Subara preserves Gombak's unbeaten start

Ong Jiing Yih
info@sleague.com

Gombak United kept their unbeaten start to the season as a late goal from Goran Subara secured a 1-1 draw with Home United on Friday night.

Home were looking to keep pace with early season leaders SAFFC and Gombak, having already fallen to the Warriors, and looked to have shaded a gritty contest at the Jalan Besar Stadium through Valery Hiek’s opener in the 54th minute.

But young Australian Subara coolly slotted home seven minutes from time after Home keeper Lionel Lewis failed to deal adequately with Bah Mamadou’s cross, under pressure from Agu Casmir.

Post match, Home head coach P N Sivaji shared his thoughts on an even tie which featured plenty of endeavour from both sides.

“We were aware of how the quartet of Ruhaizad Ismail, Agu Casmir, Emmanuel Emuejeraye and Ojimi Gabriel Obatola move around which gives Gombak speed and plenty of options upfront, and we deployed a formation that included a sweeper,” said Sivaji.

“Teams are now well equipped with their gameplan, which speaks of our quality of coaching. Gombak worked very hard and earned a deserved point.”

Sivaji also lamented the two dropped points as Home continued their stuttering start to the season.

“However, as much as we look at how our opponents play, we ourselves aren't strong enough to play to our own style at the moment,” he added.

“I'm disappointed, as we controlled the game for long periods, our possession play and movement were terrific.

“That said, I'm pleased with the mental strength of the team considered they had only played three days earlier. The 'mind over body' mentality is a winning one and symbolised our team play.”

For the match proper, Sivaji's Protectors trotted onto the field with Norikazu Murakami and Hiek in the lineup, while there was to be only one change for the Bulls as Shafuan Sutomoh took Ridhwan Jamaludin's place in the side.

A tight midfield battle ensued early on as the likes of Shafuan and Shi Jiayi vied for supremacy.

Having settled down, Home showed confidence in defence which allowed Juma'at Jantan the freedom to roam forward. Kengne Ludovick proceeded to lay siege on the Gombak goal, as his released pass saw Murakami then Peres de Oliveira have their shots blocked.

The game then swung from one end to the other, Casmir forcing a combination of Lionel Lewis and Shahril Alias to prevent his testing effort from coming to fruition.

Set pieces seemed to the means of making the breakthrough going into the half hour mark, as Shi lashed his freekick beyond the reach of Fadhil Salim, in goal for the Bulls.

As Home continued to press forward, Gombak were patient on the counter.

It nearly came together perfectly for the away side, only for Juma'at came to his side's rescue on 32 minutes as Gombak attempted to prise the Protectors' door open.

After Emuejeraye helped Lewis’ limp tip away back into the box, the lanky Subara knocked his header over the keeper’s desperate grasp but was foiled by Juma’at’s clearance off the line.

Lewis had to be alert eight minutes later to keep out Obatola’s fierce freekick after Hiek had brought down Shafuan.

The Cameroonian defender did not seem too bothered nine minutes after the restart as he became the unlikely breaker of the deadlock.

Rosman Sulaiman’s corner was floated into the box and Shahril Ishak’s attempt was not the cleanest of efforts, but Hiek diverted it in with a subtle touch just in front of Gombak keeper Fadhil.

However, if Home felt the winds were firmly in their sails, they had to think twice as the effervescent Obatola swapped positions with Emuejeraye towards the hour mark.

First, he forced Shahril Alias into a block tackle, after a turn and pass by Emuejeraye threatened to send him clear on goal.

Then, Hiek stood in the way before Obatola could pull the trigger from Ruhaizad's scuffed shot that was cleared.

The visitors got their reward in the 83rd minute after a combination of Lewis flapping at Mamadou's speculative cross and Casmir's presence opened up space for the unmarked Subara to place a left foot shot firmly into the bottom left corner.

Gombak coach Darren Stewart had words of praise for the young midfielder and his side’s fortitude.

“Subara's fitted in well, and after we changed things around and shored up for the second half, he happened to be in the right place and at the right time,” said the Australian.

“Home looked the sharper and we could have been punished. Although we looked a little sluggish overall, this is a good result for us. We pinched a goal in the dying moments with our never-say-die attitude.”