Central Park

3

vs

Benedetto United

1

Central Park kicked off Season 10 with a comfortable 3-1 win over Benedetto United at Clementi Stadium on Sunday courtesy of goals from Muzzammil who opened his account after a mad scramble when Jensen's corner caused confusion among the oppostion defense. Heng Li notched his team's second off a pass from Murugesan to go into half-time with a 2 goal cushion. Benedetto though pulled one back midway into the second-half but Na'eem ensured that his team recovered back their two goal cushion when he pressured his marker as he slotted home his team's third to ensure the win.

The team welcome the new season with a promotion to Division 5 after finishing second in Season 9 and they ensured that it was back to business in the season opener against the opposition who have finished top in Division 8. Sharks however were put on the backfoot in the opening exchanges where Benedetto showed their intention early in the game. It wasn't until the 15th minute when the boys in yellow created any opportunities in front of goal when Na'eem sidefooted his marker but could only see his shot wide while Jensen almost put his inswinging corner bundled into the opposition net. Nonetheless, there was no denying when his corner yet again causes panic in the penalty area with Brendan's header being palmed away. The melee that ensued however found Muzzammil who drove his shot into the sea of legs for the opener in the 26th minute. That put a sting in Sharks tail as they began to confidently pass the ball around with Jensen and Muzzammil pulling the strings in midfield. The duo combined shortly afterwards when the latter struck a sweet freekick just outside the area but it was palmed away to safety. Just before half-time, a quick break by Murugesan found Heng Li with a floater just outside the area. The quick feet forward made no mistake when he found the custodian off his line and he finished with an exquiste chip off the far post as the Sharks go into the break with a comfortable 2-0 lead.

The second half started as much as it ended with Sharks controlling the pattern of play. At the backline, Charlson was marshalling his defense well but he had no answer when a defensive lapse allowed the opposition to pull a goal back with 20 minutes left of the game. Shortly after the restart, Na'eem who was a constant thorn upfront throughout the game capped his performance when he pressured his marker into a mistake and as he stole the ball off the feet of the defender, he finished coolly against the onrushing custodian who had no chance.

The manager commented, 'The team started slowly in the first few minutes and we could have been punished for the sluggish start. Nonetheless we took our chance and they didn't.