Albirex Niigata (S) won the 2015 TNP League Cup on Friday night after coming from behind to beat Balestier Khalsa 2-1 at the Jalan Besar Stadium.
The Tigers were initially headed for victory after Miroslav Kristic handed them a 15th-minute lead, but Fumiya Kogure levelled the scores for Albirex in the 76th minute.
With a minute of the game remaining, substitute Kento Nagasaki popped up with the winner to hand his side their second League Cup title, following their previous triumph in 2011.
Meanwhile, Balestier will be left wondering what could have been as they failed to win a third trophy in as many years, but it certainly was not for a lack of trying.
After weathering early pressure from their opponents, the Tigers broke the deadlock on15 minutes when Zulkiffli Hassim exchanged a lovely one-two with Tarik Cmajcanin before playing a cross to Kristic, who got enough power in his volley to find the far corner.
Nonetheless, Albirex refused to cave in and eventually found the equaliser in the 76th minute when Shotaro Ihata played a slide-rule pass to release Kogure, who kept his cool to slot his shot past the onrushing Zaiful Nizam.
Just when it looked like the game was heading into extra-time, Nagasaki brilliantly brought down Atsushi Kawata's lofted pass on his chest before blasting a shot into the roof of the net, which ultimately proved enough to win it for Albirex.
To add further insult to injury, Balestier finished the game with ten men after Kristic was shown a straight red in injury-time for elbowing an opponent.
Speaking after the game, Albirex boss Tatsuyuki Okuyama was pleased with the way his charges responded after falling behind.
"Conceding the first goal did come as a surprise to us," he said. "The players took some time to recover and get our tempo back but we eventually managed to do so.
"It also helped that we introduced our substitutes at the right time, so as to ensure they made a real impact on the game.
"It's still too early to say if this victory will help propel us to go on and win the league title, but we strive to get better in every game. A win in a cup final is always good for the confidence and growth of the players."
Meanwhile, Balestier coach Marko Kraljevic opted to look at the positives despite the disappointing result.
"I'm so proud of the boys," he said. "They worked very hard and never gave Albirex any real chances throughout the game.
"We had chances to score a second goal and that would have made things easier for us, but then we made one mistake and conceded the equaliser. Yes, it was a bit unlucky but that's football."
Albirex Niigata (S): Yosuke Nozawa, Mikiya Yamada, Takahiro Saito, Kento Fujihara, Itsuki Yamada, Hikaru Mizuno, Shun Inaba, Fumiya Kogure, Rui Kumada (Kento Nagasaki 55'), Rion Taki (Shotaro Ihata 70'), Atsushi Kawata
Balestier Khalsa: Zaiful Nizam, Ahmad Syahir, Igor Cerina, Emir Lotinac, Ho Wai Loon, Fadhil Noh (Hazzuwan Halim 90'), Poh Yi Feng, Tarik Cmajcanin, Zulkiffli Hassim (Ignatius Ang 69'), Miroslav Kristic, Robert Pericic