Paul Green
info@sleague.com
The result of Tuesday night’s game at Jurong West Stadium hung on incidents at either end of the 90 minutes, but coincidentally at the same end of the field, with home team Gombak United being out of luck both times.
There was nothing particularly wrong with the way the Bulls played at all, but a missed twelfth-minute penalty and a defensive howler six minutes from time that gifted visitors Hougang United the winner illustrated how cruel football can be sometimes.
Not that the Cheetahs were complaining, as beating Gombak 1-0 earned them their first win on the road all season and put them level on points with their hosts in the process.
When Kwon Jin Sung was shoved aside by Azhar Sairudin as the Korean twisted and turned on his approach to the six-yard box, referee Ahmad A’qashah unhesitatingly pointed to the spot.
Gombak had the numbers at the time and looked like penetrating a Hougang defence missing the rested Fumiya Kobayashi, but the penalty that should have confirmed that superiority alarmingly did not.
When Chang Jo Yoon stepped up, he drove the ball hard and low past the left-hand upright, thus allowing the visitors an early reprieve.
Nothing was given by the referee on 24 minutes either for what looked a more deserving punishment after Chang had come down in the box under heavy attention from the Hougang rearguard.
Gombak looked the more likely winners for long periods, but with Fadhil Salim in the Hougang goal in sure touch and the Gombak forwards wasting much of the ball they got to see close to goal, Aide Iskandar’s side hung in there and made the most of the speed of Mamadou Diallo and Jordan Webb when opportunity presented itself.
For Hougang, Diego Gama de Oliveira returned to action after being sidelined for many weeks through a hamstring injury, but he had to leave the field two minutes before the break with a fresh injury on the same leg as before.
The Brazilian thought he might have opened the scoring, in fact, after 15 minutes, when he steered the ball home after a high ball from Diallo, following a nice Webb pass that had seen the Gombak goalkeeper challenge for the ball and fail to claim it.
The referee, however, disallowed the goal for offside.
Argentine midfielder Carlos Delgado was in the thick of the action too, steering just wide on 29 minutes after receiving a long ball from Oliveira.
But then the No.9 limped off and Aide had to reshuffle his remaining players, after sending on midfielder Syaqir Sulaiman as a replacement.
A Park Kang Jin snap-shot three minutes into the second half, following a typically incisive free kick from Ruhaizad Ismail, might have yielded more for Gombak, but Fadhil managed to push the ball around the post.
Gombak had the better chances in the game, none more so than a cross on 59 minutes from Ruhaizad that had Chang converging on the ball at the near post, only to see Fadhil get there a split second before him to snuff out the danger.
Webb should have done better for Hougang twelve minutes from the end after being fed a nice pass by Diallo, and while the angle was a tight one, his eventual shot that could only find the side netting looked a totally wasted opportunity in most respects.
Diallo himself fired just wide a few minutes later from a pass by Azhar, but Webb continued to buzz around the Gombak final third looking for something to settle the game, and he got lucky with 84 minutes played.
Gombak goalkeeper Zakariah Nerani came well away from his goalmouth, looking to play the ball to Jeremy Chiang, but a misunderstanding left the ball too close to Webb for comfort.
Neither Gombak man could save the situation as the ball sat up nicely for the Canadian to plant it firmly in the centre of the net, from a position wide on the left and about 15 yards out.
Bulls coach Darren Stewart made it clear he had no intention of blaming anyone for the goal.
“I think we played well tonight, we were just unlucky really,” remarked the Australian.
“Everyone makes mistakes and it serves no purpose for me to tell anyone that, they know and we all make mistakes, we are only human,” he added with some conviction.
Hougang coach Aide was naturally glad of the three points.
“We showed plenty of character tonight, I thought,” he told sleague.com.
“A goal is a goal, it doesn’t matter how the chance came. And with a couple of tough games coming ahead, this win will be good for our morale.
“It was unfortunate to lose Diego, and we’ll have to see what the doctor says on how serious this latest injury is.”
The positives were there for both sides, really, with Gombak having played credible football, but with nothing to show for it, and Hougang relying on sporadic forays upfield that ultimately provided the victory.
Stewart, nonetheless, felt his side should have got something out of the game.
“I am not sure we deserved to win,” he said, “but I don’t think we deserved to lose tonight.”
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