Woodlands Wellington vs Harimau Muda

(October 30, Thursday, 7.30pm, Woodlands Stadium)

Written by: Shawn Lim

The final game of season for Woodlands Wellington and Harimau Muda will see the two sides battle it out against each other to not finish the season at the bottom of the Great Eastern Yeo’s S.League table.

It has certainly not been the best of seasons for Woodlands, as their attempts to emulate the high of a top-five finish of last season failed miserably this season.

Already struggling to stay away from bottom place, a moment of lapse in concentration from either team could see them lose the match and finish the season as wooden spoonists – something Woodlands is not unfamiliar with.

The Rams will need to be firing on all cylinders to win this match, but it remains to be seen if South Korean strike-partners Moon Soon Ho and Chang Jo Yoon will put on their scoring boots and lead the front line.

They will sorely miss captain Rosman Sulaiman in defence due to suspension. The tenacious skipper’s pull-no-punches style of challenges and his key decision-making skills have made him one of the Rams’ key players this season.

As for Harimau, they will be sweating to see if Ramzi Sufian recovers from injury to bring in the goods as the forward has banged in eight goals this season so far, one more than Woodlands’ current top scorer, Chang.

Suspensions: Rosman Sulaiman (Woodlands Wellington); Muhd Nor Azam (Harimau Muda)

Key Men To Watch

Woodlands Wellington: Milos Jevtic

With Rosman suspended, Woodlands’ key defensive duties will fall onto his partner, Milos Jevtic. Strong in the air, the Serbian is more than capable of keeping the Rams’ backline steady and unbreachable.

According to InStat, in Woodlands’ loss against Tanjong Pagar, the 24-year-old made a successful 38% of aerial challenges against the Jaguars.

Harimau Muda: Ashmawi Yakin

Harimau will sorely miss winger Muhd Nor Azam who is a threat on the flanks, but it is surprising to note that it is captain Ashmawi Yakin, a defender, who has been making key passes for the Young Tigers.

In their close loss to Geylang International, the skipper made a successful 86% completion of passes.

Woodlands Wellington – LLLLD

21/10/14  Woodlands Wellington 1-2 Courts Young Lions

15/10/14  Tanjong Pagar United 1-0 Woodlands Wellington

3/10/14    Geylang International 2-1 Woodlands Wellington

18/9/14    Woodlands Wellington 0-3 Hougang United

30/8/14    Woodlands Wellington 1-1 Harimau Muda

Harimau Muda – LLWWL

23/10/14  Harimau Muda 0-5 Tanjong Pagar United

15/10/14  Harimau Muda 1-2 Geylang International

4/10/14    Hougang United 0-1 Harimau Muda

1/10/14    Courts Young Lions 0-1 Harimau Muda

5/9/14      Harimau Muda 1-5 Balestier Khalsa

Head to Head (S.League)

30/8/14    Woodlands Wellington 1-1 Harimau Muda

7/5/14      Harimau Muda 1-0 Woodlands Wellington

18/5/13    Harimau Muda 2-0 Woodlands Wellington

26/2/13    Woodlands Wellington 1-2 Harimau Muda

22/9/12    Woodlands Wellington 0-2 Harimau Muda

15/4/12    Harimau Muda 2-1 Woodlands Wellington