Protectors hit four past Rams

Syahrom Sulaiman 
info@sleague.com 

The talk before the game was how Home United faced difficulty in converting their goalscoring chances recently.

Well, at the end of their 4-0 romp of Woodlands Wellington on Monday night, it seems that their scoring blues may well be truly over.

A hat-trick by super-sub Norikazu Murakami and a superb long-range effort by Kengne Ludovick settled the contest but Protectors’ head coach PN Sivaji is not easily swayed by the resounding scoreline.

He commented, “Of course, to score four goals tonight is fantastic but honestly speaking, our performance wasn’t that good as compared to the game against the Young Lions.

“But once Norikazu managed to get the first two goals, the players were more relaxed and they played much better towards the end of the game,” Sivaji pointed out.

In a tense first-half affair, both sides were trying to adjust to a pitch that was slippery due to a slight drizzle. Chances were few and far between but when they came, they provided the much-needed excitement to both sets of fans in the first 45 minutes.

In the 13th minute, Shahril Ishak played a one-two with striker Ludovick. A last-ditch tackle by Anaz Hadee blocked Shahril’s attempt on goal but the left-sided midfielder was presented with a second bite of the cherry.

His cross was pinpoint for Peres de Oliveira to head towards goal but the Brazilian was thwarted by some fine goalkeeping from the 34-year-old Rezal Hassan.

The rebound fell to Shi Jiayi but the midfielder’s powerful shot was just wide off the mark.

Ten minutes later, it was the Rams’ turn to attack the Protectors’ box. A speculative cross by Ismadi Mukhtar was headed away by Valery Hiek but custodian Ridzuan Fatah Hassan traveled too far from his goal line to try and avert the danger.

Midfielder Azlan Alipah thought he received the perfect opportunity to blast in the rebound, but Ridzuan recovered well to block Azlan’s goal-bound shot.

On the half-hour mark, after some good build-up play, the Protectors managed to get the ball into the net.

Receiving a pass from Shi, Ludovick skillfully tricked his marker Daniel Hammond and he created some space for himself in the penalty box.

Ludovick crossed the ball into the six-yard area and Shahril outran Anaz to tap the ball into the Rams’ goal.

Just as the Protectors were about to burst into celebratory mood, their short-lived happiness turned to despair when they realized that referee Sukhbir Singh had disallowed the goal because Shahril was caught in an offside position.

The Protectors never let the setback affect them, and Sivaji made known his side’s attacking intentions when he introduced Murakami for the ineffective Fadzuhasny Juraimi in the second half.

It turned out to be an inspired change. The Japanese forward injected more pace and urgency in the Protectors frontline, and he got the goal that he deserved ten minutes from the re-start. 

Murakami’s blistering left-footed drive hit Ludovick and the wicked deflection nearly fooled Rezal, but he managed to palm the ball away.

However, from the ensuing corner kick, Shi passed the ball to Juma’at Jantan and he quickly whipped in a cross.

Even though the ball was slightly behind Murakami, the 27-year-old somehow twisted his neck muscles to direct his header towards goal to beat Rezal, and the ball hit the underside of the bar before it settled into the Rams’ goal. 

Seven minutes later, Murakami doubled his tally in the game with another similar set-piece routine, this time from a different provider.

Shi relayed the ball to Juma’at from a corner kick but this time, the defender passed the ball to Shahril.

The midfielder used his weaker left foot to provide an accurate cross, and Murakami had an easy task of heading the ball past Rezal to make it 2-0 to the hosts.

He could have a hat-trick as early as the 79th minute when he headed a corner from Oliveira, but his effort rocked the Rams’ crossbar.

Murakami need not have worried about not grabbing his first hat-trick of the season. A minute later, a clever Oliveira through pass found Ludovick in plenty of space on the right flank.

Ludovick cut inside of his marker Syaiful Iskandar before laying a pass to Murakami. He only had one thing in mind – once he received the pass he blasted the ball so hard that Rezal could only see the ball nestle into the bottom right corner.

Ludovick capped off a wonderful evening by providing the icing on the cake with a blistering effort from 30 yards.

Rams’ coach Nenad Bacina was gracious in defeat. He said, “It was tough luck but they deserved to win it. We played well in the first half but once they scored the first goal, they were more confident.

“Fatigue was the main reason why we could not compete with them towards the end. Give us some credit; it takes a lot to play SAFFC, Gombak United and today, Home United, in the space of eight days. But we will definitely come back stronger after this,” Bacina remarked.