Written by: Muhammad Yazid

Woodlands Wellington relished a slender 1-0 victory over Warriors FC one week after a hefty 7-1 defeat to Albirex Niigata (S) and Salim Moin, who returned to the northern side, could not have left the stadium happier.

“I only expected us to get a point so this win is a pleasant surprise,” he said.

“My players understood what I wanted in the training sessions we have had so far and tonight I feel very grateful that they responded very well.

“Everyone was hungry to get something out of his game; hopefully we can improve our position in the league table from now on, starting with this win.”

Salim then went on to share what rewarded his side with the victory.

“It is all about motivation and belief,” he mentioned.

“They must believe in themselves and with the right character and attitude, they answered well tonight.

“The system I play takes up a lot of energy from the players and requires a lot of penetration on the flanks.

“Thus I must praise my wingers Fadhil Noh and Farouq Farkhan because they worked their socks off. Credit goes to every single player on the pitch too.”

His counterpart, Alex Weaver was extremely disappointed with the defeat.

“It was a frustrating game because we failed to score a single goal,” he expressed.

“We had so many chances but could not convert any of them. But I cannot blame my players because they gave their everything.

“Credits to Woodlands, they were stubborn and resilient.”

Weaver also felt relieved that one of their closest competitors, Home United, lost points on the same day to Balestier Khalsa by losing 1-0, but feels that his team should stop relying on other teams to drop points.

“Every team is dropping points at this stage of the season but we cannot focus on what other teams are doing,” the former Stoke City academy coach said.

“We have to focus on ourselves and start getting back to winning ways. Tonight it is sad that our players did everything they could tonight but could not even earn a draw.”