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Central Park was brought back crashing to earth after a poor display against Team H as they were crushed 0-3 at Tampines Secondary. The two week break did more harm than good as the boys never get going in a game where they squandered chances after chances while Team H took full advantage of their opportunities in front of goal.
Despite the euphoria of Polling Day a day earlier, Sharks could not translate their good run of form on the field. They started with a couple of changes with Vincent and Charlson returning to the team while the likes of Zhuoneng, Betrand, Ian among others were missing from the line-up. Team H got into the groove of the game and got the break-thru as early as the 10th minute when Aaron misjudged the flight of the ball of a free-kick just outside the area. That seemed to put the Sharks out of their slumber with Harold coming close to level the game at the other end, only a last ditch tackle preventing his shot to find the back of the net. That seemed a start of a long afternoon as Sharks created ample opportunities to level the game but somehow fail to trouble the custodian in goal. Team H on the other hand held firm in the middle of the park and almost had a second when an innocuous cross found their man unmarked at the far post; only for him to sky his shot into the scorching sun.
A switch of the ineffective Jason saw Heng Li moving up and the change added a little more thrust in Sharks attack. Harold have yet another opportunity with a nice layoff just outside the area but his feeble attempt didn't manage to even hit the target. Isaac who have been quiet somehow manage to get his foot in the game when he was put thru by Heng Li, only for him to be outmuscle just before he could pull the trigger as Sharks goes into half-time down by a single goal.
The second half saw some changes in personnel with Steven pushed into midfield. Sharks were first off the blocks with Jeffrey finding himself with just the custodian to beat but he was closed down quickly enough. Before Team H could breathe, Brendan who have just replaced Steven found himself with a glorious opportunity to level the game with a gaping open net but somehow, he totally miss the target after Isaac managed to put the custodian under pressure. Harold then were off on one of his pacy runs but yet again, the winger missed terribly with only the custodian to beat.
Just when Sharks could smell the leveler coming close, some comical defending allowed an advantage of a throw-in for the Sharks turned totally into the opposition fever as a series of poor defending allowed Team H to sneak in the elusive second. Nonetheless, Sharks could have narrowed the deficit with Jeffrey yet again being put thru but somehow, his shot was smoothered easily while the likes of Jason, Isaac and Harold came close. The final nail came when captain Vincent missed a routine clearance and allowed the opposition to yet again take advantage of the error as Sharks were left to lick their wounds after the game.
The manager said, 'We didn't take our chances and were punished; simple as that. They had 3 and took all of it. Nonetheless, to be fair, we were very poor today. Passes were just non-existent and when we do have possession; we gave it back to them easily. That's football; though the opposition didn't need to go down like they were shot at every single shove; that's just poor sportsmanship which by far; they are better than that.
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