Home United thrash SAFFC in 7-goal thriller to close in on leaders Etoile in S.League football

By REDintern Hariharan Rajandeeran

Jalan Besar Stadium, Friday, July 16, 2010 — With national team midfielder Shahril Ishak in piping hot form, Home United steamrolled reigning champions Singapore Armed Forces FC (SAFFC) 5-2 in the Uniform Derby clash in the S.League tonight. The Home United skipper single-handedly dismantled the Warriors as he contributed to all five goals with a hat-trick and two assists.

The match was clearly dominated by Home United, who looked more confident and comfortable on the ball as they dominated possession right from the kick-off.

The opening goal came in the 9th minute. Home United won a corner after clever interplay between Korean midfielder Jun Woo Keun and Shahdan Sulaiman. Shahril Ishak converted the corner taken by Chun Jae Woon, rising above a sea of blue to head the ball past the keeper from just three yards out.

Home United continued to boss the ball around the park, leaving SAFFC to resort to long range passes.

Controversy struck in the 28th minute when SAFFC were awarded a penalty after centre back Choi Chul Woo had apparently handled the ball in the box to block a shot on target from Indra Sahdan. Chul Woo escaped with just a yellow card. Indra stepped up from the spot but the former Home United striker fired the ball wide of the left-hand post.

Frustration could be sensed from the Warriors as they tried their luck with wild shots from range at goal.

Lightning struck twice in the 40th minute as Shahril Ishak latched on to a pass, beating the offside trap. One-on-one with the keeper, Shahril went around the keeper and looked up to see two defenders running back. He cut back to the left, practically toying with the SAFFC defence before putting the ball into the net.

Home United continued the rout as Jun Woo Keun scored a minute after the second half kicked off. Shahril Ishak whipped the ball across goal from the right, as Jun did well to stoop and head the ball past the keeper.

SAFFC refused to sit back and were rewarded with a goal in the 53rd minute. John Wilkinson brought down a well-spotted pass by Noh Rahman, after making a late run into the box. With only Lionel Lewis to beat, Wilkinson maintained composure and slotted the ball past the keeper to make the score to 1-3.

However Shahril Ishak completed his hat-trick in the 63rd minute after starting the move with a clever one-two with Shi Jiayi. He dragged the ball back to Shi Jiayi who chipped the ball back to him as he made a forward run. Collecting the ball, he then dashed into the box and squeezed the ball past the keeper at his near post.

Just as the Protectors look to be running away with the game, SAFFC were provided with a ray of hope just two minutes later as they were awarded a second penalty after Valery Hiek made a late tackle on Park Tae Won in the box. Park took the penalty himself and smashed the ball into the bottom right corner, just beating Lionel Lewis.

SAFFC started stringing together a series of passes and picked up momentum as they went in search of a third goal. The Warriors came close to getting a third in the 89th minute, when Park’s header came off the crossbar.

In the end, Shahdan Sulaiman put the icing on Home United’s cake as he secured the Protector’s fifth and final goal after he was unselfishly gifted the ball by his skipper in the 93rd minute.

Home United now leapfrog Tampines FC to reside in second place for the moment in the S.League table, just three points behind leaders Etoile FC. Meanwhile SAFFC continue their poor run of form in a disappointing season, lying in fourth spot, a massive 12 points behind Etoile.

Scorers
SAFFC 2
John Wilkinson 53′
Park Tae Won 65′

Home United 5
Shahril Ishak 9′, 40′, 63′
Jun Woo Keun 46′
Shahdan Sulaiman 90′ + 3