Central Park

4

vs

Flaming Reds

3

After a 2 week hiatus from league action, Sharks faced off Flaming Reds at Turf City on Sunday. With 5 games left in the season, the team knew that they need to collect as much points as possible in order to at least qualify for a playoff spot. Flaming Reds on the other hand looked to improve on their dismal season languishing at the bottom of the table.

The boys in yellow started the brighter of the two sides with Murugesan, Aaron, Heng Li and Girish proving to be a thorn in their defense with their pace unfront. Though the opposition found it hard to contain the quartet, Sharks finishing left much to be desired as they rue a couple of opportunities in the opening exchanges to take an early lead. Nonetheless, the constant pressure upfront meant that it wasn't long that Sharks put their foot infront when Graeme found Heng Li free in the D, the forward didn't took much time to look as he unleashed a tame shot just outside the box. Flaming Reds custodian however made a hash of the catch as he punched the ball into the net, an uncanny goal but something the team duly deserved with the start they provided. However, that goal seemed to put the team on the downturn as Flaming Reds came out of their shell to muster the challenge when they took full advantage of some slacking defending off a corner to level the game midway in the first half. As much as the Sharks tried to take the lead before half-time, some poor finishing and touches meant that both teams go into half-time all square.

The second half was a much even affair as both teams started strongly. Despite their position in the table, the opposition showed that they could play some decent football as long as they comes out of their defensive mentality. That somehow took Sharks by surprise when the opposition took the lead early in the second-half. Alarms bells starting ringing but Yi Quan, turning out for the first time in his new regimental hairstyle put the team back in the game with a floater which caught the custodian by surprise. 2-2 was the score and while Sharks were looking to take the lead, Flaming Reds yet again put Sharks to the sword when they took the lead yet again for the 2nd time in the game. As time ticks by, Sharks had to sacrifice Jaleel for an additional striker to get the goals and shortly afterwards, Brendan was on hand to level the game with a header. With time running out, it seemed that it was one of those days when Sharks kept missing chances after chances and when Johan failed to score after the custodian made a fingertip save to put out his opportunity, the writings was probably on the wall. However, Murugesan made amends for his glut of chances in the first half when he finally found the back of the net after being put thru by Johan as Sharks collected a crucial 3 points going into the run-in with 4 games left.

The manager commented, 'We just failed to play our normal game today and it's clear that some of our players were not as fit as they should be especially in the first half. Though it wasn't a classic, what matters was the 3 points at the final whistle as we look to improve our game.'