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History of the 2005 season
The 2005 season oversaw the remaking of the order of the S-league Big Three.
Geylang United, one of the pillar of the Big Three since 2001, fell from grace as their Eastern rivals, Tampines Rovers, finally confirmed their status of Kingpin with the Stags second league victory in a row while the Eagles slide towards mediocrity with a bottom three finish.
Before 2005 season started though, Tampines Rovers once again had to answer it critics who were questioning if the team were too old now and last season was it final fling with success as the FAM-FAS League Champions Cup saw it destroyed 5-2 by Pahang over two legs.
It was the right question to the wrong team as it was the Stags main challengers last season, Home United, that had kept their team together for too long as Thai midfielder J.Surchai show his age over the course of the season at the heart of the Protectors engine room despite the Protectors winning the FAM-FAS Cup Champions Cup with them defeating Perak 4-2 overall.
For Tampines Rovers, they had build their engine room around a much younger man Fahrudin Mustafic, the 2005 Young Player of the Year, who was able to carry them across the finish line as the club saw it promising forward, Ismail Fitrey, announced his retirement as the former Stallions and now Stags forward failed to recover from his back injury despite him being just 25 year-old at that time.
The tenth season of the S-league also saw the bow out of another historic club; Tanjong Pagar United aka Tiong Bahru United, who had a longer history than the league itself, with two League titles and nine Cup trophies from amateur time to the professional era.
But it was inevitable as last season, the Queenstown club had only save itself at the last moment when it secured it sponsorship with JVC (That was cut in half from previous years) that saw Jurong FC bow out instead of itself.
However, the 2004 season was a disaster and this time JVC chose not to continue it long-term partnership with Tanjang Pagar United anymore and chairman Richard Woon could do no more to save the club.
In a way, it demise was a remnant from amateur time in which the chairman was too closely linked with it success and failure as Richard Woon admitted problems started way back in 98 and yet he never got down to solving it hoping instead for a white knight to come to it rescue like Woodlands Wellington in 2002 when SembCorp took over the rein of the Northern Club.
It was like striking the lottery and Tanjong Pagar United had no such luck.
Therefore, it was hard to accept Richard Woon management style of the Queenstown club in this age and time but his failure meant the club had to follow his out of football forever as he ‘selfishly’ proclaimed the club is his life work and no other can take over it.
The pain of losing such a historic club could have been lessen if the team coming in, for it, was at least a mini-success but instead the S-league got it worst-ever team in it history as Paya Lebar Punggol managed only four points all season.
The Seahorse coach, Malaysian Chow Kwai Lam, who had lead Tampines Rovers to it first ever trophy the Singapore Cup in 2002, lamented his players as "the best of the worst" and it was no surprise as the club only got it entry in December and by then, most players have been signed by other clubs leaving the Hougang club with no alterative.
However, it did not change his club or his fate as the remark cost him his standing within the club and he eventually quit in mid-season; leaving the Seahorses without a single point.
Returning back to the Big three, the King of Kings, SAFFC, appointed ex-Young Lions and FAS Under-18 coach Kim Polusen to take over Jimmy Shoulders, who paid the price for the Warriors disappointing 2004 season, as the Choa Chu Kang club looked to end their barren spell as the club have now gone two years without a trophy and that was unprecedented in the club history in the professional era.
It was no surprise when Kim Pouslen recruited from the Young Lions squad, as it was his old hunting ground, with the likes of Seric Vladan, Farizal Basri, Mustaqim Manzur and Shaiful Esah (For Shaiful, it was returning back to the club he started his career) all joining the Dane at Choa Chu Kang.
But, the biggest joy to Kim will be the return of 2002 Player of the Year, Therdask Chaiman, to the Warriors after two horrible years in the V-league for the Thai playmarker and the Warriors immediately looked like title challenger.
However, the Thai got into trouble before the start of the campaign as it was discovered the Thai had faked his documents when joining the Warriors back in 2002 and he was not 27 year-old but really 32 year-old already and the FAT had faked his age so he could play in youth competitions like FIFA youth World Cup and the SEA Games.
Chaiman was fined by the S-league but not banned; bringing a smile to the Warriors who were worried about how severely the Thai midfielder will be punished.
The tenth edition of the S-league then got started and this season the champions, Tampines Rovers, got off to a superb start with three straight win to add to their end of the season twelve straight win for a league record total fifteen straight win.
SAFFC matched the champions as they also opened their league campaign with three straight win and it was only Home United that struggled as the Bishan club failed to win until their fourth match and it was against the worst-ever S-league team Paya Lebar Punggol and immediately after that, the Protectors was trounced 0-4 in the next match by Albirex Niigata (S).
It looked like a struggle for the Protectors in 2005 and stories started spinning that coach Steve Darby will not last beyond 2005 as the club management was concerned the Englishman was more focus on his television work than the club and it was affecting the team performances on the pitch.
They were not just struggling in the league but also in Asia although they reached the AFC Cup knockout stage again. Yet, this time, Home United will go down meekly to Lebanon club Al Nejmeh in the quarter-final.
It was not acceptable for the high standard set under Darby reign.
One coach who did lost his job early was Woodlands Wellington coach Matt Brown as things started out as badly for Woodlands Wellington as it was for Home United but for this Englishman, he did not have a resume of one league title and one Cup trophy as well a Asian semi-final to buffer him as they were whipped 5-1 by SAFFC and 4-1 by Geylang United.
Signs were there that the team was not functioning as a unit despite the big spending under his reign with signings like Ahamd Latiff, Park Tae Won and Jonathon Angelucci etc.
Matt Brown was dismissed after just four games into the season, with former Tanjong Pagar United coach Karim Bencherifa, who did a more than a decent job at the Queenstown club despite lacked of resources and problems given, named as the Englishman's replacement.
Under Bencherifa, the team started to gel together and during the transfer window, the Moroccan brought in two recruits, French combative midfielder Essa Basile and towering Romanian defender Dronca, both whom will make an impact on the Rams charge up the table and in the Singapore Cup run to the Final.
The team had improved so much under Bencherifa that they did not lose a game in the second series of games where in the first series they had lost four of the nine games and in all those defeats, they had lost by no less than three goals and more.
But, it was too late for the Rams in the league which was shaping up to be between Tampines Rovers and SAFFC.
The Warriors was clinching on the tail of the Champions who were threatening to break away from it nearest challenger a number of times but the Warriors always got the desire results to stay close; especially when squaring off against the Champions.
The Champions had returned to league action by the start of August after their triumphal time in the ASEAN Club Championship in
The Stags were most likely still deep in thoughts back at Brunei as presented with a golden chance to pull further away, after SAFC shocked 0-1 defeat to Sinchi, the Champions threw away their chance as they drew 2-2.
In the Stags defence, they were up against the form team of the Series, Woodlands Wellington.
That meant the Warriors will now go to fortress Tampines, where the Stags have not lost a league game since October 2003, against Sembawang Rangers, needing to seek a difficult if not near-to-impossible win to open up the championship.
The nature of the game meant the Warriors will not sit back as they needed a win while Tampines Rovers, with the deadly duo of Noh Alam Shah and Mirko Grabovac, were also not looking to sit back as a victory will surely ended the championship hopes of the Warriors even with two months of competition left.
All this surely meant an attacking match between two of the best attacking sides in the league will be up on display.
That how it paned out as the game will surely be ranked as the game of 2005 as both displaced their attacking poweress right from the whistle goes.
Chance after chance fly by from both sides, who were putting each other water-tight defence under tremendous pressure, before a breakthrough finally came through with Mirko Garbobac grabbing the goal as the forward headed the ball past the Warriors keeper from a freekick on the half hour.
The lead though did not last long as Aleksandar Duric, when put through by a Chaiman moment, make no mistake blasting the ball past Rezal Hasan, the best keeper of 04 and 05 in term of stats as he kept more clean sheets than any other during these period, when faced with a one-on-one situation thus leveling the game up almost immediately.
After all that, it was the moment for Chaiman time as the Thai took charge, first, with a free-kick that had Rezal Hasan beaten all the way and then got his second which was out of this world as he took the ball in midfield and then went on to lose his marker with a turn that had the player lost and for that brief moment, with Chaiman free, the Thai took the ball up a free more inches before firing a shot, that Rezal Hasan could not even react, into the top corner and the Warriors were up 3-1 at half-time.
The start of the second period were certainly less excited than the first as the Warriors had the lead and were not as adventurous as the first period but the Stags, with nothing to lose, went on an all out attack that the Warriors kept out before Grabovac shot the Stags back again.
The Warriors could not stand back any longer as the Stags were threatening a third that will draw the game level and by then, all the Warriors hard work will be wasted.
It was up to Chaiman to step up again as the Thai played a one-two with Duric to open a small gap on the edge of the Stags box and the Thai fired a shot past Rezal once again, who could not keep out anything that the Thai touches, and Chaiman was on fire on that night.
Mirko got his third, as well, ten minute from the end but the Warriors got their fifth from Farizal Basri, who came on as a late substitute, deep in injury time.
After such a brilliant display from both sides on the night, it was surely the time for both sides to step up and make a race of the remaining championship season but instead, it seem as though both sides did not want the championship as the Stags lost two of their next three league games to Young Lions and Albirex Niigata (S) while the Warriors lost their next two games to Home United and Woodlands Wellington.
During that period of bad form by both the Stags and Warriors, Home United and Woodlands Wellington took advantage as both defeated Tampines Rovers and SAFFC respectively in the semi-final of the Singapore Cup despite both the Stags and Warriors having done well in the first leg.
Tampines Rovers had won 3-2 at Bishan but they were defeated 2-0 at Tampines as Home United forward, Egmar Gonclaves, scored twice to take the Protectors to the Final with a 4-3 victory overall.
As for SAFFC, they had held Woodlands
That had meant the Stags and Warriors were fully focused on the league with the Cup competition out of the way.
At this point, both Tampines Rovers and SAFFC appeared to find their feet as both started to win their matches again but just as a championship race appeared to be on the card, story broke out that SAFFC coach Kim Polusen was on his way out as he will return to his homeland.
At this point, results started to go against the Warriors as they, unexpectedly, started to draw one too many games, as remarked by Kim Polusen at the end of the SAFFC-Geylang match, which killed off their championship hope with one game to go.
Home United and Woodlands Wellington squared off in the Singapore Cup Final one week after the league season ended and the match was an emotional affair for Steve Darby as he stated his intention to leave the club after three years and 149 matches in charge.
For his 150 match in charge, it ended in glory as Home United overcame an early deficit to force the tie level through brilliant work by national marksman Indra Sahdan. Woodlands Wellington had taken the lead twice through Lucian Dronca and Azmi Mahamud but Indra Sahdan and Fadzuhasny Juraimi was om the mark for Home United
Then, in injury time with the tie deadlocked at 2-2, Indra struck once again for Home United as Fadzu speed down the flank and beat his defender before squaring the ball across the box to Indra, who came in late in the box, to fire the ball into the net.
This was the most successful period of the Protectors era for any Protectors coach with one league title and two Cup trophy as well as an International trophy along with an AFC Cup semi-final.
With the conclusion of the 2005 season, one can tell the order of the S-league have changed and Tampines is now the King of the East and a member of the S-league Big Three alongside SAFFC and Home United and Geylang United is the past.
2005 S-league Table
| Teams | W | D | L | GF | GA | Points |
| Tampines Rovers | 18 | 3 | 6 | 77 | 35 | 57 |
| SAFFC | 15 | 7 | 5 | 54 | 41 | 52 |
| Woodlands | 15 | 5 | 7 | 57 | 44 | 50 |
| Home United | 14 | 4 | 9 | 62 | 44 | 46 |
| Albirex Niigata (S) | 12 | 8 | 7 | 50 | 33 | 44 |
| Young Lions | 12 | 6 | 9 | 44 | 37 | 42 |
| Balestier Khalsa | 10 | 6 | 11 | 45 | 52 | 36 |
| Geylang United | 7 | 5 | 15 | 38 | 57 | 26 |
| Sinchi | 7 | 3 | 17 | 27 | 56 | 21 |
| Payar Lebar Punggol | 1 | 1 | 25 | 23 | 78 | 4 |
Top Scorers (S-League & Singapore Cup)
| Goals | Player | Club |
| 28 | Mirko Grabovac | Tampines Rovers |
| 24 | Indra Sahdan | Home United |
| 23 | Egmar Gonclaves Jonathon Angelucci | Home United Woodlands Wellington |
| 21 | Noh Alam Shah | Tampines Rovers |
| 20 | Kengne Ludovick Aleksandar Duric | Balestier Khalsa SAFFC |
Home United route to Final
| Stage | Home Team | | | Away Team |
| Quarter-final, first leg | Sinchi | 1 | 3 | Home United |
| Quarter-final, second leg | Home United | 1 | 0 | Sinchi |
| Semi-final, first leg | Home United | 2 | 3 | Tampines Rovers |
| Semi-final, second leg | Tampines Rovers | 0 | 2 | Home United |
Woodlands Wellington route to Final
| Stage | Home Team | | | Away Team |
| First Round | Woodlands | 2 | 0 | Tampines Rovers SC (NFL) |
| Quarter-final, first leg | Woodlands | 5 | 3 | Albirex Niigata (S) |
| Quarter-final, Second leg | Albirex Niigata (S) | 2 | 1 | Woodlands |
| Semi-final, first leg | SAFFC | 2 | 2 | Woodlands |
| Semi-final, second leg | Woodlands | 1 | 0 | SAFFC |
2005
| Home United | 3-2 | Woodlands |
| - Indra Sahdan (60', 93') | | - Lucian Dronca (7') |
| Home United | ||
| Woodlands Wellington | ||
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