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Balestier Khalsa are through to the 2015 TNP League Cup final after edging Hougang United 3-2 at the Jalan Besar Stadium on Monday night. In a topsy-turvy game, both teams exchanged leads but eventually, it was the Tigers who ran out winners in the end via substitute Ignatius Ang's exquisite lob. Marko Kraljevic's side will take on Albirex Niigata (S) in the final which will be played on Friday at the same venue. However the win looked an unlikely one initially as they got off to the worst possible start, with Hougang scoring inside the first 18 seconds. From the kick-off, the Cheetahs sprayed the ball around before Carlos Delgado laid on a neat through ball for Fareez Farhan to finish coolly beyond the onrushing Zaiful Nizam. That goal left the Balestier players shell-shocked as they had yet to touch the ball prior to that move. However they managed to find their feet thereafter and duly made it one apiece on 26 minutes. Brought down by Kenneth Chang inside the box, Miroslav Kristic dusted himself off to slot the resulting penalty past Hougang keeper Ahmadulhaq Che Omar. Buoyed by the equaliser, the Tigers grew in confidence and duly scored again nine minutes later through Kristic again. Receiving an intelligent cutback from Zulkiffli Hassim just inside the area, the 25-year-old lashed home a stupendous effort beyond the despairing dive of Ahmadulhaq. Kristic could have completed his hat trick 12 minutes into the second half after going through on goal, but Ahmadulhaq somehow managed to produce a strong left arm to deny his resulting effort. That miss proved costly as Hougang found the equalizer via fortuitous circumstances on 74 minutes. Balestier keeper Zaiful somehow allowed Igor Cerina's backpass to slip out of his grasp, as Fareez retrieved the loose ball before setting up Delgado to volley into an empty net. Sensing the opportunity to go for the winner, the Cheetahs pushed bodies forward but ended up paying the price at the other end 10 minutes later. Substitute Ang latched on to Tarik Cmajcanin's long ball just inside the Hougang box, before deftly lifting the ball over a stranded Ahmadulhaq to put his side back into the lead. That exquisite strike was enough to seal the Tigers' passage into the final. Speaking after the game, victorious coach Kraljevic lavished praise on match-winner Ang for the quality of his match-winning strike. "This guy is the best guy in training, nobody can stop him!" he exclaimed. "The things he does in training, not even Emir (Lotinac) or Igor (Cerina) can stop him. He just needed some time because he missed out on two years of football." "We lost focus in the first minute, but we started playing well after that and scored two goals. The goalkeeper (Zaiful) made an error for their second goal but at 2-2, I still believe we can go to the final and we did it." Balestier Khalsa: Zaiful Nizam (GK, C), Ahmad Syahir, Igor Cerina, Emir Lotinac, Ho Wai Loon (Hanafi Salleh 90'), Fadhil Noh (Hazzuwan Halim 90'), Poh Yifeng, Tarik Cmajcanin, Zulkiffli Hassim (Ignatius Ang 68'), Robert Pericic, Miroslav Kristic Hougang United: Ahmadulhaq Che Omar (GK), Yuki Uchiyama (Diego Gama 73'), Kunihiro Yamashita, Tengku Mushadad (Muhaymin Salim 88'), Kenneth Chang (Taufiq Ghani 63'), Fazli Jaffar, Nurhilmi Jasni, Atsushi Shimono, Carlos Delgado, Fairoz Hasan (C), Fareez Farhan
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