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Afiq goal thwarts Rams on opening night
Paul Green
info@sleague.com
The Great Eastern-YEO’S S.League season kicked off in great style at Jalan Besar Stadium on Monday night, with the Young Lions and Woodlands Wellington playing out a real thriller of a 2-2 draw.
The Rams began the game with gusto and held a well-deserved two goal lead at the break, but they found themselves under increasing pressure as the second half of the match wore on and succumbed to a Young Lions’ equalizer in the fourth minute of stoppage time, cruelly being robbed of two of the three points they felt were in the bag.
They had reckoned without the tremendous energy and fighting spirit of the home side who, despite missing quite a number of chances, kept plugging away and finally scored the two goals they needed to take a point.
“Nobody likes to lose their first game of the season, especially at home,” said Young Lions’ coach, V Sundramoorthy.
“Woodlands gave us a very hard game, and the draw will give us confidence now for our next match against Home United at Clementi next week.”
But it was the visitors who provided the shocks early on with their crisp passing game and the innate understanding between their front pairing of captain Mohd Noor Ali and returning striker Abdelhadi Laakkad.
Both shone in the first period and caused the Young Lions defenders many anxious moments.
Woodlands gave their opponents a scare as early as the fourth minute, when Laakkad got on the end of a Noor Ali pass and fired in a shot that Jasper Chan had to collect at the second attempt.
Three minute later the Rams were ahead.
Noor Ali had been brought down by Safuwan Baharudin on the left of the area, and the free kick he cleverly whipped in found the head of veteran defender Winston Yap among a sea of bodies in the six-yard box.
It was the finish of an experienced campaigner, and probably showed the benefit of significant time spent in routines on the training field.
The Young Lions almost hit back immediately, though, when new recruit Seo Su Jong saw his effort well saved by Rams goalkeeper Fajar Sarib.
Woodlands continued to impress with their fluid passing game, stringing four or five passes together with ease and bringing a large number of players into many of their attacking movements.
This paid dividends handsomely on 21 minutes, when a nice pass down the left towards the penalty area by defender Sahairi Ramri picked out Laakkad as he ran through, and the Moroccan deftly clipped the ball over the shoulder of the advancing keeper to make it 2-0 to the visitors.
The Young Lions showed plenty of forward commitment themselves, but were more direct in their approach work.
Just after the half-hour mark, Khairul Nizam was unlucky when his volley was deflected off a defender for a corner, following good work by strike partner Fadhil Noh.
New Woodlands defender Kazuki Yoshino came close to extending his side’s lead after a cleverly-worked free kick 25 yards out.
Three players touched the ball before it was laid in the path of the Japanese centreback, whose stinging low drive went wide of the left-hand upright by the narrowest of margins. Again, much training ground work appeared to lie behind this effort by the Rams.
The Young Lions gave a sign of what was to come after the break when, in the last minute of the first half, Nizam nodded over a free kick sent in by Luka Savic.
It was immediately evident that the Rams would have their hands full once play resumed, but the more experienced players in their side did their best to soak up the mounting pressure as the hosts began to turn the screws.
Just before the hour mark, several Woodlands defenders got their heads to the ball as it was sent high towards goal by the Young Lions midfield, and while Fadhil managed to pounce on the loose ball, it needed a great one-handed save from Fajar to allow his Rams to hold on to their two-goal lead.
The Young Lions dominated from that point, and Woodlands appeared to be struggling.
Shots from Fadhil and Hariss Harun went over the bar, but finally the Rams rearguard was penetrated nine minutes from the end.
A cross from Irwan Shah left the Rams keeper in no man’s land as he began to leave his line, and Nizam got his head to the ball first to bring the score back to 1-2.
Two minutes later Woodlands responded with a short flurry as they tried to regain a two-goal advantage, but the skill of Noor Ali and Laakkad was to go unrewarded as Chan made a fine low save to deny the latter’s effort.
The last six minutes of normal time saw the Young Lions force six corners and earn two free kicks, all of which spelt danger to Woodlands.
Young Lions coach Sundram then sent on defender Afiq Yunos even after the four minutes of stoppage had begun, and his decision was to prove a masterstroke.
“I sent him on and told him to get his head to as many crosses and corners as he could, but he used his feet instead,” the coach chuckled afterwards.
It was a corner from Savic on the left that saw the ball eventually cleared towards the far side.
Hariss gained possession and shook off his marker before getting to the by-line and sending over a low cross that Afiq pounced on at the near post, completely deceiving the keeper.
It was the substitute’s first and only touch of the game, as the whistle for full time blew immediately after the goal had been scored.
“It’s too early to say what went wrong for us,” said Rams coach A. Shasi Kumar.
“We’ll look at the way we gave up two points later, but I’m sure the fans enjoyed the game, even if it is difficult being a coach when this happens.”
Indeed the game was a great spectacle, a classic game in many ways, with two teams looking to score goals and offering excellent approach work as they did so.
To start the season with such a high-quality game augers well for the rest of the season, and if this standard can be maintained, then the crowds should come flocking back to Great Eastern-YEO’S S.League matches this year. |
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