Rodrigo Tosi struck a 74th minute winner on Wednesday to hand wasteful Tampines Rovers a 1-0 victory over Harimau Muda in the Great Eastern Yeo's S.League.
It initially looked like the Stags would be denied again as they wasted a host of chances at the Hang Jebat Stadium, until Tosi netted with 16 minutes remaining to hand them their first league win in four matches.
Despite the result, they remain fifth in the standings, but are now just seven points behind leaders Brunei DPMM FC.
However, there is still plenty of Tampines coach V. Sundramoorthy to work on considering the way his side failed to make the most of their chances.
Mateo Roskam and Tosi both had decent opportunities inside the opening half-hour but were unable to find a way past Ramdhan Hamid, before appeals for a penalty for handball on a Shaiful Esah cross were waved off.
Roskam was the biggest culprit as the Stags continued their profligate ways, with his most glaring miss coming in the 40th minute, when he fired wide with the goal gaping after being picked out by Tosi.
The chances continued to fall for them in the second half, but the hosts gave them a real scare in the 58th minute when Syawal Nordin sent a header wide of the far post, after opposition keeper Rodrigo Pacheco had come off his line and flapped at a corner.
But in the 74th minute, just moments after wasting another clear opportunity, Tosi finally handed his side the breakthrough.
Latching onto Roskam's layoff, Tosi did well to hold off a couple of challenges before slotting past Ramdhan to hand Tampines the lead.
Harimau Muda came close to equalising in the final minute when Akhir Bahari fired inches wide after pouncing on a loose ball, and they also had a penalty shout turned down when Annas Rahmat appeared to have scythed down by Pacheco.
To make matters worse, the hosts were reduced to ten men in the aftermath as Kenny Pallraj was shown a second yellow for dissent to further increase the sense of injustice emanating from the Young Tigers camp.
Tampines will now be looking to build on this win when they are back in action against Albirex Niigata (S) on Sep. 11, while Harimau Muda's next match is a day later at DPMM.
Harimau Muda: Ramdhan Hamid, Kenny Pallraj, Annas Rahmat, Syawal Nordin, Azrul Nizam Muhammad, Amirul Hisyam, Irfan Zakaria, Shahrul Igwan (Ashmawi Yakin 85'), Syafwan Syahlan, Syazwan Andik (Akhir Bahari 78'), Arif Anwar (Ridzuan Abdunloh 71')
Tampines Rovers: Rodrigo Pacheco, Ismadi Mukhtar, Jufri Taha, Predrag Pocuca, Zulfadli Zainal Abidin, Firdaus Idros (Ridhuan Muhamad 61'), Isa Halim, Naeem Rahimi (Fabian Kwok 85'), Shaiful Esah, Mateo Roskam, Rodrigo Tosi (Noh Alam Shah 90')