Balestier Khalsa tighten their grip on fourth edging out Hougang United 2 1 in SPL clash

SINGAPORE – Balestier Khalsa took a major step towards equalling last season’s fourth-placed finish in the Singapore Premier League, as they defeated Hougang United 2-1 on April 24.

Goals from Anton Fase (10th) and Riku Fukashiro (70th) at Our Tampines Hub helped the Tigers leapfrog Albirex Niigata into fourth spot. Both clubs are on 36 points, but Balestier have a game in hand over Albirex and sixth-placed Hougang (30 points).

The Tigers are on course to finish fourth in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 1997 and 1998. Their best finish was third in 1996.

Tigers coach Peter de Roo believes his side deserved the win, although there are still areas where they could do better.

The Dutchman said: “We left it late in the game and should have finished it way earlier.

“We more or less kept them in the game because we didn’t finish our chances.

“If we keep on improving in what we do, then the results will follow.... Our performance was good enough for a win, but I still think there’s a lot of room for improvement.”

Fukashiro said of his performance: “I scored one goal, contributed to the team and we got the three points and that’s good for us.

“We had many chances in the first half, but we couldn’t score. That’s why we see this (close) scoreline.”

There were several early threats from Balestier, with several long throws from defender Madhu Mohana finding the head of Kodai Tanaka. But the Japanese striker, their leading scorer with 20 goals, failed to put his chances away.

The Cheetahs were then punished in the 10th minute when Tigers captain Alen Kozar threaded a through-pass to Fukashiro.

The Japanese then drilled a low cross across the six-yard box, taking a touch off teammate Masahiro Sugita before