Sengkang vs Woodlands Report [1-0]

Bahadur header lifts Sengkang off bottom

Ong Jiing Yih
info@sleague.com

Anthony Bahadur’s close-range header on the stroke of half-time hauled Sengkang Punggol off the foot of the Great Eastern-YEO’S S.League table as they earned a priceless 1-0 win over Woodlands Wellington at Hougang Stadium.

The pre-match focus was on Jorg Steinebrunner and his struggling Sengkang team, needing perspiration as much as inspiration to pull them out of the rut they had found themselves in.

In the end, they had more of one than the other, as they held off the visitors’ dominance in the first 45 minutes and got the all-important goal to seal their first win in eight games.

Jerry Bartholomeusz, Zahid Ahmad and Sazali Salleh all had fruitful spells with Woodlands in the past, and there was a tinge of emotion as the trio lined up against their former club.

They appeared to have the advantage as Sengkang made the stronger start, Murphy Wiredu playing a testing cross that both Bahadur and Abdoulaye Diallo just failed to capitalise on.

With Bartholomeusz around, though, the match could always be counted on to take on an extra touch of spice, and he erupted into a war of words with Mojtaba Tehranizadeh after taking offence to a seemingly clean challenge by the latter.

That did not affect Woodlands as they made their first foray into the Sengkang danger zone, Asraf Abdul Rashid sending in a cross that had Hiroyuki Yamamoto scrambling to clear ahead of Tehranizadeh.

In the 11th minute, Diallo became the first player to have a try on goal, letting fly with a shot that swayed above the target.

Then followed Tehranizadeh’s turn and shot which eluded Zahid, but instead of finding the net it trickled to the back of goal.

The game livened up towards the middle of the first half and after a sizzling run by Sazali, his intended cross found the quick feet of Indra Sahdan Daud who seemed set to pull the trigger.

But the former national captain dallied for far too long, thus enabling Precious Emuejeraye to take the ball off his feet.

As the away side threatened from the flanks, Aide Iskandar had to hack away Jamil Ali’s testing centre.

Not to be outdone, Sengkang tried the same route down their left but after Noh Rahman released Sazali, the latter’s cross eluded all frontrunners and sailed across the face of goal.

Woodlands withstood some Sengkang pressure and went all the way up to the other end of the field, where they should probably had taken the lead on 35 minutes.

A Jamil cross from the right was met by Woodlands captain Azlan Alipah, who slipped it through to Tehranizadeh.

But the Iranian fluffed his lines at the crucial juncture and missed a glorious opportunity to put his team ahead.

Sengkang, dealt a letoff, waited patiently for their chance to strike back and nearly stole a march on their shell-shocked opponents moments afterwards.

A diagonal ball from Bartholomeusz for the lively Wiredu allowed the latter to send Bahadur clean through on goal, but the dreadlocked Canadian was denied by Ahmadulhaq Che Omar, who smartly pushed the shot away.

Woodlands were perhaps fearing the two missed chances would come back to haunt them, and it happened right on 45 minutes.

It was a bolt from the blue as a cross by Sazali from the left channel found its way into the box, and Bahadur had the simplest of tasks, nodding a free header past the reach of Ahmadulhaq.

The goal gave Sengkang a massive lift as they proceeded to bombard Woodlands after the restart.

Yamamoto came close to extending their advantage when his header was cleared off the line, before Ahmadulhaq made himself large to deny Bahadur from an incoming Bartholomeusz delivery on the right.

The goalkeeper then had to avert an own goal from Precious on 64 minutes, after the Singapore centreback nearly diverted Wiredu’s cross into his own net.

Four minutes later Diallo popped up once again with a pot-shot from 35 yards, and as the second half progressed it looked like it would be all Sengkang.

It was not until ten minutes from the end that Woodlands had a clear-cut goal opportunity to speak of, but Daniel Hammond did poorly with his shot after he had controlled Asraf’s bobbing cross excellently.

That was as good a chance as the Rams got, but Sengkang held on for all three points.

Steinebrunner was however keen to play down the idea of beating his former employers, preferring instead to focus on the importance of the win for his current team’s objectives for the season.

“Tonight’s win was important, we deserved it,” he said in his post-match analysis.

“We probably should have netted a second goal to settle the nerves, but it’s the clean sheets and three points which count at the end of the day, and we’re happy to move off the bottom.

“The season is not over after this result, we still want to work towards our target for the season. But knowing we’re strong, I’ve always believed we’d be able to get out of the rut and with everyone pulling in the same direction, that helps to give the team confidence.

“It had nothing to do with Woodlands – we have a good relationship and it’s a pleasure meeting old friends. Whether it was against Woodlands or the German national team, three points is three points.”

Meanwhile, Woodlands head coach Nenad Bacina was philosophical after his side suffered their second defeat in three games.

“The goal was conceded at the worst time possible,” he remarked.

“We didn’t understand what happened at a time when we were pushing up the other end so it affected us as a result.

“If we converted those chances in the first half, or if we defended the goal better, it would be a different story. So the whole team could improve on both the attacking and defensive part.

“But I’m pleased because the boys pushed themselves hard. Having played better in the first half we might have deserved a point.”