Central Park

1

vs

Titans

1

Central Park bad streak in Cup games continues as they only managed to scrape a 1-1 draw against Titans, in a game where they need nothing less than a victory. The result meant that Sharks bade goodbye in the first round of the EFL Cup with a deflected goal by Girish were nothing more than just mere consolation.

The game were almost a non-event when the game official inspected and found that the field was unplayable due to non-existent of line markings. Nonetheless, when it was finally resolved, Sharks knew that with almost half its team missing especially in attack and midfield, it was important for them not to concede at the back. However, the game saw the return of Sharks all-time record goalscorer Isaac Mong for the game and the new league season. The game kicked off with Sharks finding it hard to find their feet in the heavy ground while the opposition were comfortable stroking and controlling the midfield. Sharks defense were constantly put under pressure for the opening exchanges with Zhuoneng particularly having a hard time to mark his man on the left. Girish who started the game after a 2 week layoff were clearly not having the best of games as he found himself constantly being marked closely. Upfront, Isaac were in his usual old self harrassing his men while Jason were trying his best to link up play with his strike partner. Just 15mins into the game, Sharks conceded a freekick just outside the box on the right. The resulting freekick found their man in the box leaving Michael with no chance as Titans took the lead. Sharks however were still finding it hard to string a couple of passes but the closest they came was when Isaac latched onto a ball from Graeme and the former forced a save from Titan's custodian. That seemed to the one of the two highlights of the scrappy first half.

Second half kicked off with Titans confidently holding more possession and they almost increased their lead when Charlson miskicked a clearance and forced Michael in goal to backtrack to tip the ball over the bar. The battle on the left began to intensifies midway in the second half as Zhuoneng got involved with his marker. In his frustration being closely watched by Sharks left-back, the winger kicked the ball away and was booked for dissent. As time ticks by, it looked that Sharks unbeaten run were coming to an end but Girish struck a shot just outside the box, deflected one of the defender and wrong-footing the custodian to level the game. The goal gave Sharks renewed hope to get the win and that seemed to put the much needed impetus as Sharks began to attack in numbers. Jimmy and Isaac both had opportunities to get the winner but they were always stopped single-handedly by the impressive Titans custodian. As the minutes ticked by, the game looked to be boiled over with some over-zealous tackles from both teams. Nonetheless, the score stood and Sharks went out of the Cup.

The manager commented, 'We didn't play well today and we looked severely lacking any ideas upfront. Nonetheless, the team have a 2 weeks rest before they resumed league action in December.