Tam Cheong Yan
info@sleague.com
It’s amazing how time flies, and already we are a good two weeks into a spanking new Great Eastern-YEO’S S.League season. For this column to turn up now may seem a little late, but to borrow a line from an Emmy-winning American drama, let’s overlook the fact that the column is coming a little late and embrace the fact that it’s showing up at the party at all. And it’s promising to be quite a party, after some very intriguing matches in the opening week.
Starting things off with a Young Lions home game has been something of a common occurrence in recent years, and this year has been the same. With Vanda Sports Group taking charge of branding and marketing, the newly-repackaged Courts Young Lions promised a good show for everyone who turned up at Jalan Besar for the opener on 12 February.
So how was everything at the game? Well, off the field there was a good carnival buzz, and without going too over-the-top or in-your-face, the crowd response was pretty decent at about 2,500. On the field, Robin Chitrakar’s youngsters made a decent first effort at learning their new 4-2-3-1 formation, and for spells in the game they actually looked like they could string several useful passes together.
But they were up against an SAFFC side hungry to start their season on a positive note as well, and Fazrul Nawaz and Mislav Karoglan, in particular, looked sharp up front as they sought to impress. Both scored to claim the 2-0 win, and Karoglan’s inspired bicycle kick, coming right after substitute Indra Sahdan Daud’s attempt on goal was blocked by a defender, should be an early contender for Goal of the Season.
The Croatian will have a bit of competition, though, and the most obvious place to look would be Jurong East Stadium, where Albirex Niigata (Singapore) ran out 5-0 winners over a rookie Tanjong Pagar United side. Last season, Albirex couldn’t buy a home win if it was available at a warehouse sale; this season, they made sure they got it on the first try. The football was compelling, and all five goals without exception were well-taken efforts, even if Tanjong Pagar coach Terry Pathmanathan felt his side gave some of them away with their uncertain defending.
One man to watch from this year’s Albirex squad is their captain Shimpei Sakurada. Playing in a commanding position in midfield, he has a clean and simple style that brings back memories of former SAFFC maestro Therdsak Chaiman. Richard Bok will be keeping his eyes on him, not least for the three league encounters between these two sides – but there’s plenty of time for that.
While Albirex have kept up their pre-season form, Hougang United were less impressive in claiming their home win over Woodlands Wellington. The Cheetahs were widely expected to dish out a convincing result, so a full-time scoreline of 1-0, with Mamadou Diallo getting the goal only four minutes from the end, probably does not fit the bill. They’ve got a whole season to improve on that, but they will be up for some tough tests ahead, with Tampines Rovers, Home United and defending champions Etoile FC lining up to take them on in the coming weeks.
Etoile will certainly fancy their chances after grinding out a 2-0 victory over Geylang United, although the Eagles will probably be kicking themselves after two defensive errors contributed to the result – ironic considering that they have always taken pride in their strength at the back. Selim Kaabi’s strike just before half-time was probably most illustrative of that, after none of the men in green had the presence of mind to close him down with Anthony Moulin’s volleyed ball headed his way.
The other two matches in the opening week ended in surprise draws, although Gombak United’s 1-1 result against Tampines was probably not so much of a shock. Missing Aliff Shafaein due to the Beep Test, the Stags did not gel well in attack despite the presence of Aleksandar Duric and new signing Ahmad Latiff Khamarudin.
Park Yo Seb grabbing his second goal in as many matches – he had scored the winner in the Charity Shield clash with Etoile the week before – was probably indicative of the range of options Steven Tan has, although he must be mindful of the backline’s recent tendency to leak penalties, as had happened again at Jurong West to gift Gombak with a chance to pull level.
Title aspirants Home will certainly be disappointed with their 1-1 draw with Balestier Khalsa. With gifted players like Kim Dae Eui, Shi Jiayi and Frederic Mendy in their ranks, they were expected to do better, but a puzzling midfield deployment featuring two defensive men in Isa Halim and Nor Azli Yusoff stifled the team’s creativity, and that allowed Balestier to grab a share of the spoils. Lee Lim Saeng put his hand up and took the rap this time, although he might have a few words for his players in the dressing room.
So at the end of the first week, we have the two foreign teams topping the league table – one of them admittedly on alphabetical order – and two title aspirants finding themselves in mid-table. But there’s still plenty of football to be played, and the party’s barely started, so to all coaches, players and fans: Keep the good stuff coming!
See you at a game soon.
The views expressed in this article are those of the author and are not intended to represent the views of FAS and the S.League
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