Bozinoski delivers second trophy in eight days for Jaguars

By SANTOKH SINGH

TANJONG PAGAR secured the double last night when a Vlado Bozinoski strike in the 83rd minute beat a gallant Sembawang Rangers 1-0 in the Singapore Pools FA Cup final.

But for most of the match, the more than 9,000 fans watched the Jaguars struggle to find the form that saw them beat Singapore Armed Forces FC in the Tiger Beer Singapore Cup final eight days ago.

Instead it was the brave Stallions who won some additional fans among the neutrals for their gutsy display at the National Stadium.

In what was the last FA Cup match for S-League teams -- the competition will be contested by National Football League teams from next year -- Sembawang had the lion's share of the match.

Shaking off the disappointment of the 0-7 thrashing by Home United in the third place play-off for the Singapore Cup at the same venue last week, it was Sembawang which carried the match to its opponent.

But it learnt a bitter footballing lesson -- that ball possession does not win matches. The young side from the north found that out when, after dominating for long spells, it fell to Bozinoski's left-footed pile-driver from 25 metres out.

The first person the Australian ran to after scoring was his coach Tohari Paijan and justifiably so. Tohari, who had said before the match that Bozinoski would be a key player in the absence of the injured Majid Motlagh and the suspended Samawira Basri, showed his mentor and former coach Jita Singh of Sembawang a thing or two about decision-making.

First, he made sure that Nicodeme Boucher played well up front, keeping Sembawang's key play-maker, Milomir Seslija, pinned in defence.

Second, Tohari kept his own defence compact.

And while Jita stuck to his starting 11, Tohari made timely changes to boost his team's attack.

The defensive-minded Yeo Boon Cheng was replaced by the attack-oriented Azhar Salleh just when the Stallions were proving to be ineffective.

But the killer touch from the coach came in the 81st minute. He brought on Nahar Daud for Basri Halis. Nahar was on to Sembawang sweeper Kamaruzaman Zainal like a flash and his first touch found Bozinoski, who buried his shot past the outstretched right arm of Noorisham Zainon.

Until the goal, the Stallions were very much in the match and would have reason to feel shortchanged by some of referee R. Vijay's decisions.

Vijay did not take any action against some of the flying tackles and Tanjong Pagar skipper Lim Tong Hai was lucky not to be booked for his two-footed tackles on Joselito da Silva and Tawan Sripan.

At the other end, Seslija was cautioned for his first harsh foul.