Sharks winning streak came to an abrupt end as they went down 4-1 to Tenchi at Marina South. While pre-match fears was on the Daniel Tan who was given the task of manning the Sharks goal, it was the Sharks defence who let him down this time round despite his assured performance between the post.
The gameplan was quickly undone in the 16th minute when Yi Quan had to limp off with a knee injury after a clumsy tackle but his return in the 2nd half extinguished fears that his injury will be long-term. The disarray in defence continued as Tenchi attack in numbers but their opening goal came off Irman from Kelvin defence's clearing header. Sharks feel hard done by the own goal but soldered on for the equaliser. Despite their forays upfront, the chances for the Sharks were minimal. Just as they were getting into the game, Kelvin now known as 'Super Kel' strikes again. This time off an under-hit backpass to custodian Daniel who had no time to come off his line and allowed Tenchi's forward to score from the situation. Shortly after the goal, Irman had to be carried off with a twisted knee. The second-half started with Sharks showing their intent to get back into the game but were foiled by some wayward passing. They got their break however in the 60th minute when a thru pass from Salem found Shah who raced to goal and made no mistake despite Tenchi's custodian who was fast to come off his line but were unable to stop Shah from scoring his first goal for the team. Sharks hardwork was soon undone as Tenchi dealt a killer blow to regain their 2 goal cushion and adding another just before the end of the game. Sharks were probably luckly not to concede a fifth goal after Super Kel smash one off the Sharks crossbar in an effort to clear the danger. Jiawen had a chance to score a consolation but his looping shot which beat the custodian found the post and despite Nuriman following up on the shot, he was unable to bury the ball in an open net.
'In truth, the Sharks didn't play too badly but paid the price for some individual errors in defence. We had a chance in the game when the score was 1-2 but the boys enthusiams in getting the equaliser meant that they left gaps for the opposition to take advantage.' the manager said after the game.
He added, 'The first two goals was pure bad luck. They didn't create any meaningful chances before the goals but that's football. We just have to get stuck-in in the remaining games to climb off the bottom-half of the table.'
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