Warriors in seventh heaven
Cheryl Lim
info@sleague.com
SAFFC stormed to the top of the S.League table with a 7-1 rout of Sengkang Punggol at Hougang Stadium on Saturday.
The result marked a perfect turnaround for the defending league champions, who were coming into this match on the back of a 1-3 league defeat to Gombak United a week ago and a 1-4 loss to Kashima Antlers of Japan in the AFC Champions League four days back.
Far from showing signs of weariness, the Warriors bounced back in style with a brace each from Therdsak Chaiman and Ahmad Latiff Khamarudin, with contributions from Mustaqim Manzur, Kenji Arai and Aleksandar Duric too.
Sengkang substitute Anthony Bahadur gave his team hope of staging a comeback by scoring early in the second half, but it was to be the only goal from his side for the evening as the Dolphins stayed rooted at the bottom of the league table.
SAFFC coach Richard Bok had earlier spoken of the benefits participating in the ACL competition would bring to his side, and the point was more than amply borne out in this encounter.
“The movements on the field that we were exposed to in the ACL cannot be learned overnight, but the attitude and commitment to play and work as a team can,” he said in his post-match analysis.
“The players brought these into this game, and I hope my team can keep up with this creativity, attitude and commitment for the rest of the season. It is a good win for us.”
While the scoreline would have brought much delight to Bok and the Warriors fans, the manner in which the match had started gave no hints of the mauling that would be in store.
Fielding a near-full first team that was missing only John Wilkinson, who was passed fit to take his place on the bench, SAFFC had the opportunity to open the scoring as early as the fifth minute through their skipper Duric.
But after getting past defenders Winston Yap and Jerry Bartholomeusz, and then rounding goalkeeper Joey Sim, the veteran sent a wayward shot into the wrong side of the netting.
Sengkang responded by pushing forward in search for the breakthrough themselves, Abdoulaye Diallo putting through his captain Indra Sahdan Daud, who was eventually stopped by stout defending from Arai.
Indra then made a good run down the left before playing the ball backwards to Sazali Salleh, who sent in a cross just a touch too long beyond any of his onrushing teammates.
Sim then impressed by denying Therdsak’s volley on 23 minutes, and Duric then missed a golden chance to convert Shaiful Esah’s teasing cross from the left.
At the other end, Indra led by example as he inspired his teammates with a solo run down the left flank, before cutting into the middle and releasing a fierce shot which was blocked by Daniel Bennett.
The see-saw looked set to go on forever, but then the deadlock was broken just one minute before the half-hour mark, Latiff taking a high ball down before releasing it to Therdsak, who sent it straight into the back of the net.
It was the Thai’s first league goal this year, and it proved the perfect tonic as the Warriors came close to scoring straight off the restart.
Latiff’s header off a Masahiro Fukasawa cross was caught comfortably by Sim on that occasion, but he was not to be denied four minutes later, when he tapped the ball into goal after receiving a pass from Shaiful.
Sim kept the half-time score respectable by pushing away Park Tae Won’s chip, before his teammate Hiroyuki Yamamoto tried to pull one back following Sazali’s assist but slid his attempt off target.
Sengkang’s desire to score carried right into the second half, when Murphy Wiredu tested SAFFC goalkeeper Shahril Jantan with a long cross the latter did well to catch.
Jorg Steinebrunner then decided to bring on forward Bahadur for more attacking bite in the 49th minute, and the move paid off almost immediately as the Canadian converted Sazali’s pass just four minutes after he had replaced Azhar Baksin.
Bahadur made Shahril sweat again shortly after, forcing the latter to push away his volley.
Any thoughts of a Woodlands Wellington-style comeback were quickly dashed though, after Duric intercepted the ball in the middle of the park before charging forward and releasing to Therdsak, whose long shot zoomed past Sim and into the bottom left corner.
The match soon took on the look of a shooting practice session for SAFFC, Mustaqim putting his name onto the scoresheet with a chip to make it four for the visitors.
The Dolphins made genuine efforts to keep things close despite the odds heavily stacked against them, but Wiredu could not keep his chip down when he received a looping pass from the right by his compatriot Bahadur.
More misery was instead piled onto them in the 71st minute, when Arai took advantage of some confusion in the Sengkang box to claim a rare tap-in.
Four minutes later, Duric made it six when he easily volleyed in Park’s cross from the left.
By then, Sengkang looked out of ideas and grew slower in their forays, allowing their opponents the freedom of the midfield to try out their passing routines.
There was still time for Latiff to put the final nail into the Dolphins’ coffin with a superb ambitious shot which rebounded off the post and into the back of the net.
That final kick of the match left Sengkang shell-shocked, and Sim could barely contain his bewilderment as he summed up the story of his team’s harrowing night.
“We did not expect this,” said the 22-year-old.
“We never thought they would field a full first team that would not look tired at all after their ACL game. They came at us right from the start and chased us everywhere.
“I don’t know what happened out there. I tried to do my part to save the shots but my teammates grew tired as the game went on. We will have to try to recover for the next game.”
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