Competition: Home United FC vs Singapore Armed Forces FC
Date & Time: 19 May 2005 7:30:00 PM
Venue: Bishan
In-form uniform teams collide
A fiery clash awaits us at the Bishan Stadium, as the S.LeagueÂ’s two uniform teams meet for the second time this season, with SAFFC edging the last encounter by a solitary goal.
This should be some clash, as the two teams have been running into form recently, as they garner points in the race for the league title.
Home United have won 4 out of their last 5 games, scoring 13 and conceding just 3 in the process. On the other hand, SAFFC have gone unbeaten since losing to champions Tampines in the first game of the season, and topped it all by taking revenge on Tampines last week, and overtaking the Stags to be in pole position at this point in the season.
Indeed, the Warriors have blossomed under the tutelage of coach Kim Poulsen, and now look like one of the firm favourites to wrestle the title from Tampines this season.
Poulsen will once more look towards his sideÂ’s attacking prowess to get the points in this game. Thai midfielder Therdsak Chaiman was inspirational in his sideÂ’s win over Tampines last week, and Home will let him run free at their own peril.
Aleksandar Duric has also done well in his first season at the club, but he has to pay tribute to the excellent service he has gotten down the flanks. Wingers Ali Imran Lomri and Noor Ali have been two big reasons why the Warriors have been so impressive this season, and one feels the key to stopping the Warriors may be to stifle the play down the wings from these two players.
The Warriors will be missing the presence of Vladan Seric, as the defender serves a one match suspension due to successive bookings. Still, the Warriors should have enough in reserve to make up for his absence.
Home will be quietly confident that they can get the points in the bag, as they have run into a spot of good form, after a slow start to the season by their standards. Some may point to the distraction of the AFC Cup, but the fact remains that Home, touted as one of the title contenders, are lying in fifth spot, seven points behind leaders SAFFC.
Peres De Oliveira will be one player especially eager to score on the night, as a solitary goal would make him the fifth player to notch up a century of goals in the S.League. This is some achievement, for a player deployed mostly as a midfielder.
He would then join fellow teammates Egmar Goncalves and Indra Sahdan in the ‘100’ club, which is an insight into the potential firepower Home United have to unleash.
Notably, Indra took his tally to eight for the season with his brace against Geylang last week, and is now joint top scorer. IndraÂ’s goalscoring ability has never been doubted, and he will need to be at his most clinical to break down the WarriorsÂ’ defence.
So expect a vintage display of attacking ability come Thursday night. SAFFC have been unbeatable since the start of the season, and with Kim Poulsen’s ‘one match at a time’ policy, they certainly look very capable of returning the S.League trophy to the Choa Chu Kang Stadium.
Armed with home advantage and their recent form, it may very well be Home that stands the best chance of derailing the Warriors march towards the title.