Written By: Kenneth Ho

After getting three points against Hougang United in a 4-1 trouncing, Balestier Khalsa coach Marko Kraljevic hopes that Harimau Muda can do his side a huge favour and beat Hougang in their next game.

Kraljevic had previously said that it was improbable for his side to overtake Hougang a few weeks ago, but that has all changed since the Tigers went on to secure points while Hougang have lost two on the trot.

With the Tigers now just three points behind Hougang with another game left to play for both teams, Kraljevic hopes that Harimau can beat the Cheetahs for them to make their hard work pay off.

“I will keep fingers crossed for Harimau Muda, we will be supporting them,” Kraljevic added.

Kraljevic also praised his team for making a comeback in the second half, after they trailed Hougang by one goal.

“First half we were sloppy, everything was slow. Second half we woke up, everybody started moving and was faster, and we scored the goals,” the Balestier coach said.

“I told them to relax, not to worry, and they did that, we needed to win the game and they did that.

“You want to score as much as you can, soccer is like that. Today we defended well, the boys played a great game.”

Hougang team manager Nicholas Low spoke on behalf of the team, and revealed his disappointment with the team’s effort today, as they crashed to a second consecutive defeat following a 2-1 loss to Courts Young Lions.

“We thought that we could come up and maintain the lead but unfortunately we let them overrun us. We didn’t play according to plan and as a result we suffered,” Low shared.

“I still think we had a chance at 3-1, but some of the players didn’t play according to the plan. Last week against the Young Lions we were better, but today we deserved the loss.”

With the crucial game against Harimau still to come in order for Hougang to secure a top-six finish in the league, Low said that the club will be looking to get the players confidence level back up as soon as possible.

“The key is to pick people up when you are down and when you faced adversity,” he added.

“Everybody knows we are close to getting into the top-half finish but maybe the pressure is getting to the boys. We will need to pick them up before the next game.”