Football
Kenneth Tan 9y

S.League: Tampines midfielder general Isa ready to repay Sundram's trust

Isa Halim is ready to repay coach V. Sundramoorthy's faith in him, by helping Tampines Rovers win the Great Eastern Yeo's S.League title.

The former LionsXII midfielder moved to Tampines at the end of June, and will continue his path to redemption when they take on Balestier Khalsa at the Jalan Besar Stadium on Friday night.

Since joining the Stags, Isa has started all four league matches, garnering seven points in four games, a good run of form that has brought Tampines back into title contention.

Despite being knocked out of the Singapore Cup last week by Brunei DPMM -- 4-2 on aggregate -- Isa saw enough positives from his team that will help them in their league ambitions. 

He said: "The last game i played against DPMM in the cup, i felt it was my best in the yellow and blue jersey but there is always a room for improvement,

"Slowly but surely, I'm coming back to my best but I need to work hard to catch up on lost time.

"I was disappointed that we were knocked out of the SG cup but overall we play very well only to let in soft goals. But the team spirit is very encouraging in the second leg and i hope we could bring it forward to the league."

Up against Marko Krajlevic's Balestier, who were also ousted from the SG Cup by Albirex Niigata, Tampines will be relieved that nine-goal hitman Miroslav Kristic will be suspended for this match.

The striker scored an 88th minute equaliser when the two teams met in a 1-1 draw back in May, after Rodrigo Tosi gave the Stags a first half lead.

"Even without their top scorer (Kristic), they are a very hard team to break down." noted Isa. "Balestier work very well as a unit and we'll need to focus and work hard to break them down. Patience is the key, so we must be ready to string the passes and hit them when the opportunity arises."

A win for Sundram's side will close the gap to one point on Balestier, who are in fourth. But a victory for the Tigers could propel them to the dizzy heights of second spot, behind league leaders Albirex.

While it may seem to be too far-fetched to be thinking about the S.League title from a team sitting fifth in the standings, Isa knows that with the quality within their ranks, they must not give up hope on winning a sixth league title.

He added: "We will put our best foot forward because that is the only piece of silverware in sight. Tampines is a big club, and seeing us empty-handed at the end of the season is unthinkable!

"Sundram has put a lot of trust in me to patrol the midfield and even though I joined the squad in mid-season, the players have made me feel like family, and now, it is time to repay their faith."

Tampines Probable Probable Lineup: Rodrigo Pacheco (GK), Jufri Taha, Fahrudin Mustafic (C), Pedrag Pocuca, Shaiful Esah, Ridhuan Muhamad, Isa Halim, Firdaus Idro, Roberto Alviz, Rodrigo Tosi, Mateo Roskam

Balestier Khalsa Probable Lineup: Zaiful Nizam (GK)(C), Yusiskandar Yusop, Igor Cerina, Nurullah Hussein, Hanafi Salleh, Poh Yi Feng, Jonathan Xu, Emir Lotinac, Tarik Cmajcanin, Ignatius Ang, Robert Pericic

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