Local footballers shine as Albirex Niigata and Balestier Khalsa draw 2-2 in SPL season opener

SINGAPORE – For all the talk about the record seven foreign players Singapore Premier League clubs are allowed to field in each match in the new season, it was the local footballers who made the bigger impression in the opening game as Balestier Khalsa held Albirex Niigata 2-2 at the Jurong East Stadium on Aug 23.

Substitute Ignatius Ang, who grabbed an 83rd-minute equaliser for the Tigers, told The Sunday Times: “With the new regulations, many local players are out of contract and only the toughest and most resilient will survive.

“I’m fortunate to have a coach who still believes I can contribute. So, whether it’s for five minutes or 20-plus like today, I will do my best. On the bench, I observe the play, manifest and visualise myself scoring, so when the situation comes, it becomes natural to me.

“After scoring 11 goals last season, I was secretly hoping for a national call-up, but now I’m just playing for the kids I coach at the ActiveSG Football Academy and the Junior National Development Centre, my family and myself. If the call-up comes, it comes.”

Balestier coach Marko Kraljevic, who made six Balkan signings, added: “It’s good to see everybody hungry and fighting for their spot. Iggy scored 11 league and cup goals last season and I don’t know why he is not called up for the national team yet.”

With both teams opting to maximise their foreign quota, leaving space for only four local starters either side, many of them took the opportunity to try to impress interim national coach Gavin Lee, who was casting an eye over the players he could pick for the September friendlies against Malaysia and Myanmar.

In front of around 2,000 fans, some of whom waited at the gates after the match to score wefies with the players, the visitors took the lead after nine minutes against the run of play.

Against his former team, Balestier’s lively winger Daniel Goh won a free kick on the right and Masahiro Sugita’s delivery found Tigers skipper Madhu Mohana, who caused mayhem in the box before Mario Subaric smashed in the first goal of the season.

But the hosts never panicked and persisted with their patient passing game while also looking to penetrate through local wing-backs Sim Jun Yen, 17, on the left and Haziq Kamarudin, 24, on the right.

And it was Haziq who played a nice one-two with Takumi Yokohata, before squaring for Katsuyuki Ishibashi to equalise in the 31st minute.

Just three minutes later, Yokohata gave the predominantly Japanese side the lead when he skipped past Subaric and finished coolly.

Not to be outdone by his younger teammates, 41-year-old goalkeeper Hassan Sunny pulled off a stunning one-handed save from Subaric in the 52nd minute.

When victory seemed in sight for the White Swans, Ang, 32, pounced to make it 2-2 after Sugita’s corner was headed on by Subaric and then Tin Matic.

As a handful of local and foreign players went down with cramp as they made the transition from pre-season, Jun Yen stood tall for the full match despite playing in only the second league game of his fledgling career.

The teenager, who rose through the Albirex ranks since joining them as an Under-14 player, said: “This is a good start for me, but I can still do better. Everyone has to start somewhere, and I was quite nervous, but it helped that we played Balestier in pre-season, so I was a bit more familiar with their play.

“This season, I aim to earn as many minutes as I can and improve with the team. With just four guaranteed starting positions for local players, we have to stay hungry, fit and give our all because if we take our eye off the ball, our place can be gone in an instant and it will be hard to get it back.”

While Albirex coach Keiji Shigetomi thought the local players did well, he was not satisfied with the overall performance of his team.

He said: “We have many new players who still need time to adapt to a new league, and we definitely need to improve.”

ANALYSIS

Although the imports have yet to fully live up to their hype, there has already been a welcome air of unpredictability in the first game of the season.

Jurong East Stadium has not been a happy hunting ground for Balestier, who lost 12 out of 13 games against Albirex at that venue since a 1-0 win in 2015.

As Albirex returned to a Japanese core in a bid to improve on their sixth-placed finish last season, they were expected to beat Balestier who changed their coach after finishing fourth.

While it remains to be seen if any of these sides can challenge pre-season favourites Lion City Sailors and BG Tampines Rovers, the Tigers’ comeback draw raises hopes of a more competitive season.