Written by: Muhammad Yazid

The scoreline was not reflective of game’s intensity, as fans were constantly kept on the edge of their seats as Woodlands Wellington held title-chasing Home United to a goalless draw at the Bishan Stadium on Tuesday evening.

Woodlands were the ones who were presented with the first opportunity of the game as Chang Jo Yoon’s effort from eight yards out in the eighth minute was saved by Shahril Jantan’s legs after the custodian stumbled upon an initial indirect free-kick.

Woodlands were finding it difficult to break down the Home defence and resorted to attempting long shots at times, as Sobrie Mazelan and Goh Swee Swee’s shots from range flew above the crossbar.

South Korean strike-partners Moon Soon Ho and Chang too had their threatening attempts from a distance.

Moon’s 30-yard left-foot shot was pushed wide by Shahril before Chang’s shot out of nowhere following some of his usual trickery swerved away from the goalpost.

The Protectors on the other hand were making use of their flanks, as Sirina Camara and Bruno Castanheira found space to deliver crosses to the danger zone. However those crosses were constantly denied by the resilient Woodlands backline.

On the half-hour mark, Qiu Li whipped in a free-kick for Fazrul Nawaz only for him to head it straight to the hands of Ahmadulhaq Che Omar.

Home’s best chance of the first half fell in the 41st minute when Fazrul’s unpressurised shot from outside the penalty box sailed right towards the arms of Ahmadulhaq.

The Protectors started the second half hungrier as they created a glorious opportunity ten minutes into the restart, when Yasir Hanapi unleashed a half-volley which was parried away by Ahmadulhaq.

Just minutes later, latest signing Masrezwan Masturi could not draw first blood for his side as Ahmadulhaq was up to his task in stopping the substitute’s one-on-one attempt.

In the 78th minute, Lee Kwon Woo saw his effort spectacularly saved by Ahmadulhaq, before Moon had his shot deflected for a corner late in the game.

With two minutes to go, Song Inyoung was left scratching his head as he agonisingly blasted his effort from ten yards out over the bar.

In the dying moments of the game, Moon was denied twice as his effort from the left side of the penalty box whizzed past the post, before he failed to put the ball past Shahril in a one-on-one situation.