Written by: Muhammad Yazid

Courts Young Lions and Harimau Muda shared the spoils of a goalless encounter at Jalan Besar Stadium on Sunday evening, and both sides’ coaches were satisfied with the draw.

The hosts’ coach, Aide Iskandar was pleased with his side’s performance as he said, “We played good football at some moments of the game and we created more chances than our opponents.”

“Before the game we knew of the challenges ahead and now after the game, I think we did well.

“I see players stepping in with responsibility. They did well to replace the missing players.

“We never gave up and went for the three points till the dying moments of the game. I am proud of my players because they are able to salvage a point.”

However, the former international skipper was slightly disappointed that they failed to claim a win which would close down the gap on Tanjong Pagar United and draw them even closer to the Jaguars.

“I am disappointed that we could not get the three points with home advantage,” he said. “We were focused on stopping conceding silly goals and mistakes and limited Harimau’s chances.”

“At the end of the day it is about scoring and we failed to do that.

“We tried to collect as many points as possible and we have to progress from here.”

His counterpart, Razip Ismail, was slightly relieved at the result, as the Malaysian side finally resumed their campaign after nearly two months of absence due to international commitments.

“The draw was clearly a fair result and we were little lucky to get away with a point,” he mentioned.

“But I think the one point is good enough because it is difficult to play after a long rest without any competitive games. We only played three friendly matches in the fasting month and we did not participate in the StarHub League Cup.

“Our goalkeeper, Ilham Amirullah saved us tonight with his crucial saves and our midfield was well organized. Shahrul Igwan had an exceptional game and had a good chance to score.”

While the target was to earn a win, Razip admitted that the asking a little too much of his injury-stricken team.

“Our intention was to win and reach Young Lions in the table. It could have been a perfect time to beat them with this part of the season,” he said.

“But it was difficult. We lost a few key players through injuries just before we departed to Singapore but all my players did their best.

“Our first half was not very good and we tried in the second but still could not find the net.”