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In a game of few chances, Singapore Vikings made count of their effort in goal to hand Central Park its second consecutive game this season. With both teams ending the first half goaless, the opposition took full advantage of yet another Vincent's howler to notch the solitary goal of the game whereby the could have gone two goals up shortly afterwards; no thanks to the crossbar who put Sharks into contention. In the end, Sharks could not muster a decent chance at goal and have now gone 180 minutes without a goal.
Sharks started with a couple of changes with Aaron, Brendan, Loy and several others missing the game. In came the likes of David, Shahril and Jeff who have decided to sign up for the season with Sharks. The worrying piece of the puzzle was the likes of Sharks midfield; Chris, Betrand, Steven, Jiayong, Brendan and Graeme who was either missing for the game or was carrying an injury. The match started with Vikings having the better of possession and taking advantage of the space behind the defense. It wasn't until the 10th minute when Sharks starts their foray upfront with Harold and Heng Li making dangerous runs into the opposition half. Nonetheless, the loss of several midfielders meant that Vikings had the upperhand in the middle with Anuar and Chris putting in a decent performance for the quarter of the first half. Harold and Isaac had a couple of half chances but were unable to capitalise on the opportunity as both teams ended the half level.
The second half started with Sharks making several decent passes but the final ball was disappointing. At the other end, Naoki was creating all sorts of problems for Zhuoneng while the likes of Jeff and Vincent were kept busy. Just when the defense were gaining a foothold, an innocuous corner which was easily cleared was cut out by the opposition who had no problem finishing the chance being presented. The goal signaled a couple of changes with the ineffective Jason being replaced by Ian while Graeme immobilty meant that his game was up.
The changes changed the shape of the game as Eddie became the central figure of the attack but yet again, Sharks failed to find the crucial final ball as it either went astray or was due to poor decision. The closest Sharks came was Harold breaking the offside trap but his decision to square the ball to Jason meant that it would not have counted even if it got in. Ian came close later on though his shot was off-target. Just before the end of the game, Sharks had a close call when Vikings defender handled the ball but it was waved off by the referee. Despite the Sharks valiant effort to get back into the game, time ran out as Viking ran out winners for the 3rd time.
The manager said, 'We are probably missing that final ball despite good build-up play and not to be finding the net for 2 games is quite a concern. Our defense held their own though it was unlucky of them to be punished for the one mistake they made. We just hope to put these defeats away and get back to winning ways in a fortnight.
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