July 3, 2004

Roundup of the week S-league

June 29, 2004 Jurong East

Albirex Niigata	1	1	Young Lions
Issey Nakajima 79’			Agu Casmir 32’

Defensive lapses were the cause of both the goals as when the Swans failed to clear their lines, they paid the price as it allowed Agu Casmir a simple tap-in, while the Young Lions gave too much space & time for Issey Nakajima to let fly a drive that nestled in the bottom corner

June 30, 2004 Woodlands

Woodlands Wellington	0	2	Home United
			Indra Sahdan 13’, 57’

At Woodlands Stadium, a game dubbed to the  title decider saw double champion Home United tightened their grip on the leadership with a commanding 2-0 win over ex-leaders Woodlands Wellington, in front of a boisterous crowd.

It was a terrible start for the Rams when a calamitous error by the Rams' industrious defender, Jaslee Hatta handed the double champion their first goal on a plate. There were chances before that for both sides to take the lead but when a scuffed clearance by Jaslee saw the ball spin backwards & invitingly straight to Indra, who must have barely believe his luck as the gaping goal as the ball landed at his feet a few yards out. It was impossible not to score & that was what Indra did as he gobbles it up to give his side the early advantage.

After that goal both teams went for each other throats with different reason with the Rams wanting to get back into the game while the Protectors wanting to kill it off. However the difference was to show on what was lacking for the Rams when Indra strike again at the Rams defence & scored his second goal of the night as well as his team second to finish off the game.

A sublime diagonal ball, played through by Peres to Goncalves, on the right of the area, saw the latter smash a powerful shot against the bar and when the ball came back down Indra had the simplest of tasks to head the ball into a vacant net.

After the match, Home coach Steve Darby was certainly pleased with how his charges played in 1 of the most important game of the season & he did not forget to praise how Indra has matured since his spell at Chelsea as the way he played this showed how much tougher he is these days.

June 30, 2004 Choa Chu Kang

SAFFC	2	0	Geylang United
Gusta Guzarishah 45’ Ashrin Shariff 49’

SAFFC secured themselves fourth spot in the league as they beat Geylang United 2-0 at Choa Chu Kang Stadium to keep pace with league leaders & Double Champion Home United.

The Eagles who had make many changes during the transfer window in the hope of better performances from the team during the second half of the season went down to goals from Gusta Guzarishah & Ashrin Shariff that the Warriors walk away from the match with 3 points in the bag.

It will make up for the Warriors defeat at Bedok earlier in the season.

July 1, 2004 Queenstown

Tanjong Pagar United	2	1	Sinchi
Gimmy Bade 45’ Ratna Suffian 54’			Li Chuncheng 39’

Tanjong Pagar United FC extended their unbeaten streak to 3 games when they defeated Sinchi by 2 -1.

This victory over Sinchi allowed the bottom placed club to be level on points with Balestier Khalsa & closing the gap with Sinchi to 1 point. With the Queenstown based club on a roll, it looked a matter of time before it get itself out of the bottom & either the Tigers or Sinchi replaced it.

July 2, 2004 Tampines

Tampines Rovers	3	1	Balestier Khalsa
Mirko Grabovac 37’, 81’ Aliff Shafaein 59’			Farhan Farook 56’

In what was a revenge of their defeat at the hand of the Tigers 5 days earlier in the Singapore Cup, the Stags defeated the Tigers 3-1 at the Tampines Stadium to catapult themselves to third position in the league & 5 points behind the new league leaders Home United.

Stag coach Vorawan Chitavanich was delighted with the result, but was concerned with how they conceded the Tigers goal & see the need for the Stags to improve on their defence. It is not surprising he came to that conclusion as the Tigers had throughout the game caught the Stags on a number of occasions on the counter-attack & if not for the fact they were missing ace striker   Park Tae Won, the architect of the Stag’s demise in the Singapore Cup, the result would have been must different.

However at the same time, he must have no just concerns with his attack as his charges keep attacking a packed defence of the Tigers, who came to Tampines with a plan to put players behind the ball.

The opening goal came when Tan Kim Leng provided the key that unlocked the stubborn Tigers defence as the midfielder cut to the center from the right & ran unchallenged before he gave a great through pass to Mirko, who controlled the ball well & then coolly rounded the keeper before slotting home a goal past 2 sliding Tigers defenders.

The Tigers made a significant change in the second half as striker Farhan Farook replaced midfield hard man S Rajendran in a bid to provide more firepower to the Tigers’ frontline. What a substitution it will prove to be as against the run of play, Farhan received the ball outside the penalty box & ran towards the goal. Instead of trying to look for his teammates, the striker twisted & turned skillfully to writhe through the Stags defence & suddenly he unleashed a powerful low grounder that evaded the diving Rezal Hassan on his near post. It was a shocked to the Stags as the striker was 30 yards away from goal & yet he could get the shot in.

Fortunately the Stags manage to regain the lead 3 minutes after the Tigers got their equalizer. Aliff Shafaein, who was shackled the whole night by S Rajendran, suddenly found newfound freedom in midfield when with the Tiger player substituted for more attacking power & when Rafi threaded a pass to the right to the dangerous Noh Alam Shah which the striker whipped in a tantalizing cross from the right, the midfielder was on hand to volley in his shot past the hapless Zainal.

If the Tigers had hopes of repeating their feat of coming from behind again, they were in for a rude shock. Mirko Grabovac settled the encounter with a goal, while a lucky one, to ensure that his sides get all three points. Yet again it was Tan Kim Leng who was the architect of his goal. Tan received a through ball in acres of space as the Tigers was caught off-guard with them going all out & he crossed well for Noh to make a diving header, only to see Zainal palming it away but there was Mirko all alone to pound on it.