October 6, 2004

October 5, 2004 Jalan Besar

Early indications at Jalan Besar Stadium, where Planet FC beat a makeshift S-League Selection 3-1 in a friendly match, hardly justified the Football Association of Singapore's (FAS) positive outlook at the prospects of the Cameroonian side becoming a S-League team of the 2005 season.

Despite their hard-running style & glimpses of flair, Planet showed little to back up their officials' boasts of being able to beat any team in the S-League.

Playing against 10 men for most of the match after Fathi Yunus was sent off towards the end of the first period, much was expected from Planet, but for the most part, they were pressed back against wave after wave of the Selection side’s attacks.

The players in the Selection lineup that coach Bencherifa assembled were not amongst the very best the league can offer, coming mostly from teams in the lower half of the table. The hodge-podge selection side however still contained enough firepower to threaten Planet as Benoit Salviat & Kim Eun Cher took early attempts at goal after a tentative start to the game.

Djento Christian, Bomba Marcelin & Kegne Ludovick were the more impressive Planet players, but they failed to pose any significant danger to Lewis’ goal. Then Planet scored against the run of play as Christian tapped home from close range after Ludovic had his shot from just outside the six-yard box blocked by Lionel. Buoyed by the goal, Planet started their best spell of the game which lasted all of 7 minutes. They extended their lead 2 minutes before half-time, Bekombo Paul cutting back for Mbom Ines to score after beating Jean Audemar for pace inside the area.

In the second half the S-league Selection came out firing & Iroha pulled 1 goal back as he skipped ahead of Planet captain Moudourou Miose & tucked the ball neatly into the corner past the flailing arms of the ‘keeper Malong Alexis. The Selection team then made a mockery of their numerical disadvantage & pegged the Cameroonians back in their own half for much of the second half, Iroha also got the equaliser as his header crash off the crossbar with Malong beaten. To their credit, the young Planet side weathered the storm, with their hard-running approach making up for a distinct lack of defensive organisation. They sealed the match in the when substiute Mial rose unmarked in the box to head home past Lewis.