the reaching out that yield limited progress over the years. Just name me a list of which club had been able to mobilize the whole town to their home game when there is one? It may have come to a juncture that building rapport with nearby residents isn't really a workable model that clubs should cast their net wider to tap on those unearthed fan bases, not necessarily being parochial. AWKWARDLY LOCATED ... Given the small land area Singapore has, it has proven to be a challenge to create those cross-town or regional rivalries we have seen in other countries. Furthermore, the constant dynamism in the electoral boundaries has neither help to foster a sense of belonging (Take one example in Hougang Stadium - located in Ang Mo Kio GRC, bordered by Aljunied GRC and Hougang SMC). Politically, Hougang Stadium isn't part of Hougang SMC  Given our relatively homogeneou

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

Geylang International's Hasrin Jailani Following his side 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 bother him when he saw his Eagles surrendered 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 which was released on the same evening prior to the last Friday game at Jalan Besar Stadium. Dan Bennett (c) is back in Lions setup again  Of which, it saw the return of veteran Daniel Bennett to the national setup after a th

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 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 had 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 thanks The New Paper (TNP) for their continuing support as tournament's title sponsors and lauded the C