June 28, 2004
June 26, 2004 Bedok
|
Geylang
United |
3 |
2 |
Woodlands |
|
Aleksandar Duric 5’, 52’ Rudy
Khairon 47’ |
|
|
Kim
Eun Cher 36’, 62’ |
In an epic quarter-final encounter in
the Big Trumpet
After that the match swings back &
forth with each team having several chances to score. 1 of those chances had
went in the net when Noor Ali had a seemingly legitimate goal disallowed for offside
& the Eagles rue the assistant referee’s decision later.
Kim had turned Faizal Hamid inside out
after controlling a cross from Ahmad Latiff from the right & was needlessly
tugged back by with him nowhere near to threaten a goal. Referee S K Kennedy
had no qualms in awarding the spot kick which was clinically dispatched by Kim
who earned it in the first place.
After the break, the Eagles got back
their lead when they scored an early goal again & later they caught the
Rams napping again
Much credit has to go to Petrie, as he
earned a free-kick after running rings around the Rams defence.
It allowed Rudy to step up & curled a beauty over Yazid
& into the
far post. Petrie was instrumental again in creating the next goal 5 minutes
later when he put in a perfect cross from the left for Duric
who was all alone to power an unstoppable header past Yazid.
With a 2 goal lead the Eagles chose to
protect their lead by slowing down the game & they pay for it when Noh Rahman carelessly gave away possession inside the Woodlands
half allowing Yazid to launch a quick counter-attack
through Ahmad Latiff. He split the Eagles defence with a through ball to Kim who finished with
aplomb, chipping the ball neatly over the exposed Shahril
The second goal of the Rams handed the
initiative back to the away side which could have equalized if not for the
presence of Shahril who kept several shots.
Certainly a great match & with the
Rams scoring 2 important away goals, the tie is nowhere near over.
June 27, 2004 Toa Poyah
|
Balestier
Khalsa |
4 |
2 |
Tampines
Rovers |
|
Igwe Iroha 42’ Park
Tae Won 45’, 76’ Kim
Chan Joong 67’ |
|
|
Sead Muratovic 14’ Aliff Shafaein 51’ |
The beauty of a Cup competition is
underdog having a go at favourite & this match should
be an example of it nobody could have given the Tigers a prayer to shock the Stags
at Toa Poyah especially after suffering 6 defeats in
a row. 
However nobody told Korean forward
Park Tae Won as he was the architect of the Stags' downfall as his performance
on the night consistently forced the Stags to pull back their punches as they
feared overexposure of their backline to him.
It did not start off well for the
Tigers though as Thai winger Santi Chaiyaphuak after tricking
his marker was upended in the box & sweeper Sead Muratovic made no mistake from the spot.
Park provided the fightback
for the Tigers first look at goal as he drew away the defenders allowing his
strike partner Igwe Iroha with
a free header after a great delivery from Ruhaizad. The
Nigerian steer a glancing header past keeper Rezal Hassan who had no chance to
save it. It was the Ruhaizad & Park show later when Ruhaizad marauding
down the right flank squared a low cross for Park to convert easily as the
Tigers take the lead into the break,
The Stags swiftly drew level after the
resumption of the second half with little forward Aliff
Shafaein sliding home with the Tigers' defenders
ball-watching.Unfazed by the setback, the home side
plied forward & Korean defender Kim Chan Joong
smashed in a volley from Roniwardi Mamsa's looping cross to put his team into the lead again. The
Stags night was typlified by substitute Noh Alam Shah, who headed tamely into the hands of keeper Zulkifli Zainolabidin when
presented with a free header.
Park then punished the miss a ensuring the win with a twisting run & shot
that bounced in off Rezal's post.
4-2 is a great lead to take to Tampines in the second leg &if the Tigers give them a
good fight there they could dream of a remarkable march to the semi-final in
only their second season in existence.