RHB Singapore Cup: Balestier Khalsa vs Home United

Home look to stamp dominance over Tigers W.Ng info@sleague.com One is a side whose dominance on the local scene since the inception of the S.League is unquestioned; the other, a team which has failed to break into the top six since the merger of tis parent clubs in 2002. Yet, to succumb to the natural inclination to write off Balestier Khalsa's chances when they travel to the Clementi Stadium for their RHB Singapore Cup first round confrontation with Home United would be a decision born of convenience rather than wisdom. Four-time Cup champions and last season's third-placed finishers in the league, the Protectors have already bested the Tigers once this term, with a Kengne Ludovick double and another from Peres de Oliveira helping them to a resounding 3-0 victory. This season, Home United are also undefeated at their new Clementi Stadium home, the very venue which one of Balestier's founding clubs once called home. Given their results on the road this season, however, the Protectors would well be wishing for the comforts and familiarity of a stadium they have plundered so many points at this season, rather than Balestier's Toa Payoh Stadium which must now appear more daunting than in previous seasons, the Tigers' woeful league position notwithstanding. Home United have had a poor start to the 2009 campaign by their own standards, already tasting defeat five times away from home in their opening ten fixtures, a statistic that has left them languishing in mid-table. With new signing Isa Halim in tow, the Protectors will be hoping for a good start as they look to improve a Cup run last season that was stopped at the quarter-final stage – incidentally the furthest their opponents on Wednesday night have ever gone in the competition. Balestier, meanwhile, were last season’s S.League wooden spoonists and find themselves in that cruelly familiar rock bottom position in the S.League yet again. Eliminated in the first round of last season’s competition, the Tigers redeemed themselves with an excellent run in the League Cup, surpassing most expectations to finish third and shocking SAFFC in the process – and coach Nasaruddin Jalil will be hopeful that his charges can pull off another surprise this time around even as he opined that Home United's dismal away record is but a temporary blip. "If you look at it, Home United have the players with quality, so it is just a matter of time (before the results start to pick up). "They have had their share of injury problems, but I believe they are still one of the teams to match. This match will be good exposure for the boys. "We'll see (if we can surprise them). They are a good team, with good players and a good bench. We will have to work hard against them." Nasa, as the coach is affectionately known, will be without the services of some of his most influential players – foreigners Seth Galloway and Julio Eduardo are injured, while captain Jufri Taha is a doubt – but he maintains that the rest of his players are geared up for the match. "It's unfortunate that we won't have them available, but I think we have enough (quality) to play with, so we're looking forward to the game. "To me there is no difference between the Cup or the League (in the way we approach the matches); it is just whether we get knocked out or if we get to progress and play in the next round or not.”