Warriors Bundle 2013

Warriors FC are promoting their Warriors Bundle for the Warriors FC-Courts Young Lions tonight.



For just $128/- , you will get the following:

1) 2013 Warriors Replica Jersey (worth $108)
2) Season Ticket (worth $50/-)
3) Backpack (worth $20/-)
4) Free Membership (worth $10/-)

At the same time, there will be a lucky draw for fans at the game and Warriors new apparel sponsor SVOLME wants to reward fans for their ardent support for the S.League by offering attractive discounts for SVOLME apparels. Be sure to look out for their booth at the 2nd Level entrance on all matchdays!

Pressure is on

With the Warriors beaten by Balestier Khalsa 2-0 at the Toa Payoh Stadium, it mean the Warriors have lost 3 matches in the league and are strucked in the bottom 3.

Along with that, there are also two defeats in the AFC Cup to Semen Padang and Kitchee and it meant the Warriors are having their worst season since the inception of the S-league.

Selvaraj, in his first season as a head coach of a top-flight side, admits he is now feeling the heat.

"It's very hard," he admitted. "A lot of the pressure and the heat is really on me.

"But I would never want to pass this pressure on to any of my players. I don't think that's fair.

"I think we lost this game in the first half. By the time we tried our best to come back we were left with a mountain to climb."

The ex-Singapore international, who was promoted to the top job at the end of last season after being assistant to former boss Richard Bok, also identified their failure to burst out of the blocks as a reason for Warriors' poor performances thus far.

"The thing is we are taking a bit too long to settle down," Selvaraj explained. "Especially in the first half.
"That's the one thing we have to look at. Both goals were due to a lapse in concentration.

"Credit to my players, they did their best and worked very hard. We were better in the second half.

"Our movement was better, we closed down players and won a lot of loose balls. We had better possession than Balestier and created a few chances but just couldn't put the ball into the net, just like in the [1-0 loss to] Tampines [Rovers]."

Selvaraj also expressed his belief that his side were missing a number of key players, after marquee signing Kazuyuki Toda was once again sidelined by a minor injury, while left-back Zulfadli Zainal Abidin is still out with a long-term problem.

"I agree we were missing a few key players," he added. "Three of my defenders are out so I'm trying my best with a makeshift side to bring out the best out of the rest of the boys.

"If you ask me, had Toda and Zulfadli played, as well as [Syed] Fadhil, it would have made my defence more stable and it would have been better than what he had tonight [Sunday].

"Vida [Marin Vidosevic] was also suspended so that's four key defensive players that I had to do without, but that's not an excuse. The rest of them still tried like [Syaiful] Iskandar and Ruzaini [Zainal], who's coming back from a long-term injury.

"It's tough to go down, win one game [against Geylang] and go down again but I take it positively. Tonight [Sunday], we came back in the second half but just couldn't score the goals.

"We just need to have the same mentality, work rate and belief from the beginning of the game."

The Choa Chu Kang outfit have an excellent chance to get back to winning ways on Thursday when they entertain bottom side Courts Young Lions but Selvaraj does not want to put too much pressure on them picking up a much-needed three points, especially with their congested fixture schedule.

"Considering the fixtures, we can't really train much," he said. "Tonight [Sunday] we play, tomorrow [Monday] we'll probably do a short recovery session and then we only have two more training sessions before we play Young Lions.

"After Young Lions on Thursday, we're leaving for India [for next Tuesday's AFC Cup game against Churchill Brothers] and when we come back, we're playing Harimau Muda two days later. After that comes April and it starts again.

"We're playing six to seven matches a month in total and I definitely the rest [of my injured players] to be back as soon as possible.

"Honestly, I do not want to add pressure on my players - let's not talk about winning. We'll take it one step at a time.

"Based on the last two matches against Tampines and Balestier, we definitely need to settle down early in the game so I'll need to look into that."

Tampines go top while Warriors crashed again

Tampines Rovers go top of the S-league table as they won their fifth straight match of the season after they defeated Harimau Muda 2-1.

Aleksandar Duric and Shahdan Sulaiman got the goals for the champions. Harimau Muda managed an injury-time consolation through Akmal Ishak.

At the same time, Balestier Khalsa defeated Warriors FC 2-0 at Toa Poyah to send the eight-time champions to their third league defeat in five matches.

It also meant the Warriors dropped into the bottom 3 thanks to an inferior goal difference compared to Harimau Muda.

Ruhaizad Ismail and Park Kang-jin got the goals for Toa Poyah side.

Balestier Khalsa
Zaiful Nizam (GK), Yusiskandar Yusop, Obadin Aikhena, Jaslee Hatta (C), Syed Thaha, Kim Min-ho (Shafuan Sutohmoh 86'), Tengku Mushadad, Park Kang-jin, Ruhaizad Ismail (Patrick Paran 52'), Qiu Li (Zulkiffli Hassim 34'), Jung Hee Bong

Warriors FC
Hassan Sunny (GK), Ruzaini Zainal (Shukor Zailan 79'), Abdil Qaiyyim, Daniel Bennett (C), Syaiful Iskandar, Prakash Manikam (Sufian Anuar 46'), Shi Jiayi, Shimpei Sakurada, Tatsuro Inui, Erwan Gunawan (Matthew Abraham 85'), Mislav Karoglan

---------------

Tampines Rovers
Sasa Dreven (GK), Kunihiro Yamashita, Anaz Hadee, Seiji Kaneko (Jufri Taha 30'), Shaiful Esah, Ismadi Mukhtar, Shahdan Sulaiman (C), Martin Wagner (Fahrudin Mustafic 69'), Ahmed Fahmie (Imran Sahib 54'), Khairul Amri, Aleksandar Duric

Lee: Song want to represent Singapore

Ex-Korea Republic international Paul Lee has praised his young compatriot Song Ui Young who scored and laid on the third for Jordan Webb to seal victory in the 3-1 win against Geylang United.

The 43-year-old also revealed the 19-year-old has hopes of obtaining Singaporean citizenship and representing the Lions.

"I planned to use him in the S.League earlier this season but he initially had a hamstring problem," Lee explained. "So I couldn't use him.

"But now he's back I think he played very well and hopefully he keeps it up.

"His target is to be a Singapore international. Hopefully, he can make his dream come true in the near future."

Lee: Still a lot of matches to played

The Protectors have now won two matches on the trot after their disaster start to the season where they only won 1 point from 3 matches.

While Paul Lee was delighted with his players' efforts against the Eagles, Lee believes there is more to come from them as they gradually recover from their early-season slump.

"We have only won two games in a row and there are still a lot of matches to be played," he said. "I want to be humble with my players.

"We want to keep working hard and show our passion and determination in every game. If we do so, I think we can have even better peformances in the future.

"I think this kind of situation happens all the time in football - us conceding in the first half. But I told my players not to worry and to keep up with our work.

"I believed we could get back in the second half and in the end, they put in a good effort which I really appreciate."

Home move into top half

Home United have move into the top half of the S-league table after winning their second successive match as they beat Geylang International 3-1 in Bedok.

The Eagles had taken the lead when Yasir Hanapi scored and they took the lead into half-time.

However the Protectors staged their comeback in the second period as Lee Kwan Woo, Song Ui Young and Jordan Webb scored to bring down the Eagles who have totally collapsed.

The Protectors  are now in fifth and meet champions Tampines Rovers in their next match.

Geylang International
Joey Sim (GK), Delwinder Singh, Khayrulhayat Jumat, Norihiro Kawakami, Duncan Elias, Fabian Kwok, Nurhazwan Norasikin, Yasir Hanapi (Khairulnizam Jumahat 85'), Jozef Kaplan (C), Andrew Tan (Wahyudi Wahid 76'), Shotaro Ihata (Jalal 80')

Home United
Shahril Jantan (GK), Masrezwan Masturi, Noh Rahman (C), Sirina Camara, Nor Azli Yusoff, Sofiyan Abdul Hamid, Song Ui-young, Lee Kwan-woo (Justin Khiang 90'), Firdaus Idros (Mustaqim Manzur 87'), Hafiz Rahim (Aliff Shafaein 46'), Jordan Webb

Courts Young Lions Penalized

The S-League have overturned the results of the recent four matches that involved the Courts Young Lions namely, against Hougang United on 20 February, Tampines Rovers on 28 February, Brunei DPMM on 7 March and Balestier Khalsa on 13 March 2013.

It was found that the Courts Young Lions fielded ineligible players in these four matches. The team’s opponents in each of these four matches will be awarded a 3-0 win.
 
Mr Kok Wai Leong, S-League Director of Operations said “Under S-League rules, all players need to fulfil all the necessary registration criteria such as valid local or international transfer certificates, fitness test and medical screenings. However, the small group of players who are full-time National Servicemen are further required to obtain written approval from their respective relevant authorities. This was not conducted for some of the affected players in Courts Young Lions.”

S-League has also conducted another check on the records of players serving their national service in all other S.League clubs and found that everything is in order. None of the other S-League matches that have been played were affected.

Mr Asadullah Mohd, Team Manager of Courts Young Lions said, “We sincerely apologise for the administrative oversight on our part and we accept the punishment the S-League management has meted out to us. We appreciate the fans’ support thus far and hope they will continue to support us in the season ahead.”

Mr Ridzal Saat, FAS Deputy Director of Development and Planning, said “We are deeply sorry for the admin lapse on the part of our officials and we have taken immediate measures to rectify the problem. We acknowledge the severity of the issue and will be taking internal disciplinary action against officials found to be negligent in their duties."

Patrick Vallee: They meet my target

Tanjong Pagar United coach Patrick Vallee had words of praise for his team and their vanquished opponents for contributing to what turned out to be one of this season's most-entertaining encounters so far.

"I'm very happy because my team played a very good game," he said. "But I must thank Hougang because they also played a good game.

"I think you need both teams to contribute in order for a good game and that's what happened tonight [Friday]. Luckily for us, we won but Hougang played very well and games like this are good for the S.League."

Although there was plenty for the Frenchman to be happy about, he did rue his side's inability to keep a clean sheet for the fifth straight game, albeit with a smile on his face.

"I said to my players before the game that I wanted a clean sheet tonight [Friday]," Vallee revealed. "For me, I'm very happy when we keep a clean sheet because it means you are guaranteed at least one point.
"I'm very happy with what we did in the second half, not but not so happy with the first half. But in the second half, I'm very happy with the fighting spirit and winning mentality the players showed.

"Trailing 1-0 then 2-1, it's not easy and it takes time to come back, but that's what my team did."

With his side now guaranteed a place in the top three for at least another week, Vallee confirmed they have met the target he set for them at the five-game mark of the campaign, and is now looking to the future.

"I don't care about the last two games [a draw and defeat to Harimau Muda and Home United respectively]," the Frenchman added.

"I gave them one objective when we started the season - to get 10 points out of 15 from the first five games. If we could do that, it would be very good.

"Maybe everybody was upset after last week's defeat, but I told my players we are always looking at the objective. I knew if we won tonight it would be okay and that turned out to be the case.

"It's important to focus on your objective when you have one and ours meant we could afford one draw and one defeat [in the opening five games]. Of course, it's better if we can get more points.

"But now we have met our objective, we can work towards our next one."

Jaguars return back to winning way

After a brilliant start to the season scoring 9 goals and winning full points against Balestier Khalsa and Warriors FC, Tanjong Pagar United then slumped to score only one and win only 1 point from their next two - Harimau Muda and Home United.

Now they have got their season back on track with a hard-fought 3-2 win against Hougang United.

The Cheetahs had taken the lead twice from Robert Eziakor and Hasree Zais against the Jaguars who showed their weakness in defence.

Both times the Jaguars could not deal with the Cheetahs physical play and heading prowess.

At the same time, the Jaguars showed the strength and why they scored 9 goals in their first two matches as they hit back both times and then go on to grab all 3 points. In term of attack, the Jaguars can rival any of the best attacking team in the league as Hafiz and then Frenchman Ismael Benahmed - two goals - grabbed their chances.

The Jaguars go up to third in the table.

In other matches, Albirex Niigata (S) and Tampines Rovers remain perfect teams in the S-league as they won their fifth and fourth match respectively in a row.

Albirex Niigata (S) defeated Courts Young Lions 1-0 with the winner from Kazuki Sakamoto. Tampines also won their match 1-0 with a goal from Khariul Amri.

Warriors FC
Hyrulnizam Juma'at (GK), Abdil Qaiyyim, Ruzaini Zainal, Marin Vidosevic, Daniel Bennett (C), Sufian Anuar, Tatsuro Inui, Shimpei Sakurada, Prakash Manikam (Erwan Gunawan 69'), Shi Jiayi, Mislav Karoglan

Tampines Rovers
Sasa Dreven (GK), Jufri Taha, Kunihiro Yamashita, Seiji Kaneko, Shaiful Esah, Imran Sahib, Mustafic Fahrudin (C), Shahdan Sulaiman (Martin Wagner 79'), Khairul Amri (Aleksandar Duric 74'), Ismadi Mukhtar (Ahmed Fahmie 84'), Sead Hadzibulic  

---------------
Courts Young Lions
Rudy Khairullah (GK), Al-Qaasimy Rahman (C), Sheikh Abdul Hadi, Tajeli Salamat, Eddie Chang, Shamil Sharif, Nur Ridho, Sherif El-Masri, Ignatius Ang (Farhan Rahmat 45'), Fareez Farhan (Faiz Salleh 82'), Sufianto Salleh

---------------
Hougang United
Fadhil Salim (GK) (C), Jeremy Chiang, Hasree Zais, Syaqir Sulaiman, Fazly Hasan, Faizal Amir (Nurhilmi Jasni 87'), Thomas Beattie, Azhar Sairudin, Liam Shotton (Fairoz Hasan 68'), Robert Eziakor, Jerome Baker (Sobrie Mazelan 76')

Tanjong Pagar United
Aurelien Herisson (GK), Ahmad Latiff, Walid Lounis (C), Zahid Ahmad, Azhar Ahmad, Hafiz Nor (K. Vikraman 90'), Sazali Salleh, Kamel Ramdani, Asraf Rashid, Ismael Benahmed, Monsef Zerka

Warriors end winless run

Warriors FC won their first game of the season as they thrashed Geylang United 3-0 at Bedok.

The eight-times champions have not won any of their 5 competitive matches this season and badly needed the points against the Eagles as they laid in 11th spot in the league but with 2 games in hand.

If they won both their games in hand the Warriors will still be in a shot for the league and that what they achieved as Mislav Karoglan, Tatsuro Inui and Shimpei Sakurada scored.

In another game, Tampines go up to second and remain perfect as they rally back from behind to defeat Balestier 2-1.

Kim Min-Ho had given Balestier before Tampines found the equaliser when Seiji Kaneko headed home. Shahdan Sulaimanthen gave the champions all 3 points when he netted the winner two minutes from time.

Geylang International
Takuma Ito (GK), Khayrulhayat Jumat, Delwinder Singh, Duncan Elias, Norihiro Kawakami, Yasir Hanapi, Fabian Kwok, Andrew Tan (Fuad Ramli 68'), Nurhazwan Norasikin, Shotaro Ihata, Jozef Kaplan (C)

Warriors FC
Hyrulnizan Juma'at (GK), Abdil Qaiyyim, Syed Fadhil, Marin Vidosevic, Daniel Bennett (C), Shukor Zailan (Erwan Gunawan 46'), Tatsuro Inui (Yus Henzry 90'), Shimpei Sakurada, Prakash Manikam (Ruzaini Zainal 77'), Shi Jiayi, Mislav Karoglan

---------------

Tampines Rovers
Sasa Dreven (GK), Jufri Taha, Kunihiro Yamashita, Seiji Kaneko, Shaiful Esah, Imran Sahib, Mustafic Fahrudin (C), Shahdan Sulaiman, Khairul Amri, Jamil Ali (Ismadi Mukhtar 23'), Sead Hadzibulic (Aleksandar Duric 79')

Balestier Khalsa
Zaiful Nizam (GK), Poh Yi Feng (Yusiskandar Yusop 86'), Obadin Aikhena, Jaslee Hatta (C), Syed Thaha, Patrick Paran (Qiu Li 68'), Park Kang-Jin, Tengku Mushadad, Ruhaizad Ismail (Hamqaamal Shah 58'), Kim Min-ho, Jung Hee-Bong

AFF Awards Night

The ASEAN FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION (AFF) announced a total of 18 awards will be presented in a ceremony to be held on April 3.

These include awards for Player of the Year and Coach of the Year in both men's and women's categories, as well as Team of the Year, National Team of the Year and a Best XI.

Vallee upset he is not able to give fans first home win

Tanjong Pagar United head coach Patrick Vallee was upset that he wasn’t able to give the home fans their first win of the season.

“Everything went wrong,” the Frenchman said with a smile as he stepped into the press room at the Queenstown Stadium.

“Sometimes you can do your best and things will still not turn in your fortune,” he added.

Tanjong Pagar dropped three points at home but Vallee was adamant that he was not losing sight of his objective.

“I never said that I was aiming to win the league title," he added.

“The 3-0 loss is a bad result but Tanjong Pagar is a new team with new ambitions."

Besides suggesting that his side was slightly underprivileged at the back without Anthony Aymard, Vallee ended the press conference with his most disappointing outcome of the night.

“I am very disappointed that I couldn’t give the fans their first home win.”

Lee proud of his men

Lee Lim Saeng’s men managed to revive their 2013 S.League campaign with a convincing 3-0 win away from home.

“I really appreciate my players’ efforts in the game, especially Webb and Camara for putting in a lot of effort to get the first two goals,” Lee said.

The Korean acknowledged the criticism he had received for the poor start to the season and hoped that his players can maintain their form for future games.

He added: “We built our confidence in training after our bad results, we had to ensure and all the problems have been sorted before entering the game."

“I am very proud of my players.”

Home open account

Home United have finally opened their account in the 2013 S-league season

They defeated second-placed Tanjong Pagar United 3-0 to achieve their first win of the season and it will no doubt bring relief to their Korean coach Paul Lee who has been under the microscope since reports emerged that he had driven away his assistant Akihiro Nakamura.

And with results not going his way, doubts were cast if the Home management had done the correct thing to retain the Korean last season after a disaster 2012 season which looked to repeat itself in 2013.
   
Jordan Webb, Sirina Camara and Lee Kwan Woo got the goals.

In other matches, both matches saw draw as Balestier drew 1-1 with Courts Young Lions and Hougang drew 0-0 with Woodlands.

The Cubs had taken the lead through Sherif EL-Masri before Qiu Li equalised for the Tigers. 

Balestier Khalsa
Daniel Ong (GK) , Hamqaamal Shah (Kim Min-ho 61'), Jaslee Hatta (C), Syed Thaha, Obadin Aikhena, Ruhaizad Ismail (Patrick Paran 61'), Tengku Mushadad, Park Kang-jin, Poh Yi Feng, Jung Hee-bong (Suria Prakash 74'), Qiu Li

Courts Young Lions
Rudy Khairullah (GK), Al-Qaasimy Rahman (C), Nurullah Hussein (Afiq Noor 11'), Sheikh Abdul Hadi, Tajeli Salamat, Eddie Chang (Emmeric Ong 70'), Sherif El-Masri, Nur Na'iim Ishak, Shamil Sharif, Ignatius Ang, Sufianto Salleh (Stanely Ng 86')

---------------

Tanjong Pagar United
Aurelien Herisson (GK), Ahmad Latiff (Rizawan Abdullah 78'), Walid Louis (C), Hanafi Salleh, Azhar Ahmad, K Vikraman, Sazali Salleh, Kamel Ramdani, Asraf Rashid (Hafiz Nor 45'),  Ismael Benahmed, Monsef  Zerka

Home United
Shahril Jantan (GK), Nor Azli Yusoff, Noh Rahman (C), Aliff Shafaein (Sofiyan Abdul Hamid 45'), Masrezwan Masturi, Lee Kwan-woo (Mustaqim Manzur 80'), Hafiz Rahim, Sirina Camara, Firdaus Idros, Song Ui-young, Jordan Webb

---------------

Woodlands Wellington
Ahmadulhaq Che Omar (GK), Ang Zhiwei, Cho Sung-hwan, Shariff Samat (Shahril Alias 44'), Rosman Sulaiman (Fadhil Noh 82'), Ridhwan Osman (Armanizam Dolah 71'), Atsushi Shimono, Goh Swee Swee (C), Khalid Hamdaoui, Taufiq Rahmat, Chang Jo-yoon 

Hougang United
Fadhil Salim (GK) (C), Faizal Amir, Hasree Zais, Syaqir Sulaiman, Fazly Hasan, Robert Eziakor, Thomas Beattie, Azhar Sairudin (Sobrie Mazelan 57'), Fazli Jaffar (Basit Hamid 71'), Mamadou Diallo, Liam Shotton (Fairoz Hasan 61')

Record winless run

The Warriors are in a record win-less run in all competition.

With the Warriors now not having won their opening 5 matches of the 2013 season and along with that the Warriors also lost their last game of the 2012 season against Geylang, that mean they have not won in 6 games.

The Choa Chu Kang club have never gone on such a run before in their history since the S-league started.

The previous record was only 'achieved' last season as the Warriors did not win their first 3 games of the 2012 season and also did not win any of their last two of 2011.

It was five games and now they surpass it

It is certainly no way to celebrate their rebranding.

Warriors Record win-less run
2012
S-league: Geylang 0-3

2013
Charity Shield: Tampines 1-2
S-league: Woodlands 2-2
S-league: TPUFC 1-6
AFC Cup: Semen 1-3
AFC Cup: Kitchee 2-4

Stags open account while Warriors face elimination

Tampines Rovers have opened their account in the AFC Cup as they drew 3-3 with Selangor at Shah Alam Stadium.

With both teams having lost their opening game, this was a game neither side can afford to lose and it showed as the home side took the lead three times yet Tampines Rovers showcased their fighting spirit to battle it back to 3-3.

With the other game in the group also a draw between Saigon Xuan Thanh and East Bengal, the door is still wide open for Tampines Rovers. 

Aleksandar Duric, Imran Sahib and Yamashita Kunihiro got the goals.

For the Warriors though, they faced elimination as early as the next game as they fall to their second defeat in as many games.

This was despite the Warriors taking a two goal lead at half-time thanks to Erwan Gunawan and Inui Tatsuro.

They threw it all away after the break as they conceded 4 goals without reply in a dramatic collapse that may cost the AFC Cup knockout stage.

Now they have to virtually win all their matches on hand as 10 points may be needed to get to the next round.

On current form of the Warriors, it looked impossible.

Warriors FC
Hassan Sunny (GK), Syaiful Iskandar, Abdil Qaiyyim, Inui Tatsuro, Mislav Karoglan, Sufian Anuar, Marin Vidosevic, Erwan Gunawan (Prakash Manikam), Shukor Zailan (Matthew Abraham) , Daniel Bennett (C), Shi Jiayi

---------------

Tampines Rovers
Sasa Dreven (GK), Ismadi Mukhtar (Martin Wagner), Jufri Taha, Mustafic Fahrudin (C),Yamashita Kunihiro, Shahdan Sulaiman, Sead Hadzibulic, Imran Sahib, Anaz Hadee (Shaiful Eash), Aleksandar Duric (Khairul Amri), Jamil Ali

Jaguars get main sponsorship boast

Tanjong Pagar UnitedJ celebrate a financial boost with local food and beverage company Field Catering & Supplies stumping up a one-year sponsorship deal.

The deal, at S$100,000, will see the club’s jerseys emblazoned with SINGA, the brand name of Field Catering’s newly-introduced energy drink.

This is Field Catering’s second association with the Jaguars, having been their club sponsor when the club entered the S-League in its inaugural season in 1996 as Tiong Bahru United.

The company has also, since 2003, been a sponsor for the S-League with the distribution of Polar Natural Mineral Water.

“We have chosen the Jaguars … because of our good relations and our early ties with the club ... We remain committed to grow with Singapore football and we foresee this will be a great partnership for a long time,” said Chew Thye Chuan, Managing Director of Field Catering & Supplies.

S-League Chief Executive Officer Lim Chin added: “They are calling it a French Revolution at Tanjong Pagar, good attendance at their matches, a fiery coach and players who are motivated.

“From an able chairman to a very committed management committee, a good general manager and all things gelling together, things are certainly happening for the club.”

TPUFC TV & JAGUARS issue launched

Tanjong Pagar United have launched TPUFC TV on youtube.

Also the Queenstown club have launched the first issue of JAGUARS, TPUFC Official Match Programme.

PAID ticket holders are entitled to one copy each. Redeem it at their Merchandise Booth by showing them your ticket.

Woodlands Wellington FC - Hippo Bus Drive-About

Did not deserved to lose

Five days after winning their first game of the season against Courts Young Lions, DPMM Brunei slumped to the earth again as they lose to Albirex.

And DPMM head coach Vjeran Simunic was incensed by what he believed to be biased refereeing.

Simunic was quoted: "I saw a foul but referee didn’t see it. I think the referee did not have a good game. I wanted to go on the pitch myself and bring his attention to my injured player.

"Today [Monday], two of my players suffered injuries and that’s disappointing.

"If Shahrulrizal hadn’t been injured, I could have put another forward but I was forced into using up my substitutions early. He suffered a knock to his meniscus and could face six weeks out."

The Croat was not disappointed by his side's showing in the game though and felt that they had done enough to register a draw.

"We played an open, attacking game but were let down by [Stephane] Auvray’s mistake [for the first goal] but I’m still proud of my local players [from Brunei], some of whom are just mere kids," he continued.

"My players constantly pressed the Albirex men and it looked like we would score any minute. They worked very hard, especially after Shahrulrizal’s injury.

"I’d rather that we impress while losing instead of winning in a poor game. It gives me hope for the future."

Deserved to lose

Hougang United coach Alexander Weaver was disappointed with the defeat to Albirex Niigata (S).

While the Englishman conceded that Albirex were a good side and they had lost to a good goal, he felt they did not put in enough effort.

“We gave the Japanese too much respect and failed to close them down fast," he lamented.

“The game was lost with a fantastic shot from a great player.”

The Englishman was nonetheless pleased with the Cheetahs' second-half retaliation, which pushed the White Swans back.

“We finished the stronger team even though our passing was not good enough [but] in the end, we deserved what we got,” Weaver said.

Albirex remain perfect

Albirex Niigata (S) have entrenched themselves at the top of the table as they won their opening 4 matches.

After defeating Hougang 1-0 at Jalan Besar on Friday, the White Swans will go onto win their second match in 4 days as they defeated last year league runner-up Brunei DPMM 2-1 at Jurong East.

In the Hougang-Albirex Matchup, a powerful long-range strike by Takeshi Nagasawa was enough to win all 3 point on the night.

But for the Albirex-DPMM game, the White Swans had to work harder as DPMM top scorer Shahrazen Said gave the Brunei side the lead.

However Albirex equalised before half-time thanks to Kento Nagasaki and in the second half, Kazuki Sakamoto scored the winner.

In another match, Geylang International won their first match of the season asthey destroyed Harimau Muda 4-1 with a hat-trick from skipper Jozef Kaplan while Nurhazwan Norasikin got the other goal.

Faizat Ghazli scored for the Malaysians before Geylang were reduced to ten men when Taufiq Ghani was send off.

Hougang United
Fadhil Salim (GK) (C), Syaqir Sulaiman, Hasree Zais, Thomas Beattie, Jeremy Chiang (Fairoz Hasan 75'), Azhar Sairudin, Mamadou Diallo, Fazli Jaffar, Liam Shotton (Sobrie Mazelan 85'), Fazly Hassan, Robert Eziako (Basit Hamid 75')

---------------

Geylang International
Takuma Ito (GK), Delwinder Singh, Norihiro Kawakami, Khayrulhayat Jumat, Duncan Elias, Fabian Kwok, Yasir Hanapi (Khairulnizam Jumahat 87'), Taufiq Ghani, Jozef Kaplan (C), Nurhazwan Norasikin (Wahyudi Wahid 78'), Shotaro Ihata (Amy Recha 68')

Lee is sleepless

Home United coach Lee Lim-saeng admits he will have difficulty going to sleep following the 2-0 home loss to Woodlands Wellington.

The Protectors once again failed to fire as they succumbed to the Rams, who finished bottom of the pile in the last three campaigns.

Speaking after the game, Lee insisted he was to blame for the result.

"This result is my fault," he said. "I will definitely take responsibility for it as the coach.

"I won't be able to sleep tonight [Tuesday] as I will be thinking about the team."

While the Korean coach took responsible for the result, one also feel he is at fault for his own problems as he drove top marksman Frederic Mendy out claiming he does not want the Frenchman in his side.
 
That is why despite their dominance in possession, the Protectors had nothing to show for it and with only one goal in 3 matches, they must wished that the Frenchman had remained

Especially as the ex-Korea Republic international admits it is something they will have to work on.

"Most importantly, we need more concentration with our finishing," Lee explained.

"We need to create more accurate passes and crosses in the attacking third; the final pass is the problem for us. That's why we need to practice more."

Home lost yet again

Home United lost their second match in row and the second in their opening three matches.

This time it was to Woodlands Wellington as the Rams hit through former Protectors Rosman Sulaiman and their marquee man Khalid Hamdaoui.

The former Moroccan international is proving his worth to the Northern club as this is the third match in a row he has hit the target and how Home United must wish they have somebody like him on their side.

The Protectors have only scored once in three matches despite the numerous chances they have continued to create in matches.

One can say they have not played badly but the game is decided on goals and at this moment they cannot scored to save their skins.

In other matches, Tanjong Pagar drew 1-1 with Harimau Muda and Brunei DPMM beat Courts Young Lions 2-1.

The Jaguars goal was scored by Kamel Ramdani while the Malaysian got their from Asri Mardzuki.

Rosmin Kamis and Shahrazen Said scored for the Brunei side before Pg Sallehuddin Damit was issued his marching orders and the Cubs later pull one back through Sherif El-Masri

Home United
Jang Hong-won (Shahril Jantan 69') (GK), Nor Azli Yusoff (Mustaqim Manzur 67'), Noh Rahman (C), Ismail Yunos, Masrezwan Masturi, Lee Kwan-woo, Hafiz Rahim (Firdaus Idros 52'), Sirina Camara, Indra Sahdan Daud, Jordan Webb, Masato Fukui

Woodlands Wellington
Yazid Yasin (GK), Ang Zhiwei, Cho Sung-hwan, Shariff Samat, Rosman Sulaiman, Atsushi Shimono, Ridhwan Osman (Armanizam Dolah 85'), Goh Swee Swee (Taufiq Rahmat 67') (C), Khalid Hamdaoui, Chang Jo Yoon (Fadhil Noh 89'), Moon Soon Ho

---------------

Tanjong Pagar United
Aurelien Herisson (GK), Anthony Aymard (Hanafi Salleh 66'), Walid Lounis (C), Zahid Ahmad, Asraf Rashid, Ahmad Latiff, Kamel Ramdani, Hafiz Nor (K Vikraman 90'), Sazali Salleh,Ismael Benahmed, Monsef Zerka

---------------

Courts Young Lions
Rudy Khairullah (GK), Al-Qaasimy Rahman (C), Sheikh Abdul Hadi, Emmeric Ong, Nurullah Hussein (Nicholas Cher 25'), Tajeli Salamat, Shamil Sharif, Nur Na'iim Ishak (Nur Ridho 64'), Sufianto Salleh, Sherif El-Masri, Ignatius Ang (Faiz Salleh 80')

S-league 2009

Singapore Cup 2009

Stage	Home Team			Away Team	Date
First Round	Brunei DPMM	1	0	Pelita Jaya (Indonesia)	29/4*
Quarter-final, first leg	Brunei DPMM	1	3	TTM Samut Sakhon (Thailand)	14/8*
Quarter-final, Second leg	TTM Samut Sakhon (Thailand)	4	2	Brunei DPMM	18/8*

* Played at Jalan Besar Stadium

League Cup 2009

Stage	Home Team			Away Team	Date
Group	Albirex Niigata (S)	1	1	Brunei DPMM	2/6*
Group	Brunei DPMM	3	0	SAFFC	5/6*
Quarter-final	Brunei DPMM	5	3	Geylang United	12/6*
Semi-final	Brunei DPMM	2	0	Woodlands Wellington	15/6*
Final	Brunei DPMM	1(4)	1(3)	SAFFC	19/6*

* All matches at neutral ground

Warriors and Stags see losing start

Both Warriors FC and Tampines Rovers lost their opening match in the AFC Cup.

The Warriors went down 1-3 to Semen Padang in Indonesia and deservedly so as the Indonesian Copa Indonesia Champions conducted waves and waves of attack against the Choa Chu Kang side defence who was missing time and time again.

If not for Hassan Sunny, it will have been a drubbing but he was helpless against the 3 goals scored by the Indonesia.

Japanese midfielder Tatsuro Inui scored for the Warriors.

As for Tampines Rovers, they must have wonder why they did not get anything from the game as they had more than enough ample chances to equalise when a goal down but yet both Khairul Amri and Sead Hadzibulic will miss them all.

The Eastern giant will pay for it as Saigon Xuan Thanh will scored two more goals before Khairul Amri and then Aleksandar Duric reply.

But it was too late as Saigon walk away 3-2 winner.

Warriors FC
Hassan Sunny (GK), Abdil Qaiyyim, Daniel Bennett, Marin Vidosevic, Shi Jiayi, Shukor Zailan (Prakash S Manikam), Kazuyuki Toda, Tatsuro Inui, Erwan Gunawan, Sufian Anuar, Mislav Karoglan

--------------- 

Tampines Rovers
Sasa Dreven (GK), Jufri Taha (Aleksandar Duric), Mustafic Fahrudin (C),Yamashita Kunihiro, Shahdan Sulaiman, Sead Hadzibulic, Imran Sahib, Anaz Hadee, Firdaus Kasman (Ahmed Fahmie), Khairul Amri, Martin Wagner (Jamil Ali)

DPMM Ivan out for months

DPMM Brunei Croatian forward Ivan Bosnjak is out of action for at least one month if not longer, according to Brunei Times.

The 34-year-old have to undergo surgery after fracturing the bones around his ear and eye during Friday night's 3-3 draw against Hougang United.

The 2006 World Cup-playing Croatian striker had played on through the pain and emerged with a bandaged head in the second half of the match

"I still don't remember even one minute of the game," he said.

"I was told we missed two penalties, and I missed one, but I don't remember anything.

"We're still not sure where should I go for surgery. I think Singapore, but we'll decide in the next few days," added Bosnjak, who has 14 caps and one international goal to his name.

No one is more worried about Bosnjak's injury than Simunic, who blames himself for allowing him to play despite knowing that he had a fracture.

The two have a long history together, with Bosnjak starting his career in 1997 at Croatian side Cibalia under Simunic's guidance.

"I feel horrible, I haven't slept all night," said Simunic.

"I should have ignored Ivan's big desire to continue the game in the second half. It was a horrible kick and we saw a fracture on his face, but he begged me to play.

"It was difficult to say no... I remember during my playing days as a goalkeeper, I risked my life to play, took injections to play... Bosnjak is the same.

"He is crazy brave. This was his first (home) game for DPMM FC and he risked his life.

"Now his face is not the same... I'm not sure who did it but it was one of Hougang's three last men.... I will have to watch the replays.

"Salleh (defender Pg Sallehuddin Pg Hj Damit) also got many knocks, but this is football I'm not complaining.

"Football nowadays is like war, not about technique. Hougang are not the same team as they were under Bacina (former coach Nenad Bacina).

"They play aggressive football and are a better team than last year, but I expected a game like this and I respect Hougang," added last season's S-League Coach of the Yea r.

Great Easten-Yeo's S-league 2011

Great Eastern-Yeo’s S-league

Home Team			Away Team	Date
Courts Young Lions	0	2	SAFFC	12/2
Balestier Khalsa	0	0	Courts Young Lions	28/2
Courts Young Lions	3	2	Geylang United	3/3
Hougang United	1	0	Courts Young Lions	14/3
Courts Young Lions	0	5	Albirex Niigata (S)	26/3
TPUFC	0	0	Courts Young Lions	31/3
Tampines Rovers	1	0	Courts Young Lions	17/4
Courts Young Lions	0	1	Home United	20/4
Courts Young Lions	0	2	Gombak United	23/4
Courts Young Lions	3	3	Geylang United	9/5
Courts Young Lions	1	2	Woodlands Wellington	14/5
Courts Young Lions	2	0	Balestier Khalsa	20/5
Gombak United	1	2	Courts Young Lions	24/5
Albirex Niigata (S)	4	2	Courts Young Lions	31/5
Courts Young Lions	0	1	TPUFC	19/6
Etoile FC	1	2	Courts Young Lions	23/6
Woodlands Wellington	0	4	Courts Young Lions	7/7
Courts Young Lions	0	1	Tampines Rovers	12/7
Courts Young Lions	2	0	Hougang United	2/8
SAFFC	3	0	Courts Young Lions	7/8
Courts Young Lions	1	1	Etoile FC	10/8
Geylang United	1	0	Courts Young Lions	13/8
Courts Young Lions	0	1	Gombak United	9/9
Courts Young Lions	1	1	Albirex Niigata (S)	14/9
Hougang United	1	1	Courts Young Lions	17/9
Home United	2	0	Courts Young Lions	28/9
TPUFC	3	1	Courts Young Lions	3/10
Balestier Khalsa	1	0	Courts Young Lions	6/10
Courts Young Lions	5	1	Woodlands Wellington	15/10
Tampines Rovers	4	1	Courts Young Lions	22/10
SAFFC	3	0	Courts Young Lions	25/10
Courts Young Lions	0	2	Home United	29/10
Etoile FC	3	2	Courts Young Lions	28/11