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It was lucky 13 for Sharks as they bounced back from a demoralising defeat last Wednesday in Match 13 as goals in each half from Jeremy and Mustaffa sealed the win at Farrer Park on Saturday. The win propelled the boys in yellow to 1st place for at least 24hours before the match against Elias Park and Hougang SC which will take place at the same venue on Sunday.
Jalan Damai had to start the game with nine men for 10mins of the game but Sharks were unable to capitalise on their numerical advantage with several efforts going to no man's land. As Damai drew parity in numbers, the game was even but both sides unable to conjure anything meaningful and had to rely on potshots at goal. Kit had a glorious opportunity to grab his second goal of the tournament after he beat a static Damai defense but he fluffed his chance directly into the custodian. As both teams seemed destined to end the half at 0-0, Jeremy came up with a low drive at the edge of the box after a good layoff from Roslee to give his team a morale boosting lead at half-time, clearly signalling the drive which was evidently missing in the last game.
The second-half started with an unchanged side for Sharks as the opposition tried to level the game. With special instructions given to the players with regards to an ex-Sharks player running the Damai engine, Roslee and Jeremy made sure that he was kept in check, knowing full well on his ability when given a free rein. Though Damai had the majority of possesion, they were unable to breach a well-marshalled defense. Mustaffa then added another for his team when a timely run by him off a free-kick by Sanhaji were met by him and he firmly planted the header at the bottom corner. The quality of play then dropped after the goal but Sharks kept going forward to look for a third despite the cushion. Jeremy had an opportunity to do that but despite rising highest after a cross from Kit, he was adjudged to do so unfairly. Jeffrey and Li both had half-chances but were unable to capitalise. Despite their inability to increase their lead, they held on for another 3 points.
'We clearly showed today that we wanted to bury the demoralising defeat and while many would just ponder on what could have been, the boys played their hearts out today and thoroughly deserved the victory.' said the manager after the game.
When asked to comment on his ex-charges playing for the opposition, the manager said, 'The boys know the damage he can do when given space and time. We managed to counter it and only allowed him one clear sight on goal which missed narrowly. Overall, I believe our players managed to subdue his threat.'
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