Central Park

vs

Interstar

3

2

Sharks buried the nightmarish outing against Interstar in the first meeting as they notched a nervy 3-2 win over Interstar over at Cantonment. It was largely a non-affair in the first half as Sharks took a 3-1 lead at halftime but things got heated up in the second half which left both teams finishing with 9 man each as Budihati and Zakie saw red in an incident which left much to be desired.

The match kicked off with the boys in yellow defending stoutly against their much fancied opposition but with no real break-thru. Sharks on the other hand deployed Isaac as the lone striker upfront and one of his earlier runs causes havoc in the oppostion backline which allow Azman to take control of a loose ball and he found the net with the opposition custodian nowhere to be found. The opener stunt the opposition as they made forays upfront but the way the Sharks set up their stall in the game, there were never in any danger with Yi Quan in goal. Just as Interstar were gaining foothold in the game, Isaac made a mockery of their sweeper and his pressure paid off when he took advantage of a poor backpass, rounded off the stranded custodian for Sharks second of the game. Interstar though pulled a goal back but 10 minutes later, Isaac restored Sharks two goal cushion. Second half started with Sharks showing more intent and were unlucky not to increase the lead with chances that fell to the likes of Isaac and Kit, with Muzzammil his the crossbar with one of his piledriver. But things turned for the worse after fifteen minutes into the second-half as Zakie and Budihati got themselves sent off after the former retaliated a kick from the opposition winger which almost ensued into a free-for-all. Nonethless common sense prevailed as the referee took control and sent 2 players off from the Sharks and one from Interstar. With Sharks playing with 9 men for the remainder of the game, Interstar took advantange of the disarray at the back as they notched their second to bring the score to 3-2 to setup a nervy remaining 20 minutes. But just as Interstar was taking the match by the scruff of their neck, they restored parity after one of their players were given his marching orders for a second bookable offence as Sharks held on for the win.

The manager commented, 'It was no doubt a great result but more importantly was the fracas that ensued. It's unbelievable that the referee didn't even punished the player from the opposition who was surely the instigator of the whole thing. However that being said, he was right to have sent off both Sharks players as retaliation definitely warranted a sending off.'