Y Lions' growing pains fuel Pathma's disappointment

Ong Jiing Yih
info@sleague.com

As a player Thambiyah Pathmanathan was Mr Steady in defence, hardly ever ruffled into a mistake. As a coach these days though, the man fans affectionately called Terry is finding the error-prone ways of his young charges a real pain.

On Thursday night he watched his Young Lions side go down 2-0 to Tampines Rovers, leaving them with just one win from eight games. The frustration at goals given away cheaply to Noh Alam Shah and Aliff Shafaein was clear, but there was little Pathmanathan could do from the sidelines.

“I'm extremely disappointed with the lads tonight. They made silly and unacceptable mistakes despite being taught the emphasis on preventing early goals during training,” he said.

“We weren't quick enough nor able to deliver in the final third. I can accept if there are ups and downs in games, but a player has to pass well across the first ten metres,” added the former Singapore captain.

His disappointment was compounded by an ineffectual display from Chinese forward Yang Mu, the 19-year-old who could become one of the S.League’s costliest signings if his former club Changsha Jinde’s compensation claim for US$30,000 is upheld by FIFA.

“Yang looked some way short of gelling with the team, having not offered much connectivity in terms of movement,” said Pathmanathan.

For Tampines this was a professional display, keeping them in touch with the leaders of the Yeo’s-Great Eastern S.League after a spate of draws in early season.

Alam Shah in particular typified his side’s desire to go for a crucial three points with his fifth-minute goal key in dishing out an early hammer blow to the visitors at the Tampines Stadium.

A succession of freekicks had already set the tone for Tampines as Seiji Kaneko headed over an early delivery from Sutee Suksomkit.

Singapore international Alam Shah then took center stage as he took down Benoit Croissant’s long ball, laid it off to Imran Sahib and met the return cross with a diving header past Young Lions keeper Izwan Mahbud, despite the close attentions of Afiq Yunos.

From then on it was all Tampines as they sought to leave their imprint on the game and went close with a stern shot by Akihiro Nakamura. Skipper Fahrudin Mustafic then let fly, slashing his effort wide from range.

Having earlier set up Alam Shah with a wonderful pass across the face of goal that the forward nearly connected with, Thai midfielder Sutee decided to have a pop at goal himself, only being denied by Izwan’s fine save.
With Sutee once again in the thick of action, Tampines continued to attack and ultimately got their reward four minutes before the break.

In a pattern similar to the first goal it came once again down the right, exposing the frailty of Young Lions' left side.

Alam Shah set his nippy strike partner Aliff free on the edge of the box, and the latter sent a snapshot that squirmed past the hapless Izwan for 2-0.

Sensing the enormity of the task at half-time, Pathmanathan sent on the fresh legs of Hafiz Abu Sujad and Fadhil Noh for Arif Aiman and Goh Swee Swee for the second half.

It could have paid instant dividends but Hafiz’s header was off target having thrown himself at Irwan Shah's cross.

Even if Tampines had seemingly put their tools away they still posed a threat as Young Lions defender Afiq watched in horror, having afforded Aliff a strike on goal which was foiled by Izwan.

Alam Shah could have added to his tally but instead elected for power over placement, sending a decent ball from Akihiro Nakamura over the bar in the process.

Young Lions substitute K Sivaseshan then showed glimpse of his capabilities with a neat little run and shot into the side netting.

Even as the young lads belatedly laid siege to Tampines' goal, they rarely looked like came close to troubling the untested Hassan Sunny.

Another ex-Young Lion Shukor Zailan threatened to rub salt into this former side's wounds but sliced the ball over the crossbar.

The win though had been sealed in the first half and Tampines team manager Syed Faruk was pleased with the three points. “We created enough scoring chances. Even though we played better in our previous match [a 1-1 draw against DPMM Brunei], we got the three points we wanted on the night,” he said.