Central Park XI

2

vs

Singapore Vikings

3

The new season is still 3 weeks away but there were no letting up for the club as they made full opportunity of the break from league proper with their participation in the EFL Challenge Cup which kicked off on Saturday. The kicked off the competition in Group A against the Singapore Vikings which boast familiar faces such as Michael Jorgensen, Thomas Soerensen, Michael Jensen and Naoki Fukushima. It was end to end stuff from both teams which ended in favor of the Vikings 3-2 with goals from Murugesan and Fadley for CPFC XI while Soerensen grabbed a hat-trick for the Vikings.

Sharks started the game on the backfoot as they struggled to gain a foothold in the game with Soerensen dictating play for the Vikings. They came close on a couple of occasion but were often denied by some astute defensive work by Vincent who marshalled his backline consisting of Charlson, Kelvin and Matthew. Nonetheless, against the run of play, Fadley who impressed in the trial last weekend got the opener for the Sharks abeit an unlikely one, a cross which found the back of the net. That stung the Vikings into action and midway into the half, Soerensen scored twice in quick succession after some great interchange of play from the Vikings midfield which left the Sharks backline bewildered. Fadley could have level the game late into the half when he was put thru after some nervy defending but with only the custodian to beat, he missed terribly. Half-time score, 2-1 for the Vikings. In the second-half, changes made to both teams meant that possessions and goal-mouth action were kept to a minimal. In the 65th minute, Central Park drew level when Vikram laid the ball square into the box for the onrushing Jeffrey to level the game. Both teams had chances to win the game but were painfully rueing the opportunities created. With just 10 minutes to go, Soerensen completed his hat-trick when he coolly slotted home after a beautiful slide-rule pass of Michael Jensen despite being pressure from Kelvin who was tracking him down and Michael who came off his line pretty quickly.

The manager commented, 'It was a bad first half for the Sharks and we were lucky not to go down by a couple of goals early in the game. Nonetheless, they consolidate but it just wasn't enough at the end of the game.'