Stewart, Ong agreed on abandoning match

By Gabriel Tan

Harimau were leading 1-0 at the Yishun Stadium courtesy of Thamil Arasu's 12th-minute penalty when the match was halted shortly after the hour mark due to heavy rain and lightning.

Following a 45-minute delay, match officials convened with coach and captain from both sides before deciding to abandon the game.

Despite admitting the decision to suspend the game in the 64th minute came at a bad time given his side were beginning to threaten their opponents, Stewart has no doubt the correct call had been made.

"I definitely think it was the right decision to abandon the game," the Australian told ESPNSTAR.com.

"Perhaps it came at a slightly bad time because I did think we were doing well in the second half.

"But the safety of the players is paramount and we can't afford to compromise that."

Like Stewart, Ong was also slightly frustrated at the timing of the halt, but agreed it was in the players' best interests to stop proceedings.

"The boys were abit frustrated that we were leading 1-0 but had to abandon the game," he said.

"But safety is very important - that's the number one thing in football.

"The official decided to abandon the game. We have to follow the rules and it's good for everybody."

Despite having been in the lead, the ex-Malaysia international admitted Balestier had given them a tough fight, but is hoping the rearranged match will be kind to them, given their hectic fixture schedule.

"It was definitely a tough game as we had expected," Ong added.

"I hope the FAS [Football Association of Singapore] will come up with a suitable date for us.

"We have another game on Sunday [against Gombak United] and then next week, we fly to Vietnam to take part in the Newspaper Cup."

Thursday's other game between Geylang United and Gombak at the Bedok Stadium was also called off with the Eagles leading 1-0 at the time.