August 21, 2004

Roundup of the week S-league

August 17, 2004 Hougang

Sinchi	0	2	Tampines Rovers
			Rafi Ali 50’ Mustafic Fahrudin 73’

Goals from Rafi Ali & import Mustafic Fahrudin were enough to ensure Tampines Rovers win their eighth S-league match in a row at the Hougang Stadium to stay top before the ultimate title decider against Home United.

The match was anything but a smooth-sailing one for Tampines Rovers as Sinchi willing packed their defence to frustrate the Stags

Sinchi tactics worked resulting in a stalemate it was clear to all Stags striker Noh Alam Shah was frustrated by it. It was therefore no surprise when he soon found himself in trouble after he angrily retaliated to the tugging by a Sinchi defender & elbowed the player. Shamsul Maidin, Singapore’s representative official at the recently concluded Asian Cup, was well-positioned to spot the incident & sent off Alam Shah without hesitation.

With the numerical advantage, the Chinese side become more advantageous & surged forward with more tenacity but the game still lacked life as clear chances were still few & far between.

After half-time, it should have been Sinchi who were the stronger team as they had the numerical number & during the break they could have change their tactics to take advantage of it but it was not the case as it was the Stags who were the stronger side instead

The Stags began to penetrate the Sinchi defence with much more purpose & were rewarded soon after. From an Aliff Shafaein corner, Mustafic leapt the highest to flick the cross onto the path of Rafi Ali, who scrambled the loose ball into the Sinchi net to give the Stags a lead which they would not relinquish.

With the lead the Stags pretty much controlled the game from that moment on.

Making it worse for Sinchi numerical parity on the pitch was restored as Sinchi themselves lost a man to a red card after midfielder Huang Yong was sent off for a second bookable offence when he clipped Tan Kim Leng’s heels in a tussle for the ball.

With 20 minutes left in the match, the Stags doubled their lead. Zulkarnaen Zainal was fouled in a dangerous position just outside the Sinchi penalty box and from the resulting freekick, Sead Muratovic sent in a brilliant cross for Mustafic to score with a header

August 17, 2004 Jalan Besar

Young Lions	1	3	Geylang United
Khairul Amri 80’			Fazrul Nawaz 47’ Aleksandar Duric 62’ Noor Ali  78’

The Young Lions slim title hope ended when they crashed to a shocking 1-3 defeat to the Eagles at Jalan Besar Stadium

Up to that point the Young Lions had never lost 2 games in a row nor lost at Jalan Besar Stadium but the Eagles changed that with goals from Fazrul Nawaz, Aleksandar Duric & Noor Ali.

August 18, 2004 Bishan

Home United	8	1	SAFFC
Egmar Gonclaves 3’, 4’, 47’, 72’, 79’ Indra Sahdan 14’, 66’, 87’			Jonathon Angelucci 8’

Home United crushed perennial rivals SAFFC 8-1 at the Bishan Stadium to stay second in the league behind the Stags before the ultimate title decider against them at Tampines Stadium

As soon as the whistle was blown to start the match, Home United were the fastest off the blocks. In fact, they were so fast that it took them only 3 minutes to score the first goal of the game. A neat interchange of passes between Peres De Oliveira & Imran Sahib left Warriors’ Anaz Hadee in no man’s land & Imran found bags of space on the right flank. Imran then produced a low cross that was cheekily tapped in by Egmar Goncalves, courtesy of a back heel, nutmegging Warriors’ custodian Adi Salleh in the process. Even before the Warriors could regroup after conceding such an early goal in the match, the Protectors struck again, courtesy of their marksman Egmar yet again. The striker, who just can’t seem to stop scoring at the moment, clinically finished a move that was initiated by his strike partner Indra Sahdan from the left flank. Indra using his pace on the left flank got past his marker & could have a shot himself as he got into the box but chose to cross back to Egmar who was in a better position & Egmar could not missed from that range giving the Protectors a 2 goals commanding lead.  

After that came a lapse in concentration by the Protectors to allow the Warriors back when the Protectors allowed Jonathon Angeluccito to ghost past to head the ball past Sean Roberts from a Dalis Supait cross.

The Warriors was visibly lifted by that goal but they soon found themselves back on the backfoot after their captain Nenad Bacina produced an error at the back when he needlessly rushed his freekick to “gift” his opponents the ball. Indra suddenly found himself in acres of space &  after composing himself, he coolly slotted the ball past Adi to make the score 3-1.

Warriors’ coach Jimmy Shoulder then tried to make an attacking change by bringing on Yusri Waris for Hafiz Rahim.

However, the substitution did little to change to complexion of the game as the Protectors continued their control of the match with fluid movements & crisp passing, with Peres as the main architect. They were helped further by winning most of the 50-50 balls & both wingers Sutee Suksomsit & Imran having a field day terrorizing the Warriors’ fullbacks with their pace & incisive running.

If the Warriors expected some respite from the Protectors in the second half, they were definitely in for a rude awakening. Egmar continued from where he left off in the first half, majestically jumping to head the ball off the post from a Peres cross. Egmar then turned provider when he produced an audacious back heel back to Indra that bewildered 3 Warriors defenders after a 1-2 pass with Indra. With the Warriors defence caught off-guard, Indra was left all alone in the penalty area to score his second goal of the match. Home United kept up the unrelenting pressure on the Warriors & they got their next goal after Sutee skillfully evaded a tackle by Anaz Hadee & he blazed past the defence to rifle a shot at Adi Salleh. The keeper did well to parry the shot, only to see the rebound falling to Egmar who scored his fourth goal of the game. The striker then helped himself to another goal when he received a pass from Indra at the top of the box & drill the ball past the hapless Adi.

SAFFC was probably praying for the final whistle to blow in a match that they definitely want to forget, but not before Indra punished them further by scoring his hat-trick after a great passing movement that involved Imran & Egmar on the right flank found him in the box all alone. Indra took the pass & fired an unstoppable into the net

August 19, 2004 Toa Poyah

Balestier Khalsa	0	6	TPUFC
			Ratna Suffian 14’ Ballamodou Conde 30’ Benoit Salviat 49, 84’’ Haris Sumri 76’, 82’

In the battle to avoid the award of the Wooden Spoon, Tanjong Pagar United handed Balestier Khalsa a crushing defeat.

With that result the Jaguars climbed up to eighth in the league but are just 2 points ahead of both Sinchi & Balestier Khalsa & with a far inferior goal difference than these 2 teams. 

August 20, 2004 Woodlands

Woodlands Wellington	1	2	Albirex Niigata
Park Kung Guy 8’			Ryuji Sueoka 74’ Kenji Arai 89’

With the Young Lions slipping up in the last 2 matches the second runner-up spot was open up & both the Rams & the Swans had the chance to close the gap.

It was the Swans who took advantage as they defeated the Rams after Rams Azmi Mahamud got himself foolishly send off for his bookable offence.