Central Park

11

vs

ANZA Lions

1

A month's break could make or break a team. Central Park came into the match having been away from competitive football for a month as they faced off ANZA Lions in a Champions Cup tie at Temasek Secondary. With the league tie next week at the back of the manager's mind, the game was perfect to ensure that his charges were up for yet another competitve season in Division 2. At the final whistle, the only worry for the manager was how he will be lining up his team after a thumping 11-1 victory with trialist Betrand grabbing a hat-trick while the likes of Harold, Graeme and Heng Li had two goals each to their name with Jiayong and Isaac completing the rout. ANZA Lions got a consolation late in the game after a thumping victory as the Sharks proceeded to the next stage with Protege ESPZEN awaiting them in the next round.

Sharks kept to their trusted lineup at the start of the game with only trialist Vuong taking his place on the left of midfield and they started the game strongly with Isaac close to open his accounts right from the kickoff. Right after that, a series of corners put the opposition on the backfoot before Graeme was on hand to finish from close range in a sea of legs after just 2 minutes. The game was even after that though Sharks looked to gain strength as the minutes ticked by. ANZA on the other hand were put of the backfoot with the likes of Graeme and Steven commanding the middle of the park at ease. Harold then made it 2-0 in the 23rd minute after ANZA Lions failed to clear their lines in the area. Three minutes later, Graeme added his second. This time round climbing highest in yet another fruitful corner, this time round by trialist Vuong. Three more goals by Heng Li, Isaac and Harold ensured that the second-half was a mere formality for the team to go into the next stage.

Seven changes were made at the break with another trialist Betrand taking his place replacing Vuong on the left. The former didn't need to take long to introduce himself to the team as he finished off a neat move in the area to make it 7-0. He found himself in a similar position 9 minutes later to grab his second of the game. At this point, ANZA were pushing man forward to get a consolation, leaving more gaps at the back. Jiayong capped his return after a 3 month break with a thumping drive outside the area before Betrand completed his hat-trick to cap a memorable debut. Heng Li nailed the final goal before ANZA grabbed their consolation goal with a thumping free-kick.

The manager commented, 'We looked into this game more as a warm-up before the game kick-off and we expected a tough game. The results were secondary as we saw a couple of the players looking real fired up for today. Hopefully we can bring this form to the league and end this year in a comfortable position.