Written By: Kenneth Ho

Tampines Rovers coach V.Sundramoorthy is hoping for another Brunei DPMM slip-up once again after his side slumped to a 4-3 defeat to Balestier Khalsa.

The loss meant Sundram’s side remained five points away from the top, despite DPMM also suffering a loss in their last game against Geylang International.

With their title hopes hanging in balance, Sundram said that his side will be eagerly hoping for Warriors FC to beat DPMM on Friday evening.

“I mean this is football, tomorrow Warriors can beat them and then we try again,” Sundram added.

“It depends on tomorrow on how it goes, then we can see what will happen.”

However, Sundram asserted that his side cannot afford to be so flippant in defence anymore if they wish to rack up the points needed to boost their title bid, especially so after they conceded four goals to the Tigers.

“It’s soft goals, that’s why we had to chase the game. If we keep conceding soft goals, it’s going to be very difficult for us,” Sundram said.

“We need to analyse the mistakes and move on, we’ve been doing well defensively and keeping clean sheets, today was just one off day for all of them.”

Balestier coach Marko Kraljevic was understandably delighted with the win, as it kept them in the hunt for the league title while also maintaining Balestier’s push for a top-two finish.

Kraljevic admitted he was kept on his toes for the last ten minutes, after Tampines scored twice to keep the scores relatively close.

The win also helped Balestier put behind two disappointing results, after a loss to Home United and a draw with Hougang United.

“It was a beautiful game, every time we went up, they put pressure on us but after two not good performances, everybody just gave their 120% today,” Kraljevic said.

“They went above expectations today, they played an excellent game.”