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Late Rams comeback snaps losing streak
Ko Po Hui
info@sleague.com
Woodlands Wellington put up a courageous second-half performance to halt their three-game losing streak and claim a 2-2 draw at home to title aspirants Home United on Monday evening.
The result at Woodlands Stadium saw the hosts move off the bottom of the league table, while Home moved up to seventh, eight points behind pacesetters Tampines Rovers.
The Protectors came up to the north on the back of some patchy form, having yet to win since their season-opening triumph over Albirex Niigata (Singapore) on 4 February.
A heart-breaking loss to debutants Beijing Guoan Talent on Friday prompted coach Lee Lim Saeng to tell his charges that he demanded a better performance, showing his willingness to remove players with huge reputations who were doing poorly.
The Korean’s words seemed to draw the desired response as Home started the match strongly, Nelson San Martin being the first player to attempt to break the deadlock six minutes in.
The Chilean had done well to latch on to a nicely-laid ball from fellow forward Choi Chul Woo, but miscued his shot from the right side of the box.
Soon after, the Protectors continued with their onslaught, skipper Shahril Ishak’s shot forcing Rams goalkeeeper Fajar Sarib to the ground to deny the awkward-bouncing ball from turning into a goal.
Nonetheless, San Martin justified his return to the starting lineup with the opener on 15 minutes.
A lapse in the Rams defence allowed the former Kedah star to get a clear look at Fajar’s goal, and he let fly from 20 yards with a well-struck effort that gave the goalkeeper no chance.
It was not long before the Rams supporters were worried that things would be going the way it had in their last match, when they lost to Sengkang Punggol on the same ground.
One problem that had always bugged the home side was that whenever they conceded an early goal, they started losing focus and, more importantly, the shape of the team on the whole.
Yet against the run of play, the Rams were given a lifeline on 22 minutes when Home defender Juma’at Jantan was adjudged by referee Abdul Malik Bashir to have raised his foot too high on winger Asraf Abdul Rashid, resulting in a knock in the box.
Malik pointed to the spot much to the joy of the home fans, but Japanese defender Kazuki Yoshino’s penalty kick hit the upright and crashed out of play, much to the relief of beaten Protectors custodian Lionel Lewis.
Home could have added two more goals before the end of the first half, but the lack of accuracy in front of goal, coupled with Fajar’s bravery on the line ensured they would only stay one goal ahead going into the break.
Two minutes into the second half, however, they made it 2-0.
A nicely-crafted free kick from the left flank by Canadian youngster Sherif El-Masri found the head of Choi, who nodded the ball nicely backwards from the edge of the six-yard box to leave Fajar floundering.
It looked like it was going to be another one of those nights for Woodlands, until coach A. Shasi Kumar decided to have a look at his bench.
“We were controlling the game in the second half even after Home scored (their second goal),” he noted afterwards.
“We had created chances, but we couldn’t score, so when Rachid (Lajane) and Rizawan (Abdullah) came on, I thought we were looking good and dangerous.”
Lajane and Rizawan were among the substitutes sent on by Shasi, who also decided to throw Navin Nigel Vanu into the fray as midfielders Asraf, Shahri Musa and Azlan Alipah were withdrawn.
They went on to have a great impact on the game, prompting Shasi to hail their contributions.
“I think our performance in the second half was brilliant,” came his assessment.
And that was by no means off the mark. The fresh pairs of legs injected more flair and provided an added dimension into the Rams’ attacks, thus making them a far more dangerous proposition.
That resulted their first goal of the night with 17 minutes left to play, when Abdelhadi Laakkad scored his team’s first goal in three games.
Following a well-threaded pass by fullback Anaz Hadee, the Moroccan beat Lewis with a cool header off Yoshino’s cross to breathe fresh hope into Woodlands.
It proved to be the perfect catalyst for a late Rams surge, as they laid siege late on upon the beleaguered Home backline.
Their effort was given its due reward with the equaliser by Yoshino on 89 minutes.
Clearly still disturbed by the penalty miss earlier, the 25-year-old defender atoned for that error by reacting first to a Laakkad free kick that had rocked the crossbar.
With Lewis unable to recover after making the initial save, the former Albirex Niigata (Singapore) man headed home from the rebound to send Home hearts sinking and claim a precious point.
“It’s early in the season, but the pressure comes from me to perform, and I think we can still improve as the season progresses,” remarked coach Shasi at the end of the day.
“I don’t want to single out any player, but I think the team as a whole did not defend well and we conceded two goals that could have been prevented. But I think we’ll get better at this.”
Home coach Lee was meanwhile distraught to see his team drop points yet again, heading straight into the tunnel without addressing his players when the final whistle was blown.
It was left to his assistant S. Subramani to give a detailed look at what had gone wrong for the two-time S.League champions.
“We had a good start into this game, but to have to concede goals, especially an unnecessary free kick in the last minute, was disappointing,” he said.
“I think our players had tried their best, but it’s just that in a game of football, any mistake can be punished. We gave away that free kick and they capitalised on it.” |
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