SINGAPORE (18 April 2011) – Aleksandr Duric saved the day for Tampines Rovers when he struck the only goal in the game to give them a hard fought 1-0 win over the Young Lions.
“In football we need a bit of luck (to gain results),” said Steven Tan, the chief coach of Tampines afterwards.
“If not for luck we could have seen more clearances off the line and even more saves in the game. Still, it was important that we get the three points.”
The young Singapore side put up quite a resistant with custodian Izwan Mahbud fighting hard to make sure Duric and Co. were kept at bay.
The score at the end of the first half was scoreless with Izwan making several crucial saves on a trot – much to the annoyance of Aliff Shafaein, Duric and Latiff.
But in spite of Izwan’s heroics for much of the second half, there was little he could do ten minutes to the end when Duric (pix) with his second stab at goal off a pass from Ismadi Mukhtar bore the only goal of the game.
With the win and the three points, Tampines are at the top of the S-League table with 23 points from nine games played as the Young Lions continue to struggle to dig themselves out of the bottom three teams.
“It was quite a scrappy one for us to concede, but a goal is a goal, and not taking anything away from Duric, he still managed to put the ball in the net,” said Robin Chitrakar, the chief coach of the Young Lions.
“We had a lot of players at the back still (in that situation), being able to recover. But I thought the boys did their best to come back and try to defend.
“Let’s not take anything away from the boys, as they did very well in terms of overall performance.”
CURRENT S-LEAGUE 2011 STANDINGS
1. Tampines Rovers FC 23pts (+13)
2. Singapore Armed Forces FC 21pts (+11)
3. Etoile FC 19pts (+8)
4. Home United FC 17pts (+14)
5. Albirex Niigata FC (S) 16pts (+10)
6. Gombak United FC 11pts (-1)
7. Balestier Khalsa FC 10 (=)
8. Geylang United FC 10 (-5)
9. Hougang United FC 10 (-9)
10. Courts Young Lions 5pts (-8)
11. Woodlands Wellington FC 2pts (-12)
12. Tanjong Pagar United FC 2pts (-21)
