|
Central Park opened Season 14 with a hard fought 3-1 victory over familiar foes FC Venom at Meridian Junior College after Sharks were awarded a 3-0 walkover win last weekend against Club Futbol de Galaticos. An early goal in each half by Isaac and Heng Li seemed to out the team in a comfortable position but FC Venom fought back immediately after going 2 goals down to narrow the deficit to 1 goal. That seemed to put a spring in the opposition heels as Sharks were pegged back for the duration of the 2nd half until Harold ensured that they collected maximum points after a howler by the oppositon's custodian.
Sharks started with a familiar looking lineup with Betrand the only new face for the game after his impressive debut a fortnight ago. FC Venom were pegged back immediately into their own half after the kickoff as Sharks looked to take advantage of the pace they have on the flanks. It didn't take long for the boys in yellow to expose the opposition's left back as Harold and Li combined for the latter to lay off for Isaac;s first goal after just 6 minutes into the game. That seemed to raise some alarm bells as FC Venom made a substitution shortly afterwards to regroup their backline. Sharks on the other hand continue to be menancing everytime they attack with Harold and Charlson providing a lot of problems on the right.
FC Venom on the other hand seemed out of sorts for the opening 20 minutes with the likes of Graeme, Steven and Betrand defending collectively as a unit in the middle of the park. As the game wore on, the opposition seemed to grow in confidence while Sharks were made to rue a couple of glit-chances they missed in front of goal. The first half ended only a slender 1-0 lead over the opposition.
The second half started with Zhuoneng and Jaleel taking over Charlson and Anuar respectively while Steven made way for Jiayong in the middle of the park. Vuong started the second half despite having an indifferent game in the last 20 minutes of the first half. Right from kickoff, a long hopeful ball by Graeme seemed to find no one. As it looked to bounce safely to the custodian, Li's came out of nowhere and found himself with the easiest of tap-in to nudge the ball above the bewildered custodian to make it 2-0. The goal seemed to awake the opposition as almost immediately, they pulled a goal back off a thumping header leaving Michael stranded in no man's land. Michael's first action of the game were to take the ball out of his net and almost immediately, Central Park were put on the backfoot as FC Venom camped in their half, making forays after forays but the defense marshalled by Vincent stood still and repelled every attack that came their way.
Sharks at this point were unable to create any meaningful opportunities at the other end as the manager made several chances to freshen the team up. Betrand came back at the hour to replace the ineffective Vuong and the former made instant impact as the Sharks manage to regain some control of the game particularly in midfield. Jeremiah came in with 10 minutes remaining for tiring Heng Li. It seemed to almost pay instant dividends as the young striker found himself in a couple of good position. On the other end, FC Venom continue to create dangerous oppportunities as they pushed forward with the best chance coming just inside 6 yards but Sharks were relieved to see it over the bar and into safety.
With the opposition pushing forward, what Sharks needed was one good ball to the front two and that exactly what happened as Isaac almost singlehandedly waltzed past the entire opposition's defense, only to be denied by some last ditch tackle. Nonetheless, Sharks ensured they go back with maximum points with Harold taking advantage of an open net after FC Venom's custodian came out to close down Jeremiah. Sharks 3rd goal settled the contest as the referee blew for full-time shortly afterwards.
The manager commented, 'We gave them too much space in the middle in the second half and we knew that it will only spell trouble when they are given that much space. In any case, we needed the 3 points today and it doesn't matter how we get them.
|
