Warriors edge back on top
Mohd Sham
info@sleague.com
SAFFC cruised through their dress rehearsal ahead of their Asian Champions League clash against Suwon Samsung Bluewings on Tuesday with a relatively straightforward 3-1 victory over a plucky Balestier Khalsa outfit.
The victory at Choa Chu Kang Stadium saw the Warriors return to the summit of the league table, going ahead of Gombak United on goal difference.
Park Tae Won opened the floodgates for the Warriors as early as the sixth minute with a smart finish, before Mustaqim Manzur doubled his side’s tally in the 59th with a wonderful curler.
The Tigers then suffered an ignominy of a Jufri Taha own goal, but Nasaruddin Jalil’s charges at least had something to show for their efforts with a well taken goal from Bryan Soane.
Despite earlier claiming that he had one eye firmly on their ACL clash against the South Korean heavyweights, Warriors coach Richard Bok sprang a surprise when he named his strongest lineup against the Toa Payoh-based club, leaving only Therdsak Chaiman on the bench.
And the home side promptly took the initiative after just a meagre six minutes.
From a Shaiful Esah throw-in, winger Mustaqim cut through the left flank before squaring the ball on the edge of the box for an on-rushing Park to strike a crisp finish past the flailing arms of Balestier custodian Hafez Mawasi to ensure SAFFC drew first blood.
Just five minutes later, the Tigers were once again ripped to shreds by the deadly duo of Mustaqim and Park, and the latter repaid the favour this time with a delightful through ball but the former blasted his effort high over the bar after bursting through from the left.
Despite the Warriors gaining such a foothold, the Tigers nearly equalized against the run of play in the 15th minute.
Striker Ednardo Moura struck a poor free kick straight against the SAFFC wall, but youngster K. Sathiaraj lashed a corker of a strike which seemed destined for the goal, only to see his superb effort crash against the post before bouncing off the despairing Shahril Jantan and rolling out of play for a corner kick.
Both sides were by now clearly up for the fight and in the 17th minute, SAFFC midfielder John Wilkinson tried his luck from a free kick on the edge of the box but his low drive was parried away by Hafez.
And from the resulting corner, the Warriors should have doubled their lead when Ahmad Latiff Khamarudin received the ball from a short Mustaqim corner and unleashed a thunderbolt, only to see his attempt just skim over the bar.
SAFFC’s profligacy in front of goal was personified by none other than chief culprit Mustaqim, who missed again in the 20th minute as the winger could not keep his shot on target after a clever backheel by the tricky Park from a Shaiful corner.
The Tigers then registered their second meaningful shot on target in the 29th minute when the impressive Julio Eduardo drilled a free kick straight into the arms of a grateful Shahril.
The action after the interval reflected that of the first period, when neat interplay between SAFFC skipper Aleksandar Duric and Park in the 52nd minute saw the burly forward release the Korean, but Park’s effort just whistled above the upright.
With the Warriors threatening to shoot themselves in the foot thanks to their wastefulness in front of goal, Mustaqim finally got his bearings right in the 59th minute after his fifth effort on the night.
A long punt by defender Daniel Bennett was cushioned onto the path of Mustaqim by Duric, and the nippy midfielder finally made his effort count with a wonderful right-foot curler which nestled into the top corner of the net to all but make the points secure for the Warriors.
Duric then nearly got himself onto the scoresheet when he found himself one-on-one with Hafez, but the captain’s uncharacteristically weak effort was well smothered by the Tigers goalie.
Bok then signaled his intentions to keep his lieutenants fresh and ready for their ACL clash when he hauled off Wilkinson for Syed Karim in the 80th minute and two minutes later, any hopes of an unlikely Balestier fightback were well and truly put to bed.
A corner by Latiff was flicked on by Mustaqim and as the ball bounced wildly in the penalty box, Tigers skipper Jufri contrived to nod the ball backwards and into goal over a hapless Hafez to make it 3-0 for the home side.
With Tuesday’s encounter clearly on the agenda by now, Bok then removed Bennett from the firing line to be replaced by Razaleigh Khalik before Masahiro Fukasawa was substituted for Guntur Djafril.
The Tigers though had something to show for their efforts in injury time when Mushthafa Kamal released the lanky Soane, who beat the offside trap to lift his shot over Shahril to ensure a consolatory respite for Nasaruddin’s men.
Warriors chief Bok was satisfied that his side had achieved their primary task of garnering three points ahead of their mammoth ACL assignment.
Bok said: “It was a professional job done and these are the type of games where three points matter so I’m happy with the result.
“Performance-wise, it was ok but this was not the perfect match we have played.
“Balestier usually try to make things hard and though I thought we should have been more clinical in front of goal, I would take this result.
“It’s always good to have a win and then travel for matches and this is always a morale booster ahead of our match against Suwon.”
Tigers coach Nasaruddin had nothing but praise for his valiant team who succumbed to the superior quality of their opponents.
“I thought we maintained the standard as we did against Albirex in our last match but we just could not sustain that sort of intensity against SAFFC and defensive lapses cost us,” he explained.
“They are an ACL team and I’m quite proud of my players today because they gave a very good performance tonight.
“I’m pleased because we attacked more and we pressed forward and we caught them off guard in that sense.
“We had to reshuffle the team with the injuries and suspensions we had but we gave them a good fight.”
Nasaruddin had more reason to be optimistic following the return of Sahairi Ramri, their promising leftback whom the Tigers lost in 2007 due to the defender’s National Service commitments.
“We have got reason to be positive because we signed Sahairi Ramri today, who finished his NS yesterday,” he added.
“He was our player previously so bringing him back will help us strengthen the team and move forward.”
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