Salim unhappy despite victory over Tanjong Pagar

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Ko Po Hui
info@sleague.com

Wrapping up all three points was not enough to satisfy Balestier Khalsa coach Salim Moin, even as he watched his charges get to grips with difficult weather and ground conditions at Clementi Stadium before sinking Tanjong Pagar United 1-0 on Tuesday evening.

Paul Cunningham netted the only goal of the game midway through the second half, and the fact it was a centreback and not one of the forwards who had scored irked the 49-year-old.

“I am disappointed with my strikers’ performance in the final third while having possession, especially in the first half.” bemoaned the Tigers coach.

“It is something I don’t really understand. I don’t understand why, despite all the work done during training sessions, my players don’t seem to get thing right in areas like positioning.

“I’m daring to even say they are lagging in areas like creativity, and the lack of ‘ball sense’ in them is not good.”

Harsh, candid words they may be from the no-nonsense coach, but the waterlogged Clementi surface had not made things easily for both sides.

A heavy downpour prior to the game had those at the ground wondering if the match would suffer the same outcome as the weekend’s ill-fated Courts Young Lions-Woodlands Wellington match, which ended up being postponed twice due to inclement weather.

Discussions between match officials and representatives from both clubs prompted the match to proceed 15 minutes after the original kickoff time, and the players took the unusual step of warming up among the spectators in the main terrace.

It did not take a genius to work out that fluid passing would have been impossible under such conditions, with puddles of water dotted around the playing surface, making the ball movement frustratingly unpredictable.

The 22 players on the pitch thus had to fall back on the stereotypical English-style ‘kick-and-rush’ football to get anything going, although the rain gradually subsided as the match wore on, much to the relief of the 799 fans who sat through the match.

They might not have been able to see much attractive football, but Salim reckoned there was a need for both teams to adapt their tactics.

“Given the soggy condition of the pitch, we need to send the ball quickly into the box, which I thought Kim (Young Kwang), who is strong in the air, should have done a better job with in the first half,” he commented.

That said, the Tigers coach admitted the presence of suspended Brazilian striker Vitor Borges would have made a difference.

“Vitor is someone who is centrally positioned, and someone with a strong physique, so I thought today we missed his services up there,” he said.

To be fair to 23-year-old Kim, he often found himself heavily surrounded by opposing minders when in the Jaguars’ box, and the balls that came his way often asked much of him.

As such, he could not pose any visible threat in front of Tanjong Pagar’s goal.

With Kim stifled and no one else looking like a credible striker for either side, it was no surprise most of the chances on goal were taken from well outside the box, as players hoped the greasy surfaces of both the pitch and ball would trouble the goalkeepers enough to result in a goal.

But most of these efforts were admirably dealt with, such as Jaguars forward Shamil Sharif’s attempt eight minutes before the half-time break that Joey Sim smothered easily.

Tanjong Pagar coach Terry Pathmanathan was unimpressed with his charges’ shooting as well, as he looked back on yet another defeat at the hands of a mid-table club after falling 0-2 to Geylang United last week.

“It is not that we lost to a superior team, we had our chances actually,” he pointed out.

“But the decision making was so bad that one of my players took his chance from far, when he had a chance to go and push nearer before taking his shot.

“I’m very disappointed, as all the while we thought we should have won the game. And the goal we conceded, it’s something unnecessary from that situation.”

Pathmanathan was referring to the winner scored by Cunningham on 65 minutes, coming off a free kick conceded by defender Delwinder Singh for a foul on Ridhwan Osman on the edge of the penalty area.

It was just the type of foul that, according to the Tanjong Pagar coach, his players had been repeatedly warned not to give away, especially in light of the conditions.

“One silly free kick we gave away, and we got punished,” said the 55-year-old.

“It is something I told the team before the game, even at half-time. I told them ‘don’t give away free kicks, don’t give away corners’ as slippery pitches like this will see teams capitalise on set-pieces.”

Despite the disappointment of seeing that match-deciding error, Pathmanathan ended his notes with some fatherly encouragement as he exhorted the Jaguars to keep up their steady improvement since coming into the league in January.

“Yes, the team had shown improvement,” he said.

“It’s something which they had worked very hard for during training, but they must show it during a game to match the competition (they are playing in).”