Thai MU Supporters v Central Park

Morale was at an all time high for the Sharks eventhough the match was a last minute addition to the Sharks May fixtures and the return to 5pm kickoff was certainly a welcome change compared to the hot and humid 3pm kickoff with almost 16 players available for selection. Helmi was recalled back to the team after missing the last match while there were only a single change in the Sharks backline with the omission of Irman, out to injury with Sarhan taking his place. The return of Adzmi, Zaidi and Andrew meant that there were no places for Zul, Chiu and Nawi in the starting lineup. Other than that, the Sharks kept the same lineup as per last weekend opponent BLAS. Sharks kickoff the first-half, intent on burying their last weekend defeat with Adzmi and Brendan remaining a constant threat in midfield. They fired the first salvo courtesy of Suhaimi burst into space, only for his tame shot to be high and wide. He was presented with a couple of chances later but somehow or rather, he was caught in two minds and the chance was gone. The opponent began to create attacks of their own, constantly threatening the Sharks in wide positions. However, both Jeremy and Kelvin were in no mood for charity in this game and used their upper body strength to good affect to snuff out any danger. The opponent had their first sight on goal in the 10th minute off a header from a corner, but were narrowly wide to the relieve of Sharks custodian Helmi.

While the Sharks were on the attack, they were caught off-guard when a through pass on the right was misjudged by Kelvin. Everyone was waiting for the forward to centre the ball but he tried a speculative strike on goal and it caught Helmi by surprise on his near post. GOAL! The Sharks were one goal down in the 15th minute. Helmi's first contribution to the game was to take the ball off his net. The team then switched off for the next five minutes before regaining composure and began their forays upfront with Adzmi and Brendan almost involved in every Sharks attack. Adzmi was next to try his luck on goal after a perfect one-two with Andrew and the edge of the box. The shot however was tipped over the bar. Brendan then created space from himself but his foot caught the sandy ground and his shot was way off target. In one of those forays, the Sharks found themselves with five man against three. Adzmi chipped the ball perfectly for Andrew whose pinpoint layoff found Suhaimi who nicked the ball in between the center-back and the onrushing goalkeeper. GOAL! He needed no second invitation with the glorious chance to score his fifth goal for the year. Play then remained static with both sides trying pot shots at goal before the entire Sharks backline were caught off guard during one of the Thai's quick counter-attack from a quick throw in with Salihin first to react to the situation and quickly closed down the space which was too late before the Thai winger centered the ball in the dangerous area. With Helmi's better positioned to claim the ball into his grateful arms, no one expected him to fumble the routine catch and the Thai forward managed to sneak from behind to nick the ball in between his legs. GOAL! The Sharks, particularly Kelvin and Salihin was a distraught figure on the field with the mistake from their custodian. The referee then blew shortly for half-time after the restart. In the dressing room, there was an eerie silence among the players which was clearly disappointed to go down a goal after Suhaimi's equaliser. A couple of changes were made to freshen up the team and they restarted the game with renewed vigor, particularly intent to keep the team from defeat or a high scoreline after the manager decided to kit up the team with their away jersey for this game. Sensing the indecisiveness of Sharks custodian, the opponent began to try their luck on a couple of long range shots but they were quickly closed down by the Sharks defence. New boy Khairuldin which was deployed on the right wing then began to show his mettle after rave reviews with a couple of nice inter-exchanges with Suhaimi upfront. The Sharks were then awarded with consecutive free-kick at the edge of the area after some rough challenges from the Thais. Jeremy and Salihin tried their luck from the free-kick but never forced a save from the Thais custodian.

While the sense of going down yet again began to creep into the team with 10 minutes remaining, the Sharks began to pressurize the Thai defence. The Sharks was unlucky on two occasion after a sweetly struck corner from Raymond found Kelvin and Khairuldin on the box. Only for the latter shot to be cleared off the line. Khairuldin was at it again, this time on his own from the right. His delicate chip almost caught the goalkeeper in surprise but it went agonisingly high. Sharks were undaunted with the miss and they won yet another corner after a seemingly tough challenge on Suhaimi in the box was only rewarded with a corner instead of a penalty. A dangerous corner from Raymond was then quickly cleared by the Thai defence, only to fall sweetly for Jeremy to try from 25 yards. But his shot was off-target to the dismay of the Sharks traveling fans. With time running out fast for the team, they were again rewarded with a corner. It eluded everyone at the box after the opponent goalkeeper managed to punch the ball away from the box but only managed to clear as far to Jeremy yet again, this time from 30 yards. Intent to do better than his last shot, he unleashed a pile-driver, this time from 30 yards. GOAL! Jeremy's low-scorcher eluded the sea of legs in the penalty area and nestled sweetly at the bottom right hand corner, to the delight of the Sharks fans and what follows were almost incomprehensible when Jeremy went into a wild celebration which would put Ronaldo's celebration in the FA Cup final a day earlier to shame.