Written By: Kenneth Ho
Kim Minho led Balestier Khalsa to a 3-1 win over Courts Young Lions on Thursday evening after he provided an assist for Goran Ljubojevic and scored two goals himself, one of which included a stunner.
Jordan Webb scored the only reply to the three goals his side conceded in this game, as the visitors suffered a surprising defeat after giving two back-to-back impressive unbeaten performances.
Sahil Suhami missed out for his second game in a row as he served his final match suspension, and Iqbal Hussain took his place up front for the Young Lions.
At the other side the Tigers started defender Jonathan Xu in captain Paul Cunningham’s place as the latter sits out the next 10 weeks to recuperate from an operation.
It was thought that the game would be a close call, but Kim had other ideas as Balestier made a blistering start to the match after four minutes.
Running onto a cross, the South Korean deftly lifted in a delicate right-footed effort which beat Young Lions goalkeeper Syazwan Buhari at his near post.
Iqbal Hussain came close to cancelling the opener moments later but his chip over Balestier goalkeeper Zaiful Nizam had a tad too much height as the ball sailed over.
Sherif El Masri then saw his curling free kick from the byline cannon off the bar before Ljubojevic doubled the advantage for the hosts.
Latching onto Kim’s downward header in the box, the Croatian calmly picked his spot and placed the ball past Syazwan to give his side a comfortable lead going into the break.
The Tigers thought they had the third on the hour mark when Poh Yi Feng’s header ricocheted off the underside of the bar and bounced between the two posts, but his effort was disallowed to the midfielder’s disbelief.
To further infuriate Balestier, the visitors then halved the deficit through Webb straightaway. From an El Masri cross, substitute Muhaimin Salim headed the ball to an unmarked Webb and the forward duly slotted home to give his side some hope of a comeback.
However, that goal proved inconsequential as the Tigers regained their two-goal advantage in the 74th minute with Kim once again involved.
Picking the ball up at the edge of the box, Kim proceeded to unleash a superb volley which flew past the opposition’s custodian and calm the fraying nerves of the Tigers.
Despite trying their best, Young Lions were unable to conjure another decent chance as the game came to a close soon after.
