Obatola hat-trick inspires Gombak romp
Cheryl Lim
info@sleague.com
Ojimi Gabriel Obatola’s first hat-trick of the season gave Gombak United a resounding 4-1 triumph over Balestier Khalsa at Jalan Besar Stadium on Friday evening.
His quick brace in the space of two minutes early in the first half, a header and a close-range blast, saw Gombak in cruise control, before a penalty and a sublime finish by his strike partner Agu Casmir cemented the victory.
Syaqir Sulaiman pulled one back for the Tigers a minute from time, but it was all they could muster.
The Bulls now sit second on the Great Eastern-YEO’s S.League table with 21 points, while Balestier stay below the rest of the pack with six.
Obatola made an impact right from the start, showcasing his physical strength when he crashed into Balestier’s goalkeeper Hafez Mawasi while attempting to make a shot.
Moments later he managed to beat Mahmod Hashim while bringing the ball down on the left, but Syaqir was on hand to clear the danger.
His side continued to dominate proceedings, seeing Emmanuel Emuejeraye, Ruhaizad Ismail and Theerawesin Seehawong, who was making his first appearance this season after an injury layoff, threatening Hafez’s net but to no avail.
It was thus not a surprise when the deadlock was broken just twelve minutes in, as Obatola eluded his marker and connected to Casmir’s stinging freekick with a diving header.
Balestier’s goal was breached again just two minutes later. Casmir’s initial attempt deflected off defender Seth Galloway and went the direction of a surprised Hafez, who did well to backtrack and push the ball away from goal, but Obatola gleefully capitalized on the situation to stab into goal from close range.
The Tigers seemed to be awakened by the two quick strikes. Leading the response was K. Vikraman, who made their first shot on target by trying a long loop from the right which Fadhil Salim caught comfortably.
Syaqir too ventured into the Gombak half before releasing Ednardo Moura on the left, only to see Fadhil punch away the latter’s attempt. The ball fell to Bryan Soane, but he was blocked by a defender before he could make any further headway.
Gombak, though, would not allow their opponent to come back into the game so easily, as they tested the opposite defense with a good combination between Casmir and Ruhaizad to set Obatola up before Sofiyan Abdul Hamid came in to clear for a corner.
Balestier started off brightly in the second half, stringing better passes and making more efforts in retaining possession and venturing upfront. Soane headed directly into Fadhil in a split second following Rhysh Roshan Rai’s pass, and the midfielder himself tested Fadhil too with a direct freekick.
Casmir then wasted an opportunity to further Gombak’s lead, after having done so well to beat the offside trap and race past two defenders, but was too slow to finish it off.
Both sides continued the match in the manner of a spar, as they sought to add more value to their causes.
Two successive corners for Balestier yielded nothing, while on the other side of the pitch a free Obatola shot wide with only Hafez to beat.
13 minutes from time, Gombak were handed the moment to produce their clincher. Ruhaizad broke into the penalty area and Hafez rushed out, tripping the former in the process. Referee Sukhbir Singh pointed to the spot immediately, and produced a measured yellow card for Hafez rather than the red.
Obatola duly stepped up and converted the spot kick to complete his hat-trick.
A wonder strike from Casmir five minutes later after breaking away from the Balestier defense put Gombak 4-0 up, before Syaqir put in a consolation goal for the Tigers a minute before the final whistle by tapping in from a corner.
But there was no doubt who was the star of the show, as Obatola picked up a Man of the Match award he richly deserved following his dazzling performance.
Gombak head coach Darren Stewart was satisfied with the three points his team had collected.
“The attacking form and quality today was good, although we were a little disappointment in the first 20 minutes of the second half, we were a little out of play. Luckily we had a couple of good saves from Fadhil and we are happy with the final score.
“I am very pleased that we could keep creating plenty of opportunities. There were plenty of good performances out there, many players want to be recognized with their work today and contributed to the result.”
Stewart also shared his opinion on the return of Theerawesin to the team.
“The most important for us was that he got to play football again, because it was tough for him to go two to three months without football. It is definitely positive to have him back.”
His counterpart Nasaruddin Jalil was not too worried about his side’s loss.
“We have to pick up from there; this is part of the game. I don’t see the table right now at this stage. I am more concerned about the performance of the players, looking at what my team is able to improve on, and where the weaknesses are.
“We have to be realistic, looking at where Gombak’s position on the table is. They are good; we were unable to compete with poor defending with the goals we conceded.
“It is not that we have not lost before, but how we lost is another thing. We played with better teams. We know how strong Gombak is, especially with their forward line, and because of the injury to Jufri Taha we have to reshuffle a few things.
“When we conceded two early goals, the team had not settled, but after that we settled down after the first 20 minutes, we passed and we got slowly forward, but the damage was already done,” he continued.
“We tried to come back in the second half, we tried to keep the possession, we had one or two chances. The game is a matter of chances that come to you; if you can get something you can motivate the players to another level.
“No matter we were losing 2-0 or 3-0, we were still losing. We could not be defending all the time; we also have to put pressure and attack. That was when we scored the only goal of the game.
“The question is how long you want to defend, and how chances come in the attacking part, so you have to strike a balance.” |
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