Elwyn Lee
info@sleague.com
It was adrenaline-pumping stuff at Hougang Stadium on Tuesday evening as a scintillating game of football between Hougang United and Balestier Khalsa unfolded before vociferous fans of both sides.
Football ended up the winner, the score between the battling cats tying at 2-2 in the end.
Hougang looked home and dry after a fifth-minute advantage earned by Duncan David Elias was doubled just after the break by a Carlos Delgado strike.
But the Cheetahs’ initial thrust could only be sustained for three quarters of the game, and the Tigers roared back into contention with two goals of their own in the final 20 minutes.
Kim Young Kwang’s punishing brace on 77 and 83 minutes eventually forced a draw between the two sides, a result that would have delighted Salim Moin but left Aide Iskandar deflated, having turned 36 a day earlier.
“It was two points lost, instead of two gained,” lamented the Cheetahs coach as he looked back at the goals.
“Their first came out of nowhere… caught us (out). We started well in the first 20 minutes (of the second half), but in the last 20 we gave away too much space.”
Things started promisingly enough, though, after Hougang had claimed the early advantage through Elias.
His left-footed free kick, taken from 20 yards out, soared above a sea of bodies and ended in the top right corner of the Tigers’ goal. That set the tempo for the Cheetahs as they confidently went on the prowl, harassing a Balestier backline that looked hapless at times.
The visitors came closest to scoring in the first half when Nurhilmi Jasni came down from the right into the Cheetahs’ six-yard box, but the midfielder’s attempt to find an unmarked Vitor Borges at the other end was met by a timely clearance in the middle of the box for Hougang.
Despite a torrent of pressure on their goal, Balestier uncannily managed to parry away the efforts raining down onto their goal.
Goalkeeper Joey Sim was kept busy, aided by his defenders, who were harried ever so often.
It could have been more goals for the rampaging Hougang cats, but 1-0 seemed enough going into the break.
Only a couple of minutes into the second half, it became 2-0 when Delgado scored his third S.League goal soon after the teams returned to field. The Argentine was inside the Tigers’ box when the mercurial Jordan Webb crossed from the left for him to connect.
The target-man headed forcefully, only to see the ball come off Sim’s left post and roll menacingly close along the Balestier goal-line. With Webb coming in with a view to finishing the job, a melee ensued as Tigers and Cheetahs pushed and shoved.
But Delgado got the better of all others as he pounced near the penalty mark and struck home.
Mamadou Diallo then came close to making the game almost unsalvageable for the Tigers when, on 56 minutes, he chewed up half the field with a run from the middle into the box.
A double-fisted clearance from Sim denied the Guinean his goal, a moment that was to prove crucial as the game unfolded.
The Tigers were on the upswing, and their forward march came courtesy of defender Paul Cunningham being tasked with a more advanced role by his coach Salim.
With strikers Borges and Kim already on the field, the Tigers coach then brought on a third orthodox forward in the form of Andrew Tan on 71 minutes in place of defensive midfielder K. Sathiaraj.
The dividends were reaped six minutes later.
A long ball from the middle was delivered to Kim, who was preying dangerously near the edge of the Hougang box. Left unmarked and carefully staying onside, Kim deftly latched on and pushed into the box before neatly sidefooting his shot past Cheetahs custodian Fadhil Salim.
A remarkable comeback was on the cards, and it duly happened with another six minutes gone.
Borges played provider this time as he sent in the ball from the right. Using all of his 1.9m frame, the Korean towered above his marker and, with a downward header, placed the ball expertly into the left corner beyond Fadhil’s reach once again.
So 2-2 it was, and that was how it stayed in the remaining minutes.
Even if it did turn out to be an even contest, the benefit of great end-to-end, tooth-and-nail battles was worth savouring for both sides.
Certainly Salim felt quite happy with his charges as he spoke to sleague.com afterwards.
“We showed character to make a comeback in the second half,” said the silver-haired man.
“I pushed Paul further upfield to partner Kim. It was our same style of play, offensive – and we had the character.
“I spoke to the team about that during the break, I told them to go forward and get the point, or even a win if possible.”
The win did not come, but the point was enough for Balestier to hold their ground at seventh in the league table.
Hougang move up a spot from ninth to eighth ahead of Geylang United, who face Albirex Niigata (Singapore) 24 hours later.
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