Baclays Capital

1

vs

Central Park

4

Central slowly prodded up the league standings as they continued their fine rein of form in front of goal with a 4-1 victory over Barclays Capital, their first win after 3 meetings with the opposition. A goal against the run of play from Heng Li in the first half gave his team a slender 1-0 lead at half-time. The dimunitive forward added another 2 to complete his hat-trick in the second half while an own goal provided the Sharks a comfortable 3 points.

There were 3 changes made to the starting lineup with the omission of Naoki, Jeremy Lee and Murugesan that kicked the game off and Sharks were immediately put on the backfoot as Barclays laid a siege in the opening minutes. It seemed like a long afternoon for the defense who had to deal with the early pressure from the opposition but against the run of play, Sharks managed conjure up their first attack of the game. Heng Li managed to sneak behind his marker and took full advantage of the slip by Barclay's defense to give his team the lead after just 6 minutes, leaving Barclays bewildered. The goal somewhat dented the confidence in the opposition pattern of play as Sharks came to grip especially in midfield. Nonetheless, Barclays were always dangerous when they attack and it put the Sharks under a lot of pressure during the duration of the first half. The quartet of Vincent, Charlson, Jaleel and Yi Quan however were always quick to nullify the attacks and when the opposition did manage to put a shot on goal, Michael came up on top with a tremendous save which he tipped just above the crossbar to preserve his team's slender lead. Sharks on the other hand were relying more on their quick breakaway and had ample opportunities to increase the lead but hesistation on the likes of Brendan, Jason and Aaron meant that Sharks were only a goal up. Heng Li came closest to double his tally when his diagonal run towards goal were only denied by the post, with Barclays custodian beaten on a one-on-one situation. Half-time came and Sharks were only up by 1 goal.

The second half started the best way possible for Sharks as they killed off any hopes of a quick leveler from the opposition. Mohan broke free on the right after some timely pass by Graeme in the middle. The former raced into goal but his square ball into the box was swept in by the onrushing defender. 2-0 and it looked a little more confortable for the team till shortly afterwards, captain Vincent brought his marker down in the box but the resulting penalty was well-saved by Michael. As the game swung from one end to the other, both teams created ample chance in front of goal. With 15 minutes left of the game, Barclays were awarded with yet another penalty after Kelvin brought the same man down in the box. This time round, he made no mistake from the spot to send Michael the wrong way. The goal placed added impetus to Barclays as Sharks were on the backfoot until Heng Li gave his team a breather after finishing clinically. The forward ensured that the game ended comfortably for his team by completin his hat-trick 5 minutes later after Aaron flicked the ball into his direction. He could have put his name in the scoresheet but his goal was ruled out for offside.

The manager commented, 'The first two goals came at a very crucial stage of the game and that was important against the ever dangerous Barclays team. The hat-trick from Heng Li was a long time coming but he was particularly sharp in front of goal today.'