Central Park v Newton Heath

The axe came falling on several players after last week defeat which what was described as 'total lack of commitment' by the Sharks manager. No fewer than 7 changes were made on the starting line-up and 6 new trialist were introduced to the team. While the Sharks were not far from defeat, they managed to scrap through to earn a hard-earned 2-2 draw against a well-organised young squad in the form of Newton Heath, led by their manager EZ. Number one goalkeeper Shawn was surprisingly dropped from the starting line-up with Amran taking his place. The availability of Najib who impressed in his last 2 matches meant that he started along with Irman, Kelvin and trialist Kamal at the back. Sharks was dealt a severe blow in the middle when Adzmi failed a late fitness test on his ankle and his absence meant that Sharks mysterious signing Andrew was penciled in to take over the formers role in the middle of the park, partnering Jeremy. Suhaimi and another trialist Irwan form the midfield quartet. The return of the ever-reliable Michael meant that there was no place for last season top scorer Nawi who started on the bench. Raymond who was yet another trialist were to partner Michael upfront. In a move to psyche up the players, the Sharks manager briefed the team on their last week performance and warned that the axe will fall if the performance of the team did not meet the manager expectations. Perhaps one can remember that the last time the Sharks manager did that was against Sandy FC which they ultimately won 6-2, which till date remains the club biggest win. One would expect a similar result was on hand. It did briefly made the Sharks worked for every ball but for the umpteen times, they yet again conceded an early goal in the first 15 minutes of the kickoff. This time, the offside trap didn't worked as much as Irman would have liked and  Newton's forward cleverly lob the ball over the onrushing Amran. The balance of play tipped from one end to the other and Newton fully utilise their pacy winger to outrun Shark's left back Kamal which was clearly having problem. Sharks conjured attack of their own with Suhaimi involved in every Sharks attack. It was during one of the Sharks raid that Suhaimi was given a clear sight on goal after a confusion in Newton's half off a corner from Irwan. He gladly took his chance and drew the Sharks level. While the game was moving into half-time, tragedy struck when the ever-improving Najib who was only making his 3rd appearance for the club had to be stretched out after he twisted his ankle. The referee Mr Ganesan had no choice but to to end the 1st half early while they await Najib to be sent to Changi Hospital.

The 2nd half started similar to the 1st with the Sharks providing the early exchanges through Andrew who is as accustomed in the middle as he is as a forward. As the match wore on, Newton piled the pressure on the Sharks defence and the pace of Newton's winger exposed Kamal lack of it. It was not surprising when they scored yet again after good footwork from their left winger found a perfect ball for the forward to score a simple tap-in. The opponent threatened to run away with the game on several occasions if not for perfect positioning by Shawn and the ever-reliable Irman who was marshalling his defence well through-out the game. Brendan and Walid came close to bringing the game level but was denied by the quick thinking Newton's custodian who acted as the team second sweeper at times. The impetus was then on Zul who came on late in the second half to add some steel in the Sharks attack replacing Walid, constantly harassing Newton's defence into making unforced errors. While a fourth consecutive defeat looked to be on the cards, a long innocuous ball by Brendan to Zul which Newton's goalkeeper was always favorite to collect suddenly lost his composure for a split-second to mistimed his clearance after Zul came rushing in and the former needed no second invitation to slot the ball into the empty net to score his 3rd goal of the season and bring the Sharks level yet again. The final 10 minutes caused a few scares for both sides defence which each side squandering chances to seal the win. Perhaps Newton had the best chance to score but for the reliable Irman yet again in the heart of defence. The match ended 2-2 with Newton players clearly incensed with their custodian for his only mistake in the match. After the match, the Sharks manager was clearly pleased with the player performance. He commented, 'Despite starting out with 5 new players, their individual performance certainly pleases me, where every man was fighting and chasing every ball.'

When queried on the performance of their much taunted signing Andrew, he added 'He was only here on Thursday and it will take him some time to acclimatize to the weather. But he have shown us what's he's capable of today with some neat touches. But the most important thing today is not about winning or losing, it is the commitment by every player which I am proud of.' Regarding the injury to defender Najib, the Sharks manager said, 'It was a very sad incident for me and the rest of the team. While we await for the full extent of the injury, we are hopeful he will recover fully and don the Sharks jersey again.' The Sharks manager and several players left soon after the match to visit Najib at Changi Hospital. CP Times will bring you update on the player injury in the days to come.