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Central Park suffered its first defeat of the competition after they were humiliated 4-0 by Westridge FC at Meridian JC. The result coupled with Jalan Damai 3-0 win over Hougang SC meant that every team are neck and neck for the elusive top two place for entry to next year NFL Division 3.
It was a nightmarish outing for the Sharks in their return encounter with Westridge after scrapping a draw in the first meeting with a man down. Despite having the complement of almost a full team, they were unable to conjure up any meaningful openings for the duration of the game despite having the majority of possessions. The opposition’s opened the floodgates against the run of play after only 10mins when Sharks defense was caught off-guard as Westridge's forward managed to score from an offside position. Playing with only one linesman for the game didn't help matters as the man in the middle was unable to judge the positioning from his position in the middle of the pitch. Despite the setback, the team tried to penetrate the opposition's defense but were often found wanting in the final third of the pitch. Westridge however took their chances and increased their lead with a few minutes remaining of the first half after an inexplicable mistake from the often reliable Sanhaji missed his clearance and allowed Westridge forward to burst into goal with a delicate chip over stand-in custodian Daniel.
Though Sharks have been in this position before at the start of the second-half and were looking to get back into the game, nothing prepared them for Westridge to add another almost right from the kickoff which was finished off a cross via a header in the near post. As hard as they tried, it just wasn't Sharks night as the opposition added another in the 75th minute. Though the night undeniably belonged to Westridge, the floodlights shuts down with 3 minutes remaining from full-time. The referee had no choice but to blow for full-time and at the same time, it signaled lights out for the boys in yellow.
A clearly dejected manager commented after the game, 'We can argue all we want when things do not go our way such as the first goal which was a clear offside but not much can be done with the second linesman coming in only after 20mins. What's crucial is that we didn't score nor did we create any meaningful chances. You don’t deserve to win without doing that. What we had was 11 man on the field and not a team. The only way for us to show that we are a team is to bounce back immediately on Saturday.'
When asked with regards to the floodlights which went off before the completion of 90mins, he added 'The rule clearly states that which I quote "In the event of any match that has been postponed or abandoned before the completion of the regulation time of Ninety (90) minutes and neither Club being at fault, the match will be replayed at a date decided by the Committee. The replayed match will start at 0-0". However we have not decided if we want to proceed to file a formal protest to the Organizing Committee. If we go by the rule book, we do have a case. But in the name of sportsmanship, we don't think it's right and it reflects badly and tarnished what the club is all about. We have to admit that it was a night that belonged to the oppostion.'
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