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Late lead from Tampines, late leveller by Warriors
A. Ong
info@sleague.com
SAFFC won the S.League title last season with a sizeable 11-point advantage over second-placed Tampines Rovers, but there was nothing to separate these two teams this time, with a 1-1 draw the end result.
In a thrilling finale, Tampines grabbed the lead through a Qiu Li penalty in the last minute of regulation time, but the Warriors rescued a point in the final minute of stoppage time with Park Tae Won’s looping header.
So a point apiece, but there was still a loser on the night – the Singapore national team. John Wilkinson and Shaiful Esah were both carried off the field with serious looking injuries, which could well rule them out of the crucial upcoming Asian Cup qualifier against Jordan.
Ironically, both had been included in the squad of 22 Radojko Avramovic had announced just hours earlier, but the Serbian may now need to look for fresh alternatives.
With these injuries occurring in the first half, the odds were surely stacked against the Warriors, making this a very welcome point earned indeed.
“It was a very big blow to lose both players in the first half,” pointed out SAFFC head coach Richard Bok.
“But I think we showed a lot of character to come back in the last minute of injury time. I’m very happy with the one point.”
Bok’s comments will not be a surprise to the almost 3,000-strong crowd at Jalan Besar Stadium, who saw Tampines spurn good chance after good chance, while SAFFC created precious little up front.
Indra Sahdan Daud was the lone man in attack, and the Tampines defence dealt comfortably with him for the majority of the match, especially with the return of Benoit Croissant from suspension.
Still, Indra would have the first real chance at goal on 15 minutes, after an ingenious free kick routine.
With many expecting Shaiful to strike at goal, Daniel Bennett instead tapped it to Indra, who had his back to goal. The national striker spun around and drove the ball at goal, only to see it whistle just over after a slight deflection.
There would be a better chance at the other end just two minutes later. Aleksandar Duric, facing his former club for the first time since joining Tampines, was put through by Qiu’s slide-rule pass, but he saw his shot blocked by onrushing SAFFC keeper Shahril Jantan.
Tampines then spurned another glorious chance on the half-hour mark.
Shukor Zailan’s cross from the right was headed back across goal by Duric, but captain Aliff Shafaein amazingly nodded the ball over from right under the crossbar.
The teams went in level at the break, but the Warriors had been rocked by the two injuries by this time. Tampines would look to press home their advantage in the second half, but the SAFFC goal was to lead a charmed life right up to the very end.
Aliff would waste the clearest of these opportunities on the hour mark. Finding himself clean through on goal from Qiu’s pass, the dimunitive forward had the presence of mind to round the keeper, but he placed the ball into the side netting with the goal unattended.
Qiu was at it again on 70 minutes, but Duric was just inches away from connecting with the superb cross from the China-born striker.
There was another enforced substitution midway through the second half, but this time it was not a member of the playing staff who would not complete the game.
Linesman Mohd Faizal Abas signalled to referee Abdul Malik Bashir that he could not continue, and he was then taken to the hospital with suspected heat stroke. His place was taken by fourth official Leow Thiam Hoe.
When play resumed, It was the referee that was next to deny the Stags their opener. Seiji Kaneko had stormed forward to great effect, heading home Imran Sahib’s right wing cross, but the referee disallowed the effort for an apparent foul by the Japanese defender.
Next up, substitute Jamil Ali. The winger would have been forgiven for turning away in celebration after his attempted chip five minutes from time, but Shahril produced an outstanding reaction to tip the ball away for a corner.
With regulation time running out, a major moment in the match. Duric tangled with Ivan Lovric before going down in the box, and the referee pointed to the spot without hesitation.
Up stepped Qiu to stroke home past the diving Shahril, scoring his third goal in as many games, and seemingly giving Tampines all three points.
But as many teams have found out over the years, you count SAFFC out at your own peril.
Substitute Mustaqim Manzur chipped over a free kick in the final minute of injury time, and Park was left free in the box to guide home a dipping header that gave Hassan Sunny no chance.
The goal sparked massive celebrations from the Warriors squad, and left the Stags wondering what would have been had they kept their concentration for just a few more seconds.
“This is football,” remarked Tampines head coach Vorawan Chitavanich, clearly disappointed.
“We have to learn to play for the full 90 minutes. Today we gave two points away in the last minute.
“Still it was a very good performance from our players. As you can see, we created a lot of chances, and deserved to win the game.”
Vorawan now has a bit of a break before Tampines resumes action in the League Cup quarterfinals, but his counterpart Bok has more immediate concerns ahead of the AFC Champions League game on Wednesday, which is away to China’s Henan Jianye.
Not that Bok is letting these injury woes get him down.
“We have a bigger squad this year, so we are confident that other players will step in to cover for those injured.”
Still, he agreed that the squad still needs some time to gel, especially with the big changes in personnel over the off-season.
“Half the squad is new, so we must try to ensure the winning mentality carries on. Hopefully the older players can bring that across to the newer players.”
Only time will tell if this current SAFFC squad can match up to the achievements of last season, but all eyes will now turn to their regional exploits, as they fly the Singapore flag in the AFC Champions League for the second season running. |
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