Agu denies Woodlands at the death

Mohd Sham
info@sleague.com  

Gombak United’s African connection took centre stage against Woodlands Wellington on Thursday evening, as the Bulls clawed their way back from a goal down to claim a draw against a ten-man Rams outfit.

The home side drew first blood thanks to a Zakaria Yousif header in the 20th minute, but the visitors’ equaliser had the sprinkling of African magic all over it as Kingsley Njoku and Agu Casmir combined for the latter to snatch a leveller just a minute before full time.

The match was always going a tasty affair right from the outset, with Nenad Bacina’s men arriving into this encounter on the back of their exhilarating, come-from-behind 3-2 victory against SAFFC to clash head on against an unbeaten Gombak outfit.

The opening exchanges of the match were a muted affair though.

Woodlands got the ball rolling four minutes in when nippy winger Jamil Ali’s speculative effort from long range was held on the line by an alert Fadhil Salim.

Eleven minutes later, Woodlands should have opened their account on the night, but national stopper Precious Emuejeraye contrived to miss from ten yards, ballooning his effort way over the bar after a goalmouth scramble from a corner.

Gombak, who paled in comparison to their dynamic and robust modus operandi in their previous four games, were always on the back foot and it came as no real surprise when Woodlands broke the deadlock on twenty minutes.

A charging foray by defender Syaiful Iskandar saw him beat three Gombak players before feeding Jamil Ali, whose looping cross was met by Yousif with just enough substance to nestle into the back of the net past a stranded Fadhil to make it 1-0.

The visitors’ lacklustre display was summed up in the 34th minute when midfielder Ridhwan Jamaludin made inroads into the Rams half, but then proceeded to kamikaze his shot wildly over the bar.

The Bulls finally crafted their best chance five later when Fazli Jaffar let fly with an absolute corker, but Rams custodian Rezal Hassan was equal to the task, flying majestically to tip it over the bar.

Bulls chief Darren Stewart had seen enough from his men, and promptly drafted in Emmanuel Emuejeraye, brother of the better-known Precious, in the 54th minute, and his mere presence nearly brought an equaliser when Jaslee Hatta rammed an effort which sailed just over the bar after a melee from a Gombak corner.

On the hour mark, the visitors should have been rewarded when the impressive Ridhwan was given acres of space to turn and stroke home a peach of a strike but alas, the ball just skimmed past the post, adding to the Bulls frustration.

Stewart, sensing his side on the ascendancy, sent on another attacking weapon in the form of the recently-returned Kingsley Njoku after 64 minutes in a bid to haul his side back into the match.

Just two minutes later, his side got a huge boost, albeit of a different kind when the Rams’ Iranian forward Mojtaba Tehranizadeh got himself sent off for a second bookable offence after a reckless studs-first challenge on Fazli.

Buoyed by their numerical superiority, Gombak’s African connection sprung into action for the first time in the match when Agu’s surging run into the box saw the ball fall to Njoku, whose low cross into the byline was flicked by Emmanuel just marginally wide of the target.

By now, the tide had turned firmly in the Bulls’ favour, and Njoku decided to take matters into his own hands in the 80th minute when he muscled through the Woodlands rearguard and blasted a stinging shot, but his effort did not earn the rewards he deserved as it flew above the bar, much to the Nigerian’s chagrin.

Gombak though were not to be denied and Woodlands, who were hanging on a knife’s edge throughout the second half, succumbed to the combination of Agu and Njoku on the stroke of normal time as the latter’s potshot was flicked into goal past a crowded Rams defence, sending the visiting fans into a frenzy.

Woodlands gaffer Nenad Bacina acknowledged that the expulsion of Tehranizadeh was the pivotal moment of the match.

“First of all, I would like to congratulate both teams for giving a good fight in this match,” said the Croatian.

“I think the game was decided after the red card and we tried to play on the counter attack. We had to because Gombak are a good side so we had to pay with a little caution.

“If we had stayed with eleven men, we could have ensured the leadership of our goal but our players fought like lions so I’m very proud by the performance today.”

His Bulls counterpart Stewart insisted that he was not disappointed by his side’s first-half display.

“I’m quite happy with the first half, maybe except for the first ten or fifteen minutes, but we played much better after that,” he commented.

“Credit to Woodlands, they showed great character creating chances and it wasn’t easy for us.”

The Australian also played down the exploits of his substitutes Njoku and Emmanuel.

“Both of them are winners but they are also 90-minute players,” he explained.

“Kingsley only had five practice sessions with us so far and it will take time for him to get back into the side.

“This is the first time we have been down at half-time and I salute the boys for their display tonight.”