Written by: Muhammad Yazid

Balestier Khalsa’s lost 2-1 to Woodlands Wellington on Wednesday evening and Balestier coach Marko Kraljevic did not mince his words when asked on what he thought of the result.

“We did not play well and if we had drawn this game, it would have been pure luck,” Kraljevic said.

“We were not good enough in the first half when we were 1-0 down and in the second half we got better but even that was still not good enough.”

The Croatian, however, refused to admit that Woodlands were exceptionally the better side.

“I would not say that Woodlands totally deserved the win,” Kraljevic continued. “They did not play extremely well to have gained the victory, but we played very poorly.”

“They played their normal game but the fault lies on our side because we were not being able to get into the attacking third and deliver quality crosses.

“We play simple football; everyday we train in delivering good crosses for Goran Ljubojevic to finish and today we have only converted one of them into goal.

“But this is not enough. We need more crosses because as long as you provide Ljubojevic with a good cross, he can do the job.”

“We scored in the 73rd minute and there was still plenty of time to get an equaliser or even a winner, but we failed.”

On the other hand, the Balestier’s coach predecessor Darren Stewart was very pleased with the performance and the result of his team.

“Yes the win came after very long but my boys were full of confidence and that resulted to the victory,” Stewart commented. “It is a good win against a very good team.”

“We built on last week’s game where we drew with Hougang United.”

However, Stewart admitted he had his doubts whether his team could see the game out when Balestier pulled a goal back.

“In any game, conceding a goal when leading 2-0 is worrying but I thought we defended brilliantly tonight; from our strikers to our defenders,” said the Woodlands coach.

Stewart also spared a mention for Fadhil Noh, who scored his first ever goal for Woodlands.

“I am pleased with Fadhil, he is gaining lots of confidence as well.”

“He is one of the players with unbelievable workrate.”