Braces from Therdsak Chaiman and Ahmad Latiff, and goals by Aleksandar Duric, Kenji Arai and Mustaqim Manzur saw the Warriors sink Sengkang Punggol 7-1 at the Hougang Stadium on Saturday (11 April).
The emphatic victory could not have come at a better time as morale in the Warriors' camp had dipped following their previous two losses - a 1-3 to Gombak United and a 1-4 to Kashima Antlers in the AFC Champions League.
With the win, the Warriors return to the top of the table on goal difference. They are now level on points with league debutants, DPMM FC of Brunei, who had pipped Gombak United 2-1 on Friday.
Against Sengkang on Saturday, Kenji Arai and Shaiful Esah returned to the starting XI while John Wilkinson played the last 12 minutes as a substitute, after missing the last two games with a rib injury.
Therdsak opened accounts just before the half-hour mark before Ahmad Latiff doubled the lead barely four minutes later.
Sengkang narrowed the deficit when substitute Anthony Bahadur, who came on for Azhar Baksin in the 49th minute, scored four minutes later. But in the 55th minute, Therdsak restored the Warriors' two-goal cushion, finishing off a counter-attack.
Four minutes later, Mustaqim Manzur further dented Sengkang's hopes of a comeback when he made it 4-1. Kenji Arai (71st) and Aleksandar Duric (75th) then compounded Sengkang's night of misery before Latiff netted his second of the night and the Warriors' seventh in injury time.
Sengkang: Joey Sim (GK), Winston Yap, Jerry Bartholomeusz (Nor Azli Yusoff 76th), Hiroyuki Yamamoto, Zahid Ahmad, Sazali Salleh, Diallo Abdoulaye (Farizal Basri 73rd), Lau Meng Meng, Azhar Baksin (Anthony Bahadur 49th), Murphy Wiredu, Indra Sahdan (C)
SAFFC: Shahril Jantan (GK), Hafiz Osman, Daniel Bennett, Kenji Arai (Razaleigh Khalik 78th), Shaiful Esah, Masahiro Fukasawa, Ahmad Latiff, Therdsak Chaiman (John Wilkinson 78th), Park Tae Won, Mustaqim Manzur, Aleksandar Duric (C)
Referee: T Aravinthan
Crowd: 1,336
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