Tampines Rovers had no luck in front of goal, as a depleted Balestier Khalsa side held them to a goalless draw in the Great Eastern Yeo's S.League match at the Jalan Besar Stadium.
The point gained by both teams on Friday night did little to improve their league standings, with Balestier stuck in fourth spot, while the Stags hover just below them in fifth, trailing by four points.
It was a bright start by the Tigers when Zulkiffli Hassim was played in by Robert Pericic in the first minute, only to see goalkeeper Rodrigo Pacheco pull off a superb save to deny the fleet-footed winger the opening goal.
V. Sundramoorthy had to adjust his tactical board in the fifth minute, when captain Fahrudin Mustafic came off with an injury, replaced by Jufri Taha in the Tampines defence.
Tampines began to take control of proceedings, with Firdaus Idros failing to score from close range some three minutes later.
Striker Mateo Roskam had a golden opportunity to give Sundram's team the lead in the 28th minute, but he blasted wide after finding his way through on goal.
Balestier had a decent opportunity three minutes before the break, but Ignatius Ang's cut-back fell to Zulkiffli, who fluffed his effort over the bar.
The second half was a case of blatant profligacy by the Tampines players, especially Roskam, who never quite managed to find his range throughout the game.
Rodrigo Tosi and Ridhuan Muhamad tested Zaiful Nizam in the first 15 minutes of the second period, but it was Roskam, who was guilty of failing to score, with three clear-cut chances in the final ten minutes.
It started with his 84th minute close-range header that was put wide, before a Shaiful Esah free kick in the subsequent minute was wasted yet again by the giant Croatian forward.
Just when Balestier thought they had done enough to earn a point, substitute Jamil Ali put in a pinpoint cross, and it was Roskam who got to the end of it, only to sky it to the frustration of Sundram and his coaching staff on the bench.
A visibly disappointed Isa Halim was unable to hide his frustrations at the end of the game, but the defensive midfielder refused to give up on his team's chances in the title race.
"This has been the sort of season Tampines has had," said Isa. "We created a lot of chances in front of goal but we are very unlucky because we just can't seem to score."
"For me, I won't throw in the towel just yet, because there is still a long way to go in the season.
"We need to keep fighting and playing our own game, and hope the teams at the top keep dropping points for us to have a chance. We're a team so we take each point we get together and continue to chase."
Tampines Rovers Lineup: Rodrigo Pacheco (GK), Ismadi Mukhtar, Fahrudin Mustafic (C) (Jufri Taha 5'), Pedrag Pocuca, Shaiful Esah, Ridhuan Muhamad (Fabian Kwok 61'), Isa Halim, Roberto Alviz, Firdaus Idros (Jamil Ali 72'), Mateo Roskam, Rodrigo Tosi
Balestier Khalsa Lineup: Zaiful Nizam (GK)(C), Yusiskandar Yusop (Hazzuwan Halim 68'), Igor Cerina, Emir Lotinac, Hanafi Salleh, Ridwan Jamil, Poh Yi Feng, Tarik Cmajcanin, Zulkilffli Hassim, Ignatius Ang (Jeremy Lam 90'), Robert Pericic (Akbar Shah Zainuddin 76')