Jufri own goal gives Rams winning edge

Syahrom Sulaiman
info@sleague.com

Balestier Khalsa captain Jufri Taha made the headlines recently for helping catch a snatch thief, but there was less pleasant news for the 24-year-old on Monday as his side went down to Woodlands Wellington at Toa Payoh Stadium.

This time it was the unfortunate Jufri feeling the loss, as his own goal after two minutes separated the two sides on Monday night. Unfortunate, as the defender had an otherwise impressive outing alongside Seth Galloway.

For Woodlands, it was a welcome win, their second of the season and an important victory after they were hammered 0-4 by Home United last week.

“It was not easy, but I am very happy that we managed to win 1-0. You can see that my players were quite pressured in the late stages of the game because Balestier are capable of scoring late goals,” said Woodlands coach Nenad Bacina.

“In the end, we got the three points and it couldn’t have come at a better time.”

His Rams were in the lead in the second minute of the match, before the crowd could even properly warm their seats.

Striker Mojtaba Tehranizadeh, making his return from suspension, received a defensive clearance from winger Asraf Abdul Rashid and held the ball up well, eventually releasing strike partner Zakaria Yousif.

Shadowed by Jufri, the Egyptian swung a cross into the box and the Balestier captain got a reflexive header to the ball, only to see it float past his keeper Hafez Mawasi.

Going forward, the Tigers did not have too much to offer in the early going to really trouble Woodlands veteran Rezal Hassan in goal. However, he did have a scare in the 24th minute.

Midfielder K. Vikraman produced a moment of magic as he drifted past Woodlands leftback Syaiful Iskandar and his cross-shot bounced off Rezal’s post, with no Balestier man quick enough to pounce on the rebound.

They produced another chance on the half hour mark through some good build-up play. A quick one-two played by Anantha Rajan and Vikraman enabled the former to breach the Rams defence.

He tried to square the pass into the six-yard area but Anaz Hadee blocked his attempt. Rezal picked the ball up and there were shouts in the stadium that it was a back pass by the defender.

Referee Muhd Adzhar Adziz waved for the game to play on, but the Tigers’ camp must have felt aggrieved by the decision.

Just as the Tigers were on the ascendancy, it was another refereeing decision in the 39th minute which produced a blow to the home side’s chances.

Brazilian striker Ednardo Moura, who received a yellow card earlier in the 31st minute for an unnecessary foul on keeper Rezal, was shown his second of the game after executing a wild lunge on midfielder Azlan Alipah.

With a one-man advantage going into the break and a goal up, the Rams were favourites to seize control of the game in the second half.

Nevertheless, it was Balestier who managed to get the ball into the Rams’ net, only to have it ruled out.

Smothering a freekick from Balestier substitute Ram Shanker, Woodlands custodian Rezal tried to kick the ball but Galloway cheekily knocked it out of his hands and into the net.

For all his trouble, Galloway received a yellow card from the referee and the Tigers were still a goal down.

Woodlands fashioned a number of chances through Jamil Ali and Asraf but it was the home side who were creating the more clear cut ones, only to find Rezal in good form in between the posts.

Tigers coach Nasaruddin Jalil was left to reflect on what could have been after the game.

“It was tough to play with ten men and furthermore, for the opponents to beat us, we had to score for them. That is the story for tonight,” said Nasaruddin.

“But on a positive note, it showed the character of the team by playing with ten men and doing reasonably well for long periods in the game.

“I would have to talk to the team about the importance of not losing one’s cool and maintaining temperament. This is a team game and getting sent off will only make the whole team suffer throughout the game.”

The Tigers coach also felt that his side were hard done by some of the refereeing decisions in the game.

“I understand that the referees do not have an easy job. Nevertheless, the only thing I am asking for is consistency in the decisions that are made on the field,” he said.

“At times, it looks as if we’re playing with angels who do not make mistakes. My concern is for my players first and foremost - I do not want them to be injured because of some mistimed tackle.

“But, at the end of the day, we must learn from tonight’s defeat and make sure that we respond positively to it,” he added.