Written by: Phoon Jia Hui

Tanjong Pagar United ran out 3-1 winners over Courts Young Lions at Queenstown Stadium on Saturday evening, and coach Patrick Vallee was a pleased man after the final whistle.

“Yes, I’m very happy with both the result and performance because we started with two 19-year-olds in the game so it’s a good result,” Vallee said.

“The young players did very well and the experienced players helped them to perform and also helped us to win. It was a good game and it was a delight to watch my team play. I liked the performance tonight.”

Despite having pulled three points clear of Harimau Muda and Woodlands Wellington in the Great Eastern Yeo’s S.League standings, Vallee insisted it was not time for them to rest on their laurels.

“No, we cannot relax,” he asserted.

“Because Harimau won Hougang, they go up also. We still have three games and anything can happen. We must keep going on like that, do our best and try to achieve a better position.

“There is no pressure because no matter whether you finish – eighth, ninth or tenth, there’s no big difference. The most important thing for us is to play and perform well and fight for the club and help the club reach a better position.”

His opposite number Aide Iskandar was on the other hand clearly downcast with the result but he was heartened by their second-half display.

“It was not a good game. I think we lost in the first-half, with the goals that we conceded,” Aide lamented.

“The only positive is that we played much better in the second-half, created chances and scored the goal.”

Admitting that playing twice in the space of four days had taken a toll on his players, the former international was however keen to move on.

“For me, the S.League break did not help us in any way because we actually ended our matches with a good win (3-0) against Home United. However, we have to deal with this and there’s no excuses,” he added.

“It’s not easy for the boys to play two games within the space of four days. It’s tough and i think i can see the boys feeling the effects of fatigue.

“We just have to look forward. For now we have to make sure that we try to get back to our ways and confidence levels. I told my boys after the game that we are a good team and we have clearly showed that we can play good football, but it was something we failed to do in the last two games.”