::NTUC Income-Yeo's S-League 2007::
::Result Week 4: Korean Super Reds FC 0-2 Balestier Khalsa FC (0-2) on Thursday, 29 March 2007, Yishun Stadium, 7.45pm::

More photos >>>

Korean Super Reds FC
3 Moon Won Keun
7 Choi Sang Joon (2 Kim Jin Won, 46th)
8 Kim Se Hun
10 Lim Ji Hun
14 Kim Tae Hun
16 U Ja Rang
17 Lee Tae Hoon
18 Lee Gyu Re (20 Park Byung Woo, 32nd)
19 Park Min Gyu (21 Jeong Dong Hyeon, 29th)
22 Kim Hyun Jun
23 Kim Ji Soo (GK)

Balestier Khalsa FC
1 Abdul Rasyid (GK)
4 Jufri Taha
6 J Kalaiselvan (24 K Sathiaraj, 78th)
7 Fathi Yunus
10 Ryuji Sueoka © (21 Anantha Rajan, 92nd+)
11 Norikazu Murakami
13 Ratna Suffian
15 Juraimie Dawood
17 Farizal Basri (2 Nawfal Shahib, 71st)
18 Mba Vitus Onyekachi
20 Kaze Teffo Giscard

Yellow Cards
Korean Super Reds FC
Lee Tae Hoon (20th)
Park Min Gyu (22nd)
Jeong Dong Hyeon (80th)

Balestier Khalsa FC
Jufri Taha (45th)

Red Cards
Korean Super Reds FC
None

Balestier Khalsa FC
None

Match Officials
Referee : M Ganesan
Assistant Referee 1 : Rosli Omar
Assistant Referee 2 : Eugene Chan
4th Official : Mohd Taqi
Referee Assessor: Abdul Razak
Match Commissioner : Hanizam Aris

Crowd: 1,985
Venue: Yishun Stadium

::Preview Week 4: Korean Super Reds FC Vs Balestier Khalsa FC on Thursday, 29 March 2007, Yishun Stadium, 7.45pm::

Following a 2-4 home loss to defending S-League champions SAFFC at Toa Payoh Stadium on Monday night, Balestier Khalsa FC will travel to Yishun Stadium to face Korean Super Reds FC on Thursday, 29 March 2007, 7.45pm.

Several of the Tigers are on the treatment table. They are goalkeeper Zulkifli Zainolabidin, defenders Abdul Rahman, Jufri Taha, Ratna Suffian, Sahairi Ramri, S. Rajendran and midfielders Ibrahim Dawood and Nawfal Shahib.

On Monday evening (26 March), the FAS Disciplinary Committee fined Korean Super Reds FC player Lee Sang Jin S$1000, for bringing the game into disrepute in the S-League match played on 12 March 2007 between Korean Super Reds and Gombak United at Yishun Stadium. At the 81st minute of play, Lee kicked the ball with intent at the advertisement board and showed his index finger towards the crowd and fans, inciting them.

Last Wednesday (21 March), the FAS Disciplinary Committee also fined Korean Super Reds Chairman-Coach Hong In Woong S$300 for a charge of misconduct during the same match.

::Result Week 3: Balestier Khalsa FC 2-4 SAFFC (1-3) on Monday, 26 March 2007, Toa Payoh Stadium, 7.45pm::

More photos >>>

Balestier Khalsa FC
2 Nawfal Shahib
3 Sahairi Ramri (14 Abdul Rahman Hassan, 26th)
4 Jufri Taha
7 Fathi Yunus
10 Ryuji Sueoka ©
11 Norikazu Murakami
12 Muhammed Hakim (17 Farizal Basri, 57th)
13 Ratna Suffian
18 Mba Vitus Onyekachi
19 Zulkifli Zainolabidin (GK) (1 Abdul Rasyid, 46th)
20 Kaze Teffo Giscard

SAFFC
3 Kenji Arai
4 Hafiz Osman
8 Therdsak Chaiman
9 Aleksander Duric (17 Masrezwan Masturi, 76th)
10 John Wilkinson
14 Shahril Jantan (GK)
16 Daniel Bennett
18 Ashrin Shariff
19 Mustaqim Manzur (6 Aidil Sharin, 59th)
20 Noor Ali © (12 Jamil Ali, 82nd)
22 Shaiful Esah

Yellow Cards
Balestier Khalsa FC
Norikazu Murakami (35th)
Kaze Teffo Etienne Giscard (70th)
Jufri Taha (80th)

SAFFC
John Wilkinson (19th)
Hafiz Osman (39th)
Shaiful Esah (42nd)
Noor Ali (68th)

Red Cards
Balestier Khalsa FC
None
SAFFC
None

Match Officials
Referee : Mohd Taqi
Assistant Referee 1 : Haja Maidin
Assistant Referee 2 : Sukhbir Singh
4th Official : M Ganesan
Referee Assessor: K Visvanathan
Match Commissioner : A Raamasamy

Crowd: 2,825
Venue: Toa Payoh Stadium

::Preview Week 3: Balestier Khalsa FC vs Singapore Armed Forces FC on Monday, 26 March 2007, Toa Payoh Stadium, 7.45pm::

After a 11-day break, Balestier Khalsa FC entertains defending S-League champions Singapore Armed Forces FC on Monday, 26 March 2007 at Toa Payoh Stadium, 7.45pm.

Both sides, together with current leaders Home United FC remain the only unbeaten teams in the league for this season.

The Tigers welcome back J. Kalaiselvan back in the squad after a series of knee injuries had ruled the 32-year-old veteran out for exactly seven months. Kalai tasted 60 minutes of match action against defending defending champions Geylang United FC in the Prime League on Saturday. The match ended in a stalemate.

Meanwhile, goalkeeper Zulkifli Zainolabidin is back in training and will be available for selection.

::Report and Result Week 2: Balestier Khalsa FC 1-1 Woodlands Wellington FC (0-0) on Thursday, 15 March 2007, Toa Payoh Stadium, 7.45pm::
By Mohd Sham
Tigers' snatch late goal to enhance reputation as "fighters"

Balestier Khalsa's reputation as dogged fighters were further epitomized as they clawed their way back from a goal down to claim a respectable 1-1 draw against title contenders Woodlands Wellington in a pulsating match at the Toa Payoh Stadium. More photos >>>

A wonder strike by super sub Farizal Basri gave both sides a share of the spoils after Woodland's Korean ace Park Tae Won had earlier given the rams the lead.

The tigers who were missing key players such as Rajendran, Kalaiselvan and Ibrahim Dawood relied on a core of youth including several Prime League players while Woodlands were without skipper Ahmad Latiff through suspension.

Balestier started the match at a high tempo, often forcing the Woodlands' players in their own half. The first chance fell for Balestier in the fifth minute, as Vitus Onyekachi's half- hearted shot was easily dealt with by Woodlands custodian Fadhil Salim following a free kick.

In the 16th minute, Bah Mamadou, the Rams' right back, saw his lob comfortably saved by Balestier 'keeper Abdul Rasyid as Woodlands struggled to get to grips with Balestier's quick pressing.

That shot summed up Woodlands' first half performance as their midfield pairing of Romanian hardman Lucian Dronca and Akihiro Nakamura found little room nor space to exploit against the Tigers, who completely nullified their opponents' midfield.

The Nigerian Onyekachi was especially prominent, spraying short and long passes to launch attacks while at the same time doing the spadework in midfield.

In the 25th minute, Balestier's African connection sprang up as Onyekachi fed Cameroonian Teffo Giscard, who saw his effort kept out by the keeper.

At this point in time, the Tigers were totally dominating the game and unlucky not to be in the lead against a Woodlands team who were hanging on.

Equally impressive for the Tigers was left back Sahairi Ramri, the baby of the team. Displaying maturity and calmness beyond his tender age, his reading of the game and interceptions were outstanding and he had a keen eye for the killer pass as well, releasing Muhammad Hakim on numerous occasions with his incisive long balls.

Top scorer in last year's S-League, Moroccan striker Abdelhadi Laakad fired a warning to the Tigers of his potential in the 31st minute as he shrugged off two markers before blasting the ball sky high into the sky.

Balestier's response came two minutes later as Giscard wriggled past two Woodlands players and laid off to Japanese forward Norikazu Murakami who in turn fed, Nawfal Shahib only for the latter to find the side-netting.

Woodlands's defence had looked shaky all night and in the 40th minute, centre back Jerry Bartholomeusz committed defensive suicide as he inexplicably gave the ball away to Murakami, who charged towards goal before seeing his shot deflected by the excellent defensive cover of Zahid Ahmad.

Some strong words might have been said at half time by Woodlands coach Jorg Steinbrunner and immediately after the break, his demands seemed to have been heeded by his charges as Woodlands dealt Tiger's coach Abdul Karim Razzak the worst restart he could have hoped for.

Barely 40 seconds after the restart, a peach of a cross by Woodlands' Sazali Salleh was met with a looping header by Korean Park Tae Won, who gave the keeper no chance and dealt Balestier with the ultimate sucker punch.

Frustration began to build within several Balestier players as some crude challenges were committed, most notably Abdul Rahman's body lunge on Rams' Sazali.

The Tigers threatened in the 53rd minute when playmaker Ryuji Sueoka's quickly taken free kick found Murakami, whose cross was agonisingly missed by Giscard with the Woodlands keeper left stranded.

Four minutes later, Balestier should have equalised when Hakim's cross was met with a powerful drive by Murakami only to be denied by a brilliant deflection by Salim.

Laakad nearly put the game to bed in the 65th minute when he latched onto a through pass by Nakamura and his powerful swing was tipped over by Rasyid.

By then Tigers' coach Abdul Karim had seen enough and in the 70th minute, he made his first change, hauling off the defensive-minded Rahman in place of striker Farizal Basri.

Three minutes later, the substitution turned into a masterstroke. A deep cross was flicked on by Hakim, which was in turned nudged by Sueoka towards Farizal, who controlled in magnificently in one touch before ramming home the equalizer at the left hand post.

The strong 2,858 crowd went wild as the Tiger's once again came back from the dead and there was still time to even nick the winner.

Two minutes later, Balestier fans suffered a scare as Park weaved his way through the Tigers' backline before seeing his effort blocked by Rasyid.

Woodlands Azlan Alipah could have turned into a hero for the Rams as a defensive mix-up allowed him the chance to capitalise. However, he screwed his shot wide.

In the 85th minute, Balestier had a golden chance to see off the Rams and gain an unlikely victory as Mamadou's failure to clear the ball saw Murakami pounce on it and face with only the keeper to beat, he blasted his shot wide when it seemed harder to miss.

There was a final drama yet as in injury time, Fathi Yunus's cross fell into the path of Murakami who dragged it wide and left Woodlands a chance to fight another day.

Tigers' coach Abdul Karim, though pleased to have taken off a point against the Rams, did not hide the fact that he was slightly disappointed not to have taken all three points. He commented, "Yes, I am a bit disappointed not to have won the match, considering we had several good chances."

But nevertheless, he acknowledged that his side still needed to fine-tune on their finishing. He said, "We had worked on our defensive area the whole week, so our finishing is still not there yet. Once we work on our defending, then we will focus more on our attack."

His counterpart Steinbrunner admitted that his side were lucky to escape with a point. "We did not show up today at all and we are very grateful for a point against Balestier. Credit to them for giving us a good game and it's never easy to come to Toa Payoh Stadium to play", he said.

But the final word, though belonged to super-sub Farizal Basri, who hailed the fighting spirit of the Tigers. He declared, beaming, "Even though I scored, the whole team worked very hard and my team mates fought until the end. We showed big heart to come back against a strong team like Woodlands."

Balestier Khalsa FC
1 Abdul Rasyid
2 Nawfal Shahib (4 Jufri Taha, 82nd)
3 Sahairi Ramri
7 Fathi Yunus
10 Ryuji Sueoka ©
11 Norikazu Murakami
12 Muhammed Hakim
13 Ratna Suffian
14 Abdul Rahman (17 Farizal Basri, 69th)
18 Mba Vitus Onyekachi
20 Kaze Teffo Giscard

Woodlands Wellington FC
2 Bah Mamadou
3 Azlan Alipah
6 Lucian Dronca
8 Jerry Bartholomeusz
9 Laakkad Abdelhadi
10 Akihiro Nakamura ©
14 Sazali Salleh
15 Fadhil Salim
16 Imran Sahib (17 Yusri Waris, 80th)
18 Park Tae Won
19 Zahid Ahmad

Yellow Cards
Balestier Khalsa FC
Ryuji Sueoka (14th)
Muhammed Hakim (88th)

Woodlands Wellington FC
Laakkad Abdelhadi (29th)

Red Cards
Balestier Khalsa FC
None

Woodlands Wellington FC
None

Match Officials
Referee : John Chia
Assistant Referee 1 : Nazeer Hussain
Assistant Referee 2 : R Ravichandran
4th Official : P Pandian
Referee Assessor: Augustine Arlando
Match Commissioner : Edward Silas

Crowd: 2,858
Venue: Toa Payoh Stadium

::Preview Week 2: Balestier Khalsa FC vs Woodlands Wellington FC on Thursday, 15 March 2007, Toa Payoh Stadium, 7.45pm::

Balestier Khalsa FC hosts rich spenders Woodlands Wellington FC in its first home match of the S-League 2007 on Thursday, 15 March 2007 at Toa Payoh Stadium, 7.45pm.

Ten days ago, the Tigers came off with a 1-1 draw with Albirex Niigata FC (Singapore) at Jurong East Stadium even without six of its S-League players through injuries. Tonight, the host will again be without five players for the same reason. Goalkeeper Zulkifli Zainolabidin (shoulder), defender S. Rajendran (achillies), midfielders J. Kalaiselan (arm), Ibrahim Dawood (knee) and Anantha Rajan (knee). Young defenders Juraimie Dawood, Jufri Taha and veteran Abdul Rahman Hassan look set to return to the playing squad of 18. Custodian Abdul Rasyid should start the match in place of Zulkifli.

Meanwhile, Woodlands Rams will be without captain Ahmad Latiff due to one-match suspension. Former Tigers captain Akihiro Nakamura from Japan looks set to take over the armband.

::Result Week 1: Albirex Niigata FC (Singapore) 1-1 Balestier Khalsa FC (1-1) on Monday, 5 March 2007, Jurong East Stadium, 7.45pm::

Balestier Khalsa FC, missing six players from the senior squad through injuries, came away with a gutsy 1-1 draw against a newly-assembled Albirex Niigata FC (Singapore) at Jurong East Stadium.

A mis-hit corner kick by Farizal Basri in the 22nd minute to an Albirex player allowed a spring a quick counter-attack. Tetsuya Okayama's through pass found Akihiko Shimizu, who beat the offside trap just when Muhammed Hakim moved up, Akihiko then went on to slot the ball past goalkeeper Zulkifli Zainolabidin.

Five minutes from interval, a long ball from Tigers' Nigerian playmaker Mba Vitus Onyekachi found Japanese forward Norikazu Murakami, burst through the defence and shrugging off challenges four players - Jun Ishikawa, Yoshitaka Komori, Takatoshi Uchida and Norikazu Sakata - to place the ball past goalkeeper Norio Takahashi to level the score at 1-1. More photos >>>>

Albirex Niigata FC (Singapore)
3 Jun Ishikawa
4 Norikazu Sakata
5 Takatoshi Uchida
7 Shin Hosogai ©
8 Yoshitaka Komori
9 Akira Takase (18 Kenta Toyota, 82nd)
10 Eiichiro Ozaki
16 Masatoshi Saiga
20 Akihiko Shimizu (6 Hideaki Iwahana, 70th)
21 Tetsuya Okayama
25 Norio Takahashi

Balestier Khalsa FC
2 Nawfal Shahib (24 K Sathiaraj, 89th)
3 Sahairi Ramri
7 Fathi Yunus
10 Ryuji Sueoka ©
11 Norikazu Murakami
12 Muhammed Hakim
13 Ratna Suffian
17 Farizal Basri (21 Anantha Rajan, 57th)
18 Mba Vitus Onyekachi
19 Zulkifli Zainolabidin
20 Kaze Teffo Giscard

Yellow Cards
Albirex Niigata FC
Masatoshi Saiga (18th)
Tetsuya Okayama (93rd+)
Balestier Khalsa FC
Farizal Basri (45th)
Sahairi Ramri (47th)
Anantha Rajan (71st)

Red Cards
Albirex Niigata FC
None

Balestier Khalsa FC
None

Match Officials
Referee : Abdul Malik Bashir
Assistant Referee 1 : Jeffrey Goh
Assistant Referee 2 : Sukhbir Singh
4th Official : Muhd Taqi
Referee Assessor: M Maniam
Match Commissioner : Jimmy Cheong

Crowd: 2,855
Venue: Jurong East Stadium

::Preview Week 1: Albirex Niigata FC (Singapore) vs Balestier Khalsa FC on Monday, 5 March 2007, Jurong East Stadium, 7.45pm::


Balestier Khalsa FC will travel to Jurong East Stadium on Monday, 5 March without five players - S. Rajendran (long-term achilles), J. Kalaiselvan (knee), Ibrahim Dawood (knee), Abdul Rahman (groin), Juraimie Dawood (motorcycle accident). The Tigers' preparations for this match have also been disrupted by the team's inability to train on the field at Toa Payoh Stadium since Wednesday due to bad field conditions.

For this match, which kicks off at 7.45pm, Head Coach Abdul Karim Razzak will be fielding a team completely made up of newcomers, other than vice-captain Ratna Suffian Ishak, hot and cold Nawfal Shahib and burly Norikazu Murakami. Former Swans' forward Ryuji Suoeka will captain the side.

::S-League ‘Live’ on MediaCorp TV Channel 5::
SINGAPORE, 1 March 2007: The S.League is pleased to announce that MediaCorp TV Channel 5 will be the broadcast channel for ‘Live’ matches of the NTUC Income – YEO’S S.League for the upcoming season.

S.League ‘Live’ matches will be shown on Channel 5 every Friday evening from 7.25pm starting with the March 16 clash between new Chinese team Liaoning Guangyuan and Home United.

All ‘Live’ matches will kick off at 7.30pm while matches on other days will kick off at 7.45pm.

Says Joy Olby-Tan (Ms), Vice President (Programming), MediaCorp TV Channel 5, “As a supporter of local sports, we are glad to be bringing weekly ‘Live’ S. League matches to football fans in Singapore . We hope that our Channel 5 viewers will lend their support to our national football league and fan the fires of football fervour.”

Says S.League Chief Executive Officer Winston Lee, “We received three attractive proposals for the 2007 S.League ‘Live’ telecast and it was a difficult decision. After much deliberation, we decided to accept Ch 5’s proposal as it is more in sync with the needs of our fans and our football objectives. It has been great working with CNA for the last three seasons and I’ll like to thank them for their partnership and their support for local football.”