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Sengkang sink ten-man Gombak
Azlan Kames
info@sleague.com
Sengkang Punggol earned their first three points of the season at Hougang Stadium on Thursday evening, beating Gombak United 2-1 in front of 1,817 fans to go fourth on the Great Eastern-YEO’S S.League table.
It was a satisfying result for Dolphins coach Aide Iskandar, who was full of praise for his boys as they kept working hard throughout the match after losing to Balestier Khalsa in their opening fixture last week.
This time they were rewarded when they broke the deadlock on 65 minutes courtesy of a Gombak own goal, before winger Jordan Webb sealed the points with 11 minutes to go.
“Gombak are a strong team, but we kept trying and pushing, especially in the second half and finally something materialises,” said a pleased Aide.
Admittedly the game did not have the best of first halves, the notable highlight coming after 26 minutes when Sengkang goalkeeper Fadhil Salim made an excellent reflex save off Bah Mamadou’s header.
The chance had come after a well-delivered corner by Fazrul Nawaz found the lanky centreback, whose powerful goalbound header was palmed away by Fadhil at the very last second.
With little else happening, however, the match was all square in the first half. But an incident in the final minute before the interval changed the game.
Fazrul had caught Sengkang midfielder Murphy Wiredu’s ribs while both men were challenging for a high ball, and with the Canadian making a loud cry, all attention was drawn to the clash.
The Gombak man was promptly shown the red card for serious foul play, although seeing that there was no malice in the clash, the sending-off may have been harsh.
Having found themselves with a numerical advantage for the entire second half, Sengkang began to push for the opener when the match restarted.
Jordan Webb, who had been a constant threat to the Gombak defence in the first half, broke through on the right without needing a prompt. He delightfully crossed the ball over to Faizal Amir, who headed it wide, and a glorious chance to take the lead had come and gone.
Another would arrive on 65 minutes, and this time it was former Bulls winger Jalal who was the provider. He went down the left and sent the ball towards the near post, where Webb was waiting.
In a quick sequence, Obadin Aikhena, who was under pressure, intercepted the ball in the air but then unfortunately headed it back into his own net. It was a rare mistake by the Nigerian that looked to overshadow what until then was a superb display by him.
It was not just Aikhena alone who would have been hard done by the own goal. Gombak as a team have to be credited for putting up a spirited performance when they went into the second half with only ten men.
The introduction of fresh legs in the form of Jeremy Chiang and Fazli Jaffar early on looked to have regained Gombak the width in midfield. Fazli especially was gaining good ground on the left flank, putting Sengkang on the back foot repeatedly.
Before Aikhena’s own goal, Sengkang had the chance to move into the lead 13 minutes into the second half when Moussa Keita slotted the ball into the net. However the match officials deemed substitute Mamadou Diallo, who made the final pass to, was in an offside position.
Ironically, the flag would have a role to play when Sengkang got their second goal on 79 minutes.
The hosts were given a free kick from 40 yards out, and Wiredu set himself up for a grounder that went through the entire Gombak defence and into Webb’s path. Several Gombak defenders thought the 21-year-old was offside, but the flag stayed down.
Webb then did the rest, taking the ball well into his stride and placing it beyond Zaiful Nizam’s reach with a clinical finish. 2-0 to Sengkang, and the game seem to slip away from Gombak with only less than a quarter of an hour to play.
The Bulls were not done yet, however, and they fought hard and were awarded a consolation goal in the dying minutes of the game.
A free kick just at the edge of the box offered Fazli the chance to pick his man. A clever cross had Ojimi Gabriel Obatola heading the ball towards goal, only to be denied by Fadhil. But the resulting clearance fell to Aikena, who hammered the ball past the mass of bodies to atone for his earlier error.
Alas for Gombak, the goal came a little too late, four minutes of added time not producing a second goal.
Bulls coach Darren Stewart alluded to a tiring opening schedule as one obstacle too many for his team to take, after they had to face both Tampines Rovers and Balestier in the seven days before this match.
“It’s been very tough, three games in six days, it’s very hard on the boys,” said the Australian.
“The sending-off had made our job today tougher, it was very tough. We had only ten men for the second half against them, and it felt like we were up against twelve.” |
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