Young Lions vs Woodlands Wellington Report [1-1]

Late Aikhena goal denies Rams victory Basil Yeo info@sleague.com Obadin Aikhena put in a sterling performance to rescue a crucial point for the Young Lions as they drew 1-1 with Woodlands Wellington on Friday evening. The Young Lions captain, returning to the side from suspension, scored a late goal that was enough to deny Woodlands the pleasure of moving off the bottom two. Despite a sluggish start, the Rams went ahead shortly before the break, when Daniel Hammond headed in Asraf Abdul Rashid’s corner. But Aikhena, who turns 23 on Saturday, popped up to clinch the draw with just four minutes left on the clock. Seething after their RHB Singapore Cup exits to Phnom Penh Crown and Bangkok Glass respectively, both sides came into the game with a dire need to address their problems on the pitch. In this the Young Lions appeared to fare better for much of the first half, no doubt bolstered by the presence of Fairoz Hasan, who started for the first time this season after almost half a year out of action due to National Service commitments. The first real chances of the game fell to Yang Mu, who headed Arif Aiman’s lob way off the mark, before being muscled off the byline by Precious Emuejeraye moments later. Jamil Ali intercepted the ball in midfield and went on a run down the flank, finding the through ball to Zakaria Yousif, but the latter was speedily shut out by Eddie Chang, who was making his debut for the Young Lions this evening. Jamil provided his Egyptian colleague with another assist midway through the half, but the latter could only waste the loose ball with a poor attempt at a volley. The Young Lions showed positive attacking signs when Aikhena came forward twice and managed to take shots at goal, but it was the visitors who broke the deadlock in the 42nd minute, when Asraf provided former Young Lions defender Hammond with the inswinging corner from the right to head into Jasper Chan’s unguarded near post. Both teams came out visibly refreshed after the break as they stepped up on their running, with the Young Lions resuming their quest to level the score. Afiq Yunos broke into a strong forward run right after the whistle, but the makeshift midfielder’s searching pass to Yang carried too much pace and rolled out for a goal kick. K. Sivaseshan forced Ahmadulhaq Che Omar into spilling a shot as he broke in from the flank, but the loose ball was cleared away from danger by Woodlands captain Azlan Alipah, who featured at right-back due to Anaz Hadee’s suspension. In the 76th minute, Fairoz picked up a pass from Aikhena and took the opportunity to blast from distance, but his volley was off-target. Two minutes later, substitute Khairul Nizam had another go from a similar distance, but he sent it wide as well. The Rams poured forward with Jamil having a fantastic chance to seal the win just ten minutes from time when he carried the ball down the left flank. Dazzling past several defenders along the way, he closed in for the shot, but sent it streaming past the far post instead. The 25-year-old would rue his missed opportunity in the dying stages, when the Young Lions equalized just as Hasrin Jailani came on for the injured Ismadi Mukhtar. Fairoz dipped his corner into the box, where Aikhena slammed it first-time past the keeper and ran off to celebrate with his teammates. The Rams came close to securing three points at the death, when Chan came forward to sweep the ball up from Mojtaba Tehranizadeh’s feet, only for it to fall into the feet of substitute Jalal, who attempted a long-range shot to beat the returning keeper. However, it was not to be for Woodlands as Irwan Shah headed the ball off the line to ensure the result stood at a point each. Rams head coach Nenad Bacina conceded afterwards that the draw was a case of just deserts. “I have to admit the result is fair to both sides,” the Croatian told sleague.com. “We opened the match very slowly. The problem is, after three defeats in a row there was huge pressure on my players, who put themselves under pressure. I talked to them and we tried to overcome this pressure but we couldn’t. “We scored from a set piece after not scoring from one for a long time, but after that we conceded another set piece goal. I’m not happy with that, as we have a lot of tall players. “But this is football. At the end of the day, I have to be satisfied with one point.” Young Lions head coach Terry Pathmanathan was meanwhile happy with his players’ improved performance, after condemning their disastrous defeat at the hands of Phnom Penh Crown earlier this week. “We were all over them in the first half, but they managed to get a goal. For this team it is more difficult to be chasing the game, and they did very well in the second half, to fight all their way and find the equalizer. “Eddie had his first game today, and did exceptionally well,” said Pathmanathan, of his better performers this evening. “Rahim As’ari gave us 70-80 minutes and was good. “Yang squandered two beautiful chances in the first half. He missed a clear header and definitely needs to be quicker and push in front a little more, but he should gradually improve once he is more settled in and comfortable.” The former national skipper’s best words were saved for last as he showed appreciation for his captain’s work. “Obadin is a great influence in the team. He is an exceptional professional with excellent character on the pitch. “He leads by example and has earned a lot of respect from the officials, players and even the fans. I hope the other players will start to pick things up from him.”