Top two square off in mouth-watering clash

Fabius Chen 
info@sleague.com

There shall be no quarter asked and none given when second-placed Gombak United host league leaders SAFFC at Jurong West Stadium on Tuesday.

Six games into the new season, the home side are one of three clubs yet to taste defeat in the league. Their home record thus far is flawless, with two wins out of two and no goals conceded.

Meanwhile, the Warriors are on a high after they bounced back from a shock home loss to Nenad Bacina’s Woodlands Wellington, demolishing Albirex Niigata (Singapore) 6-nil in their last outing.

With both sides making such impressive starts to the season, it is no wonder that the build-up to Tuesday’s game has largely been an exercise in mutual respect.

Bulls head coach Darren Stewart said of the opposition: “They’re the best team in the league and one of the best in the region. We respect every one of them as they’re a quality side.”

The compliment was returned by Warriors’ coach Richard Bok, who commented: “Gombak are a tough team to play at the moment as they’re in good form and with Darren at the helm, I think they can keep up the good work.”

According to Bok, the last two league games have been especially significant for his team’s progress.

“The loss against Woodlands meant that we had to push harder, while the win over Albirex was a real morale booster,” he explained.

“After the Woodlands game, we knew we had to go back to basics and work harder than before.”

Having a settled squad with just a couple of new additions has been a factor in the Bulls’ success so far in 2009, Bok believes.

One of these new signings, Australian Goran Subara, agreed with that assessment.

“It’s definitely a big positive that the boys have played together for a couple of seasons and understand each other,” the 22-year-old defender said.

Tuesday will provide Subara’s stiffest test to date, with last season’s top scorer Aleksandar Duric and red-hot John Wilkinson to deal with.

When asked about the vaunted Warriors attack, Subara replied: “They are all big names and good players. We will just have to go out there, play our game and hope for the best.”

It was an exhilarating exhibition of attacking football that SAFFC put up against Albirex, with Duric, Wilkinson, Ahmad Latiff Khamarudin, Park Tae Won and Therdsak Chaiman causing the Japanese defence all sorts of problems.

That performance will no doubt have given Stewart something to think about going into Tuesday’s tie.

“We are under no illusions about how difficult it will be. The players will have to be switched on all over the park,” he stressed.

“We cannot just focus on certain players; there are too many to worry about.”

While he is pleased with the start his side has made, Stewart made it clear that no one at the club is getting ahead of themselves.

He said: “We have to be realistic and not look too far ahead. Obviously we can’t predict the future so we’ve just got to give it everything we’ve got in every game.”

There is one thing he can be certain about, though; with both sides at full-strenght and the top spot in the league at stake, Tuesday’s game will be an absolute humdinger.