A. Ong
info@sleague.com
Sometimes, all it takes is the half-time team talk.
Balestier Khalsa switched on the afterburners after a dour first half had ended scoreless, and two quickfire goals midway through the second half secured them all three points against a toothless-looking Woodlands Wellington.
Strike duo Kim Young Kwang and Vitor Borges both notched up goals within minutes of each other to clinch their first victory at Toa Payoh Stadium this season and push Balestier to seventh place in the S.League standings.
Arguably, none was as pleased at the home win as Tigers head coach Salim Moin.
“The spirit of the boys was fantastic. They were very focused, and you could see the hunger they had to win the game,” said Salim.
“At half-time, all I told them was the corrections they needed to make, and just to go for it! In the second half, my players followed the instructions very well, working as a unit and scoring those goals,” explained the 49-year-old about his side’s improvement in the second half.
The winners were always going to be the team that would manage to lift their game after a largely eventless first half, which was summed up by Goh Swee Swee’s poorly-struck free kick over the bar, after Leonardo Alexio da Costa had been fouled on the edge of the area on 13 minutes.
That was the first half in a nutshell – stoppages in the game, coupled with a general lack of quality shown in front of goal.
The closest anyone came to scoring in the opening 45 minutes was K. Vikraman’s header ten minutes before the break, but the Balestier winger could only nod a looping effort past the far post from Ridhwan Osman’s fine cross.
The second half was a wholly different affair, and within a few minutes da Costa and Kim had come close with headed efforts at opposite ends.
The crowd was also treated to Armanizam Dolah’s ambitious effort from inside the centre circle, though Woodlands goalkeeper Ang Bang Heng got back in time to make a comfortable save.
Ang was to make an even better stop on the hour mark, though it will remain a mystery how much he actually knew about it.
A quick free kick released Ridhwan down the right flank, and his pinpoint cross gave Kim a pointblank chance, but the Korean’s header cannoned off Ang to the home crowd’s amazement.
Kim was to be denied on 68 minutes again, seeing his powerful header tipped over by Ang, after Armanizam had swung over a corner from the right.
The Rams still did not heed the warning posed by Kim’s aerial prowess, and they were to be punished dearly from the subsequent corner. A carbon copy if ever there was one, as Kim nodded home from another Armanizam delivery, despite the best efforts of Ang to keep it from crossing the line.
Six minutes later, the points were in the bag for the Tigers. A quick counterattack found Borges with the ball on the edge of the area, after good approach play from Vikraman.
The Brazilian shifted the ball to his right foot and blasted an unstoppable shot past the Woodlands goalkeeper into the top corner, to the delight of the home fans.
Woodlands, who had scored in their last three games after drawing a blank in their first five games of the season, would only come close to breaching the Balestier goal on the stroke of full time.
Shahri Musa was fastest to react after an Adrian Butters shot had been charged down, but the Woodlands midfielder saw his shot deflected over from less than two yards out.
Had that chance been converted it might have been just a consolation, though Rams coach R. Balasubramaniam felt the match had been more even than the final scoreline suggested.
“There was nothing much between the teams, which were equally strong. I think 0-0 would have been a good result for both teams,” remarked the former Balestier staff coach.
It was another blank drawn by the Woodlands frontline, though Balasubramaniam had praise for his towering Brazilian attacker.
“I thought Leo did well, but as expected he was marked very tightly by Balestier. He did his best, especially when there were some tackles on him that weren’t spotted by the ref,” pointed out the 37-year-old.
“But we need to learn to defend better, especially on set-pieces. Also, we have to keep possession for as long as we can, so these are the things we need to work on.”
Those lessons will have to be learnt awfully quickly, if Woodlands are to escape what is shaping up to be a basement battle between themselves and bottom club Tanjong Pagar United.
Balestier, on the other hand, can take heart from their two wins on the trot. But tougher times lie ahead, with upcoming games against last season’s top trio of Tampines Rovers, Home United, and Etoile FC.
Still, Salim is unfazed by the task that lies ahead of his team.
“We always set a style of play, and we don’t change it if it works. If we can have tighter defending and keep on pressing the opponents, then we can carry out the same plan against Tampines as we have done today.”
By the evidence shown here, Balestier are certainly a force to be reckoned with on their day, and the leading teams in the league would do very well to heed that warning.
info@sleague.com
Sometimes, all it takes is the half-time team talk.
Balestier Khalsa switched on the afterburners after a dour first half had ended scoreless, and two quickfire goals midway through the second half secured them all three points against a toothless-looking Woodlands Wellington.
Strike duo Kim Young Kwang and Vitor Borges both notched up goals within minutes of each other to clinch their first victory at Toa Payoh Stadium this season and push Balestier to seventh place in the S.League standings.
Arguably, none was as pleased at the home win as Tigers head coach Salim Moin.
“The spirit of the boys was fantastic. They were very focused, and you could see the hunger they had to win the game,” said Salim.
“At half-time, all I told them was the corrections they needed to make, and just to go for it! In the second half, my players followed the instructions very well, working as a unit and scoring those goals,” explained the 49-year-old about his side’s improvement in the second half.
The winners were always going to be the team that would manage to lift their game after a largely eventless first half, which was summed up by Goh Swee Swee’s poorly-struck free kick over the bar, after Leonardo Alexio da Costa had been fouled on the edge of the area on 13 minutes.
That was the first half in a nutshell – stoppages in the game, coupled with a general lack of quality shown in front of goal.
The closest anyone came to scoring in the opening 45 minutes was K. Vikraman’s header ten minutes before the break, but the Balestier winger could only nod a looping effort past the far post from Ridhwan Osman’s fine cross.
The second half was a wholly different affair, and within a few minutes da Costa and Kim had come close with headed efforts at opposite ends.
The crowd was also treated to Armanizam Dolah’s ambitious effort from inside the centre circle, though Woodlands goalkeeper Ang Bang Heng got back in time to make a comfortable save.
Ang was to make an even better stop on the hour mark, though it will remain a mystery how much he actually knew about it.
A quick free kick released Ridhwan down the right flank, and his pinpoint cross gave Kim a pointblank chance, but the Korean’s header cannoned off Ang to the home crowd’s amazement.
Kim was to be denied on 68 minutes again, seeing his powerful header tipped over by Ang, after Armanizam had swung over a corner from the right.
The Rams still did not heed the warning posed by Kim’s aerial prowess, and they were to be punished dearly from the subsequent corner. A carbon copy if ever there was one, as Kim nodded home from another Armanizam delivery, despite the best efforts of Ang to keep it from crossing the line.
Six minutes later, the points were in the bag for the Tigers. A quick counterattack found Borges with the ball on the edge of the area, after good approach play from Vikraman.
The Brazilian shifted the ball to his right foot and blasted an unstoppable shot past the Woodlands goalkeeper into the top corner, to the delight of the home fans.
Woodlands, who had scored in their last three games after drawing a blank in their first five games of the season, would only come close to breaching the Balestier goal on the stroke of full time.
Shahri Musa was fastest to react after an Adrian Butters shot had been charged down, but the Woodlands midfielder saw his shot deflected over from less than two yards out.
Had that chance been converted it might have been just a consolation, though Rams coach R. Balasubramaniam felt the match had been more even than the final scoreline suggested.
“There was nothing much between the teams, which were equally strong. I think 0-0 would have been a good result for both teams,” remarked the former Balestier staff coach.
It was another blank drawn by the Woodlands frontline, though Balasubramaniam had praise for his towering Brazilian attacker.
“I thought Leo did well, but as expected he was marked very tightly by Balestier. He did his best, especially when there were some tackles on him that weren’t spotted by the ref,” pointed out the 37-year-old.
“But we need to learn to defend better, especially on set-pieces. Also, we have to keep possession for as long as we can, so these are the things we need to work on.”
Those lessons will have to be learnt awfully quickly, if Woodlands are to escape what is shaping up to be a basement battle between themselves and bottom club Tanjong Pagar United.
Balestier, on the other hand, can take heart from their two wins on the trot. But tougher times lie ahead, with upcoming games against last season’s top trio of Tampines Rovers, Home United, and Etoile FC.
Still, Salim is unfazed by the task that lies ahead of his team.
“We always set a style of play, and we don’t change it if it works. If we can have tighter defending and keep on pressing the opponents, then we can carry out the same plan against Tampines as we have done today.”
By the evidence shown here, Balestier are certainly a force to be reckoned with on their day, and the leading teams in the league would do very well to heed that warning.
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