The Protectors had not beaten their uniformed rivals since August 2016

Home United FC attacker Shahril Ishak scored his seventh goal of the season.

SINGAPORE, 4 JULY 2018 – A wonder goal from Izzdin Shafiq helped Home United FC secure three vital points in the Great Eastern-Hyundai Singapore Premier League on Wednesday at the Choa Chu Kang Stadium.

Both goals in the 2-0 victory over Warriors FC were scored in the second half, with Shahril Ishak netting against his former club to seal a first Uniformed Derby win since August 2016.

The result meant that third-placed Home widened the gap between them and Warriors – who remain sixth in the table – to nine points, though the latter might feel hard done by having hit the woodwork twice in the second half.

The first half was a scrappy affair, with chances far and few between for both sides.

Jonathan Behe had an early chance to score for Warriors after Fadhil Noh picked him out with a cross on five minutes, but he failed to get the ball under control and his eventual shot under pressure was a tame one.

Ignatius Ang then conjured two sublime crosses for Fadhil and Behe, but neither were able to take advantage.

The best chance of the half fell for Home two minutes before the break, when Hafiz Nor hit the post from the edge of the area.

Warriors then missed a superb opportunity minutes into the second half after Fadhil placed his shot narrowly wide and they were made to pay for it as Home took the lead on 52 minutes through Izzdin’s stupendous free-kick.

The Home captain slammed the ball in from 30 yards out, catching Warriors goalkeeper Mukundan Maran, who had come off his line, completely off guard.

The 20-year-old redeemed himself shortly after, preventing Hafiz from going past him with an outstretched arm after a smart pass from Aqhari Abdullah caught the Warriors defence asleep and left the forward with a one-on-one opportunity.

Up by a goal, Home started to drop deeper and attack on the break. That invited pressure from Warriors and they almost scored on 65 minutes when Behe headed against the crossbar from a corner.

Another quick attack saw Aqhari fire narrowly over, before Tajeli Salamat did the same after some sloppy defending from the Protectors.

Shakir almost doubled the lead minutes later when he embarked on a great run down the left, only to fire inches wide.

But Shahril did not waste the visitors’ next opportunity when it arrived on 76 minutes. The veteran forward had been quiet up to that point, but sparked into life with a darting run into the box to latch onto a pass and turn his marker quickly before producing an exquisite finish to secure the points.

Left clutching at straws, Warriors tried to force a comeback but apart from Sahil Suhaimi hitting a free-kick against the post, they failed to trouble the opposing goal and slumped to their second straight defeat.

WHAT THEY SAID
Warriors Head Coach Mirko Grabovac: “We had two or three good chances and like the game against Brunei DPMM, we gave away a goal from 40 metres. The second goal was also from our mistake; we are making mistakes in many games (and) I don’t know what to say.

“In the first half, we played very hard, very disciplined, (but in the) second half I don’t know why (it wasn’t the same). That first goal killed us. After that we tried to come back, we hit the post… maybe players were watching World Cup and got tired. We had better chances before giving away easy goals. I’m disappointed because we didn’t play badly.”

Home Head Coach Aidil Sharin: “It’s a good game, both sides wanted to win, both sides played attacking (football), both sides got good chances… I think with the boys’ hard work, the desire, that’s the reason why we scored the two goals. The points were very crucial for us at this time without key players. Hopefully we can continue to improve again.”

Warriors: Mukundan Maran (GK), Ismadi Mukhtar, Delwinder Singh, Kento Fukuda (C), Ammirul Emmran (Tajeli Salamat 46′), Emmeric Ong, Jonathan Behe, Fadhil Noh (Sahil Suhaimi 62′), Daniel Shafiq (Firdaus Kasman 78′), Ho Wai Loon.
Unused subs: Hyrulnizam Juma’at (GK), Hafiz Sulaiman, Poh Yi Feng, Suria Prakash.

Home: Rudy Khairullah (GK), Shakir Hamzah, Amy Recha (Christopher Van Huizen 70′) Abdil Qaiyyim, Aqhari Abdullah, Izzdin Shafiq (C), Faizal Roslan, Shahril Ishak (Amiruldin Asraf 90’+2), Hafiz Nor (Faritz Hameed 85′), Arshad Shamim, Suhairi Sabri.
Unused subs: Eko Pradana (GK), Iqram Rifqi, Muhelmy Suhaimi, Shahrin Saberin.