The ides of March

W.Ng 
info@sleague.com 

In case you’ve been asleep for a month, sleague.com brings you our round-up of the events that transpired over the last month. Damn helpful, us reporters.

In the United States, ‘March Madness’ is a phrase popularly reserved for the four-week period during which college teams slug it out for basketballing supremacy and, of course, bragging rights.

In light of the intriguing – and sometimes downright perplexing – results played out on our fields this past month, the phrase would hardly be out of place in the context of the 2009 Great Eastern-YEO’S S.League.

At both ends of the table, it almost appears to be business as usual, with the usual suspects assuming their (dare I say it) ‘rightful’ places, or at least the spots they have occupied so often in previous years that it would be surprising to see them anyplace else.

Yet, Balestier Khalsa needed until the end of April last year to notch their first win, with only Sengkang Punggol’s winless run of 12 matches more dire; the fact that both the bottom sides have now already registered their first wins is testament to how different these two sides are from last year’s.

The Tigers’ improvement has come from a few astute purchases in the close season, including Brazilian forward Ithamar Soares Rangel, whose goal against Geylang United helped Balestier to a 2-1 victory.

At Hougang Stadium, on the other hand, change has proven the only constant: the side that saw three different coaches take the reins last season brought in former Woodlands man Jorg Steinebrunner, who immediately stated his intent to do things his way by capturing a host of players who came bearing the burdens of high profiles, including former national team captains Aide Iskandar and Noh Rahman to beef up the defence, as well as the Liga Indonesia’s former Best Foreign Players award recipient Abdoulaye Diallo.

As profiles go, however, few come higher than that of Indra Sahdan Daud, who made an instant impact with his new side, scoring the Dolphins’ opening three goals, but fellow new boy Murphy Wiredu made it rather clear that Indra was not the only reliable goalscorer in the Sengkang squad with two goals against Super Reds in a 3-2 loss.

The biggest highlight of Sengkang’s month, however, would have to be the dubious honour they attained of having both first-choice keeper Joey Sim and reserve custodian Amos Boon sent off against Tampines, in a match which they went on to end with Aide between the sticks. They lost, of course – 2-0.

This time last year, meanwhile, SAFFC were in the middle of an 11-match winning rampage in all competitions, and while they could hardly be faulted for faltering in their regional exploits, given the strength of the competition, a surprise loss to the previously-winless Woodlands Wellington served a stark reminder of the dangers in paying short shrift to domestic affairs.

The Warriors would go on to lose another match before the month was up, but let us come to that later.

In other news, fellow local titans Home United would have done well to take greater heed of the age-old warning to beware the ides of March (ignore the fact that the phrase strictly refers to the 15th of the month, and let me bask in the glory of having forced it into this column).

A 2-1 away loss to Thailand’s Provincial Electrical Authority in the AFC Cup aside, the Protectors went on to lose to Albirex Niigata (Singapore) in their next league match before gifting the unfancied Young Lions their first win of the season.

Coupled with a 3-1 defeat at the Choa Chu Kang Stadium in their first match of the month, a grand haul of four points from a possible 15 capped a torrid March for the 2003 champions.

If former SAFFC marksman Norikazu Murakami’s hat-trick in the Protectors’ 4-0 thumping of Woodlands is anything to go by, however, Home United can at least take comfort in having finally discovered someone to reduce the burden of goalscoring duties on Kengne Ludovick.

The Young Lions, on the other hand, had a good month, drawing their opening three fixtures and confining SAFFC and Gombak United to narrow wins before snatching a smash-and-grab win against Home United.

The inexperienced side was roundly criticized early on for their apparent lack of bite in front of goal, and it is for that reason unsurprising to find defender Obadin Aikhena, the only foreigner in the side, his side’s leading scorer.

The month of March also saw the first S.League match played on foreign soil, with the league’s newcomers Brunei DPMM FC playing host to Super Reds at their Hassanal Bolkiah National Stadium.

Four wins and a draw ensured that the Bruneians enjoyed the best month of the S.League sides, and they lie third in the table, just one of three sides yet to have tasted defeat this season.

But arguably the team of the month would have to be Gombak. Under the tutelage of Australian Darren Stewart, the Bulls have been in a rich vein of form, with forward Gabriel Obatola particularly shining. Kingsley Njoku’s return to Singapore after narrowly missing out on a contract with Norway’s Lyn Oslo certainly did not hurt their attacking instincts either; the Nigerian fired in a last-gasp goal in his first match back to help his side to all the points against Young Lions.

A draw against Home United also helped them keep pace with the early leaders, but Gombak saved the achievement of the month for last, with the 3-1 defeat of SAFFC in the top-of-the-table clash at the Jurong West Stadium which the hosts dominated sending them straight to the top of the table.

With a new boy in town and a different team from the usual ones looking a good bet for top honours, it looks like 2009 is shaping up to be a cracking year for the Great Eastern-YEO'S S.League.