SAFFC vs Tampines Rovers Report [4-2]

SAFFC go top with second-half comeback

Tam Cheong Yan
info@sleague.com

SAFFC moved back to the top of the S.League table in sensational fashion on Saturday evening as they engineered a second-half turnaround to beat Tampines Rovers 4-2.

A roaring performance from the Stags had seen them power their way to a two-goal lead inside 23 minutes, as they looked set to extend their unbeaten start to the season.

Therdsak Chaiman’s penalty conversion kept things close for the defending champions as they went into the break though, and the scores went level barely minutes into the second period.

It then fell to SAFFC skipper Aleksandar Duric to complete the comeback with a late brace, bringing to an end a night of high drama that saw both sides finish with ten men.

Richard Bok’s side came into the match still feeling the high of gaining their first point in the AFC Champions League four days ago, and he rewarded fullbacks Zulfadli Zainal Abidin and Razaleigh Khalik by keeping them in the starting eleven.

Tampines meanwhile brought Shukor Zailan in to replace suspended captain Fahrudin Mustafic in midfield, as Ridhuan Muhammad reclaimed his starting place after a good substitute outing in the RHB Singapore Cup last week.

The visitors started the match hoping to take a ‘nice and slow’ approach, but they came up against a Warriors side eager to dispel suggestions that they have been fatigued by their heavy fixture schedule.

Running about with much enthusiasm in the initial exchanges, it took them just seven minutes to fashion the first shot of the match as Ahmad Latiff Khamarudin delivered a cross that Duric headed into Hassan Sunny’s catching range.

John Wilkinson fired a cross-shot from the left flank four minutes later that took a huge deflection off the blocking Seiji Kaneko, and the ball came close to dipping into the top corner.

But it was the Stags who scored the opening goal on 14 minutes, Sutee Suksomkit lobbing the ball delightfully into the box for Noh Alam Shah to meet with a looping header beyond a flat-footed Shahril Jantan.

The hosts were looking jittery, and they needed Shahril to save them when he palmed down a stinging shot from outside the area by Akihiro Nakamura.

The former Singapore custodian could do nothing on 23 minutes, though, when Sutee fired a penalty kick high into the top corner.

The penalty had been given for a foul on Ridhuan by Mustaqim Manzur, who had a particularly uncertain start for the Warriors.

Persistently harried by the presence of Ridhuan, who stuck to him like a limpet, the 27-year-old was a non-factor on the left flank as SAFFC desperately sought a swift response.

They got it quickly enough when, almost immediately from the restart, Duric got the ball and bulldozed his way into the penalty area, only to be brought down by Hassan.

The national goalkeeper was shown the yellow card rather then red as he was not the last man, but staying on the field only meant he had to pluck the ball out of the net himself after Therdsak had converted the resultant penalty.

With the scoreline kept close, the game remained an open affair, although Tampines went into the interval looking the stronger of the two sides as they pressed hard for chances.

But that 15-minute rest broke their momentum somewhat, and they saw their lead disappear just two minutes into the second half.

Latiff had been constantly plugging away from the right from the first whistle, and it was no surprise when another decent cross was whipped in off his right boot.

In came a flying shadow to head the ball into goal, but instead of a blue-shirted striker, it was the yellow-shirted Shariff Abdul Samat, who could only clutch his head in agony.

Tampines needed to get back into the attack, with both Sutee and Ridhuan proving key outlets on the flanks while Nakamura and Qiu Li took charge down the middle.

SAFFC struggled to cope, and Ridhuan was unlucky not to score on 65 minutes when he slammed a powerful low drive into the far post with Shahril clearly beaten.

The 25-year-old was having a great night as Zulfadli found him too hot to handle, and the latter was shown his second yellow of the match when he brought the Stags No.3 down.

With a one-man advantage, the Stags kept on piling the pressure, and Kaneko diverted Sutee’s corner wide with a looping header on 70 minutes.

Kenji Arai then had to slide in two minutes later to dispossess the Thailand international, who was becoming more and more of a thorn in the Warriors’ side as time passed by.

Yet all of the Stags’ desire going forward only meant they were short on defensive numbers, and there was no one to mark Mustaqim, who had switched to the right and stormed forward on 77 minutes before playing a low cross that Duric slammed home.

The game was getting electric now, and things took another dramatic turn inside a minute as Alam Shah thought he had equalized with a teasing header.

Referee Abas Daud thought the same at first, but then he was alerted by a linesman of a foul in the buildup as Daniel Bennett lay motionless inside the area.

After confirming what had happened, Abas then had to execute the unpleasant task of showing Alam Shah the red card for elbowing his Singapore colleague.

Considering the acrimonious history between the two players, it was no surprise that the Tampines hitman was incensed, and it took the combined efforts of his good friend Latiff and Stags assistant coach Rafi Ali to drag him off the pitch.

Bennett himself was taken off for treatment, and got back onto the field after a few minutes amid plenty of boos from the away fans section.

The centreback did himself few favours by involving himself in a second altercation, this time with another short-tempered man in Qiu, who did well not to be baited into getting physical.

Amid the ugly moments, it took some conscious reminding to see that there was still some good football to be played, and both teams looked as eager as ever going forward.

A throw-in by Wilkinson almost set Duric free, but his fierce shot was saved by Hassan as the match moved into injury time.

Tampines were denied a golden chance for an equalizer when substitute Aliff Shafaein, who had come on following Alam Shah’s ejection, saw his tap-in from six yards spectacularly thwarted by Shahril.

It was left to Duric to seal the points for the defending champions, as he trotted his way past the Stags’ tiring legs and sidestepped Hassan before scoring the last-gasp clincher.

Mental strength the difference for Vorawan

Tampines Rovers coach Vorawan Chitavanich identified the difference in mental strength as the telling factor in his team’s 2-4 defeat to defending champions SAFFC.

The Stags had raced to a two-goal lead at Choa Chu Kang Stadium, only to concede four goals – two of them coming after their opponents had been reduced to ten men.

“I think SAFFC showed strong mentality and we didn’t,” the Thai told sleague.com in his post-match interview.

“We were too confident after we went 2-0 up. It took them just one minute after that to make it 2-1.

“When we went into the dressing room, I told them we had to be more defensive, that we had to concentrate on our defence. But then we let in an own goal after two minutes, and after they went down to ten men, we let them score again.

“This shows that our mentality and discipline in our play is not strong enough. In tactics we matched each other, but the mentality makes the difference.”

The loss also marked the end of the Stags’ unbeaten start to the season, but Vorawan was less concerned with that statistic than he was with the number points his team had dropped in their six earlier draws.

“I am not sad to lose the unbeaten record, because football is like this,” he said.

“We could have lost it earlier, because we had so many draws. But we had too many draws, only four wins – and that’s a bigger problem for our title chances.

“Every time we draw, we lose two points. That’s only one point less than if we lose the game.”

SAFFC coach Richard Bok saluted his boys for a ‘fantastic’ performance that saw them overturn a two-goal deficit and move themselves back to top spot in the league table.

“It was a big, big result for us,” said the 39-year-old.

“We started a bit slow, we were two goals down early, we were down to ten men… It was not easy playing two big teams in the space of four days, and to go from 2-0 down to 4-2 winners is something I must praise my players for.

“I thought we played really well in the second half, even with ten men. It was a fantastic team effort from everybody.”

Bok admitted he was surprised to see Stags striker Noh Alam Shah sent off for elbowing Daniel Bennett, in a repeat of the infamous clash between the two men in 2007.

“I didn’t see the incident, it happened so fast,” he said.

“All I saw at first was a cross coming in; he headed it in, and I thought ‘Ooh, we’ve got a game now!’ But then I saw Daniel was down, and it took a lot of bravery from the assistant referee to say that there was an elbow.

“I’m glad with the win, but it’s painful to see this thing happen again, especially after we all thought we’ve moved on from last time. It’s not easy for Alam Shah and Daniel; let’s hope that football prevails.”