July 18, 2004

Roundup of the week S-league

July 13, 2004 Jurong East

Albirex Niigata	3	2	Balestier Khalsa
S Rajendran 23’ Yuki Sakai 57’ Norikazu Murakami 79’			Igwe Iroha 61’ Park Tae Won 72’

After inflicting a shock 3-2 defeat against Double Champion Home United, the Tigers must be hoping for the same result against the Swans as they came from 2 goals down to level the score before finally going down 2-3 at the Swans home stadium, Jurong East.

July 15, 2004 Hougang

Sinchi	1	2	Young Lions
Zhong Cheng 70’			Seric Vladan 25’ Khairul Amri 38’

A second string Young Lions proved too strong for hapless Sinchi as they stole 3 valuable points from their trip to the Hougang Stadium to keep pace with the top.

Without 5  first team regulars - Agu, Itimi, Riduan, Sharil & Baikhaki & as with most of the Young Lions team having make the tiring trip up north to play against Malaysia it was expected Sinchi could get at least 1 point from the encounter but Sinchi was disappointing on the night never imposing themselves on the second string Young Lions.

Young Lions new import Seric Vladan was impressive in his role in the heart of the Young Lions defence & on 25 minutes, he showed that he can be effective in set- pieces too as he rose highest to nod home a Mustaquim Manzur corner notch his first goal for the club.

Taking advantage of the chance both Agu & Itimi were out, Khairul Amri showed what he could do when he scored the Young Lions second goal getting in front of his marker & slotting the ball past the outrushing keeper.

There should have been more than the 2 goal scored by the Young Lions but wasteful finishing meant Sinchi was still in the game & they got 1 back Zhong Cheng fired a screamer from a clearance from a corner.

It was the turn of Sinchi to be wasteful as the Young Lions held on.

July 15, 2004 Woodlands

Woodlands Wellington	1	4	Tampines Rovers
Park Kung Guy 58’			Sead Muratovic 37’, 82’ Ismail Fitrey 49’ Noh Alam Shah 77’

After the remarkable 5-1 thrashing of Albirex Niigata last week, it was the turn of the Rams to be thrashed as they went down 1-4 to the Stags.

With that result, the Stags remained in second position & continued to pressure the Double Champion Home United.

July 16, 2004 Bishan

Home United	4	2	Geylang United
Fahmie Abdullah 5’ Peres De Oliveira 60’, 83’ J Surachai 80’			Rudy Khairon 22’ Aleksandar Duric 50’

In an entertaining match from start to finish, Home United defeated Geylang United 4-2 at the Bishan stadium.

Home United scored early from a good move that involved J Surachai, Egmar Goncalves, Imran Sahib &Fahmie Abdullah.

The passing was unbelievable as the Eagles defence was caught flat with that slick passing. Thai midfield general Surachai initiated the slick-passing move with a great pass to Imran Sahib who also make a great cross to Egmar, who cleverly dummy the ball catching out the Eagles defenders surrounding him resulting in Fahmie, who was all alone, scoring.

Refusing to back down, the Eagles came back strongly & they managed to grab the equalizer they were looking for through midfielder Rudy Khairon. He broke the Home United offside trap smartly & collected a terrific pass from Mark Williams to unleash a powerful shot past Protectors’ custodian Sean Roberts to even the score.

After that the Protectors went on the attack to get the lead back again before the break but failed as they simply can’t breach the Eagle’s defence.

The second half was as good a spectacle as the first half to watch.

The Eagles took the lead soon after the break when Home United Aide Iskandar conceded the penalty after he was adjudge to handle the ball. Eagles striker Aleksandar Duric scored from the spot to increase his goal tally.

Things got from bad to worse for the Protectors when key defender Aide Iskandar, who conceded the penalty, was sent off for a lunge on Duric a few minutes later. However, the Eagles could not capitalize on their numerical superiority.

The Eagles conceded a penalty when Mark Williams illegally shoved Egmar Goncalves in the box after Home United broke away after a Eagles attacking move break down. Peres De Oliveira then scored from the spot to make the score 2-2.

Surachai then scored a late goal to put the Protectors back in front. It was a freak free kick when his suppose free-kick cross from the Eagles right tuned into a shot catching out Shahril Jantan who was not prepared for it.  

Then came the end of all resistance by the Eagles as Rudy Khairon got his second yellow card after fouling Peres. From the resulting free-kick, Peres doubled his tally on the night with a free kick “ala Brazilian” style with a deflection from Duric head past the helpless Shahril Jantan.

The Eagles were unlucky to lose the match 4-2 but there should be no complaints as the Protectors too k their chances showing the rest of the leaguethey are not going to relinquish their crown that easily.

July 17, 2004 Queenstown

TPUFC	1	1	SAFFC
Haris Sumri 44’			Jonathon Angelucci 11’

The Jaguars went 5 matches unbeaten & also climbed themselves out of the bottom when they gained a valuable point from their encounter against the Warriors.

It was a great result as the Warriors had thrashed the Jaguars in both their encounters this season