Tampines Rovers' hopes of winning the TNP League Cup came to an end on Wednesday after they were beaten 1-0 by Warriors FC at the Woodlands Stadium.
The only goal of the game arrived eight minutes before half-time through a clinical strike by Nicolas Velez, ensuring the Warriors bounced back from last week's embarrassing 4-0 defeat to Balestier Khalsa even though they had no chance of advancing to the semifinals.
Meanwhile, the result also condemned Tampines to a bottom-place finish in Group B and ended their hopes of winning a first-ever League Cup title.
Yet, it could have been much different had they been able to make the most of their early dominance where a flurry of corners went their way.
Zulfadli Zainal Abidin's powerful header in the ninth minute forced Daniel Ong into a fine save, before Jamil Ali had a goal-bound effort desperately blocked on the line after Rodrigo Tosi's initial lob had come back off the bar.
Seven minutes after the half-hour mark, the hosts made them pay for those misses when Karlo Ivancic's cross missed Miroslav Pejic but fell into the path of Velez, who cleverly curled a low shot into the bottom corner.
The Warriors then had a couple of chances to extend their lead before the break but Rodrigo Pacheco came to Tampines' rescue, producing a flying save to tip over a Fazrul Nawaz scorcher before saving another Velez effort to keep his team in the game.
Still, the second half saw the visitors continue to enjoy the better of proceedings but they were just unable to find an equaliser, as their opponents ultimately held out for maximum points.
After the game, Warriors boss Alex Weaver praised his side, saying: "It's always a great challenge to play against a good side like Tampines and very pleasing to beat them.
"Most importantly, the players bounced back after letting themselves down against Balestier."
Meanwhile, Tampines coach V. Sundramoorthy praised his charges' spirit despite the defeat.
"I'm proud of the boys and the way they fought until the 95th minute," the ex-Singapore international said.
"This is something positive we can take as we build towards the resumption of the league campaign."
Warriors FC: Daniel Ong, Emmeric Ong, Daniel Bennett, Marin Vidosevic, Irwan Shah, Syaqir Sulaiman, Karlo Ivancic (Hazim Faiz 87'), Hafiz Rahim (Shi Jiayi 75'), Miroslav Pejic (Hafsyar Farkhan 90'), Nicolas Velez, Fazrul Nawaz.
Tampines Rovers: Rodrigo Pacheco, Ismadi Mukhtar, Fahrudin Mustafic (Ismail Yunos 35'), Predrag Pocuca, Shaiful Esah, Jamil Ali (Noh Alam Shah 55'), Isa Halim, Aqhari Abdullah (Roberto Alviz 62'), Zulfadli Zainal Abidin, Mateo Roskam, Rodrigo Tosi.