Bukit Rangers v Central Park

The Sharks knew that this week opponents, Bukit Rangers were no push-over after having met their opponents on 2 previous occasions where they lost 1-6 in first encounter in 2003 while reversing the result 3-1 in their favor in their second meeting this year. However the Sharks were rocked by the news that 3rd choice goalkeeper Isa was forced to miss the game owing to an unfortunate personal affairs at the eleventh hour and leaving the team with no known goalkeepers available for selection. In came Suhaimi who was relishing to take the custodian's role.

Without wanting to disrupt the shape of a winning team, the manager stick to the same eleven which started against RTP last week and were only forced to make one change with the absence of Jeremy who was in Australia. Sharks started nervously and were on the backfoot right at the whistle. The alarm bells were ringing when the Rangers often caught the Sharks defence in total disarray. The were duly punished inside 5 minutes when Kelvin and Sarhan allows Rangers winger to bring the ball right on the byline and his low cross found his unmarked team-mate to slot home an easy opener, leaving Suhaimi rooted to his goal-line. The Sharks manager were clearly disgusted of his defence to present the opponent with an easy opener. Sharks however kept their shape and launched forays of their own upfront but were often let down by poor control of the ball and the Rangers compact defence. The inability of Din and Raymond to elude their respective markers meant that the Sharks were forced to launch their attack in the middle through the trio of Brendan, Azman and Danial. The Sharks were clearly missing their team natural ball winner Jeremy in the middle as the Sharks were made to toil hard in the blazing sun to gain possessions and often left the defence in tremendous pressure as Rangers gain foothold in midfield. As the match wore on however, Suhami's began to put his nightmarish debut in goal with some astute goalkeeping and often came off his line to deny Rangers dangerous attack.

The first change in the Sharks eleven were made on 20 minutes with the substitution of trialist Hazli and Zaidi, coming on for Raymond and Din respectively. Brendan was then moved to the wings to add width to the team and to accommodate the inclusion of Zaidi. The changes took an immediate impact as the Sharks were winning the scraps in the middle through Zaidi while Hazli and Brendan were a constant menace on the wings. Sharks got their first chance on goal when a Hazli's cross found Michael but the challenge from the Rangers defender put him off. Azman and Danial which was quiet for most of the games began to be involved in most of the Sharks attack with the inclusion of Zaidi who was called upon to provide added steel in the middle and leaving the attack minded duo of Azman and Danial free of any defensive liabilities. The closest the Sharks got to bring the game level was through Salihin's free-kick which narrowly missed. However they were not to be denied later when an interplay between Azman and Hazli totally caught the defence in sixes and sevens and the former was unfairly brought down in the penalty box. Azman himself stepped up to take the penalty to draw the game level with 10 minutes of the first half remaining. The fast tiring Brendan and Michael were next to be substituted with another trialist Shahrin and crowd favorites Farhhad. With just a minute left before half-time, Sharks were rewarded with another free-kick at the edge of the penalty box. While Salihin opted for placement in his initial free-kick, he smashed the ball this time right through the wall with a low grounder, eluding everyone but finding Farhhad at the right place and he needed only a slightest of touch to take the Sharks into the lead just before the whistle is blown for half-time.

Rangers began to reshuffle their lineup at the start of the second-half while the Sharks opted for the same personnel which finished the first. Azman and Danial began to dictate the play in the middle for most of the 2nd half and they were immediately rewarded when a one-two from Hazli and Azman enable the latter to break free of the last defender and his low cross found Farhhad at the right place yet again to score his 3rd goal of the season. Trialist Shahrin then got his name on the score-sheet in the 60th minute with a carbon copy of the Sharks third goal. With a comfortable lead, the Sharks began to accommodate every players to have a run-out and with Rangers chasing the game, their defence were often caught from Sharks fast break but with Chris and Chiu missing their chances, the Sharks were unable to increase their lead. Just when Suhaimi thought that he will have an easy outing, he was forced to make an acrobatic save from his initial mistake after a scorcher from Rangers forward. Michael was then presented with an open goal in sight but he fluffed his chance however he makes it up from the initial clearance off a cross from Raymond to plant a perfect header pass the stranded Rangers custodian. A late Rangers goal meant that it was a mere consolation from the opponent to deny the Sharks fourth win on the trot as the boys in yellow ran out 5-2 winners after an early scare.

The Sharks manager hailed the team with the win and said, 'We knew that this game will be a tough encounter but the opponent resolute defending broke down after the Sharks third goal. Despite having only 9 chances in goal, the boys made it count 5 of them.' The team is currently preparing for their maiden tournament in Aug and tough fixtures are arranged to prepare the boys to put a good showing in the tournament.