Gombak United vs Sengkang Punggol Report [3-0]

Sengkang clangers gift Bulls top spot

Tam Cheong Yan
info@sleague.com

Gombak United kept up their high-flying start to the season as they eased to a 3-0 victory over Sengkang Punggol at Jurong West Stadium on Monday evening.

The Avaya-J&J League Cup holders were hardly made to sweat for their win, as two defensive howlers gifted them the points before Ojimi Gabriel Obatola made sure with a neat finish two minutes from time.

Gombak moved back to the top of the table following the win, keeping the pressure on defending champions SAFFC, who host cellar dwellers Balestier Khalsa on Thursday.

For the Dolphins, though, it was a harsh reality check as their two-match winning streak came to an end, leaving them stuck at third from bottom.

Sengkang came into this match hoping to inject some fresh ideas into their attack, as Jorg Steinebrunner handed Prime League striker Mamadou Diallo – younger brother of midfielder Abdoulaye – his senior debut.

Suspended midfielder Goran Subara and head wound victim Emmanuel Emuejeraye meanwhile sat out for the hosts, with Ruhaizad Ismail taking up the latter’s role on the right side of their four-pronged attacking line.

Ruhaizad took just seven minutes to threaten the opposing defence, forcing former Singapore captain Aide Iskandar into a clean tackle on him inside the penalty area.

His next contribution a minute later was to be more decisive.

Gombak custodian Fadhil Salim started a counterattack from inside his own box, and before long, the ball made its way to the winger for a low shot on goal.

It looked as if Sengkang goalkeeper Joey Sim would have no trouble dealing with the attempt, but he inexplicably fumbled his catch and allowed Obatola, rushing in from the left flank, to slide in and grab the lead for the hosts.

Sengkang needed a quick response, and they almost got it three minutes later when Indra Sahdan Daud played a perfect slide-rule pass from the right side of the penalty area.

The Gombak defenders were out of sight as the younger Diallo moved in for the kill, but first-match jitters got to him as he put the ball wide from all of two yards.

The early flurry set hearts racing among the 2,272-strong crowd, although Sengkang’s approach play looked formulaic as they made little use of their central midfield.

Preferring to push down the flanks or play over the midfielders’ heads, the visitors rarely looked like threatening Fadhil in goal as his defenders beat back the assaults well.

The Bulls were not at their best either in attack, squandering many opportunities from set plays despite the physical presence of their African contingent.

They were nearly made to pay for it on 30 minutes when a good cross came in from the Sengkang right, but Fadhil showed good reflexes to save not once but twice in a mad goalmouth scramble.

Fadhil’s assured performance in goal was a contrast to the nervous outing his opposite number had to endure, and Sim left hearts fluttering when he let another long lob through his hands late in the first half.

The ball was not heading towards goal in any case, but the 22-year-old, tipped as an outside candidate for a spot in Singapore’s SEA Games squad this year, would hardly consider his performance on the night as helpful towards his cause.

He was involved again as Sengkang fell further behind on 64 minutes, although this time he had Jerry Bartholomeusz for company as they tried to close down Kingsley Njoku.

Both men managed to tackle him down, but Sim had left his goal unguarded, and the loose ball broke to Agu Casmir for an easy long-range putt to make it 2-0.

Steinebrunner’s men were desperate to attack now, and defender Zahid Ahmad was sacrificed for the more attack-minded Sobrie Mazelan as they went for three up front.

But Gombak made their own changes in personnel towards the men as well, and even though they took off Njoku and Casmir, the effervescent Obatola was still on the field.

The Nigerian got his second goal on the night two minutes from the end, when he collected a low square from the left by Ridhwan Jamaludin and turned around for a simple tap-in off an upright.

Sim and his defenders could do little about that strike as their legs tired, but as the final whistle blew, it would be difficult for them to resist looking back and wondering how they had given so much of the game away with their earlier gaffes.

Steinebrunner bemoans ‘Christmas’ goals

Sengkang Punggol coach Jorg Steinebrunner was left deeply upset with what he saw as two ‘Christmas presents’ from his defence, as they fell 0-3 to Gombak United.

The Dolphins fell behind after just eight minutes, when goalkeeper Joey Sim messed up with a Ruhaizad Ismail shot and allowed Ojimi Gabriel Obatola to slide the ball home.

Things got worse midway through the second half, when the goalkeeper was left stranded outside his box as Agu Casmir finished off a clear 25-yard putt into the Sengkang net.

“We gave away our first two goals on 24 December,” said Steinebrunner wryly, referring to those strikes.

“I think that’s something where we made life difficult for ourselves, because apart from those goals, we looked in control of our game. Well we didn’t really control the game, but the ball possession, the passing, all that was okay from us.

“Even at 1-0 we had a couple of good chances, especially with that open goal from Mamadou Diallo after Indra put him through. Then there was what a lot of people thought should have been a penalty for us when Diallo was fouled.

“But then the thing is you shouldn’t be giving away goals like that. It was all pointing towards a 0-0 draw if you look at the general performance, but we had a big helping hand when they scored the first two goals.”

The German continued by calling on his players to tighten up and cut out the clangers.

“I’ve told the boys, we need to be more responsible to ourselves and stop making these individual mistakes,” he revealed.

“At the end of the day, I don’t think it was a 3-0 game. We did enough to not give Gombak much in terms of clear chances on our goal, and they didn’t give us much either.

“But if you give a team like Gombak two Christmas presents, you’re not going to get anything in return.”

Gombak striker Obatola, who also scored the team’s third goal, was pleased to see things work out for his side with a solid all-round performance.

Putting the collective ahead of his individual achievements – he currently leads the scoring charts with ten league goals – he revealed that the Bulls were looking forward to the ‘challenge’ of staying ahead of the other teams for as long as possible.

“Teamwork won today, that’s the most important thing,” stressed the 21-year-old.

“We’ve got a lot of fighting spirit in this team now, and this team is playing like a band of brothers. We’ve set a challenge for ourselves, because throughout the history of Gombak, we’ve never finished on top before.

“Winning today would have put us on top, so we gave everything we had. We wanted to be massive in defence and attack, and that’s why we’re all willing to come back and defend for the team, even Kingsley and I.”