Balestier Khalsa vs Brunei DPMM
(Wednesday, 26 October, 7.45pm, Toa Payoh Stadium)

With league positions finalised, Balestier Khalsa and Brunei DPMM will duke it out at the Toa Payoh Stadium on Wednesday night with pride on the line in their final Great Eastern Yeo’s S.League match of the season.

Winless in their last eight matches, the Tigers will be hoping for a good result at home against the third-placed Brunei DPMM prior to their third-fourth placing match in the RHB Singapore Cup 2016 against Filipino side Ceres La Salle FC on Saturday.

In recent matches, Balestier have struggled to impose themselves on games and were unable to get much in terms of results, drawing just two games since their 3-1 victory against Garena Young Lions back in August. They have conceded 14 goals in this period while scoring just three.

They will have to buck up on both ends of the field if they want to put up a good showing in the last game of the season in front of their fans and to prepare for the challenge of the Filipinos. Navigating past a team that have beaten Marko Kralijevic’s men twice in the S.League this season would be no easy task.

On paper, it looks like it should be a comfortable win for the Wasps, having bettered the Tigers 3-1 and 4-1 throughout the year.

Rafael Ramazotti, the 2015 golden boot winner and the current top scorer, has had a lot of joy playing against the Tigers, netting a hat-trick against them in that 4-1 victory. He will be keen to seal a repeat of the golden boot title with a truckload of goals in this outing.

For the Bruneians, a third-place finish in the league was certainly not what they had in mind when they kicked off the season back in February.

The defending champions would have expected to challenge strongly for the title this season and make a bit more of a run in the cup competitions.

Instead, find themselves nine points behind champions Albirex Niigata (S) while in the cup competitions, they were beaten finalist in the League Cup and could not get past the quarter-finals of the Singapore Cup.

However, they have ended the season on a good note, winning six of their last seven matches and are the in-form team at the moment. That run includes scalps of champions Albirex and Tampines Rovers who are above them in the table.

They will have a keen eye on preparations for next season as Steve Kean sorts out his squad to make a title run on all fronts.

A solid result at the end of a season will always do well for the morale of the team heading into the off season and both teams will want just that in the final match of the season.

Balestier Khalsa – LDDLL

22/10/16 Tampines Rovers 2-0 Balestier Khalsa (S.League)
15/10/16  Balestier Khalsa 0-5 Home United (S.League)
01/10/16  Hougang United 1-1 Balestier Khalsa (S.League)
22/09/16  Balestier Khalsa 1-1 Warriors FC  (S.League)
25/08/16  Geylang International 2-1 Balestier Khalsa (S.League)

Brunei DPMM – WWWWW

01/10/16  Tampines Rovers 0-1 Brunei DPMM (S.League)
26/09/16  Brunei DPMM 5-3 Garena Young Lions (S.League)
23/09/16  Brunei DPMM 3-1 Home United (S.League)
26/08/16  Hougang United 1-2 Brunei DPMM (S.League)
19/08/16  Brunei DPMM 3-0 Warriors FC (S.League)

Head to Head (S.League)

24/06/16  Balestier Khalsa 1-4 Brunei DPMM
15/04/16  Brunei DPMM 3-1 Balestier Khalsa
21/11/15  Brunei DPMM 4-0 Balestier Khalsa
29/08/15  Balestier Khalsa 2-1 Brunei DPMM
01/05/15  Brunei DPMM 1-2 Balestier Khalsa