Marfavi's goal seals win for the Jaguars

By S. MURALI

Balestier Central's sabre-toothed tigers had one incisor missing last night. lost 0-1 to Tanjong Pagar at the Queenstown Stadium last night.

And it made all the difference as Balestier's much-vaunted attack lost 0-1 to Tanjong Pagar at the Queenstown Stadium last night.

The missing incisor -- Tiger Beer S-League top scorer Goran Paulic -- failed to start the match after being struck with viral flu a few days earlier.

All of Balestier's few chances fell, instead, to the hardworking but goal-shy Eric Francis.

Unfortunately, the nervous Francis -- at best one of the molars of the team -- failed to convert any of those opportunities.

Though the visitor missed its ace marksman, all credit was due to the team with the best defensive record in the league -- the Jaguars.

Led by the superb S. Subramani, the hardworking Jaguars closed down every ball in the final third, never allowing the opponent even a minute's space in the area.

Also impressive in defence was another new face in the Lions' set-up, wing-back Lim Soon Seng.

The first half got off to a frenetic start, though much of the activity was concentrated in the middle of the park.

For some time, it seemed as though former partners and current rivals Robert Alberts of Tanjong Pagar and P.N. Sivaji of Balestier, had cancelled each other out with an intimate knowledge of each other's tactics.

But soon, Tanjong Pagar's superior fitness started to show.

Said Alberts: "Both teams played very good soccer but I felt we had a bit of the edge in terms of chances and fitness. We defended well, especially after we took the lead."

That moment came courtesy of Iranian import Abdol Marfavi, who scored his fifth goal of the season.

Though the goal is in his name, most of the hard work was done by team-mate Basri Halis.

It came in the 34th minute when the speedy Basri was found unmarked at the top of the box.

The young winger, who was called to the national side last week, struck a sweet shot that Balestier custodian M. Elangovan could only parry.

Iranian Marfavi slammed the rebound into an empty net to give the Jaguars their fourth win of the season.

Paulic was brought onto the pitch with seven minutes left in the match but the Croat striker did not even get to touch the ball before the final whistle.

Said Alberts: "It is a great win for us because Balestier is such a good, balanced side."

Did he feel that Paulic's absence helped his side?

Said the Dutchman: "If he had played from the start, we would have had to put one man just to mark him and that would have created space for the other forwards in Balestier.