Sazali Abdul Aziz
info@sleague.com
The man with the blonde hair looked relaxed, leaning back in his chair as members of the media fired questions at his new head coach sitting beside him. His striking pink track shoes stood out from his team-mates’, and perhaps hinted at the star quality he possesses.
“I like to win,” Niklas Sandberg declared, when asked what he hopes to achieve at his new club. “In the past three years, all the teams I have been in have finished top, and I hope to bring this experience to SAFFC.”
The Swede was one of ten new signings unveiled by S.League champions at Jalan Besar Stadium on Thursday, and is considered an integral part of a new-look SAFFC team which is looking to make an impact not only locally, but in continental competition as well.
Club chairman BG Tung Yui Fai said: “The club have won the S.League title 8 times in fourteen years, and four years in a row. It is an understatement that we are the premier team in the S.League.
“In terms of being the best in the S.League, we have nothing to prove anymore. The target we have set for ourselves now, is to carry the flag for the S.League in the region, in the AFC Champions League (ACL).”
With a renewed focus on the ACL, BG Tung feels that this is reflected in the signings the club has made, with Sandberg arguably the biggest name to sign on in the close season.
The 31-year-old helped CFR Cluj and Stabæk IF to the league championships of Romania and Norway in 2007 and 2008 respectively. He also helped FK Haugesund to the Norwegian second division title earlier this year, and counts his two caps for Sweden earned in January 2007 as one of his proudest achievements.
“I’ve played professional football for many years in Europe – 13 years – and I’m looking for a new challenge, a new adventure. Money is not so important for me right now, I took a big pay cut to join the team,” he explained.
Sandberg has been to Singapore three times since visiting the country on a training tour with AIK Stockholm in 1997, and says the humidity here is a big challenge for him. He is confident though, that he has what it takes to settle in. “In Romania, I played in 40 °C, and then one month later it was -10 °C, so I hope I can adapt,” he smiled.
Uruguayan striker Federico Martínez has also joined from Brazilian Série C side Cabofriense. The rangy attacker laughed – perhaps out of nervousness – after being told that he was brought in to replace three-time defending S.League top-scorer Aleksandar Duric.
“That’s why the job is harder,” he said. “I have to show my fellow players that I can be a good striker, but it is a very hard job to fill the shoes of a great striker.”
Bok though, has no worries about his new signings, and has been impressed with what he has seen so far. He has even likened Martínez to a former SAFFC great: “The thing about Rico is that he can create goals by himself, like Mirko (former striker Mirko Grabovac).”
“I knew he was good in the air, but when we started to do ballwork in training, man, he can shoot. Left foot, right foot, he can take shots well, and this is the type of striker I like,” gushed Bok.
Sandberg and Martínez are joined by former Albirex Niigata (Singapore) midfielder Taisuke Akiyoshi - who rejected a chance to join Albirex’s J-League squad for a training camp to sign on professional terms with SAFFC – and towering Croatian centre-half Ivan Lovric to make up SAFFC’s new foreign signings.
On the local front, the club have also snared six Singaporean players, including Singapore internationals Indra Sahdan and Noh Rahman. The upcoming season is especially important to striker Indra, who feels he has a point to prove.
“09 wasn’t a good season for me, and I am out to show that I have not become a bad player over the course of one year,” he said. “I still have two or three years of good football left in me, and I want to prove I am not over the hill.”
For the club to qualify for the ACL group stage though, they must first defeat Indonesian champions Sriwijaya on 30 January in the first of two playoff matches. If they manage to overcome the Palembang side, they will face either Vietnamese champions SHB Ðà Nẵng or Thai champions Muang Thong United in the second playoff game.
Head coach Richard Bok will need his new charges to gel quickly, and is hoping a training camp in Vietnam will do the trick. The Warriors will be playing V-League sides Đồng Tâm Long An F.C. and Navibank Saigon on 12th and 15th January, respectively.
Bok also took the opportunity to announce his new team captain “for 2010 and beyond” – goalkeeper Shahril Jantan. Duric had been skippering the team for the last two seasons.
“When choosing a captain, you need someone with leadership. Shahril is someone who works well with both sides – the locals and the foreigners – and he fits the bill well,” explained Bok, who added that Daniel Bennett and John Wilkinson will be the team’s new vice-captains.
Shahril himself was humbled by the appointment, but feels he is up to the task. “I accepted the appointment having already played under two good captains in Noor Ali, who was good at rallying the team, and Aleks, who led with his professionalism.
“I don’t think it will distract me from my job as a goalkeeper, and I hope I can do well for the team as captain.”
SAFFC’s new signings: Rezal Hassan (player/goalkeeper coach) Hyrulnizam Juma’at (Young Lions) Noh Rahman (Sengkang Punggol) Ivan Lovric (Gosk KG, Croatia) Syaiful Iskandar (Woodlands Wellington) Niklas Sandberg (FK Haugesund, Norway) Rhysh Roshan Rai (Balestier Khalsa) Taisuke Akiyoshi (Albirex Niigata, Singapore) Indra Sahdan (Sengkang Punggol) Federico Martínez (Cabofriense, Brazil)
Friday, December 25, 2009
Thursday, July 9, 2009
New coach Satria enjoying academy attachment
Tam Cheong Yan
info@sleague.com
For seven years, Satria Mad has diligently served Tampines Rovers as a wingback on the playing field, patrolling the right flank with zeal and industry.
This year, the No.4 has found himself taking on an extra role with the Stags, as a coordinator and coach with the club’s youth academy.
The Tampines Rovers Football Club Soccer Academy, as it is formally known, has been part of the club setup since it was formed in 2003, the brainchild of club chairman Teo Hock Seng and goalkeeper coach Lim Chiew Peng.
Now into its seventh year, the academy has grown under the care of the club’s officials, who have from time to time enlisted the help of players to teach the boys football skills.
The newest addition to the coaching panel is Satria, who had earned his AFC ‘C’ Licence in coaching several years ago but never had a chance to put his learning into practical use.
That chance has now come for the 31-year-old, who has been spending Sunday mornings and evenings at the academy’s training field behind Tampines Stadium every week since 1 March.
Working together with staff coaches Narong Saiket and Hyrizan Jufri, as well as volunteers like Yunos Samad and A. Rangasamy, Satria was clearly enjoying his new job when sleague.com recently paid a visit.
“To tell you the truth, I’m still new to the idea of running an academy,” he said candidly.
“The club management asked me to take over the role this year, to see if I can cope with the work here while playing full-time. I guess it’s the club’s way of looking out for my welfare and my future.
“It has been a big learning experience for me, and one thing I have learnt is that there is a lot of work to do and a lot of sacrifices to be made running an academy. If doing a relatively small project like this takes so much work, imagine running a whole club office!
“Luckily this academy has many veterans running it for the last six years, all of them dedicated to developing youngsters. You never know, maybe out of the 100 or so boys, you may discover one Fandi Ahmad.
“Never mind one Fandi Ahmad, it is not easy to find one Aliff!” he then joked, referring to teammate Aliff Shafaein, the diminutive forward dubbed “The Little Master” for his outstanding on-the-ball technique.
“We get lots of Aliffs in terms of size. Now, we are hoping to find and develop an Aliff in terms of talent!”
Unearthing somebody of Aliff’s calibre may take a while yet, but the academy has not fared too badly in its time, having produced two Singaporean representatives in the ongoing Asian Youth Games in Jeffrey Lightfoot and Adri Adnan.
Having seen the other coaches nurture such bright talents, Satria knows the academy has set itself some high standards to live up to, particularly among parents who may have high expectations.
Fortunately for the newcomer, the pressure has not been on him as he continues to find his feet working with the younger boys.
“I’ve had some feedback about my work, both the good and not-so-good,” he said when asked about how parents have responded to his coaching.
“As a professional player, I’ve to learn to talk to the children at their level. But I think the club sees me as someone who is quite vocal and who can mix with kids, so they put me in charge of the Under-8 and Under-10 groups while the veterans work with the older boys.
“The easy thing about working with kids is they listen, and they like to listen. But their attention span is very short, so you have to keep repeating yourself and be patient.
“So far, I’m happy that the academy is doing well. It has been an enriching experience, and when you see the kids doing what you have taught them to do, you can feel a great sense of satisfaction.”
Apart from putting the boys through weekly training sessions, the academy also organizes its own tournaments and sends teams to take part in competitions held by other organizations, such as Northeast CDC and Singapore Cricket Club.
Boys who do not get to feature in these tournaments can also have their chance to play in specially-organized friendly matches with other football academies, thus ensuring that all of them can enjoy themselves.
The academy’s good work has drawn positive feedback from many participants’ parents, including systems analyst Allan Umandap.
The 32-year-old Filipino, who has been working in Singapore for the last three years, enrolled his 12-year-old son Whilce into the programme in June this year after the boy had learnt of the programmes from his schoolmates at Tampines North Primary School.
Mr. Umandap was visibly pleased as he watched Whilce, who plays for his school, mix comfortably with the 80 or so other boys despite being one of the newer faces at the academy.
“My son picked up football after he came to Singapore, and I thought that since he likes the sport, I’ll support his wish to come here,” he told sleague.com.
“I’m very happy to see him play with the kids here, and I can see he’s enjoying it. That’s really important.
“Actually, he’s always been telling me that he wants to train hard here, so that when he goes back he can play for the Philippines. The training here is better than what we can find back home, and if he does well, he can find opportunities when he goes to college.”
Like Mr. Umandap, technician Mok Kar Loon and his wife spend most Sunday mornings following the training sessions held by the academy.
Their 9-year-old son Shao Yang had completed the first three-month term this year, which was held from March, and has gone on to enroll for a second term.
“My son likes the sport; he’s started watching football since he was five,” revealed Mr. Mok.
“I then found out about this academy when I was surfing the Internet. I decided to have a look at the programme, and I found that it was better than what I initially expected.
“My son was shy about joining at first, but he enjoyed it very much, so we signed him for a second term. He even wanted to pay the registration fees himself instead of letting us pay for him!
“He’s now more outspoken when he is playing, and I can see he’s learnt to make more friends and work with people better. He’s also learnt to read the game better when I bring him to watch games, mostly over here when we watch Tampines Rovers.”
Mr. Mok is not the only parent who has brought his child to Tampines Stadium on S.League matchdays, as sleague.com has learnt. And that can only be good news for Tampines, who enjoy one of the highest average home attendances in the league.
The support from people who participate in the club’s programmes is an important part of the club’s wider plan to increase awareness of and interest in the Stags, as Narong, who also works with the club’s Centre of Excellence, explained.
“The Chairman hopes that, through the academy, we can also promote our team to the children and their parents,” he said.
“We make passes for the children who join the academy so they can come to our S.League matches. When the children want to come, their parents will bring them to the matches, so the parents are also here to watch us.”
“I’ve never taken business management courses when I was in school, but I’ve learnt things like this through working in the academy,” added Satria.
“As players, we used to ask a lot about our pay and our bonuses, but we never knew where all the money or all the fans came from. Now, as a part of the academy, I have come to appreciate what the club is doing not just for the future, but also for us.”
For more information on the Tampines Rovers FC Soccer Academy, please click here.
Tampines Soccer Academy’s boys will feature in a friendly match on 10 July at Jalan Besar Stadium, where they will play against a Global Football Academy team coached by Satria’s teammate Akihiro Nakamura.
Don’t miss the kids in action in the match, which will be a curtain-raiser to the Stags’ highly-anticipated Great Eastern-YEO’S S.League match with Bruneian side DPMM FC
info@sleague.com
For seven years, Satria Mad has diligently served Tampines Rovers as a wingback on the playing field, patrolling the right flank with zeal and industry.
This year, the No.4 has found himself taking on an extra role with the Stags, as a coordinator and coach with the club’s youth academy.
The Tampines Rovers Football Club Soccer Academy, as it is formally known, has been part of the club setup since it was formed in 2003, the brainchild of club chairman Teo Hock Seng and goalkeeper coach Lim Chiew Peng.
Now into its seventh year, the academy has grown under the care of the club’s officials, who have from time to time enlisted the help of players to teach the boys football skills.
The newest addition to the coaching panel is Satria, who had earned his AFC ‘C’ Licence in coaching several years ago but never had a chance to put his learning into practical use.
That chance has now come for the 31-year-old, who has been spending Sunday mornings and evenings at the academy’s training field behind Tampines Stadium every week since 1 March.
Working together with staff coaches Narong Saiket and Hyrizan Jufri, as well as volunteers like Yunos Samad and A. Rangasamy, Satria was clearly enjoying his new job when sleague.com recently paid a visit.
“To tell you the truth, I’m still new to the idea of running an academy,” he said candidly.
“The club management asked me to take over the role this year, to see if I can cope with the work here while playing full-time. I guess it’s the club’s way of looking out for my welfare and my future.
“It has been a big learning experience for me, and one thing I have learnt is that there is a lot of work to do and a lot of sacrifices to be made running an academy. If doing a relatively small project like this takes so much work, imagine running a whole club office!
“Luckily this academy has many veterans running it for the last six years, all of them dedicated to developing youngsters. You never know, maybe out of the 100 or so boys, you may discover one Fandi Ahmad.
“Never mind one Fandi Ahmad, it is not easy to find one Aliff!” he then joked, referring to teammate Aliff Shafaein, the diminutive forward dubbed “The Little Master” for his outstanding on-the-ball technique.
“We get lots of Aliffs in terms of size. Now, we are hoping to find and develop an Aliff in terms of talent!”
Unearthing somebody of Aliff’s calibre may take a while yet, but the academy has not fared too badly in its time, having produced two Singaporean representatives in the ongoing Asian Youth Games in Jeffrey Lightfoot and Adri Adnan.
Having seen the other coaches nurture such bright talents, Satria knows the academy has set itself some high standards to live up to, particularly among parents who may have high expectations.
Fortunately for the newcomer, the pressure has not been on him as he continues to find his feet working with the younger boys.
“I’ve had some feedback about my work, both the good and not-so-good,” he said when asked about how parents have responded to his coaching.
“As a professional player, I’ve to learn to talk to the children at their level. But I think the club sees me as someone who is quite vocal and who can mix with kids, so they put me in charge of the Under-8 and Under-10 groups while the veterans work with the older boys.
“The easy thing about working with kids is they listen, and they like to listen. But their attention span is very short, so you have to keep repeating yourself and be patient.
“So far, I’m happy that the academy is doing well. It has been an enriching experience, and when you see the kids doing what you have taught them to do, you can feel a great sense of satisfaction.”
Apart from putting the boys through weekly training sessions, the academy also organizes its own tournaments and sends teams to take part in competitions held by other organizations, such as Northeast CDC and Singapore Cricket Club.
Boys who do not get to feature in these tournaments can also have their chance to play in specially-organized friendly matches with other football academies, thus ensuring that all of them can enjoy themselves.
The academy’s good work has drawn positive feedback from many participants’ parents, including systems analyst Allan Umandap.
The 32-year-old Filipino, who has been working in Singapore for the last three years, enrolled his 12-year-old son Whilce into the programme in June this year after the boy had learnt of the programmes from his schoolmates at Tampines North Primary School.
Mr. Umandap was visibly pleased as he watched Whilce, who plays for his school, mix comfortably with the 80 or so other boys despite being one of the newer faces at the academy.
“My son picked up football after he came to Singapore, and I thought that since he likes the sport, I’ll support his wish to come here,” he told sleague.com.
“I’m very happy to see him play with the kids here, and I can see he’s enjoying it. That’s really important.
“Actually, he’s always been telling me that he wants to train hard here, so that when he goes back he can play for the Philippines. The training here is better than what we can find back home, and if he does well, he can find opportunities when he goes to college.”
Like Mr. Umandap, technician Mok Kar Loon and his wife spend most Sunday mornings following the training sessions held by the academy.
Their 9-year-old son Shao Yang had completed the first three-month term this year, which was held from March, and has gone on to enroll for a second term.
“My son likes the sport; he’s started watching football since he was five,” revealed Mr. Mok.
“I then found out about this academy when I was surfing the Internet. I decided to have a look at the programme, and I found that it was better than what I initially expected.
“My son was shy about joining at first, but he enjoyed it very much, so we signed him for a second term. He even wanted to pay the registration fees himself instead of letting us pay for him!
“He’s now more outspoken when he is playing, and I can see he’s learnt to make more friends and work with people better. He’s also learnt to read the game better when I bring him to watch games, mostly over here when we watch Tampines Rovers.”
Mr. Mok is not the only parent who has brought his child to Tampines Stadium on S.League matchdays, as sleague.com has learnt. And that can only be good news for Tampines, who enjoy one of the highest average home attendances in the league.
The support from people who participate in the club’s programmes is an important part of the club’s wider plan to increase awareness of and interest in the Stags, as Narong, who also works with the club’s Centre of Excellence, explained.
“The Chairman hopes that, through the academy, we can also promote our team to the children and their parents,” he said.
“We make passes for the children who join the academy so they can come to our S.League matches. When the children want to come, their parents will bring them to the matches, so the parents are also here to watch us.”
“I’ve never taken business management courses when I was in school, but I’ve learnt things like this through working in the academy,” added Satria.
“As players, we used to ask a lot about our pay and our bonuses, but we never knew where all the money or all the fans came from. Now, as a part of the academy, I have come to appreciate what the club is doing not just for the future, but also for us.”
For more information on the Tampines Rovers FC Soccer Academy, please click here.
Tampines Soccer Academy’s boys will feature in a friendly match on 10 July at Jalan Besar Stadium, where they will play against a Global Football Academy team coached by Satria’s teammate Akihiro Nakamura.
Don’t miss the kids in action in the match, which will be a curtain-raiser to the Stags’ highly-anticipated Great Eastern-YEO’S S.League match with Bruneian side DPMM FC
SAFFC vs Gombak United [4-1]
Warriors toil to overwhelm Gombak
Gary Koh
info@sleague.com
Defending S.League champions Singapore Armed Forces (SAFFC) widened the gap between themselves and the chasing pack at the top when they capitalized on home ground advantage and defensive mistakes to defeat second-placed Gombak United 4-1 at Choa Chu Kang on Tuesday evening.
A second-half brace from skipper Aleksandar Duric, added to earlier goals from John Wilkinson and Park Tae Won, put the Warriors in the driving seat before Thai midfielder Theerawekin Seehawong reduced the deficit late on.
The win put the home side eight points clear at the summit and avenged a 3-1 reverse at Jurong West earlier this season, while Duric pulled away in the goalscorers chart to claim outright leadership at 16 league goals so far.
SAFFC came into the match with several players carrying injuries and knocks. Mustaqim Manzur (concussion) remained sidelined while Thai veteran Therdsak Chaiman (shoulder separation) and Ahmad Latiff Khamarudin (hamstring) were only fit enough to make the bench.
Without regular wingers Mustaqim and Latiff, rightback Hafiz Osman was pushed up into the role as coach Richard Bok fielded a 4-1-4-1 formation to contain their opponents’ powerful attacking line.
After losing 1-2 to Woodlands Wellington at home over the weekend, Gombak coach Darren Stewart rang in several changes to the starting eleven.
Australian midfielder Goran Subara was omitted from the matchday squad and Nigerian forward Ojimi Gabriel Obatola, who was level with Duric on 14 goals in the top scorers chart before the game, was benched after suffering from a personal goal drought.
Bah Mamadou returned to central defence alongside captain Sevki Sha’ban while Emmanuel Emuejeraye slotted in at right wing.
The home side did not have the best of starts on the heavy pitch as they struggled to impose themselves in the game, and were put under constant pressure from the visitors.
They resorted to direct balls that often went straight back to a red shirt and struggled to control and retain possession.
Despite their initial troubles, the Warriors took the lead in the 17th minute from their first coherent attacking move of the game.
After stretching the Gombak defence from both sides, Wilkinson pounced at the semi-circle to unleash a thunderbolt straight into the top corner.
Bulls goalkeeper Fadhil Salim had to be alert to keep the score at 1-0 midway through the first half, when he had to use his legs to clear Shaiful Esah’s free kick on the right off the line.
At the other end, the visitors continued to pile the pressure as they searched for the equalizer. But either last-minute interceptions or poor finishing from the forwards prevented them from threatening Shahril Jantan’s goal.
The closest they came to pulling level was on 37 minutes, when Nigerian forward Kingsley Njoku sent an Agu Casmir low cross on the side netting with the empty goal at its mercy.
They were undone five minutes before half-time when a calamitous mix-up among their defenders allowed Park to tap in a deflected Duric shot at close range and make it 2-0.
Stewart sent on Fazrul Nawaz in place of Fazli Jaffar after the interval as Gombak tried to retrieve something from the game.
However there was nothing Fazrul could do to help his colleagues when the visitors went three goals down seven minutes after the restart.
Another breakdown in communications within the defence allowed Duric to jog into the six-yard box unmarked and tap home the loose ball for his 15th league goal of the season.
The veteran forward nearly doubled his tally just after the hour, when his shot off a Hafiz low cross on the right went just wide.
SAFFC were now in command of the proceedings after their labour to go three goals ahead, as they held off the increasingly desperate attempts from their fellow title challengers.
They eventually sealed three points at 4-0 with 13 minutes left when their captain scored off a Park assist, following a quick counter from Hafiz on the right after robbing Gombak leftback Hamqaamal Shah of the ball.
After numerous fruitless attempts to score past Shahril, Theerawekin provided some consolation for the visitors who suffered their second consecutive league defeat when his 35-metre piledriver was deflected into the net three minutes from time.
Bok was delighted with his side’s continued winning streak as they increased their lead at the top of the table.
“The team play, team spirit, hunger and desire, all of them are slowly coming back,” he beamed.
“It was a good effort from the boys and they played simple and to instructions.
“It took a while to settle as Gombak are a tough and physical team, but we showed we are up for it this time round.
“Some of the play we had was good, we displayed nice play and great flow during the game, and hopefully we can keep it up.”
Meanwhile, Stewart felt his team were hard done by with the score but believed the long break ahead would help them overcome the trauma of two straight losses.
“I don’t think we deserve to lose 1-4, let alone go down 0-2 at half-time as the goals then came against the run of play,” lamented the Australian.
“I could not fault the boys, the chances they had and the effort they put in was fantastic though.
“I do not dwell on the decisions made and we cannot look back as what was past was past.
“The only good thing we have now is the 12 days’ break before our next game. This will give us some time to reorganize and regroup.
“The boys will not need much picking up after the losses. They are strong characters and good lads and it will not take long to make them bounce back.”
Gary Koh
info@sleague.com
Defending S.League champions Singapore Armed Forces (SAFFC) widened the gap between themselves and the chasing pack at the top when they capitalized on home ground advantage and defensive mistakes to defeat second-placed Gombak United 4-1 at Choa Chu Kang on Tuesday evening.
A second-half brace from skipper Aleksandar Duric, added to earlier goals from John Wilkinson and Park Tae Won, put the Warriors in the driving seat before Thai midfielder Theerawekin Seehawong reduced the deficit late on.
The win put the home side eight points clear at the summit and avenged a 3-1 reverse at Jurong West earlier this season, while Duric pulled away in the goalscorers chart to claim outright leadership at 16 league goals so far.
SAFFC came into the match with several players carrying injuries and knocks. Mustaqim Manzur (concussion) remained sidelined while Thai veteran Therdsak Chaiman (shoulder separation) and Ahmad Latiff Khamarudin (hamstring) were only fit enough to make the bench.
Without regular wingers Mustaqim and Latiff, rightback Hafiz Osman was pushed up into the role as coach Richard Bok fielded a 4-1-4-1 formation to contain their opponents’ powerful attacking line.
After losing 1-2 to Woodlands Wellington at home over the weekend, Gombak coach Darren Stewart rang in several changes to the starting eleven.
Australian midfielder Goran Subara was omitted from the matchday squad and Nigerian forward Ojimi Gabriel Obatola, who was level with Duric on 14 goals in the top scorers chart before the game, was benched after suffering from a personal goal drought.
Bah Mamadou returned to central defence alongside captain Sevki Sha’ban while Emmanuel Emuejeraye slotted in at right wing.
The home side did not have the best of starts on the heavy pitch as they struggled to impose themselves in the game, and were put under constant pressure from the visitors.
They resorted to direct balls that often went straight back to a red shirt and struggled to control and retain possession.
Despite their initial troubles, the Warriors took the lead in the 17th minute from their first coherent attacking move of the game.
After stretching the Gombak defence from both sides, Wilkinson pounced at the semi-circle to unleash a thunderbolt straight into the top corner.
Bulls goalkeeper Fadhil Salim had to be alert to keep the score at 1-0 midway through the first half, when he had to use his legs to clear Shaiful Esah’s free kick on the right off the line.
At the other end, the visitors continued to pile the pressure as they searched for the equalizer. But either last-minute interceptions or poor finishing from the forwards prevented them from threatening Shahril Jantan’s goal.
The closest they came to pulling level was on 37 minutes, when Nigerian forward Kingsley Njoku sent an Agu Casmir low cross on the side netting with the empty goal at its mercy.
They were undone five minutes before half-time when a calamitous mix-up among their defenders allowed Park to tap in a deflected Duric shot at close range and make it 2-0.
Stewart sent on Fazrul Nawaz in place of Fazli Jaffar after the interval as Gombak tried to retrieve something from the game.
However there was nothing Fazrul could do to help his colleagues when the visitors went three goals down seven minutes after the restart.
Another breakdown in communications within the defence allowed Duric to jog into the six-yard box unmarked and tap home the loose ball for his 15th league goal of the season.
The veteran forward nearly doubled his tally just after the hour, when his shot off a Hafiz low cross on the right went just wide.
SAFFC were now in command of the proceedings after their labour to go three goals ahead, as they held off the increasingly desperate attempts from their fellow title challengers.
They eventually sealed three points at 4-0 with 13 minutes left when their captain scored off a Park assist, following a quick counter from Hafiz on the right after robbing Gombak leftback Hamqaamal Shah of the ball.
After numerous fruitless attempts to score past Shahril, Theerawekin provided some consolation for the visitors who suffered their second consecutive league defeat when his 35-metre piledriver was deflected into the net three minutes from time.
Bok was delighted with his side’s continued winning streak as they increased their lead at the top of the table.
“The team play, team spirit, hunger and desire, all of them are slowly coming back,” he beamed.
“It was a good effort from the boys and they played simple and to instructions.
“It took a while to settle as Gombak are a tough and physical team, but we showed we are up for it this time round.
“Some of the play we had was good, we displayed nice play and great flow during the game, and hopefully we can keep it up.”
Meanwhile, Stewart felt his team were hard done by with the score but believed the long break ahead would help them overcome the trauma of two straight losses.
“I don’t think we deserve to lose 1-4, let alone go down 0-2 at half-time as the goals then came against the run of play,” lamented the Australian.
“I could not fault the boys, the chances they had and the effort they put in was fantastic though.
“I do not dwell on the decisions made and we cannot look back as what was past was past.
“The only good thing we have now is the 12 days’ break before our next game. This will give us some time to reorganize and regroup.
“The boys will not need much picking up after the losses. They are strong characters and good lads and it will not take long to make them bounce back.”
Woodlands Wellington vs Home United [2-1]
Rams continue rise with Home scalp
Paul Green
info@sleague.com
Woodlands Wellington are beginning to make their move towards the top half of the Great Eastern-YEO’S S.League ladder, and they are doing it at the expense of teams like Home United, whom they defeated 2-1 at Woodlands Stadium on Tuesday night.
The Rams recorded their second win in a row, following their sensational 2-1 result over Gombak United the previous Saturday, and they put a real dent in the Protectors’ hopes of figuring among the top three or four teams again this season with this sound victory.
Any fears that a depleted Woodlands side might struggle against an experienced Home outfit were quelled as early as the 15th minute, when Singapore defender Precious Emuejeraye fired in a free kick that beat goalkeeper Lionel Lewis all ends up.
The Rams had lost captain Azlan Alipah to an injury sustained during the warm-up, and were already without the injured Hasrin Jailani, plus the suspended pairing of Luis Eduardo Hicks and Syaiful Iskandar.
While it must be mentioned that Protectors midfielder Shahril Ishak also had to pull out of the squad after a mishap during the warm-up, the visitors were really only missing Peres de Oliveira from their best possible lineup, according to their coach PN Sivaji.
“Our first half was very poor,” he said after the game.
“They were much quicker to the ball than we were and there were far too many individuals out there and not enough team work, though, to their credit, the players came back strongly in the second half and I could not fault their effort then.”
But by that stage the damage had been done.
Adding to the brilliantly-struck free kick from Precious 25 yards out, after a ‘silly foul’ had been given away in Sivaji’s words, Woodlands scored a second goal on the half-hour.
Iranian forward Mojtaba Tehranizadeh proved a real handful for the heavily-manned Home United defence throughout the first 45 minutes.
Several moves he was involved in had already led to some narrow misses, before he waltzed through on the right and gave Lewis no chance again with an authoritative finish from 15 yards in the 30th minute.
The ease with which the marauding striker had found his way past the weak challenge of Juma’at Jantan must have alarmed the visitors, who still had the job of containing both he and his striking partner, the Egyptian Zakaria Yousif, for the remaining hour of the game.
Jamil Ali was playing in an unfamiliar role in the middle of the park, too, due to injuries to others in the Woodlands squad, but he figured in some important moves and was, significantly, the man brought down by Itimi Dickson when the free kick that led to the opening goal was awarded.
Jamil clipped a good chance over the bar in the 19th from the Iranian’s cross and had another good shot blocked in the 32nd, but the home team’s dominance withered markedly after the break.
A more resolute Protectors side could see that the Rams were sitting back, hoping to catch them on the counterattack, but nothing dangerous materialised as Home made all the running after the break.
Home, however, were denied at least a share of the spoils and possibly a come-from-behind victory due to the superb saves of Rams goalkeeper Rezal Hassan.
The stand-in captain made at least three crucial saves in the last half-hour to ensure the points would not slip away from his team’s grasp.
In addition, he cut out cross after cross with alacrity and was beaten only once, Norikazu Murakami getting another goal against the Rams to add to the hat-trick he collected in the teams’ previous meeting at the end of March.
Murakami and his lively strike partner, Kengne Ludovick, were both out of luck, either firing wide when well-placed or seeing defenders coming to the Rams’ rescue with well-timed tackles.
Murakami’s goal in the 71st, when it came, was spectacular.
A corner won on the right saw the ball quickly played short to Dickson, whose sweeping cross was latched onto by the Protectors No.9 with an overhead scissors kick that finally saw Rezal beaten from 12 yards.
There was still time for Home to win the game and every effort was made to achieve that objective, but when Ludovick could not converge with the best timing on the perfect cross from Dickson in the 74th and Valery Hiek’s stoppage-time free kick was tipped expertly over the bar, the visitors knew it was not to be their day.
Rams coach Nenad Bacina was a very happy man at the end.
“The players worked very hard for this result,” he said.
“Not just tonight but in many of our earlier games where we did not have any luck. Tonight we are getting the benefit of all our hard work at last.
“Tonight it was Home United who had none of the luck, but with our captain missing and two players in strange positions it was an excellent performance by the team against one of the best teams in the league.”
A week ago the Rams were among the strugglers in ninth place. Now they are on a roll, having moved on to 22 points and into seventh spot.
With a weekend home game to come against Balestier Khalsa they must fancy their chances of drawing level with the Protectors, who have 25 points and sit in fifth spot.
Home must now lick their wounds and return to Clementi Stadium on Saturday night to send Geylang United away pointless, so that they can at least keep the momentum going on their own turf.
Paul Green
info@sleague.com
Woodlands Wellington are beginning to make their move towards the top half of the Great Eastern-YEO’S S.League ladder, and they are doing it at the expense of teams like Home United, whom they defeated 2-1 at Woodlands Stadium on Tuesday night.
The Rams recorded their second win in a row, following their sensational 2-1 result over Gombak United the previous Saturday, and they put a real dent in the Protectors’ hopes of figuring among the top three or four teams again this season with this sound victory.
Any fears that a depleted Woodlands side might struggle against an experienced Home outfit were quelled as early as the 15th minute, when Singapore defender Precious Emuejeraye fired in a free kick that beat goalkeeper Lionel Lewis all ends up.
The Rams had lost captain Azlan Alipah to an injury sustained during the warm-up, and were already without the injured Hasrin Jailani, plus the suspended pairing of Luis Eduardo Hicks and Syaiful Iskandar.
While it must be mentioned that Protectors midfielder Shahril Ishak also had to pull out of the squad after a mishap during the warm-up, the visitors were really only missing Peres de Oliveira from their best possible lineup, according to their coach PN Sivaji.
“Our first half was very poor,” he said after the game.
“They were much quicker to the ball than we were and there were far too many individuals out there and not enough team work, though, to their credit, the players came back strongly in the second half and I could not fault their effort then.”
But by that stage the damage had been done.
Adding to the brilliantly-struck free kick from Precious 25 yards out, after a ‘silly foul’ had been given away in Sivaji’s words, Woodlands scored a second goal on the half-hour.
Iranian forward Mojtaba Tehranizadeh proved a real handful for the heavily-manned Home United defence throughout the first 45 minutes.
Several moves he was involved in had already led to some narrow misses, before he waltzed through on the right and gave Lewis no chance again with an authoritative finish from 15 yards in the 30th minute.
The ease with which the marauding striker had found his way past the weak challenge of Juma’at Jantan must have alarmed the visitors, who still had the job of containing both he and his striking partner, the Egyptian Zakaria Yousif, for the remaining hour of the game.
Jamil Ali was playing in an unfamiliar role in the middle of the park, too, due to injuries to others in the Woodlands squad, but he figured in some important moves and was, significantly, the man brought down by Itimi Dickson when the free kick that led to the opening goal was awarded.
Jamil clipped a good chance over the bar in the 19th from the Iranian’s cross and had another good shot blocked in the 32nd, but the home team’s dominance withered markedly after the break.
A more resolute Protectors side could see that the Rams were sitting back, hoping to catch them on the counterattack, but nothing dangerous materialised as Home made all the running after the break.
Home, however, were denied at least a share of the spoils and possibly a come-from-behind victory due to the superb saves of Rams goalkeeper Rezal Hassan.
The stand-in captain made at least three crucial saves in the last half-hour to ensure the points would not slip away from his team’s grasp.
In addition, he cut out cross after cross with alacrity and was beaten only once, Norikazu Murakami getting another goal against the Rams to add to the hat-trick he collected in the teams’ previous meeting at the end of March.
Murakami and his lively strike partner, Kengne Ludovick, were both out of luck, either firing wide when well-placed or seeing defenders coming to the Rams’ rescue with well-timed tackles.
Murakami’s goal in the 71st, when it came, was spectacular.
A corner won on the right saw the ball quickly played short to Dickson, whose sweeping cross was latched onto by the Protectors No.9 with an overhead scissors kick that finally saw Rezal beaten from 12 yards.
There was still time for Home to win the game and every effort was made to achieve that objective, but when Ludovick could not converge with the best timing on the perfect cross from Dickson in the 74th and Valery Hiek’s stoppage-time free kick was tipped expertly over the bar, the visitors knew it was not to be their day.
Rams coach Nenad Bacina was a very happy man at the end.
“The players worked very hard for this result,” he said.
“Not just tonight but in many of our earlier games where we did not have any luck. Tonight we are getting the benefit of all our hard work at last.
“Tonight it was Home United who had none of the luck, but with our captain missing and two players in strange positions it was an excellent performance by the team against one of the best teams in the league.”
A week ago the Rams were among the strugglers in ninth place. Now they are on a roll, having moved on to 22 points and into seventh spot.
With a weekend home game to come against Balestier Khalsa they must fancy their chances of drawing level with the Protectors, who have 25 points and sit in fifth spot.
Home must now lick their wounds and return to Clementi Stadium on Saturday night to send Geylang United away pointless, so that they can at least keep the momentum going on their own turf.
Monday, July 6, 2009
Woodlands Wellington vs Home United
| Rams set sights on Home Paul Green info@sleague.com Woodlands Wellington will be gunning for another big-name scalp when they host Home United on Tuesday night. Nenad Bacina’s Rams have notched wins against SAFFC, Gombak United and DPMM FC this season, and Home will be aware of their threat at the Woodlands stadium. Two home wins inside a week may have boosted the Protectors’ points tally and propelled them into fifth spot, but the true test of their aspirations is when they are on the road and their latest loss at Gombak, little over a week ago, does not inspire too much confidence. It is going to be a task-and-a-half for coach PN Sivaji and his men, a crunch match if ever there was one. Failure to deliver here and the tag of the Great Eastern-YEO’s S.League’s ‘worst travellers’ could easily be slapped on them. Win this one and the full weight of expectation of their fans will return, pressure that the players may learn to thrive on. A full-strength side delivered twice at home, but a weakened one lost at Gombak. Fielding a full-strength starting eleven again here is a tall order for the club after their recent heavy programme. Home can hardly take comfort from beating Woodlands 4-0 at Clementi Stadium at their last meeting as we now know the Protectors have struggled to reproduce that same form away from home. There is a perception that home advantage in Singapore is over-rated at times, but here is one club that still has to prove it is as easy to win on the grounds of their opponents as on their own. Woodlands, on the other hand, have been inconsistent at their own headquarters and are keen now to show more sound form on their own turf. Losses in their last two home games hardly inspire confidence among the Woodlands faithful, but two earlier wins at Woodlands Stadium showed what the side was capable of. After drawing their opening three home matches it was not until they faced DPMM that the Rams broke through for their first win on home soil. By then it was almost the end of May and valuable ground had been lost, despite a sensational 3-2 win away to SAFFC and a nail-biting 1-0 at Toa Payoh against Balestier Khalsa. Having beaten three of the top sides at least once this season, Tampines and Home United are the only prized scalps left to claim. The Rams will be going all out to address that on Tuesday night. A draw at Tampines and Balestier is the best Home United have so far managed from eight road trips. Furthermore they have failed to score a goal in five of those encounters. These are issues coach Sivaji and his men will be well aware of, of course, and anxious to address. Where will the goals come from? Peres de Oliveira has not been at his imperious best this term, though he has weighed in with a few goals occasionally. Increasingly, it seems, the scoring has to come from the midfield these days, or perhaps from Norikazu Murakami, who has come off the bench in the latest two home games. Kengne Ludovick has begun to find the net again so maybe he can produce the goods again this time? The Cameroonian has now notched nine and could be poised to strike a rich vein of scoring form. It was he and Murakami who netted last time against the Rams so history may repeat. A big contribution from the Japanese star is likely to tip the scales in favour of the visitors, who were grateful for the three goals the former SAFFC and Balestier man put away in the first meeting between these teams which finished 4-0 to the Protectors. Watch out Woodlands if he strikes similar form! Nenad Bacina, the Rams’ coach this season, knows it will not be easy. “We are confident of success against Home United on Tuesday,” he told sleague.com on Sunday morning after his side had beaten Gombak 2-1 the previous night. “I know they beat us 4-0 the last time, but we held them to 0-0 at half-time and they only scored twice from set-pieces to get their noses in front and we’ll be guarding against a repeat of that this time. “I only have four players in my squad who played regular first team football for any club last season; so even if we have some older players we do not have the same experience as many of the other sides. Chilean Luis Eduardo Hicks, red-carded at Jurong West after collecting two cautions, and his fellow defender Syaiful Iskandar, who picked up his fourth caution of the season against the Bulls on Saturday night, will need to sit out the game against the Protectors. “I’d been hoping to rest Azlan (Alipah, captain of the Rams) for the Gombak game, but there was an ankle injury to Hasrin Jailani just before half time so I had no choice but to bring on the skipper, and now I can’t rest him due to suspensions as well. Squad players Kamal Nasir and midfielder Asraf Abdul Rashid will be the most likely replacements for the suspended and injured players, with the latter likely to fill in at left back. “We were badly affected by the build-up of games during the League Cup and right afterwards so we were unable to do much on fitness maintenance with the players,” the coach explained. “I think the fact that we finally did some work on that after the SAFFC match contributed a great deal to our success at Jurong West. “Motivation alone was not the key to winning that; it was general fitness. “Now we and Home United are in the same position after both playing on Saturday night and our ability to play for eight minutes of stoppage time at Gombak with only ten men showed how important it was for us to be fit. “We scored both our goals towards the end which shows you how we were able to keep going the whole game. “This result has given us a lot of confidence ahead of our next match and even with some players out I still feel we can get a result. “A lack of consistency has been our main obstacle to getting better results and we’ll be hoping to improve on that on Tuesday,” he laughed. “Jamil Ali came on and scored the winner for us and many may have wondered why he did not start last time. “It is all about keeping players fresh, so that tactic proved correct for us on Saturday night,” he pointed out. Fans will be looking towards Iranian striker Mojtaba Tehranizadeh and Egyptian Zakaria Yousif for big contributions as the pair look to set the S.League alight. The latter netted again in the Gombak game and is getting into his stride now. Although the pair have only three goals apiece they are beginning to forge a promising partnership and more goals seem certain to flow. This match at Woodlands Stadium on Tuesday night could define the season for either club, something that neither coach would surely deny. |
Sengkang Punggol vs DPMM FC
Aide looks to push Dolphins on
Mohd Sham
info@sleague.com
Sengkang caretaker coach Aide Iskandar is aiming to translate their encouraging recent form into a morale boosting win when they welcome title pretenders Brunei DPMM at the Hougang Stadium on Monday evening.
Former national skipper Aide, who holds temporary reigns of first team affairs following the exit of former incumbent Jorg Steinebrunner, has overseen an impressive 1-1 draw against Tampines Rovers and a narrow 2-3 defeat at the hands of the Super Reds.
While acknowledging that news of the departures of both their former German honcho and former chairman Ben Lim departure caused more than a few ripples within the camp, Aide was keen to move on.
“The news definitely came as a shock to the team and we had a meeting where we discussed about it but we have moved on,” he explained.
“At the end of the day, we have to be professionals and do our job and the team morale is good and we have responded as proven in our past two matches.”
Aide also spelt out his notion that regardless of the managerial changes, every player should be inclined to give nothing less than 110% percent on the pitch.
“We shouldn’t talk about the past and we must look towards the future with 18 games left to go,” said Aide.
“Each and every individual here are trying their best to do their job and at the end of the day, they need to justify their place in the team regardless of whether a coach leaves.”
While the decorated defender admitted that DPMM would represent a huge challenge for his charges, Aide expressed his belief that their performance during their clash against the very opponents in March would give them cause for optimism.
“DPMM have clearly shown that they are no pushovers and their coach has done a great job.
“They have good foreign players and also have a few good local players and the main thing about them is that they are a very hardworking and collective side.
“But we had our chances the last time we played them but we didn’t finish them off and be ruthless.
“We have to take our chances and scoring goals is the only way to win games so we have to take any chances that come our way.”
Aide admitted that he is enjoying in his current capacity as first team coach.
“So far, so good and I have enjoyed the last two games,” he added.
“My ‘A’ licence coaching course has really helped me in terms of handling the professional side of things and the support from the players and the chairman has helped a lot too.”
DPMM would be hoping to continue their fine form which has seen them yield back-to-back wins against Geylang United and Balestier Khalsa in the aftermath of being crowned as League Cup champions.
Currently perched in fourth place, the Brunei outfit can propel to second spot should they take advantage of their game in hand and triumph against the Dolphins.
Sengkang will be without the suspended duo of Noh Rahman and Nor Azli Yusoff, while Hiroyuki Yamamoto is carrying a hamstring niggle along with Anthony Bahadur.
DPMM’s Algerian forward Abdel Hamid Berguiga sits this match out through suspension, as does wide midfielder Haji Subhi Abdilah.
Mohd Sham
info@sleague.com
Sengkang caretaker coach Aide Iskandar is aiming to translate their encouraging recent form into a morale boosting win when they welcome title pretenders Brunei DPMM at the Hougang Stadium on Monday evening.
Former national skipper Aide, who holds temporary reigns of first team affairs following the exit of former incumbent Jorg Steinebrunner, has overseen an impressive 1-1 draw against Tampines Rovers and a narrow 2-3 defeat at the hands of the Super Reds.
While acknowledging that news of the departures of both their former German honcho and former chairman Ben Lim departure caused more than a few ripples within the camp, Aide was keen to move on.
“The news definitely came as a shock to the team and we had a meeting where we discussed about it but we have moved on,” he explained.
“At the end of the day, we have to be professionals and do our job and the team morale is good and we have responded as proven in our past two matches.”
Aide also spelt out his notion that regardless of the managerial changes, every player should be inclined to give nothing less than 110% percent on the pitch.
“We shouldn’t talk about the past and we must look towards the future with 18 games left to go,” said Aide.
“Each and every individual here are trying their best to do their job and at the end of the day, they need to justify their place in the team regardless of whether a coach leaves.”
While the decorated defender admitted that DPMM would represent a huge challenge for his charges, Aide expressed his belief that their performance during their clash against the very opponents in March would give them cause for optimism.
“DPMM have clearly shown that they are no pushovers and their coach has done a great job.
“They have good foreign players and also have a few good local players and the main thing about them is that they are a very hardworking and collective side.
“But we had our chances the last time we played them but we didn’t finish them off and be ruthless.
“We have to take our chances and scoring goals is the only way to win games so we have to take any chances that come our way.”
Aide admitted that he is enjoying in his current capacity as first team coach.
“So far, so good and I have enjoyed the last two games,” he added.
“My ‘A’ licence coaching course has really helped me in terms of handling the professional side of things and the support from the players and the chairman has helped a lot too.”
DPMM would be hoping to continue their fine form which has seen them yield back-to-back wins against Geylang United and Balestier Khalsa in the aftermath of being crowned as League Cup champions.
Currently perched in fourth place, the Brunei outfit can propel to second spot should they take advantage of their game in hand and triumph against the Dolphins.
Sengkang will be without the suspended duo of Noh Rahman and Nor Azli Yusoff, while Hiroyuki Yamamoto is carrying a hamstring niggle along with Anthony Bahadur.
DPMM’s Algerian forward Abdel Hamid Berguiga sits this match out through suspension, as does wide midfielder Haji Subhi Abdilah.
Geylang United vs Balestier Khalsa [2-0]
Masrezwan strike caps Geylang victory
Cheryl Lim
info@sleague.com
Geylang United striker Masrezwan Masturi celebrated his first home appearance in Bedok Stadium for the 2009 Great Eastern-YEO’s S.League season with a goal as his team overcame Balestier Khalsa 2-0 on Sunday evening.
He had featured at Tampines Stadium as a substitute last week following a long layoff, but lasted much longer this time as a starter to mark his return in impactful style.
Captain Noor Ali opened the scoring for Geylang in the fifth minute before Masrezwan added another on the stroke of half-time, as the Eagles picked up their first S.League win in over a month.
On a waterlogged pitch which saw the kickoff delayed by almost 25 minutes due to wet weather, Masrezwan, who had just recovered from an anterior cruciate ligament injury which kept him away from action for nearly ten months, had the first shot of the game as he sent the ball over the bar.
Minutes later, American Seth Galloway fouled the 28-year-old on the left of the outside of the penalty box, to which referee Johan Jahari reacted by awarding the Eagles a freekick.
Up stepped the wily Noor Ali, and he sent the ball floating past everyone in the box into the far end of goal to give Geylang an early lead.
Unwilling to give up at such a premature stage, Balestier tried to respond by making the effort to surge forward. Midfielder Anantha Rajan’s through pass found Rizawan Abdullah, who did well to prevent the ball from rolling over the touchline, but his attempt to send it back deeper into the field was foiled by Walid Lounis.
Noor could have added to his personal tally in the 17th minute after receiving a pass from Miroslav Latiak, but he hit the left post as the Balestier defence scrambled to clear the danger.
The action soon turned to the other end of the pitch, as Anantha saw his attempt tipped away over the crossbar by goalkeeper Yazid Yasin.
Moments later, Ednardo Moura’s header missed the target by inches despite him being well-positioned in front of the net, after a good move from Faizal Amir saw him feeding Anantha on the right, who passed it on to Moura.
Former Super Reds player Kim Jae Hong almost commemorated his first game for the Eagles with a goal after picking up an aimless cross from Syed Thaha near the sideline, only to see Lee Heng Huat somehow fumble the ball before the Tigers defence completed the clearance.
Just before the break, Masrezwan struck off a good through pass by Noor Ali, skipping past Lee and beat Jufri Taha to slide the ball into goal to double Geylang’s lead.
Despite the wet conditions, the game still managed to proceed smoothly as both teams attempted to make their moves forward.
First, Kim sent a free kick directly into Lee’s hands, and then Yazid parried away Anantha’s long shot.
A far pass from Anantha’s replacement Aloysius Yap on 62 minutes then found Moura, who ran down the left flank and made a cross into the middle, but nobody was in a position to receive the ball as Balestier wasted an opportunity to pull a goal back.
Geylang looked to cement their victory in the closing stages of the game with a third goal, as Latiak’s searching pass found Noor Ali at the far post. The Eagles captain sent in a low cross to Lounis, but the latter allowed the ball through underneath his legs.
Lee then pushed it out, only for Ashrin Shariff, who had come on for Masrezwan, to slide the ball out for a harmless goal kick.
Noor Ali next opted not to send his corner into the crowded 18-yard box but to Latiak who was outside, and the latter tried from distance but failed to threaten Balestier’s net.
Deep into injury time, a neat one-two between Noor Ali and Ashrin saw the former running in to blast a shot over the woodwork, and he claimed the last piece of action with an off-target free kick.
Ultimately, it was a case of Balestier failing to give any real response despite putting up a valiant performance.
Geylang coach Mike Wong was a relieved man as his team picked up their first win in three league games.
“We have two new players, Masrezwan – who is considered new as he just came back from injury – and Kim, who was a little bit off and not strong enough, and I expected more from him.
“No matter which players I rotate, I still have to maintain the shape of the team. Our next games against Super Reds and Home United will not be easy, but we have to go according to what we can do.
“Our target was three points, no matter if we play good or bad football, we need to get losses out of our way. We have a target of the number of points we want to get at the end of the season, not only three points in a game.
“When we were 1-0 up, we got a bit complacent. Luckily we got a second goal, and in the second half we hoped to get things tight.
“Balestier were like us when we came back from Brunei for the game against Tampines Rovers, maybe due to not being used to travelling,” Wong suggested.
Nasaruddin Jalil acknowledged that the travel issue was a possible explanation for the loss.
“It was a tough game especially after coming back from Brunei. Travelling made it difficult for players to recover,” he said.
“We had a suspension (to Julio Eduardo) and injuries – Rhysh (Roshan Rai) and Mushthafa (Kamal) have long term injuries and Hafez (Mawasi) got injured against Super Reds which was why he did not travel to Brunei.
“So a lot of reshuffling to the team has to be done, but the boys did well. The fixtures do not help but it is the same for every team.”
Nasaruddin refused to blame the bad weather, focusing on what can be improved in his squad instead as he looks to make some deals in the ongoing mid-season transfer window.
“Geylang also played in the same conditions as us,” he remarked.
“We were not getting into the box as much as I want. After conceding an early goal in the first half, it was tough to get back when we did not get into the box in the first ten minutes. It was even worse when we could not get an early goal in the second half.
“I have no complaints about the players, as we played well in the first half, but the shape of the team was lost when Anantha came out in the second half. Today’s game was not good not at the way we lost, but we were totally out of the game in the second half which was tough for us.
“Our team upfront is still not threatening, and this is an area which hopefully we can correct in the transfer window. We need to find a solution to strengthen our attack.
“We have players who came for trials, and we have to see who can blend in.”
Cheryl Lim
info@sleague.com
Geylang United striker Masrezwan Masturi celebrated his first home appearance in Bedok Stadium for the 2009 Great Eastern-YEO’s S.League season with a goal as his team overcame Balestier Khalsa 2-0 on Sunday evening.
He had featured at Tampines Stadium as a substitute last week following a long layoff, but lasted much longer this time as a starter to mark his return in impactful style.
Captain Noor Ali opened the scoring for Geylang in the fifth minute before Masrezwan added another on the stroke of half-time, as the Eagles picked up their first S.League win in over a month.
On a waterlogged pitch which saw the kickoff delayed by almost 25 minutes due to wet weather, Masrezwan, who had just recovered from an anterior cruciate ligament injury which kept him away from action for nearly ten months, had the first shot of the game as he sent the ball over the bar.
Minutes later, American Seth Galloway fouled the 28-year-old on the left of the outside of the penalty box, to which referee Johan Jahari reacted by awarding the Eagles a freekick.
Up stepped the wily Noor Ali, and he sent the ball floating past everyone in the box into the far end of goal to give Geylang an early lead.
Unwilling to give up at such a premature stage, Balestier tried to respond by making the effort to surge forward. Midfielder Anantha Rajan’s through pass found Rizawan Abdullah, who did well to prevent the ball from rolling over the touchline, but his attempt to send it back deeper into the field was foiled by Walid Lounis.
Noor could have added to his personal tally in the 17th minute after receiving a pass from Miroslav Latiak, but he hit the left post as the Balestier defence scrambled to clear the danger.
The action soon turned to the other end of the pitch, as Anantha saw his attempt tipped away over the crossbar by goalkeeper Yazid Yasin.
Moments later, Ednardo Moura’s header missed the target by inches despite him being well-positioned in front of the net, after a good move from Faizal Amir saw him feeding Anantha on the right, who passed it on to Moura.
Former Super Reds player Kim Jae Hong almost commemorated his first game for the Eagles with a goal after picking up an aimless cross from Syed Thaha near the sideline, only to see Lee Heng Huat somehow fumble the ball before the Tigers defence completed the clearance.
Just before the break, Masrezwan struck off a good through pass by Noor Ali, skipping past Lee and beat Jufri Taha to slide the ball into goal to double Geylang’s lead.
Despite the wet conditions, the game still managed to proceed smoothly as both teams attempted to make their moves forward.
First, Kim sent a free kick directly into Lee’s hands, and then Yazid parried away Anantha’s long shot.
A far pass from Anantha’s replacement Aloysius Yap on 62 minutes then found Moura, who ran down the left flank and made a cross into the middle, but nobody was in a position to receive the ball as Balestier wasted an opportunity to pull a goal back.
Geylang looked to cement their victory in the closing stages of the game with a third goal, as Latiak’s searching pass found Noor Ali at the far post. The Eagles captain sent in a low cross to Lounis, but the latter allowed the ball through underneath his legs.
Lee then pushed it out, only for Ashrin Shariff, who had come on for Masrezwan, to slide the ball out for a harmless goal kick.
Noor Ali next opted not to send his corner into the crowded 18-yard box but to Latiak who was outside, and the latter tried from distance but failed to threaten Balestier’s net.
Deep into injury time, a neat one-two between Noor Ali and Ashrin saw the former running in to blast a shot over the woodwork, and he claimed the last piece of action with an off-target free kick.
Ultimately, it was a case of Balestier failing to give any real response despite putting up a valiant performance.
Geylang coach Mike Wong was a relieved man as his team picked up their first win in three league games.
“We have two new players, Masrezwan – who is considered new as he just came back from injury – and Kim, who was a little bit off and not strong enough, and I expected more from him.
“No matter which players I rotate, I still have to maintain the shape of the team. Our next games against Super Reds and Home United will not be easy, but we have to go according to what we can do.
“Our target was three points, no matter if we play good or bad football, we need to get losses out of our way. We have a target of the number of points we want to get at the end of the season, not only three points in a game.
“When we were 1-0 up, we got a bit complacent. Luckily we got a second goal, and in the second half we hoped to get things tight.
“Balestier were like us when we came back from Brunei for the game against Tampines Rovers, maybe due to not being used to travelling,” Wong suggested.
Nasaruddin Jalil acknowledged that the travel issue was a possible explanation for the loss.
“It was a tough game especially after coming back from Brunei. Travelling made it difficult for players to recover,” he said.
“We had a suspension (to Julio Eduardo) and injuries – Rhysh (Roshan Rai) and Mushthafa (Kamal) have long term injuries and Hafez (Mawasi) got injured against Super Reds which was why he did not travel to Brunei.
“So a lot of reshuffling to the team has to be done, but the boys did well. The fixtures do not help but it is the same for every team.”
Nasaruddin refused to blame the bad weather, focusing on what can be improved in his squad instead as he looks to make some deals in the ongoing mid-season transfer window.
“Geylang also played in the same conditions as us,” he remarked.
“We were not getting into the box as much as I want. After conceding an early goal in the first half, it was tough to get back when we did not get into the box in the first ten minutes. It was even worse when we could not get an early goal in the second half.
“I have no complaints about the players, as we played well in the first half, but the shape of the team was lost when Anantha came out in the second half. Today’s game was not good not at the way we lost, but we were totally out of the game in the second half which was tough for us.
“Our team upfront is still not threatening, and this is an area which hopefully we can correct in the transfer window. We need to find a solution to strengthen our attack.
“We have players who came for trials, and we have to see who can blend in.”
Gombak United vs Woodlands Wellington [1-2]
Ten-man Rams stun Gombak
Gary Koh
info@sleague.com
Gombak United failed to close the gap at the top of the league standings when they succumbed to 10-man Woodlands Wellington 1-2 at Jurong West on Saturday evening.
Agu Casmir gave the home side the lead in the 62nd minute, but late goals from Egyptian forward Zakaria Yousif and substitute Jamil Ali ensured the Rams leave the ground with three points.
The loss left the second-placed Bulls five points adrift of leaders Singapore Armed Forces ahead of the two teams’ meeting on Tuesday at Choa Chu Kang.
It also gave fellow title contenders DPMM FC and Tampines Rovers the real possibility of overtaking them in subsequent games after the Warriors game.
The home side were without centreback Bah Mamadou, who was serving a one-match ban, but welcomed captain Sevki Sha’ban back into the team after his suspension in the previous match.
Recent signing Fazrul Nawaz was named on the bench as coach Darren Stewart went with the attacking quartet of Agu, Ruhaizad Ismail and Nigerians Kingsley Njoku and Ojimi Gabriel Obatola.
Woodlands goalkeeper Rezal Hassan was given the skipper’s armband on his return after recovering from flu, while regulars Azlan Alipah and Jamil were omitted from the starting eleven.
Gombak endured a frustrating night in attack from start to finish as they seemed to have left their shooting boots elsewhere and struggled to find a way to break past the Woodlands defence.
They barely threatened Rezal in the first half as hopeful attempts by midfielder Shafuan Sutohmoh and Njoku failed to find the target.
The frustrations on their inability to score began to boil over later as they resorted to physical challenges at the blue shirts.
One such challenge by Njoku on Woodlands midfielder Hasrin Jailani outside the box towards the end of the period resulted in the latter picking up an injury and an early substitution by Azlan.
The Rams replacement was immediately called into action as he cleared Goran Subara’s header off a Jaslee Hatta free kick close to the goalline to keep the score goalless at half-time.
Woodlands were clearly more determined and fired-up to get a result after the break as they took the game to Gombak early in the second half.
Bulls goalkeeper Fadhil Salim had to be alert minutes after the restart to keep out a dangerous cross and an accurate long-range shot in quick succession.
Rams rightback Anaz Hadee came close to giving the visitors the lead in the 55th minute when he latched on a Jalal cross on the left to shoot. His attempt not only beat Fadhil, but also the goalframe as well.
With just half an hour remaining, Woodlands coach Nenad Bacina sent on Jamil in place of Ismadi Mukhtar as he sought greater penetration in attack.
But it was Gombak who took the lead when Shafuan fed a through pass to Casmir, who powered past the Rams centreback pairing of Precious Emuejeraye and Daniel Hammond before shooting past an onrushing Rezal into the net.
The visitors remained unfazed by the setback and continued to press forward in search of the equalizer against their opponents, who were apparently content to sit back with the advantage.
With less than 15 minutes to go, Yousif launched a snap shot outside the box that had Fadhil scrambling to keep the ball on the line.
The Egyptian striker did not have to wait long for another chance, as he found himself onside and was afforded time and space in the box to finish off a Jalal cross on the left and level the score.
Fadhil had to be alert to prevent his side from trailing as he snuffed out another long-range screamer from Anaz moments after the equalizer.
After spending more than half a year recovering from a serious injury suffered last season, Fazrul finally made his first appearance for Gombak when he replaced Ruhaizad on 81 minutes.
The home side were later given a numerical advantage, when Chilean midfielder Luis Eduardo Hicks was given his second yellow card of the game after fouling Shafuan outside the box.
From the resulting free kick, they thought they won the game when Obatola bundled the ball over the line after a rebound flick-on from Casmir in the box.
But the leading club scorer fouled Rezal on the line en route to placing the ball into goal, leading to the enraged goalkeeper chasing him for nearly half the length of the pitch for his troubles.
The no-goal was to prove costly for Gombak as Woodlands snatched the winner with two minutes to spare.
Hammond received a long punt from Azlan and beat the offside trap to cross on the left for an onrushing Jamil to score past Fadhil at close range.
The Rams withstood an increased onslaught from the home side and held on to three points that pushed them up to mid-table.
Bacina was pleased his faith in the team to perform paid off with the win.
“Although we were facing a good opponent in second-placed Gombak, I was optimistic and confident tonight,” said the Croat coach.
“It was a close game for both teams and we were a bit lucky tonight. Previously they equalized in the last minute; this time, it was our turn to do so.”
He was also happy at the determination his men came from behind to snatch victory from defeat at the death.
“The game is never over until the final whistle,” he continued.
“We never gave up, showed character and proved we could handle the top teams in the league.
“In defence, it is not just about the defenders alone. Once we lose the ball, we are all defenders. Despite the mistake that cost us the goal, we did well in defence and attack.
“We closed their forwards down and created some chances ourselves, which we got two. In the end, we deserved the three points.”
Match-winner Jamil was singled out for praise in his contribution towards victory.
“I have to rotate my players with many games coming up and putting Jamil on the bench is a tactical decision,” said Bacina.
“Jamil can bring something new with his creativity. In the League Cup, he also came on and changed things for us twice, and so far bringing him on has worked.”
His Gombak counterpart Stewart was unhappy at the final outcome of a game in which he believed his men could have done better.
“Well done to Woodlands, the result was very disappointing although I was satisfied with the performance,” said the Australian.
“We have another game coming up and we cannot afford to have our heads down after the defeat, but look forward to the next one.
“The only thing I am pleased for is Fazrul coming back into action and having had some football tonight after having a long lay-off.”
Gary Koh
info@sleague.com
Gombak United failed to close the gap at the top of the league standings when they succumbed to 10-man Woodlands Wellington 1-2 at Jurong West on Saturday evening.
Agu Casmir gave the home side the lead in the 62nd minute, but late goals from Egyptian forward Zakaria Yousif and substitute Jamil Ali ensured the Rams leave the ground with three points.
The loss left the second-placed Bulls five points adrift of leaders Singapore Armed Forces ahead of the two teams’ meeting on Tuesday at Choa Chu Kang.
It also gave fellow title contenders DPMM FC and Tampines Rovers the real possibility of overtaking them in subsequent games after the Warriors game.
The home side were without centreback Bah Mamadou, who was serving a one-match ban, but welcomed captain Sevki Sha’ban back into the team after his suspension in the previous match.
Recent signing Fazrul Nawaz was named on the bench as coach Darren Stewart went with the attacking quartet of Agu, Ruhaizad Ismail and Nigerians Kingsley Njoku and Ojimi Gabriel Obatola.
Woodlands goalkeeper Rezal Hassan was given the skipper’s armband on his return after recovering from flu, while regulars Azlan Alipah and Jamil were omitted from the starting eleven.
Gombak endured a frustrating night in attack from start to finish as they seemed to have left their shooting boots elsewhere and struggled to find a way to break past the Woodlands defence.
They barely threatened Rezal in the first half as hopeful attempts by midfielder Shafuan Sutohmoh and Njoku failed to find the target.
The frustrations on their inability to score began to boil over later as they resorted to physical challenges at the blue shirts.
One such challenge by Njoku on Woodlands midfielder Hasrin Jailani outside the box towards the end of the period resulted in the latter picking up an injury and an early substitution by Azlan.
The Rams replacement was immediately called into action as he cleared Goran Subara’s header off a Jaslee Hatta free kick close to the goalline to keep the score goalless at half-time.
Woodlands were clearly more determined and fired-up to get a result after the break as they took the game to Gombak early in the second half.
Bulls goalkeeper Fadhil Salim had to be alert minutes after the restart to keep out a dangerous cross and an accurate long-range shot in quick succession.
Rams rightback Anaz Hadee came close to giving the visitors the lead in the 55th minute when he latched on a Jalal cross on the left to shoot. His attempt not only beat Fadhil, but also the goalframe as well.
With just half an hour remaining, Woodlands coach Nenad Bacina sent on Jamil in place of Ismadi Mukhtar as he sought greater penetration in attack.
But it was Gombak who took the lead when Shafuan fed a through pass to Casmir, who powered past the Rams centreback pairing of Precious Emuejeraye and Daniel Hammond before shooting past an onrushing Rezal into the net.
The visitors remained unfazed by the setback and continued to press forward in search of the equalizer against their opponents, who were apparently content to sit back with the advantage.
With less than 15 minutes to go, Yousif launched a snap shot outside the box that had Fadhil scrambling to keep the ball on the line.
The Egyptian striker did not have to wait long for another chance, as he found himself onside and was afforded time and space in the box to finish off a Jalal cross on the left and level the score.
Fadhil had to be alert to prevent his side from trailing as he snuffed out another long-range screamer from Anaz moments after the equalizer.
After spending more than half a year recovering from a serious injury suffered last season, Fazrul finally made his first appearance for Gombak when he replaced Ruhaizad on 81 minutes.
The home side were later given a numerical advantage, when Chilean midfielder Luis Eduardo Hicks was given his second yellow card of the game after fouling Shafuan outside the box.
From the resulting free kick, they thought they won the game when Obatola bundled the ball over the line after a rebound flick-on from Casmir in the box.
But the leading club scorer fouled Rezal on the line en route to placing the ball into goal, leading to the enraged goalkeeper chasing him for nearly half the length of the pitch for his troubles.
The no-goal was to prove costly for Gombak as Woodlands snatched the winner with two minutes to spare.
Hammond received a long punt from Azlan and beat the offside trap to cross on the left for an onrushing Jamil to score past Fadhil at close range.
The Rams withstood an increased onslaught from the home side and held on to three points that pushed them up to mid-table.
Bacina was pleased his faith in the team to perform paid off with the win.
“Although we were facing a good opponent in second-placed Gombak, I was optimistic and confident tonight,” said the Croat coach.
“It was a close game for both teams and we were a bit lucky tonight. Previously they equalized in the last minute; this time, it was our turn to do so.”
He was also happy at the determination his men came from behind to snatch victory from defeat at the death.
“The game is never over until the final whistle,” he continued.
“We never gave up, showed character and proved we could handle the top teams in the league.
“In defence, it is not just about the defenders alone. Once we lose the ball, we are all defenders. Despite the mistake that cost us the goal, we did well in defence and attack.
“We closed their forwards down and created some chances ourselves, which we got two. In the end, we deserved the three points.”
Match-winner Jamil was singled out for praise in his contribution towards victory.
“I have to rotate my players with many games coming up and putting Jamil on the bench is a tactical decision,” said Bacina.
“Jamil can bring something new with his creativity. In the League Cup, he also came on and changed things for us twice, and so far bringing him on has worked.”
His Gombak counterpart Stewart was unhappy at the final outcome of a game in which he believed his men could have done better.
“Well done to Woodlands, the result was very disappointing although I was satisfied with the performance,” said the Australian.
“We have another game coming up and we cannot afford to have our heads down after the defeat, but look forward to the next one.
“The only thing I am pleased for is Fazrul coming back into action and having had some football tonight after having a long lay-off.”
Home United vs Young Lions [3-2]
Protectors maintain home record
Paul Green
info@sleague.com
It was a case of ‘mission accomplished’ when Home United trooped off the Clementi Stadium pitch on Saturday night after defeating the Young Lions 3-2.
The manner of securing the three points, though, was far from pleasing for Protectors’ coach, P N Sivaji.
“Quite a few of our players were below par tonight, for some reason. They did not perform to their own high standards in several cases,” he said.
While not naming anyone it’s unlikely that the coach would have included Singapore international Shi Jiayi who had a hand in two of the three goals the home side needed to run out narrow winners at the finish, and scored the third himself.
Home conceded a goal after only seven minutes when a terrible mix up between goalkeeper Lionel Lewis and his defenders allowed Young Lions to capitalise before the game had even settled down.
Izzdin Shafiq did some good work on the left to find Eugene Luo on the far side. The cross when it came in looked innocuous enough but Lewis came racing out while his defenders seemed to shadow him all the way.
This left the path clear for Fairoz Hasan to plant an uncontested header into the roof of an empty net.
Fortunately for the Protectors calamity was to follow at the other end, moments before the break, allowing them to go in leading 2-1 at half time.
Before that Home had fashioned an equaliser in the 13th minute with Jiayi stabbing a low ball through, committing the keeper, who therefore could not stop Kengne Ludovick toe-poking the ball clear of him and low into the corner of the net.
Rosman Sulaiman and Shahril Ishak had combined well down the left, with the ball cut back, by the latter, to the edge of the area where Jiayi took control of it.
Shahril Ishak almost scored one himself in the 25th when his low drive whistled narrowly past the left hand upright.
Jiayi also had a free kick that flew just wide in the 38th but at 1-1 coach Sivaji was clearly looking for more and had replaced Shahril Ishak with Azhar Sairudin by the 29th minute, a move that seemed to generate some additional forward movement.
Rosman’s cross in the 44th appeared to threaten little danger as it delivered the ball to just inside the penalty area.
In trying to meet it with his head, however, Young Lions’ defender Irwan Shah succeeded only in making contact with the ball with a raised hand.
Referee Zaid Hussein immediately pointed to the penalty spot and Home were virtually gifted a goal.
Jiayi put away the penalty with complete conviction and the Protectors had therefore recovered from a horror start.
They seemed to have the measure of their opponents in the second half, too, as they extended their lead in the 54th minute.
A ball lifted over the defence by Jiayi allowed Ludovick to make it 3-1 with a crisp finish.
Home United were apparently cruising at this stage with Norikazu Murakami being brought on from the bench in the 63rd to replace Peres de Oliveira, who had been having a quiet game.
Murakami almost at once let fly from 30 metres, forcing Young Lions’ keeper Izwan Mahbud to show good reflexes and tip the ball over the bar.
The Protectors nearly made it 4-1 in the 89th but when Itimi Dickson and Ludovick combined to set up substitute Azhar for a looping header the ball was cleared off the line by Faritz Abdul Hameed.
That let-off inspired the visitors who surged forward looking for some late goals to possibly salvage a point.
When Fadhil Noh got to the left by-line unchallenged a minute into stoppage time his cross gave Faritz the chance to volley the ball home and make it 3-2.
Home had almost thrown it away but the sound of the referee’s whistle for full time could not come soon enough for the Protectors, who managed their second win in a row to lift themselves into fifth spot, ahead of Super Reds on goal difference.
“After that match we are thinking only of recovery now,” said Sivaji.
The momentum the coach had spoken about before this match has carried the side level on points with Super Reds and the club is now looking to win again on Tuesday night at Woodlands.
Young Lions’ coach Terry Pathmanathan paid tribute to his players, but was not entirely happy with some aspects of their game.
“We showed great fighting qualities to come back from 3-1 down to score a second goal,” he said.
“But we gave away a silly goal with the handball and most of the game we were exposed down our left hand side, which was particularly disappointing as we are usually much stronger there than that."
Once again the Young Lions have indicated how to stretch one of the league’s top sides, but they still have no points to show for some great efforts against the likes of SAFFC, DPMM Brunei and now Home United whom they beat the last time the two sides met.
For Home United, about to face Gombak’s conquerors, Woodlands Wellington, on Tuesday night, there’s much food for thought.
Still anxious to field his strongest side at Woodlands Stadium, the coach has given his players the day off as ‘recovery’ is the key word now that much momentum has been gained with those two recent wins.
Paul Green
info@sleague.com
It was a case of ‘mission accomplished’ when Home United trooped off the Clementi Stadium pitch on Saturday night after defeating the Young Lions 3-2.
The manner of securing the three points, though, was far from pleasing for Protectors’ coach, P N Sivaji.
“Quite a few of our players were below par tonight, for some reason. They did not perform to their own high standards in several cases,” he said.
While not naming anyone it’s unlikely that the coach would have included Singapore international Shi Jiayi who had a hand in two of the three goals the home side needed to run out narrow winners at the finish, and scored the third himself.
Home conceded a goal after only seven minutes when a terrible mix up between goalkeeper Lionel Lewis and his defenders allowed Young Lions to capitalise before the game had even settled down.
Izzdin Shafiq did some good work on the left to find Eugene Luo on the far side. The cross when it came in looked innocuous enough but Lewis came racing out while his defenders seemed to shadow him all the way.
This left the path clear for Fairoz Hasan to plant an uncontested header into the roof of an empty net.
Fortunately for the Protectors calamity was to follow at the other end, moments before the break, allowing them to go in leading 2-1 at half time.
Before that Home had fashioned an equaliser in the 13th minute with Jiayi stabbing a low ball through, committing the keeper, who therefore could not stop Kengne Ludovick toe-poking the ball clear of him and low into the corner of the net.
Rosman Sulaiman and Shahril Ishak had combined well down the left, with the ball cut back, by the latter, to the edge of the area where Jiayi took control of it.
Shahril Ishak almost scored one himself in the 25th when his low drive whistled narrowly past the left hand upright.
Jiayi also had a free kick that flew just wide in the 38th but at 1-1 coach Sivaji was clearly looking for more and had replaced Shahril Ishak with Azhar Sairudin by the 29th minute, a move that seemed to generate some additional forward movement.
Rosman’s cross in the 44th appeared to threaten little danger as it delivered the ball to just inside the penalty area.
In trying to meet it with his head, however, Young Lions’ defender Irwan Shah succeeded only in making contact with the ball with a raised hand.
Referee Zaid Hussein immediately pointed to the penalty spot and Home were virtually gifted a goal.
Jiayi put away the penalty with complete conviction and the Protectors had therefore recovered from a horror start.
They seemed to have the measure of their opponents in the second half, too, as they extended their lead in the 54th minute.
A ball lifted over the defence by Jiayi allowed Ludovick to make it 3-1 with a crisp finish.
Home United were apparently cruising at this stage with Norikazu Murakami being brought on from the bench in the 63rd to replace Peres de Oliveira, who had been having a quiet game.
Murakami almost at once let fly from 30 metres, forcing Young Lions’ keeper Izwan Mahbud to show good reflexes and tip the ball over the bar.
The Protectors nearly made it 4-1 in the 89th but when Itimi Dickson and Ludovick combined to set up substitute Azhar for a looping header the ball was cleared off the line by Faritz Abdul Hameed.
That let-off inspired the visitors who surged forward looking for some late goals to possibly salvage a point.
When Fadhil Noh got to the left by-line unchallenged a minute into stoppage time his cross gave Faritz the chance to volley the ball home and make it 3-2.
Home had almost thrown it away but the sound of the referee’s whistle for full time could not come soon enough for the Protectors, who managed their second win in a row to lift themselves into fifth spot, ahead of Super Reds on goal difference.
“After that match we are thinking only of recovery now,” said Sivaji.
The momentum the coach had spoken about before this match has carried the side level on points with Super Reds and the club is now looking to win again on Tuesday night at Woodlands.
Young Lions’ coach Terry Pathmanathan paid tribute to his players, but was not entirely happy with some aspects of their game.
“We showed great fighting qualities to come back from 3-1 down to score a second goal,” he said.
“But we gave away a silly goal with the handball and most of the game we were exposed down our left hand side, which was particularly disappointing as we are usually much stronger there than that."
Once again the Young Lions have indicated how to stretch one of the league’s top sides, but they still have no points to show for some great efforts against the likes of SAFFC, DPMM Brunei and now Home United whom they beat the last time the two sides met.
For Home United, about to face Gombak’s conquerors, Woodlands Wellington, on Tuesday night, there’s much food for thought.
Still anxious to field his strongest side at Woodlands Stadium, the coach has given his players the day off as ‘recovery’ is the key word now that much momentum has been gained with those two recent wins.
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Brunei DPMM FC vs Balestier Khalsa
DPMM aim to go third
Rano Iskandar
info@sleague.com
DPMM FC can regain third spot in the Great Eastern-YEO’S S.League should they beat bottom side Balestier Khalsa at the Hassanal Bolkiah Stadium on Wednesday evening.
Given their perfect record at home, that sounds clear-cut enough.
But the recently-crowned League Cup winners are unwilling to take any team lightly, even one currently at the lowest rung of the league table.
As Vjeran Simunic, DPMM’s coach had said once before, “We respect every team in the S.League and we treat them equally.”
Little else has been mentioned on this match, but expect Simunic and the team to be fired up as their first season in the S.League approaches the halfway mark.
The Wasps currently lie fourth in the league, and will join all the other teams on 16 games each after completing their match against Balestier.
DPMM will be missing two key players in Azwan Salleh (suspension) and Ivan Jerkovic (surgery), which means that Oh Ddog Yi and Hardi Bujang will likely take their spots in the first eleven.
The absence of Jerkovic may prove tricky to compensate for, but the team can take heart from their 3-0 victory over Geylang United last week, which was also achieved without the midfielder.
Indeed, it will take more than ordinary tactics for any team to steal points at the Hassanal Bolkiah Stadium.
Could Balestier - a team that has slain giants in the past - be DPMM’s bogey team or will it be business as usual for the confident hosts?
Rano Iskandar
info@sleague.com
DPMM FC can regain third spot in the Great Eastern-YEO’S S.League should they beat bottom side Balestier Khalsa at the Hassanal Bolkiah Stadium on Wednesday evening.
Given their perfect record at home, that sounds clear-cut enough.
But the recently-crowned League Cup winners are unwilling to take any team lightly, even one currently at the lowest rung of the league table.
As Vjeran Simunic, DPMM’s coach had said once before, “We respect every team in the S.League and we treat them equally.”
Little else has been mentioned on this match, but expect Simunic and the team to be fired up as their first season in the S.League approaches the halfway mark.
The Wasps currently lie fourth in the league, and will join all the other teams on 16 games each after completing their match against Balestier.
DPMM will be missing two key players in Azwan Salleh (suspension) and Ivan Jerkovic (surgery), which means that Oh Ddog Yi and Hardi Bujang will likely take their spots in the first eleven.
The absence of Jerkovic may prove tricky to compensate for, but the team can take heart from their 3-0 victory over Geylang United last week, which was also achieved without the midfielder.
Indeed, it will take more than ordinary tactics for any team to steal points at the Hassanal Bolkiah Stadium.
Could Balestier - a team that has slain giants in the past - be DPMM’s bogey team or will it be business as usual for the confident hosts?
DPMM keen to continue winning streak.
DPMM FC will be looking to extend their magnificent run of form when they face S-League basement dwellers Balestier Khalsa tonight at the Hassanal Bolkiah National Stadium.
After beating Geylang Utdlast Wednesday 3-0 at the same venue, DPMM FC are looking to keep on the heels of their opponents as they lie in third place in the S-League, just two points adrift of leaders Gombak FC and a point behing defending champions SAF FC. The team have been great on home soil as they have gain all three points so far at home."We respect our opponents and know that it will not be an easy game at most of the teams are looking to beat us and get good results since we are the new team in the league," said DPMM head coach Vjeran Simunic.
"We have to concentrate on getting points but every game will get tougher as we are missing some of our key players. Every game from here on is important as we need the points to have any chance of winning the league.We just have to keep the same attitude and try to get the best results," added Simunic.
Simunic is expecting more supporters to come and to support the team and they will be heading out to Singapore for two away matches after this game.
DPMM's next game will be on July 6 against Sengkang Punggol at the Hougang Stadium, Singapore.
Woodlands Wellington vs SAFFC [1-4]
Duric and Wilkinson double up on Woodlands
Aaron Ong
info@sleague.com
Singapore internationals Aleksandar Duric and John Wilkinson scored two apiece to lead SAFFC to a convincing 4-1 victory over hosts Woodlands Wellington on Tuesday evening, the win lifting the Warriors back to the top of the S.League standings.
The result had to be accomplished without midfielder Mustaqim Manzur, who had suffered a head injury in the Warriors’ win over the Young Lions just three days ago. Syed Karim filled in for Mustaqim on the right flank, with SAFFC head coach Richard Bok not making any further adjustments.
His counterpart Nenad Bacina made changes at both ends of the field, picking Ahmadulhaq Che Omar in goal ahead of veteran Rezal Hassan, and going with Egyptian Zakaria Yousif in the lone striker’s role, Iranian Mojtaba Tehranizadeh dropping to the bench.
With the Rams having had eight days since their last match, it was not much of a surprise to see the hosts start the match looking the fresher of the two teams.
Just four minutes in, a slide rule pass from Ismadi Mukhtar found Jamil Ali clean through on goal. However, the 25-year-old winger placed his shot too close to Shahril Jantan, the SAFFC keeper gathering on the second attempt.
The threat of Jamil was not heeded, as the attacker found himself one-on-one with the keeper once more a mere two minutes later. This time Jamil’s shot bulged the net, but his celebrations were cut short by the linesman’s flag indicating offside.
The Rams were made to rue those missed opportunities, as SAFFC took the lead on the quarter-hour mark. Zulfadli Zainal Abidin’s pinpoint cross was met by a towering header from Duric, which crashed past Ahmadulhaq emphatically.
Spurred on by the goal, the Warriors started to turn the screw on the match. Wilkinson was unlucky to see his reactive backheel go straight into the Woodlands keeper’s arms, after Park Tae Won’s cross had deflected into his path.
The midfielder was not to be denied on 32 minutes. Therdsak Chaiman’s visionary chip over the top was executed to perfection, leaving Wilkinson with the easy task of lobbing the onrushing Ahmadulhaq.
Duric was to find himself in a similar position just a minute later, after Park had lifted the ball over the top. This time, however, the lanky striker failed to extend his team’s lead, putting the ball just over the crossbar.
The home team would be thrown a lifeline five minutes before the break.
Razaleigh Khalik was adjudged to have pushed over Yousif in the box, as the striker attempted to get onto Anaz Hadee’s cross. Daniel Hammond stepped up to slot past Shahril, halving the deficit and becoming Woodlands’ top scorer in the process.
Suddenly the Warriors were on the back foot. However, Yousif wasted a glorious chance on the stroke of halftime, by taking one touch too many when a simple pass would have put Jamil through on goal.
With such a rousing end to the half, most of the home crowd would have been confident of their side bringing it to the visitors in the second half, in search of the equaliser.
However, quick thinking from Therdsak on the hour mark was to douse any hopes of a comeback. His quickly taken freekick found Wilkinson open in the box, and the midfielder stroked the ball just inside the near post for his second of the match.
The attacking prowess shown in the first half by Woodlands was sadly missing, as the Rams found it difficult to carve out any chances in the attacking third. Long ball after long ball was launched forward, and Yousif was becoming increasingly frustrated with his inability to latch on to most of them.
He was to be replaced by Tehranizadeh ten minutes from time, though that substitution was to have little effect on the rest of the game as SAFFC struck once again.
If the second goal was similar to the third goal, then the fourth goal was a carbon copy of the first. Two minutes from time, Duric was once again left on his own in the box, and the 38-year-old nodded home another pinpoint cross to seal yet another victory for the Warriors.
“I must congratulate SAFFC, as they were the better team on the day,” conceded Woodlands coach Bacina.
“But it is certainly no shame losing to them, who are the current champions.
“We made mistakes in preparations for the game, and lost out both physically and tactically. I must take my share of responsbility for losing the game,” admitted the Croat.
Bok was understandably much more pleased with his side’s performance.
“I thought we played a really good game, and everybody followed their instructions. We attacked down the flanks, got in crosses, and we were also tight at the back,” he commented.
Bok also pointed out how shutting out Jamil Ali was crucial to winning the game.
“He is a key player, and we identified that before the game. We gave him a bit too much room in the first half, but in the second half we cut out that supply line to the forwards.
Lastly, Bok took time out to praise veteran midfielder Therdsak, who created both goals for Wilkinson. The Thai had only recently come back from injury.
“He is a player who knows how to control the tempo of the game, and he has great vision. It’s certainly great to have him back!” proclaimed Bok.
While the return of Therdsak was much welcome, the Warriors have injury doubts over Mustaqim and Daniel Bennett, the latter suffering a knee injury late in this game.
They are rated as doubtful for SAFFC’s next clash against Albirex Niigata (Singapore) in three days, but this win would certainly have put the squad in the best frame of mind, as they continue their push for the league title.
Aaron Ong
info@sleague.com
Singapore internationals Aleksandar Duric and John Wilkinson scored two apiece to lead SAFFC to a convincing 4-1 victory over hosts Woodlands Wellington on Tuesday evening, the win lifting the Warriors back to the top of the S.League standings.
The result had to be accomplished without midfielder Mustaqim Manzur, who had suffered a head injury in the Warriors’ win over the Young Lions just three days ago. Syed Karim filled in for Mustaqim on the right flank, with SAFFC head coach Richard Bok not making any further adjustments.
His counterpart Nenad Bacina made changes at both ends of the field, picking Ahmadulhaq Che Omar in goal ahead of veteran Rezal Hassan, and going with Egyptian Zakaria Yousif in the lone striker’s role, Iranian Mojtaba Tehranizadeh dropping to the bench.
With the Rams having had eight days since their last match, it was not much of a surprise to see the hosts start the match looking the fresher of the two teams.
Just four minutes in, a slide rule pass from Ismadi Mukhtar found Jamil Ali clean through on goal. However, the 25-year-old winger placed his shot too close to Shahril Jantan, the SAFFC keeper gathering on the second attempt.
The threat of Jamil was not heeded, as the attacker found himself one-on-one with the keeper once more a mere two minutes later. This time Jamil’s shot bulged the net, but his celebrations were cut short by the linesman’s flag indicating offside.
The Rams were made to rue those missed opportunities, as SAFFC took the lead on the quarter-hour mark. Zulfadli Zainal Abidin’s pinpoint cross was met by a towering header from Duric, which crashed past Ahmadulhaq emphatically.
Spurred on by the goal, the Warriors started to turn the screw on the match. Wilkinson was unlucky to see his reactive backheel go straight into the Woodlands keeper’s arms, after Park Tae Won’s cross had deflected into his path.
The midfielder was not to be denied on 32 minutes. Therdsak Chaiman’s visionary chip over the top was executed to perfection, leaving Wilkinson with the easy task of lobbing the onrushing Ahmadulhaq.
Duric was to find himself in a similar position just a minute later, after Park had lifted the ball over the top. This time, however, the lanky striker failed to extend his team’s lead, putting the ball just over the crossbar.
The home team would be thrown a lifeline five minutes before the break.
Razaleigh Khalik was adjudged to have pushed over Yousif in the box, as the striker attempted to get onto Anaz Hadee’s cross. Daniel Hammond stepped up to slot past Shahril, halving the deficit and becoming Woodlands’ top scorer in the process.
Suddenly the Warriors were on the back foot. However, Yousif wasted a glorious chance on the stroke of halftime, by taking one touch too many when a simple pass would have put Jamil through on goal.
With such a rousing end to the half, most of the home crowd would have been confident of their side bringing it to the visitors in the second half, in search of the equaliser.
However, quick thinking from Therdsak on the hour mark was to douse any hopes of a comeback. His quickly taken freekick found Wilkinson open in the box, and the midfielder stroked the ball just inside the near post for his second of the match.
The attacking prowess shown in the first half by Woodlands was sadly missing, as the Rams found it difficult to carve out any chances in the attacking third. Long ball after long ball was launched forward, and Yousif was becoming increasingly frustrated with his inability to latch on to most of them.
He was to be replaced by Tehranizadeh ten minutes from time, though that substitution was to have little effect on the rest of the game as SAFFC struck once again.
If the second goal was similar to the third goal, then the fourth goal was a carbon copy of the first. Two minutes from time, Duric was once again left on his own in the box, and the 38-year-old nodded home another pinpoint cross to seal yet another victory for the Warriors.
“I must congratulate SAFFC, as they were the better team on the day,” conceded Woodlands coach Bacina.
“But it is certainly no shame losing to them, who are the current champions.
“We made mistakes in preparations for the game, and lost out both physically and tactically. I must take my share of responsbility for losing the game,” admitted the Croat.
Bok was understandably much more pleased with his side’s performance.
“I thought we played a really good game, and everybody followed their instructions. We attacked down the flanks, got in crosses, and we were also tight at the back,” he commented.
Bok also pointed out how shutting out Jamil Ali was crucial to winning the game.
“He is a key player, and we identified that before the game. We gave him a bit too much room in the first half, but in the second half we cut out that supply line to the forwards.
Lastly, Bok took time out to praise veteran midfielder Therdsak, who created both goals for Wilkinson. The Thai had only recently come back from injury.
“He is a player who knows how to control the tempo of the game, and he has great vision. It’s certainly great to have him back!” proclaimed Bok.
While the return of Therdsak was much welcome, the Warriors have injury doubts over Mustaqim and Daniel Bennett, the latter suffering a knee injury late in this game.
They are rated as doubtful for SAFFC’s next clash against Albirex Niigata (Singapore) in three days, but this win would certainly have put the squad in the best frame of mind, as they continue their push for the league title.
Home United vs Albirex Niigata [3-1]
| Home breathe again with win over Albirex Ong Jiing Yih info@sleague.com Home United injected new hope into their domestic campaign on Tuesday evening as they claimed a comprehensive 3-1 win over Albirex Niigata (Singapore) at Clementi Stadium. Peres de Oliveira, Tengku Mushadad and Valery Hiek all scored to clinch the points for the hosts, with Kenji Adachiara claiming a consolation for Albirex a minute from time. It was just the result Home needed, after a recent slump in form saw them crash out of the AFC Cup before bowing meekly to Gombak United over the weekend. But all such fears were dispelled for the moment with an assured display over an Albirex side that ultimately looked short on ideas up front. Still, it took some industrious defending for the Protectors to hold on to their result, as captain S. Subramani and national goalkeeper Lionel Lewis, who were both restored to the starting eleven, stood strong against the determined Japanese outfit. Albirex would have good reason to feel they should have got more out of the match, considering the manner of their start. Showing some strong control from the first whistle, they tested Lewis early on through Tetsuya Kishida and Kunihiro Honda, although neither managed to hit the back of the Home net. But once Home settled down, they got down to business quickly going forward, and it should have come as no surprise that they claimed the first goal of the match on 11 minutes. The versatile Isa Halim, deployed at rightback for this match as Rosman Sulaiman covered for Juma’at Jantan on the other flank, sent in a cross that was aimed at Oliveira. Inexplicably, the usually unflappable Takatoshi Uchida neglected to mark the Brazilian, allowing the latter to power a diving header past the exposed Yoshito Matsushita. The goal stung the White Swans into searching for a response, an endeavour they performed with much enthusiasm and industry. Working the ball around to good effect and constantly getting into good positions, they forced Home to give away a succession of freekicks on the edge of the box. One such instance in the 26th minute saw Taisuke Akiyoshi bend his freekick well towards the goal, only to be denied by a stretching Lewis. The game gradually opened up as both sets of players appeared to get into the swing of things, and Oliveira could have had his second of the night on 41 minutes but for the crossbar’s intervention. A storming run by Itimi Dickson and some unselfish play by Kengne Ludovick allowed the Home veteran to get a chance to shoot, but there was to be no joy on this occasion as the ball struck the horizontal. The second goal eventually came for the Protectors on the stroke of half-time, albeit from an unexpected source. Collecting a pass from Ludovick, Tengku sprinted past his marker and showed a good eye for goal as he blasted past a desperately diving Matsushita from 20 yards out. Albirex came out with renewed optimism for the second period, and Uchida came close to pulling a goal back when his firm header on 59 minutes required some strong defending by Isa on the line. The Japanese side almost went three goals down a minute later though, when Tengku struck the ball wonderfully, only to see the dipping ball skim the top of the bar with Matsushita floundering. Despite the scares at the back, it was the White Swans’ poor finishing up front that let them down. A quick exchange of passes between Akiyoshi and Honda culminated in a through pass to the latter, who looked all set for a toe-poke past Lewis, only for Lewis to block the shot with his legs. That miss would ultimately come back to haunt them on 66 minutes, when another leaky moment at the back was to prove the decisive blow. Shi launched a corner delivery into the box that found a free Shahril Ishak, whose nodded pass affored Hiek the simplest of headers as he connected in mid-air to bury the effort past Matsushita. Even at 3-0 up, the hosts still had some defending to do as Albirex kept up the attacking pressure in hope of cashing in on a slip into complacency. With 20 minutes to go, the Protectors had another close shave after Kishida’s hooked effort bounced just across the face of goal. Determined to put together a strong finish to the game, Albirex sent on Akira Takase and Atsushi Shimono, and both came close to getting a goal with efforts that offered Lewis some serious tests. Adachihara too had an attempt denied, but the Albirex captain netted for his side a minute before time when he latched on to a Kishida cross right on the line. Despite seeing his team score a goal, Albirex head coach Naoki Naruo was visibly disappointed as he spoke to sleague.com. “Tried as hard as they did for this game, the players couldn’t play our style of football in the first half. “We showed little resistance once they scored but we could have made a difference had we got a goal first.” That first goal was crucial to Protectors coach PN Sivaji, as he revealed in his post-match analysis. “We controlled the game and there was full of energy and running; any lack of fitness were compensated by hard work,” he noted. “We really needed the early goal – had we let the opposition come they’ll throw more at us. Once we settled down I saw an eagerness to attack. “Lionel did well and made a lot of saves. Had it not been for him the score could have been otherwise.” |
Friday, June 26, 2009
Sengkang Punggol vs Tampines Rovers [1-1]
Alam Shah salvages point at Hougang
Cheryl Lim
info@sleague.com
Noh Alam Shah’s equalizer three minutes from time saw Tampines Rovers grab a point at Hougang Stadium as they drew 1-1 with Sengkang Punggol on Thursday evening.
The strike cancelled out Hiroyuki Yamamoto’s sixth-minute header, which for a good 81 minutes gave hopes of a full three points to a team which needed a booster after a disappointing League Cup campaign earlier in the month, especially after personnel changes in the club management.
Sengkang’s captain-cum-assistant coach Aide Iskandar was appointed caretaker coach just a day before the match, alongside with businessman Bill Ng, who took over Ben Lim as the club’s new chairman.
With Murphy Wiredu suspended, Aide opted to include Mamadou Diallo ahead of his elder brother Abdoulaye to complement Indra Sahdan Daud and Anthony Bahadur upfront, while for Tampines, having Noh Alam Shah on the bench meant Aliff Shafaein would support Qiu Li in attack.
Tampines sounded a warning from kickoff, with the fast-paced Ridhuan Muhammad charging down the right flank before Yamamoto cleared the danger.
The resulting corner fell to the feet of Stags skipper Fahrudin Mustafic, who curled the ball into the arms of Amos Boon.
Sengkang replied almost immediately with captain-of-the-night Indra shooting off target, while two minutes later he turned provider for Bahadur who beat the offside trap and sprinted, but Hassan Sunny was up to the job as he came out of his line to clear.
The Dolphins then took the early lead in sensational fashion after Yamamoto headed in Diallo’s corner, which took the match to a fast and furious state within seconds.
Tampines looked desperate to restore parity while the host aimed to increase their advantage, seeing Indra curling into Hassan’s arms from distance.
Aliff missed a great opportunity to equalize after he headed Sutee Suksomkit’s cross from left off-target on 16 minutes, while at the other end of the pitch early substitute Shane Neubronner managed to get past Seiji Kaneko and whip in a cross from the left, which Hassan again handled well.
Alam Shah was introduced onto the field on 32 minutes in place of midfielder Shukor Zailan to boost Tampines’ frontline, but the Dolphins were able to keep their feet firmly on the ground to keep the Stags at bay.
Bahadur then missed a close tap-in just before the break, while Qiu wrapped up the first half with his shot saved by Boon.
Sengkang continued to fire warnings of their intent after half-time, Diallo beating Benoit Croissant to make a pass to Bahadur who failed to make it meaningful. The ball then fell to Indra who miskicked and sent it into air.
Indra then saw his freekick tipped over the bar by Hassan in the 58th minute, in yet another heart-stopping moment for the 1,602-strong crowd.
Tampines surged forward looking for the elusive equalizer, creating chances after chance, but were unable to break down the opposition defence despite the relentless assaults.
Qiu first saw his shot from the left miss the target, and then he was unlucky to hit the crossbar in the 78th minute as the Sengkang defence hurriedly cleared the ball away.
The resulting corner did not turn out to be any better as it was kept away from the crowded penalty zone, but it strayed to the path of Sutee who crossed the ball back into the middle, meeting Mustafic outside the box.
The latter then let in a shocker which eluded everyone in the box into Boon, who struggled to keep the ball in his hands but managed to recover before Alam Shah could capitalize on the situation.
The moment for Tampines eventually came three minutes from time, when Alam Shah unleashed a powerful stunner inside the penalty area to bulge the back of the net and rescue a point for his side.
Having pulled a goal back late in the game, Tampines attempted to make full use of any available remaining time to their advantage. However, both Firdaus Kasman and Mustafic saw their efforts in injury time sail over the crossbar.
Tampines head coach Vorawan Chitavanich was a relieved man as his team avoided defeat.
“We did not do so well in the first half, but the second half was better as we controlled the game. We had many chances but did not manage to score, for example when Qiu Li hit the bar. But the players pushed the play and got the goal.”
All eyes were on Aide at his second game in charge at Sengkang, the first coming against DPMM FC in March when his predecessor Jorg Steinebrunner did not travel to Brunei with the team for reasons unknown.
“Credit to the boys, they performed very well today against an experienced team like Tampines. They were very organized and disciplined, which made it difficult for Tampines to come back.
“Today we showed we were the hungrier side. The result did not go our way despite our performance, but it showed that not only quality and performance are important but also hunger.”
Aide explained his decision to put Boon in goal instead of Joey Sim, despite the veteran starting just one game prior to the night.
“Amos showed that he wanted to play, so he was given the opportunity. I have confidence in both our keepers. Joey is still young, and Amos performed very well today.”
The former Singapore international also shared his thoughts on whether he would continue as a player after being given a more important role in coaching.
“I will have to keep myself from playing as it is easier to do coaching from outside of the team rather than being inside as a player as well, but I will not rule myself out from playing because we never know about injuries and suspensions when I might need to step in.
“It is important for us to get as many points as possible now. All players in the team are trying very hard to get some good results.”
Cheryl Lim
info@sleague.com
Noh Alam Shah’s equalizer three minutes from time saw Tampines Rovers grab a point at Hougang Stadium as they drew 1-1 with Sengkang Punggol on Thursday evening.
The strike cancelled out Hiroyuki Yamamoto’s sixth-minute header, which for a good 81 minutes gave hopes of a full three points to a team which needed a booster after a disappointing League Cup campaign earlier in the month, especially after personnel changes in the club management.
Sengkang’s captain-cum-assistant coach Aide Iskandar was appointed caretaker coach just a day before the match, alongside with businessman Bill Ng, who took over Ben Lim as the club’s new chairman.
With Murphy Wiredu suspended, Aide opted to include Mamadou Diallo ahead of his elder brother Abdoulaye to complement Indra Sahdan Daud and Anthony Bahadur upfront, while for Tampines, having Noh Alam Shah on the bench meant Aliff Shafaein would support Qiu Li in attack.
Tampines sounded a warning from kickoff, with the fast-paced Ridhuan Muhammad charging down the right flank before Yamamoto cleared the danger.
The resulting corner fell to the feet of Stags skipper Fahrudin Mustafic, who curled the ball into the arms of Amos Boon.
Sengkang replied almost immediately with captain-of-the-night Indra shooting off target, while two minutes later he turned provider for Bahadur who beat the offside trap and sprinted, but Hassan Sunny was up to the job as he came out of his line to clear.
The Dolphins then took the early lead in sensational fashion after Yamamoto headed in Diallo’s corner, which took the match to a fast and furious state within seconds.
Tampines looked desperate to restore parity while the host aimed to increase their advantage, seeing Indra curling into Hassan’s arms from distance.
Aliff missed a great opportunity to equalize after he headed Sutee Suksomkit’s cross from left off-target on 16 minutes, while at the other end of the pitch early substitute Shane Neubronner managed to get past Seiji Kaneko and whip in a cross from the left, which Hassan again handled well.
Alam Shah was introduced onto the field on 32 minutes in place of midfielder Shukor Zailan to boost Tampines’ frontline, but the Dolphins were able to keep their feet firmly on the ground to keep the Stags at bay.
Bahadur then missed a close tap-in just before the break, while Qiu wrapped up the first half with his shot saved by Boon.
Sengkang continued to fire warnings of their intent after half-time, Diallo beating Benoit Croissant to make a pass to Bahadur who failed to make it meaningful. The ball then fell to Indra who miskicked and sent it into air.
Indra then saw his freekick tipped over the bar by Hassan in the 58th minute, in yet another heart-stopping moment for the 1,602-strong crowd.
Tampines surged forward looking for the elusive equalizer, creating chances after chance, but were unable to break down the opposition defence despite the relentless assaults.
Qiu first saw his shot from the left miss the target, and then he was unlucky to hit the crossbar in the 78th minute as the Sengkang defence hurriedly cleared the ball away.
The resulting corner did not turn out to be any better as it was kept away from the crowded penalty zone, but it strayed to the path of Sutee who crossed the ball back into the middle, meeting Mustafic outside the box.
The latter then let in a shocker which eluded everyone in the box into Boon, who struggled to keep the ball in his hands but managed to recover before Alam Shah could capitalize on the situation.
The moment for Tampines eventually came three minutes from time, when Alam Shah unleashed a powerful stunner inside the penalty area to bulge the back of the net and rescue a point for his side.
Having pulled a goal back late in the game, Tampines attempted to make full use of any available remaining time to their advantage. However, both Firdaus Kasman and Mustafic saw their efforts in injury time sail over the crossbar.
Tampines head coach Vorawan Chitavanich was a relieved man as his team avoided defeat.
“We did not do so well in the first half, but the second half was better as we controlled the game. We had many chances but did not manage to score, for example when Qiu Li hit the bar. But the players pushed the play and got the goal.”
All eyes were on Aide at his second game in charge at Sengkang, the first coming against DPMM FC in March when his predecessor Jorg Steinebrunner did not travel to Brunei with the team for reasons unknown.
“Credit to the boys, they performed very well today against an experienced team like Tampines. They were very organized and disciplined, which made it difficult for Tampines to come back.
“Today we showed we were the hungrier side. The result did not go our way despite our performance, but it showed that not only quality and performance are important but also hunger.”
Aide explained his decision to put Boon in goal instead of Joey Sim, despite the veteran starting just one game prior to the night.
“Amos showed that he wanted to play, so he was given the opportunity. I have confidence in both our keepers. Joey is still young, and Amos performed very well today.”
The former Singapore international also shared his thoughts on whether he would continue as a player after being given a more important role in coaching.
“I will have to keep myself from playing as it is easier to do coaching from outside of the team rather than being inside as a player as well, but I will not rule myself out from playing because we never know about injuries and suspensions when I might need to step in.
“It is important for us to get as many points as possible now. All players in the team are trying very hard to get some good results.”
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Balestier Khalsa vs Super Reds
Focused Koreans searching for momentum
Syahrom Sulaiman
info@sleague.com
Balestier Khalsa and the Super Reds will resume their league commitments after the mid-season League Cup tournament when both sides do battle at the Toa Payoh Stadium on Friday.
Hosts Balestier Khalsa will rely on the home support to overcome a plucky Super Reds’ side that was slowly gathering momentum to climb the S.League standings before the month-long tournament started.
It remains to be seen how the “interruption” of the League Cup could affect the Koreans’ performances in the league but head coach Jeon Kyeong Joon knows that his players will always display 100 percent commitment in any game that they play.
Jeon said, “Now that we are only left with the S.League matches, we will just focus on it and give our best.
“We worked hard for it (League Cup matches) but the results did not follow up. Nevertheless, we are showing more of our qualities and hope that we could bring better results in every game,” Jeon added.
The Koreans’ progress in the tournament was halted by Woodlands Wellington in the quarterfinals through a penalty shootout.
Nevertheless, their inability to finish off their multitude of chances in a game which eventually ended 0-0 must be worrying for coach Jeon.
They were also guilty of failing to convert gilt-edged chances in the 1-1 draw with Balestier Khalsa during the Preliminary rounds in early June. Therefore coach Jeon will be hoping that his talismanic striker Park Han Seok can deliver the goods this Friday.
He said, “There isn't any very difficult team or very easy team in the S-league. All the teams are all about there and since we know Balestier (Khalsa) as we have played against them many times, we will prepare well and play well.
“Their forward players especially the foreign players are the dangermen we need to look out for,” Jeon pointed out.
Jeon need not worry too much about the foreign players though. Tigers’ head coach Nasaruddin Jalil will have to make do without Chilean midfielder Julio Eduardo and Brazilian forward Ithamar Rangel.
The duo is suffering from flu and it is unlikely that they will be able to take part in the game on Friday.
The other Brazilian, Ednardo Moura, who is usually deployed on the flanks by Jalil, could be asked to lead the attack. Ram Shanker could be another attacking option up front.
Coach Jeon knows that the time is now or never for his side to launch an offensive to move up in the standings.
He said, “All the teams in the S.League know each other well by now and there is nothing to hide. We are just going to play hard against them (Balestier Khalsa) by preparing the right strategy.”
Syahrom Sulaiman
info@sleague.com
Balestier Khalsa and the Super Reds will resume their league commitments after the mid-season League Cup tournament when both sides do battle at the Toa Payoh Stadium on Friday.
Hosts Balestier Khalsa will rely on the home support to overcome a plucky Super Reds’ side that was slowly gathering momentum to climb the S.League standings before the month-long tournament started.
It remains to be seen how the “interruption” of the League Cup could affect the Koreans’ performances in the league but head coach Jeon Kyeong Joon knows that his players will always display 100 percent commitment in any game that they play.
Jeon said, “Now that we are only left with the S.League matches, we will just focus on it and give our best.
“We worked hard for it (League Cup matches) but the results did not follow up. Nevertheless, we are showing more of our qualities and hope that we could bring better results in every game,” Jeon added.
The Koreans’ progress in the tournament was halted by Woodlands Wellington in the quarterfinals through a penalty shootout.
Nevertheless, their inability to finish off their multitude of chances in a game which eventually ended 0-0 must be worrying for coach Jeon.
They were also guilty of failing to convert gilt-edged chances in the 1-1 draw with Balestier Khalsa during the Preliminary rounds in early June. Therefore coach Jeon will be hoping that his talismanic striker Park Han Seok can deliver the goods this Friday.
He said, “There isn't any very difficult team or very easy team in the S-league. All the teams are all about there and since we know Balestier (Khalsa) as we have played against them many times, we will prepare well and play well.
“Their forward players especially the foreign players are the dangermen we need to look out for,” Jeon pointed out.
Jeon need not worry too much about the foreign players though. Tigers’ head coach Nasaruddin Jalil will have to make do without Chilean midfielder Julio Eduardo and Brazilian forward Ithamar Rangel.
The duo is suffering from flu and it is unlikely that they will be able to take part in the game on Friday.
The other Brazilian, Ednardo Moura, who is usually deployed on the flanks by Jalil, could be asked to lead the attack. Ram Shanker could be another attacking option up front.
Coach Jeon knows that the time is now or never for his side to launch an offensive to move up in the standings.
He said, “All the teams in the S.League know each other well by now and there is nothing to hide. We are just going to play hard against them (Balestier Khalsa) by preparing the right strategy.”
Charity match in aid of 4-year-old cancer treatment
Tampines Rovers FC will be donating its proceeds from the gate collection of its Great Eastern – YEO’S S.League match this Sunday, 28 June 2009, against neighbouring side Geylang United to 4-year-old Charmaine Lim, who is currently battling a rare form of cancer.
In addition, former Singapore international Rafi Ali, who is currently a member of the Stags’ Coaching staff, will be assembling players from the 1990s Singapore Dream Team to showcase their football skills in a curtain-raiser against the Media & Celebrities selection side. There will also be a half time (musical/dance) performance.
The curtain-raiser will kick off at 5 pm.
Fans will get to see Singapore Greats from the Dream Team, like Fandi Ahmad, V Sundramoorthy, Malek Awab, Abbas Saad, Rafi, Ali, Nazri Nasir, Steven Tan, Syed Faruk and Lim Tong Hai.
FAS President, Zainudin Nordin and FAS Technical Director Slobodan Pavkovic will join the likes of Sheikh Haikel, Glenn Ong, Raj Kumar, Mark Richmond and other media and celebrity personalities to square off against the “Dream Team”.
The Admission Fee for the match is $10.00 and fans who purchased the tickets can witness both matches for a worthy cause.
All proceeds from the gate collection will go to Charmaine, a cancer patient whose mother Mrs Cynthia Lim is hoping to send her for a special treatment in the US which might double her chances of surviving.
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S.League Match Pass Holders, Invitation Card Holders and Complimentary tickets for the S.League match will only be permitted entry for the S.League match at 7:00 pm.
Tampines Rovers FC wishes to express their sincere thanks and support to the Football Association of Singapore, Singapore Sports Council, Geylang United FC, the players from the Singapore Dream Team, the media and celebrity players and all those who have contributed in one way or another to making this charity effort possible.
Date: Sunday, 28 June 2009
Match: 5:00 pm Curtain Raiser Match
Singapore 1990s Dream Team vs Media & Celebrities
Match: 7:45 pm S.League
Tampines Rovers FC vs Geylang United FC
Venue: Tampines Stadium
Ticket Admission Fee: $10.00
In view of the Charity event, S.League Stadium Match Pass Holders, Invitation Card Holders and Complimentary tickets for the S.League match between Tampines Rovers and Geylang United will only be permitted entry for the S.League match at 7:00 pm.
Tickets are currently on sale at:
Tampines Rovers FC’s admin office
Tampines Stadium
25 Tampines Avenue 5
Singapore 529759 - During Office Hours
Tel: 6784 6670
Pre-Match Ticket Sales
Additional ticket booth will be set up to pre-sell match tickets on Friday, 26 June 2009 from 2pm to 6pm at Tampines Stadium Gate 4.
Match Day Ticket Sales
Tickets will be on sale from 4pm at the Tampines Stadium ticketing booth.
In addition, former Singapore international Rafi Ali, who is currently a member of the Stags’ Coaching staff, will be assembling players from the 1990s Singapore Dream Team to showcase their football skills in a curtain-raiser against the Media & Celebrities selection side. There will also be a half time (musical/dance) performance.
The curtain-raiser will kick off at 5 pm.
Fans will get to see Singapore Greats from the Dream Team, like Fandi Ahmad, V Sundramoorthy, Malek Awab, Abbas Saad, Rafi, Ali, Nazri Nasir, Steven Tan, Syed Faruk and Lim Tong Hai.
FAS President, Zainudin Nordin and FAS Technical Director Slobodan Pavkovic will join the likes of Sheikh Haikel, Glenn Ong, Raj Kumar, Mark Richmond and other media and celebrity personalities to square off against the “Dream Team”.
The Admission Fee for the match is $10.00 and fans who purchased the tickets can witness both matches for a worthy cause.
All proceeds from the gate collection will go to Charmaine, a cancer patient whose mother Mrs Cynthia Lim is hoping to send her for a special treatment in the US which might double her chances of surviving.
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S.League Match Pass Holders, Invitation Card Holders and Complimentary tickets for the S.League match will only be permitted entry for the S.League match at 7:00 pm.
Tampines Rovers FC wishes to express their sincere thanks and support to the Football Association of Singapore, Singapore Sports Council, Geylang United FC, the players from the Singapore Dream Team, the media and celebrity players and all those who have contributed in one way or another to making this charity effort possible.
Date: Sunday, 28 June 2009
Match: 5:00 pm Curtain Raiser Match
Singapore 1990s Dream Team vs Media & Celebrities
Match: 7:45 pm S.League
Tampines Rovers FC vs Geylang United FC
Venue: Tampines Stadium
Ticket Admission Fee: $10.00
In view of the Charity event, S.League Stadium Match Pass Holders, Invitation Card Holders and Complimentary tickets for the S.League match between Tampines Rovers and Geylang United will only be permitted entry for the S.League match at 7:00 pm.
Tickets are currently on sale at:
Tampines Rovers FC’s admin office
Tampines Stadium
25 Tampines Avenue 5
Singapore 529759 - During Office Hours
Tel: 6784 6670
Pre-Match Ticket Sales
Additional ticket booth will be set up to pre-sell match tickets on Friday, 26 June 2009 from 2pm to 6pm at Tampines Stadium Gate 4.
Match Day Ticket Sales
Tickets will be on sale from 4pm at the Tampines Stadium ticketing booth.
DPMM FC vs Geylang United [3-0]
Eagles latest to fall in Brunei
Rano Iskandar
info@sleague.com
Geylang United found their names added to the list of teams to have been defeated in the Hassanal Bolkiah National Stadium in Brunei as DPMM FC ran out 3-0 winners on Wednesday evening.
It was the Bruneians’ sixth win in as many S.League matches on the ground, as they moved to within two points of league leaders Gombak United.
DPMM started the game the more brightly of the two teams with constant incisive attacks through the middle of the Eagles defence, but nothing materialised as Baihakki Khaizan and his teammates held firm.
One such move found wingback Sairol Sahari on the left, but his cross narrowly missed out on meeting the heads of both Abdel Hamid Berguiga and Oh Ddog Yi and the Eagles easily cleared their lines.
Hafiz Rahim came close for Geylang when he managed to find himself free on the right side, where his rasping shot clipped the top of the DPMM goal.
Halfway through the first half, DPMM got the goal that they were looking for when Azwan Salleh sent in a thunderbolt to the top corner from 30 yards out, leaving Eagles keeper Yazid Yasin clutching air.
The goal injected more urgency in Geylang’s play with both Miroslav Latiak and Rastislav Belicak bossing the midfield, but Geylang were not able to create any clearcut chances.
They did come close on the half-hour mark when a quick counter attack lead by Belicak found Noor Ali in the penalty area, but the Geylang captain’s shot was turned around the corner.
From the resulting corner, DPMM cleared the ball and found Berguiga on a one on one situation with G. Lenan, and he managed to get past him easily, but not the alert Yazid.
It was Geylang who started off the second half with more intent, and they caused pandemonium in the DPMM area with a well-worked free kick, but Rene Komar was able to clear eventually.
But that was as close as Geylang came as DPMM grew in confidence and slowly took hold of the game.
The ever-impressive Berguiga got the all-important second goal when he spotted Yazid off his line and chipped from all of 30 yards to noisy rapture from the crowd, numbering just below 6,000.
His strike partner Oh put the icing on a dominating DPMM performance, after he surged into the area and placed the ball into the corner four minutes from time.
Geylang coach Mike Wong was pragmatic about his team performance, saying that mistakes at this level cost his team a result.
“It was a good game and I thought we played well till the second goal went in. We lost focus after that and some individual errors cost us the game.
“DPMM on the other played well and they deserved to win. They showed that they had the desire to win and the final scoreline proved it.”
Vjeran Simunic on the other hand was his usual euphoric self after the game.
“It was a nice game. Geylang played well and we expected them to give us a run for our money.
“It is going to be like this from now on as every team will try to beat us. In the end we deserved victory for the way we played well.”
Rano Iskandar
info@sleague.com
Geylang United found their names added to the list of teams to have been defeated in the Hassanal Bolkiah National Stadium in Brunei as DPMM FC ran out 3-0 winners on Wednesday evening.
It was the Bruneians’ sixth win in as many S.League matches on the ground, as they moved to within two points of league leaders Gombak United.
DPMM started the game the more brightly of the two teams with constant incisive attacks through the middle of the Eagles defence, but nothing materialised as Baihakki Khaizan and his teammates held firm.
One such move found wingback Sairol Sahari on the left, but his cross narrowly missed out on meeting the heads of both Abdel Hamid Berguiga and Oh Ddog Yi and the Eagles easily cleared their lines.
Hafiz Rahim came close for Geylang when he managed to find himself free on the right side, where his rasping shot clipped the top of the DPMM goal.
Halfway through the first half, DPMM got the goal that they were looking for when Azwan Salleh sent in a thunderbolt to the top corner from 30 yards out, leaving Eagles keeper Yazid Yasin clutching air.
The goal injected more urgency in Geylang’s play with both Miroslav Latiak and Rastislav Belicak bossing the midfield, but Geylang were not able to create any clearcut chances.
They did come close on the half-hour mark when a quick counter attack lead by Belicak found Noor Ali in the penalty area, but the Geylang captain’s shot was turned around the corner.
From the resulting corner, DPMM cleared the ball and found Berguiga on a one on one situation with G. Lenan, and he managed to get past him easily, but not the alert Yazid.
It was Geylang who started off the second half with more intent, and they caused pandemonium in the DPMM area with a well-worked free kick, but Rene Komar was able to clear eventually.
But that was as close as Geylang came as DPMM grew in confidence and slowly took hold of the game.
The ever-impressive Berguiga got the all-important second goal when he spotted Yazid off his line and chipped from all of 30 yards to noisy rapture from the crowd, numbering just below 6,000.
His strike partner Oh put the icing on a dominating DPMM performance, after he surged into the area and placed the ball into the corner four minutes from time.
Geylang coach Mike Wong was pragmatic about his team performance, saying that mistakes at this level cost his team a result.
“It was a good game and I thought we played well till the second goal went in. We lost focus after that and some individual errors cost us the game.
“DPMM on the other played well and they deserved to win. They showed that they had the desire to win and the final scoreline proved it.”
Vjeran Simunic on the other hand was his usual euphoric self after the game.
“It was a nice game. Geylang played well and we expected them to give us a run for our money.
“It is going to be like this from now on as every team will try to beat us. In the end we deserved victory for the way we played well.”
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
A brilliant view of Singapore Football
On Friday, Brunei DPMM FC took back with them the League Cup trophy and in doing so become the first foreign side to take home a piece of domestic silverware since the foundation of the S.League in 1996.
And just like the winners, the 2009 League Cup competition itself has also broken into a whole new world for the S.League with the first ever ‘Live’ airing of its matches on cable television. The whirlwind 19-day tournament had 13 of its 20 matches shown ‘Live’ on StarHub’s Football Channel and the broadcast of the matches produced by World Sport Group have given Singaporeans a brilliant view to its local football and have impressed many.
"My friends and I actually seldom watch local football but the recent League Cup on the Football Channel caught our attention,” said Polytechnic student Koh Weihuang.
“We first saw the SAFFC-Albirex game on TV and it was actually quite good. So we made it a point to be home to catch some of the other matches. I must say the action in the knockout stages were definitely better and comparable to a lot of matches in the EPL,” Koh added.
The Football Channel has been the source for Singaporeans to get their regular dose of English and European Football, but the telecast of the League Cup on the channel has not only won the S.League some new fans, but also quite a few converts from the EPL who have packed the pubs to catch some of the recent action.
"I am used to watching EPL, but based on what I’ve seen the standard of football in Singapore is certainly something I feel is worth catching live at a stadium", said Carlos del Castillo, who was watching the Final at Bobby’s at Chijmes.
The League Cup production also included a half time segment hosted by P J Roberts which profiled the teams in the competition. One of the many who enjoyed the features was Mervyn Lai, who has worked in the sports TV production industry for over a decade.
“The fact that there was a half-time show was a big plus and the features were well done and gave viewers an insight to the players’ lives,” said Lai.
Even some players were overheard raving about the standard of the coverage of the League Cup tournament and local commentator Shehzad Haque, “The replay angles in during this tournament really showed everything and commentator was really good. He really knew what he was talking about and gave really good insights on the players,” said SAFFC wing-back Shaiful Esah.
The success of the television coverage has also spilled over to the stadiums with the League Cup Final almost packing in more than 5,300 fans at the Jalan Besar Stadium.
“I have been following the matches on television and I knew DPMM and SAF would give a good game, so I thought I come and be part of the atmosphere at the stadium,” said Navy regular Ronnie Lim, who sat with the SAFFC fans during the finals.
The League Cup production has been quite a success for the S.League and when asked if there were future plans for such collaborations, they would only reveal that they have been in talks and would only reveal more at a later date.
And just like the winners, the 2009 League Cup competition itself has also broken into a whole new world for the S.League with the first ever ‘Live’ airing of its matches on cable television. The whirlwind 19-day tournament had 13 of its 20 matches shown ‘Live’ on StarHub’s Football Channel and the broadcast of the matches produced by World Sport Group have given Singaporeans a brilliant view to its local football and have impressed many.
"My friends and I actually seldom watch local football but the recent League Cup on the Football Channel caught our attention,” said Polytechnic student Koh Weihuang.
“We first saw the SAFFC-Albirex game on TV and it was actually quite good. So we made it a point to be home to catch some of the other matches. I must say the action in the knockout stages were definitely better and comparable to a lot of matches in the EPL,” Koh added.
The Football Channel has been the source for Singaporeans to get their regular dose of English and European Football, but the telecast of the League Cup on the channel has not only won the S.League some new fans, but also quite a few converts from the EPL who have packed the pubs to catch some of the recent action.
"I am used to watching EPL, but based on what I’ve seen the standard of football in Singapore is certainly something I feel is worth catching live at a stadium", said Carlos del Castillo, who was watching the Final at Bobby’s at Chijmes.
The League Cup production also included a half time segment hosted by P J Roberts which profiled the teams in the competition. One of the many who enjoyed the features was Mervyn Lai, who has worked in the sports TV production industry for over a decade.
“The fact that there was a half-time show was a big plus and the features were well done and gave viewers an insight to the players’ lives,” said Lai.
Even some players were overheard raving about the standard of the coverage of the League Cup tournament and local commentator Shehzad Haque, “The replay angles in during this tournament really showed everything and commentator was really good. He really knew what he was talking about and gave really good insights on the players,” said SAFFC wing-back Shaiful Esah.
The success of the television coverage has also spilled over to the stadiums with the League Cup Final almost packing in more than 5,300 fans at the Jalan Besar Stadium.
“I have been following the matches on television and I knew DPMM and SAF would give a good game, so I thought I come and be part of the atmosphere at the stadium,” said Navy regular Ronnie Lim, who sat with the SAFFC fans during the finals.
The League Cup production has been quite a success for the S.League and when asked if there were future plans for such collaborations, they would only reveal that they have been in talks and would only reveal more at a later date.
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