Woodlands Wellington vs SAFFC [1-4]

Duric and Wilkinson double up on Woodlands

Aaron Ong
info@sleague.com

Singapore internationals Aleksandar Duric and John Wilkinson scored two apiece to lead SAFFC to a convincing 4-1 victory over hosts Woodlands Wellington on Tuesday evening, the win lifting the Warriors back to the top of the S.League standings.

The result had to be accomplished without midfielder Mustaqim Manzur, who had suffered a head injury in the Warriors’ win over the Young Lions just three days ago. Syed Karim filled in for Mustaqim on the right flank, with SAFFC head coach Richard Bok not making any further adjustments.

His counterpart Nenad Bacina made changes at both ends of the field, picking Ahmadulhaq Che Omar in goal ahead of veteran Rezal Hassan, and going with Egyptian Zakaria Yousif in the lone striker’s role, Iranian Mojtaba Tehranizadeh dropping to the bench.

With the Rams having had eight days since their last match, it was not much of a surprise to see the hosts start the match looking the fresher of the two teams.

Just four minutes in, a slide rule pass from Ismadi Mukhtar found Jamil Ali clean through on goal. However, the 25-year-old winger placed his shot too close to Shahril Jantan, the SAFFC keeper gathering on the second attempt.

The threat of Jamil was not heeded, as the attacker found himself one-on-one with the keeper once more a mere two minutes later. This time Jamil’s shot bulged the net, but his celebrations were cut short by the linesman’s flag indicating offside.

The Rams were made to rue those missed opportunities, as SAFFC took the lead on the quarter-hour mark. Zulfadli Zainal Abidin’s pinpoint cross was met by a towering header from Duric, which crashed past Ahmadulhaq emphatically.

Spurred on by the goal, the Warriors started to turn the screw on the match. Wilkinson was unlucky to see his reactive backheel go straight into the Woodlands keeper’s arms, after Park Tae Won’s cross had deflected into his path.

The midfielder was not to be denied on 32 minutes. Therdsak Chaiman’s visionary chip over the top was executed to perfection, leaving Wilkinson with the easy task of lobbing the onrushing Ahmadulhaq.

Duric was to find himself in a similar position just a minute later, after Park had lifted the ball over the top. This time, however, the lanky striker failed to extend his team’s lead, putting the ball just over the crossbar.

The home team would be thrown a lifeline five minutes before the break.

Razaleigh Khalik was adjudged to have pushed over Yousif in the box, as the striker attempted to get onto Anaz Hadee’s cross. Daniel Hammond stepped up to slot past Shahril, halving the deficit and becoming Woodlands’ top scorer in the process.

Suddenly the Warriors were on the back foot. However, Yousif wasted a glorious chance on the stroke of halftime, by taking one touch too many when a simple pass would have put Jamil through on goal.

With such a rousing end to the half, most of the home crowd would have been confident of their side bringing it to the visitors in the second half, in search of the equaliser.

However, quick thinking from Therdsak on the hour mark was to douse any hopes of a comeback. His quickly taken freekick found Wilkinson open in the box, and the midfielder stroked the ball just inside the near post for his second of the match.

The attacking prowess shown in the first half by Woodlands was sadly missing, as the Rams found it difficult to carve out any chances in the attacking third. Long ball after long ball was launched forward, and Yousif was becoming increasingly frustrated with his inability to latch on to most of them.

He was to be replaced by Tehranizadeh ten minutes from time, though that substitution was to have little effect on the rest of the game as SAFFC struck once again.

If the second goal was similar to the third goal, then the fourth goal was a carbon copy of the first. Two minutes from time, Duric was once again left on his own in the box, and the 38-year-old nodded home another pinpoint cross to seal yet another victory for the Warriors.

“I must congratulate SAFFC, as they were the better team on the day,” conceded Woodlands coach Bacina.

“But it is certainly no shame losing to them, who are the current champions.

“We made mistakes in preparations for the game, and lost out both physically and tactically. I must take my share of responsbility for losing the game,” admitted the Croat.

Bok was understandably much more pleased with his side’s performance.

“I thought we played a really good game, and everybody followed their instructions. We attacked down the flanks, got in crosses, and we were also tight at the back,” he commented.

Bok also pointed out how shutting out Jamil Ali was crucial to winning the game.

“He is a key player, and we identified that before the game. We gave him a bit too much room in the first half, but in the second half we cut out that supply line to the forwards.

Lastly, Bok took time out to praise veteran midfielder Therdsak, who created both goals for Wilkinson. The Thai had only recently come back from injury.

“He is a player who knows how to control the tempo of the game, and he has great vision. It’s certainly great to have him back!” proclaimed Bok.

While the return of Therdsak was much welcome, the Warriors have injury doubts over Mustaqim and Daniel Bennett, the latter suffering a knee injury late in this game.

They are rated as doubtful for SAFFC’s next clash against Albirex Niigata (Singapore) in three days, but this win would certainly have put the squad in the best frame of mind, as they continue their push for the league title.