A brace from Azhar Sairudin helped Home United ease to a 3-0 victory against Sporting Westlake on Wednesday night as they ended their 2015 TNP League Cup campaign on a positive note.
Both teams had already been eliminated from the tournament before kick-off, having each lost to Group C winners Albirex Niigata (S) in previous matches.
But pride was still at stake for the Great Eastern Yeo's S.League giants at the Yishun Stadium against their National Football League (NFL) Division 1 opponents.
Protectors coach Philippe Aw rested key trio Abdil Qaiyyim, Song Ui-young and Ken Ilso, but they still dominated proceedings from the start and saw a goal chalked off for offside after just 42 seconds.
Sporting had goalkeeper Asyraf Asyfar to thank for keeping the scoreline down, as the 25-year-old reproduced the good form he displayed against the White Swans.
Kamel Ramdani was denied in a one-on-one situation on 10 minutes, while Fazli Ayob's well-struck half-volley was repelled minutes later.
Asyraf also tipped away Ambroise Begue's snap-shot on the stroke of half-time, though the hosts had already breached his goal twice by then.
A tactical tweak to push Azhar further up behind Ramdani after the first 15 minutes paid dividends, as the 29-year-old began surging into the box more often.
Both goals came from such late runs, as the midfielder headed in Sirina Camara's cross on 21 minutes before tapping in another decent delivery from Ang Zhi Wei on 34 minutes.
Protectors captain Juma'at Jantan was the key orchestrator in central midfield, setting up Camara with some neat footwork before doing the same for Ang with a splendid 45-yard diagonal pass.
Ang was a livewire down the right too and it was the full-back who extended the lead just a minute after the break. It was a fluke goal, as an over-hit cross floated into the far corner -- his first-ever goal for Home.
Asyraf subsequently pulled off a superb save off Azhar's 25-yard thunderbolt to deny the forward his hat-trick.
Sporting's best chance had come in the first half when Selamat Jalit scuffed a great chance from six yards, after strike partner Hakim Abdullah had laid the ball on a plate following a superb surging run.
However, that miss was eclipsed by Fazli's shocker on 72 minutes as he somehow tapped Ang's square pass wide with an open goal in front of him.
Substitute Sufiano Salleh then wasted another clear opportunity to add gloss to the scoreline seven minutes later, blasting well over from 10 yards after a smart dummy from Stanely Ng.
Ramdani wasted a final opportunity by heading straight at Asyraf from close range, which capped off a relatively lacklustre second period from the home team.
Aw acknowledged as much after the game, stating that they perhaps still lacked "a little more focus" in the box.
"I am very happy with the first-half performance, but in the second we missed a few sitters and for me that's the disappointing part," he reflected.
"The good part is that we scored three good goals. You can see now we are dominating games, but I believe we will finish off the chances sooner or later."
He also lamented their failure to progress further, especially having dominated both ties, but was happy to praise his two-goal hero.
"There is no doubting his quality, the goals were well-taken and I am happy for him [especially] with his recent tragedy at home," he asserted. "For sure you will see more of him; he will get better and better."
Opposite number Jaslee Hatta was all smiles though as he lauded his boys for performing "beyond expectations".
"We had a tough game against Albirex, it took a lot from us, to come here and play 90 minutes, give them a hard fight, it was a good performance," he praised. "Out of 10, I'd give them 11 for giving their best."
Home United: Shahril Jantan, Ang Zhi Wei (Song Ui-young 76'), Redzwan Atan, R. Aaravin, Sirina Camara (Sufianto Salleh 69'), Juma'at Jantan (C), Azhar Sairudin, Yasir Hanapi (Stanely Ng 60'), Fazli Ayob, Ambroise Begue, Kamel Ramdani.
Sporting Westlake: Asyraf Asyfar, Aidil Zulkiflee (Miftahul Arifin 74'), Fathi Yunos, Rahman Hassan (C), Hairulnazari Abdullah, Amir Asyraff (Faizul Mohd Noor 74'), Khairul Solyhin Suriyandi Naib, Yuto Nagai, Hakim Abdullah, Selamat Jalit (Dawood Anuar 40').