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Luckless Rams fall to Hafiz header
Elwyn Lee
info@sleague.com
A roaring display by Woodlands Wellington was left unrewarded as Geylang United claimed a 1-0 victory at Bedok Stadium on Saturday evening.
The northern side were a tour de force for long spells of a bruising encounter, but at the end of it all a Hafiz Rahim header on the stroke of half-time was enough for Geylang to win the contest, elevating them to seventh on the charts.
Mike Wong took the victory in his stride, and was pleased with the full points earned after their morale-sapping defeat in the AFC Cup to Thai Port in midweek.
“The three points are important. Without 4-5 regular players today, without our first eleven, plus our match fitness not being at its peak because of our game four days ago, I am pleased to have earned full points,” the Eagles coach effused.
Wong had a depleted Eagles squad to work with and might have feared the worst in the opening minutes, with Woodlands coming forward relentlessly in search of goals immediately after the proceedings began.
True to its billing, the match panned out during the early stages as a measured encounter, the two sides waiting for the opportune moment to strike and take the lead.
Clear chances were however few and far between for either team.
Playing with many key men out due to injuries, the Eagles faced further uncertainty with their inspirational captain Miroslav Latiak’s untimely departure on 20 minutes, after the Slovak had sprained his foot.
The consolation in the ‘exchange’ for them was that Hafiz was the one chosen to come on for the outgoing Latiak, and that the match decider was to come from the striker’s headed goal 25 minutes later.
Prior to that, though, the 26-year-old had at least one potential chance to take the lead earlier for his side.
Three minutes before the half-hour mark, Hafiz had found himself at the end of a good pass inside the Woodlands box, but with the goal beckoning, he was undone by a timely defensive interception.
Woodlands then landed a chance of their own to steal away on 31 minutes when forward Abdelhadi Laakkad connected with a header inside a crowded Eagles six-yard box, but the Moroccan ace could not put more sting into his effort, custodian Siddiq Durimi cusping the ball as it landed in front of him.
Five minutes before the break, Geylang’s Syed Thaha came running down the left flank and trapped well from off a cross on the right. Thaha’s forward push then sent the ball too far ahead as Rams goalkeeper Fajar Sarib dashed out to collect.
Woodlands captain Mohd Noor Ali stepped up to the plate next when, on 43 minutes, he came close to getting a chance after goalkeeper Siddiq spilled his catch in a goalmouth melee.
The nimble winger rushed to meet the ball, but defender Rastislav Belicak reacted even more quickly, denying the former Eagles hero as he quickly whipped the ball away to safety.
A minute into added time in the first-half, Geylang took the lead thanks to Hafiz, who was their goalscoring hero in the Singapore Cup 2009 final.
He proved his worth again when the Eagles were given a corner. Positioned in the six-yard box and next to the goalkeeper’s left post, Hafiz rose high to connect with teammate Thaha’s flighted cross from down the right, his cheeky back-header grazing the underside of the crossbar before landing inside the Woodlands net.
The Eagles never looked back in spite of the torrid pressure brought upon them during the second period.
In the absence of the inimitable Yazid Yasin, who was out with a shoulder dislocation, stand-in custodian Siddiq was performing commendably, showing his grit when he snuffed out a thunderous shot six minutes after the interval.
Woodlands were abuzz but were also guilty at times of not being more clinical in their finishing, as seen when Laakkad’s free kick nine minutes from time screamed over the crossbar instead of into the beckoning top corner, if only the Moroccan had taken his shot with more accuracy and less hastiness.
The Eagles could have doubled their margin during the final minutes of injury time, Hafiz unleashing a cracking shot from outside the box, only to see Fajar’s acrobatics coming to the fore as the Rams No.1 arced his frame to tip expertly over.
Woodlands persevered and pressed forward as their players laid siege to the Eagles goal in one final throw of the dice.
But when Noor Ali’s close-range effort deep in injury time rocketed toward the Eagles goal, pulling a pointblank save by Siddiq, the tenacious battlers from the north must have sensed that a recovery was beyond them.
So 1-0 it ended at Bedok Stadium, the result pushing the Eagles up three places to mid-table, while the Rams stay at eleventh, one spot above the bottom.
To be fair, though, the visitors were deserving of at least a point, if not more, for their industry and determination, but ended the night empty-handed, despite their untiring efforts.
It was a point their coach A. Shasi Kumar stressed after the match, although he felt the winning goal should not have happened in the first place.
“I think we deserved to win, not even a draw,” said the 33-year-old.
“Their goal came off a corner that was supposed to be a free kick for us just before the ball went out of play for the (Geylang) corner, but the foul on our player was overlooked by the referee.
“We played a better game both halves and deserved to win today. But once again the refereeing decisions and linesmen’s calls were questionable. This is nothing new.” |
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