Photo courtesy of Great Eastern Yeos S. League Facebook
S.League Matchday 1
Courts Young Lions 0
Hougang United 1
Syaqir Sulaiman 41′
A Syaqir Sulaiman rare goal defeated a spirited Young Lions team 1-0 at the Jalan Besar Stadium on Wednesday, after a long day of drama that unfoled before the kick off.
Around 1,500 fans were left puzzled after the game was delayed for almost two hours due to the lightning risk alert, just installed in the stadium weeks ago. The skies were clear and by eight, a slight drizzled had fell through the synthetic field, although the skies were visibly clear in the night sky.
When the game did kicked off at 9.15 pm, most fans had already lost their patience. However, the game did went on and Hougang went on the offensive from the first minutes onwards.
The game was on a low tempo, until a corner was awarded to the Cheetahs in the 40th minute. Mamadou Diallo floated a corner across towards the near post. Where Jeremy Chiang missed a sitter earlier, his defensive partner Syaqir Sulaiman flicked the ball towards the net with a header and the ball went passed Rudy Khairullah.
It was Syaqir’s first goal in over a year and a half, and one of the most unexpected goalscorers to take Hougang the lead to half time.
Hougang went up a tempo in the second half and were almost rewarded a goal in the 60th minute. Jeremy Chiang was sent clear by Faizal Amir. With the linesman flag still down, Jeremy squared the ball towards Sobrie Mazelan. However, Rudy Khairullah made a good save and the subsequent rebound fell on Mamadou Diallo, who chipped the ball over the crossbar.
Liam Shotton came on and almost scored in the 76th minute. With Rudy’s near post gaped open, he decided to shoot at a tight angle, but was denied by the near post.
Hougang claimed their first three points of the campaign and will head to Bandar Seri Begawan on Mar 1st.
Hougang United
Fairoz Hassan (Faizal Amir 58′), Syaqir Sulaiman, Hasree Zais, Lau Meng Meng (c), Thomas Beattie, Jeremy Chiang, Jerome Baker (Fazli Jaffar 58′), Mamadou Diallo, Fadhil Salim, Sobrie Mazelan, Robert Eziakor (Liam Shotton 74′).
Subs not used: Ridzuan Fatah, Shahir Hamzah, Fazly Hasan, Nurhilmi Jasni
Courts Young Lions
Rudy Khairullah, Al-Qaasimy Rahman (c) , Emmeric Ong, Nurullah Hussein, M Arumanthan (Ignatius Ang 50′), Sahil Suhaimi, Shamil Sharif, Sufianto Salleh (Tajeli Selamat 80′), Nur Ridho (Faiz Salleh 65′), Firman Hanif, Afiq Noor.
Subs not used: Nicholas Cher, Farhan Rahmat, Zulfairuuz Rudy, Syafiq Iderus.
