The 45th Uniform Derby was played out to 1620 fans at Choa Chu Kang Stadium on Sunday evening and it was one to remember for the fans present to witness this mauling.
Photo courtesy of Mr Ko Po Hui
Singapore Armed Forces FC suffered a nil-4 defeat at the hands of traditional rivals, Home United. It was a also defeat which effectively ended the Warriors’ title challenge.
The Warriors were on the back foot from as early as in the third minute of play when Rhysh Roshan Rai conceded a free kick just outside the 18-yard area. A well worked set play by the Protectors saw the final ball coming off a Warriors’ player before goalkeeper Shahril Jantan picked the seemingly harmless ball up.
But to the horror and surprise of SAFFC players, match official Sukhbir Singh signaled for an indirect free kick eight yards from goal in favour of Home United. That left the management team on the Warriors’ bench fuming. Up stepped Canadian Under-23 International, Sherif El Masri and he blasted the dead ball into the roof of the net to make it 1-nil for Home United.
After some great buildup in the attacking third, the Warriors had succumb to two quick goals in the space of three minutes from counter attacking plays.
In the 16th minute, former Singapore Armed Forces forward Masrezwan Masturi was given too much room on the left and beat Shaiful Esah, to send in a low pass which eluded the entire line of defence only for Firdaus Idros to poke home from close range.
Mustaqim Mansur started a move which ended up in an easy save for Lionel Lewis in the Protectors’ goal. From the counter attack, Juma’at Jantan galloped down the left flank before cutting a square ball for Sherif El Masri, who picked up his second goal of the night, with a cool finish from 12 yards.
The Warriors were left to ponder on what went wrong in the opening 18 minutes of play as they came back strongly with some neat interchange in the final third of the pitch.
Fazrul Nawaz had the ball in the Protectors net when a distinctive piece of play by Mustaqim Mansur found the Singapore International in the box. However, Fazrul’s goal was ruled out for an offside decision. The score remained 3-nil to Home United at the break and it could have been worst after the restart if not for Shahril Jantan’s interception to deny Sherif a hattrick.
After the restart, Fazrul Nawaz, playing in his preferred position after being paired with S-League top scorer Mislav Karoglan came closest to scoring yet again when he crashed a 30 yard screamer onto the cross bar with Lionel Lewis well beaten.
Taisuke Akiyoshi, the dictator of play for SAFFC then ran a full 70 yards of the pitch before pulling a shot which went just wide of Lionel’s goal.
While the goals just couldn’t come, the Warriors certainly did not go down without a fight. Mislav Karoglan hit four shots on target on the night but was foiled by the impressive Home United custodian.
The Warriors saw Mustaqim Mansur receive his marching orders in the 76th minute for two bookable offences after he hacked down Valery Hiek and then Sherif El Masri, all in the space of eight minutes.
Richard Bok brought on former International Indra Sahdan in place of Fazrul 10 minutes before the end to try all means of getting some consolation from the tie.
Home United substitute Yasir Hanapi then added further misery for the Warriors when he capitalized on a mistake and fired into Shahril Jantan’s far post to seal the game at 4-nil in favour of the Protectors.
Singapore Armed Forces FC Head Coach was visibly disappointed.
“The whole team tried working something out after the early goals by Home United but the goals just don’t come for us tonight.”
“Well, you can say that our title chances are too slim now. Mathematically it is difficult for us and unless the rest of the teams lose their game.”
“We will definitely fight through this to try and secure at least a top three spot.” Bok told VOXSPORTS.
It’s back to the drawing board for the Warriors now and with that result, all that Richard Bok can hope for is that the upcoming fixtures will hand SAFFC some advantage towards the end of the season.
The Warriors will travel to Hougang Stadium on Thursday to play Hougang United.
Reported by : Neo Chee Seong a.k.a Liga Singapura
Edited by: André Ahchak
