Super Reds vs Home United Report [1-0]

Veteran Park makes difference for Super Reds Syahrom Sulaiman info@sleague.com Veteran striker Park Han Seok was the hero for the Super Reds as his 28th-minute strike was enough to seal his side a 1-0 victory against Home United on Saturday. In a tightly-contested affair, it was always going to take something special from someone to put the ball into the back of the net. For the Koreans, the goal was the result of a series of good interchange passes between three of their most influential players – midfielder Kim Tae Young, forward Park Kang Jin and the goalscorer. Kim threaded his pass perfectly into the path of Park Kang Jin on the right flank. Beating left-back Juma’at Jantan for pace, Kang Jin went on to supply an accurate low cross to his strike partner Han Seok. The lanky striker controlled the ball superbly before he unleashed a low drive into the bottom corner of Lionel Lewis’ net. The goal was not the only contribution from the impressive Park, who held up play well and picked open the visitors’ defence with his visionary passing. The Protectors on the other hand looked disorganised in the first half, and a number of misplaced passes and poor ball control pretty much summed up their story in the early stages of the game. Head coach PN Sivaji commented: “It was a game of two halves. In the first half we were poor. We tried our best but we couldn’t stop them from dictating play. “As a result we conceded the goal, even though we had enough players at the back and they were outnumbered three to four. “In the second half, I was happy with how the players responded. But having said that, we had only one chance on target throughout the whole ninety minutes, and that was the Peres (de Oliveira) freekick (in the 84th minute). “We will definitely address some of these concerns ahead of our RHB Singapore Cup game on Thursday,” Sivaji added. Without the injured Shi Jiayi bossing the midfield for Home, the Super Reds were usually the quicker to reach any loose ball and support was readily given to their team mates. The chances created by the home side might have been few and far between but at least there was some goalmouth action created by them, as compared to the visiting team. They could have easily doubled their lead in the 63rd minute through another good piece of approach play. Kim quickly released the ball to Park Han Seok, and the striker’s deftest of touches enabled the ball to bounce in front of midfielder Jeon Byung Euk. Jeon did not hesitate to volley the ball towards Lewis’ goal but this time the Protectors’ custodian punched the ball away to safety. The Protectors huffed and puffed all night but they just could not break down a sturdy defence led by the impressive Kim Seong Kyu. Super Reds coach Jeon Kyeong Joon pointed out: “We decided to change the formation and focused on a particular strategy. “Our main aim was to stop (Kengne) Ludovick and Peres from creating any chances. The strategy worked but we really need to work on our finishing. “Our whole defence did well and they pushed up to support the midfield and strikers. It was 3-4-1-2 in the first half but as soon as we scored the goal they started to attack us from the flanks. “We switched to a back four in the second half to stop them from penetrating our flanks and it was good enough for us to get the three points tonight,” Jeon said.