At the Jurong East Stadium, Albirex Niigata possess the ability to produce some of the most exhilarating, fast-paced, buccaneering brand of football in the S-League.
For 45 minutes yesterday though, that was sorely missing as the Japanese youngsters were bullied around the turf, particularly in their defensive third, by a freakishly physically-imposing Gombak United attack.
Just ten minutes elapsed when Gabriel Obatola hounded Ryota Kobayashi as the defender chased the ball facing his goal. With usual brusqueness, the league’s leading scorer somehow managed to get himself tangled with the Albirex number 26 inside the penalty box, and won a hotly-disputed penalty, which he dusted himself to dispatch with ease.
Five minutes later, Gombak doubled the lead.
Another of the Bulls’ ‘African Contingent’ Kingsley Njoku had sought treatment on the sidelines. Whatever injury he sustained, it didn’t seem to hamper him the moment ref P Pandian allowed him back in.
He displayed electric pace to sprint towards goal after seizing a loose pass, before firing a fearsome shot which was blocked by Kobayashi. The ball looped high in the air and Kobayashi looked to have had it shielded well for his goalkeeper to collect.
Njoku had other ideas though, springing himself over the defender to head it past Matsushita. It was an in-your-face, see-you-later, I-just-pwned-your-ass moment for the Nigerian, but credit has to be given to Kobayashi for upping his performance as the game wore on.
On 23 minutes, Akira Takase spun Sevki Sha’ban and fired a low shot past Fadhil Salim at his near post, and three minutes later, the Japanese side was unlucky not to be level after a diving header by Tetsuya Kishida bounced off the post and back into play.
As it was, ten minutes before the break, Obatola pounced on some hesitant defending by Ryuta Hayashi, and forced the right-back into colliding with his goalkeeper Matsushita. Singapore striker Agu Casmir swept up rebound.
3-1 up at half-time, top-of-the-league, there was no way Gombak was going to throw this game, I thought.
As I sat on the upper tiers of the home side’s stands at half-time, the only thing going through my mind was how this match could be billed as the ‘Jurong Derby’ despite one team hailing from Bukit Gombak and the other from Japan.
The coaching staff at Albirex, famed across Singapore for their meticulous and professional nature, must have poured a whole lot of caffeine into the team’s half-time sake, because the Japanese, thankfully, came out all guns blazing in the second half to make a contest of the tie.
Five minutes later, in an apparent message of “whatever-you-can-do-I-can-do-better” to Njoku, Ken Matsumoto leapt amazingly high to nod home a header. Unfortunately, in the process of his epic leap, he seemed to tweak his left hamstring, and his celebration constituted hobbling to the touchline for treatment.
From then on Albirex peppered Fadhil’s goal with shots – even big centre-half Takatoshi Uchida got in on the act – and the former Young Lions and Woodlands keeper did well to repel those that came his way.
In the 65th minute, he parried Takase’s effort away from goal and the ball was seemingly headed out for a corner. No-one told Kenji Adachihara though, as the Albirex top-scorer kept it in play and fired the equaliser from a tight angle into the roof of the net.
The White Swans kept up the pressure and deserved to win the game, but the elusive fourth goal would not come. The closest they came was when an 85th-minute freekick by Taisuke Akiyoshi that evaded a swathe of flying bodies to strike the upright.
Gombak coach Darren Stewart will be irritated to let a two-goal advantage slip, but will not be too perturbed by a point at a difficult venue. He will, however, be a bit worried at some of the scenes which took place as the clock ticked down.
Ten minutes from time, Ruhaizad Ismail lost the ball in his own half near the right flank. Feeling he was unfairly robbed of the ball, the talented but unrelentingly petulant winger threw a disgusted look at Pandian and turned away.
His team-mates managed to repel the ensuing attack out for a corner, but skipper Sevki was incensed at Ruhaizad’s attitude. The two headed towards each other in a menacing fashion and had to be separated by team-mates.
Maybe it was a ‘captain courageous’ moment by Sevki who was desperate not to concede a fourth, but it must represent something of a worry for Stewart, since his team’s charge up the table has been built on the solid foundation of unity and working hard for the team.
As an aside, I felt vindicated as the $6 spent on the ticket produced a goal per dollar. If that's not a good return rate, then I don't know what is.
For 45 minutes yesterday though, that was sorely missing as the Japanese youngsters were bullied around the turf, particularly in their defensive third, by a freakishly physically-imposing Gombak United attack.
Just ten minutes elapsed when Gabriel Obatola hounded Ryota Kobayashi as the defender chased the ball facing his goal. With usual brusqueness, the league’s leading scorer somehow managed to get himself tangled with the Albirex number 26 inside the penalty box, and won a hotly-disputed penalty, which he dusted himself to dispatch with ease.
Five minutes later, Gombak doubled the lead.
Another of the Bulls’ ‘African Contingent’ Kingsley Njoku had sought treatment on the sidelines. Whatever injury he sustained, it didn’t seem to hamper him the moment ref P Pandian allowed him back in.
He displayed electric pace to sprint towards goal after seizing a loose pass, before firing a fearsome shot which was blocked by Kobayashi. The ball looped high in the air and Kobayashi looked to have had it shielded well for his goalkeeper to collect.
Njoku had other ideas though, springing himself over the defender to head it past Matsushita. It was an in-your-face, see-you-later, I-just-pwned-your-ass moment for the Nigerian, but credit has to be given to Kobayashi for upping his performance as the game wore on.
On 23 minutes, Akira Takase spun Sevki Sha’ban and fired a low shot past Fadhil Salim at his near post, and three minutes later, the Japanese side was unlucky not to be level after a diving header by Tetsuya Kishida bounced off the post and back into play.
As it was, ten minutes before the break, Obatola pounced on some hesitant defending by Ryuta Hayashi, and forced the right-back into colliding with his goalkeeper Matsushita. Singapore striker Agu Casmir swept up rebound.
3-1 up at half-time, top-of-the-league, there was no way Gombak was going to throw this game, I thought.
As I sat on the upper tiers of the home side’s stands at half-time, the only thing going through my mind was how this match could be billed as the ‘Jurong Derby’ despite one team hailing from Bukit Gombak and the other from Japan.
The coaching staff at Albirex, famed across Singapore for their meticulous and professional nature, must have poured a whole lot of caffeine into the team’s half-time sake, because the Japanese, thankfully, came out all guns blazing in the second half to make a contest of the tie.
Five minutes later, in an apparent message of “whatever-you-can-do-I-can-do-better” to Njoku, Ken Matsumoto leapt amazingly high to nod home a header. Unfortunately, in the process of his epic leap, he seemed to tweak his left hamstring, and his celebration constituted hobbling to the touchline for treatment.
From then on Albirex peppered Fadhil’s goal with shots – even big centre-half Takatoshi Uchida got in on the act – and the former Young Lions and Woodlands keeper did well to repel those that came his way.
In the 65th minute, he parried Takase’s effort away from goal and the ball was seemingly headed out for a corner. No-one told Kenji Adachihara though, as the Albirex top-scorer kept it in play and fired the equaliser from a tight angle into the roof of the net.
The White Swans kept up the pressure and deserved to win the game, but the elusive fourth goal would not come. The closest they came was when an 85th-minute freekick by Taisuke Akiyoshi that evaded a swathe of flying bodies to strike the upright.
Gombak coach Darren Stewart will be irritated to let a two-goal advantage slip, but will not be too perturbed by a point at a difficult venue. He will, however, be a bit worried at some of the scenes which took place as the clock ticked down.
Ten minutes from time, Ruhaizad Ismail lost the ball in his own half near the right flank. Feeling he was unfairly robbed of the ball, the talented but unrelentingly petulant winger threw a disgusted look at Pandian and turned away.
His team-mates managed to repel the ensuing attack out for a corner, but skipper Sevki was incensed at Ruhaizad’s attitude. The two headed towards each other in a menacing fashion and had to be separated by team-mates.
Maybe it was a ‘captain courageous’ moment by Sevki who was desperate not to concede a fourth, but it must represent something of a worry for Stewart, since his team’s charge up the table has been built on the solid foundation of unity and working hard for the team.
As an aside, I felt vindicated as the $6 spent on the ticket produced a goal per dollar. If that's not a good return rate, then I don't know what is.
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