Written by: Phoon Jia Hui

Warriors FC’s Prime League team were crowned champions of the Singapore Pools FA Cup 2017 after they edged Yishun Sentek Mariners FC 2-1 in front of a 2,075-strong crowd at Jalan Besar Stadium on Sunday night.

First half strikes from Clay Matthew Silvas and Daniel Shafiq rendered Zulkiffli Hasssim’s goal inconsequential as Warriors clinched their fourth FA Cup to become the most successful club in the competition’s history.

It was the Mariners who were largely on top in the opening exchanges and were unlucky not to have opened the scoring after nine minutes.

Na’iim Ishak released Zul Feshal down the left but the winger saw his low shot from a tight angle clip the post before going out to safety.

Warriors would however put their noses in front against the run of play on 18 minutes when Silvas capitalised on a defensive error before finishing calmly past Fawwaz Anuar from close range.

Zul Feshal then spurned a glorious opportunity to level matters five minutes after the opener, firing over with only the keeper to beat having been teed up by teammate Asnol As’at.

Asnol was guilty of squandering another chance two minutes before the break when he shot straight at Warriors custodian Mukundan Maran from inside the box.

They were made to rue that miss as the designated visitors doubled their lead on the stroke of half time with an unmarked Daniel heading home off skipper Aniq Iskandar’s freekick at the back post.

Current leaders of the National Football League Division One, Yishun returned after the break with more vigour and would halve the deficit three minutes after the hour mark.

After the Warriors backline failed to deal with Shamsurin Rahman’s cross, former Balestier Khalsa man Zulkiffli thumped home an accurate finish into the bottom corner to hand Yakob Hashim’s side a lifeline.

It was end-to-end stuff thereafter as Yishun Sentek sought a way back into the tie.

Zul Feshal could have made it 2-2 in the 68th minute but the 25-year-old was denied by Mukundan who produced a superb one-handed save to keep his fierce shot out.

At the other end ten minutes later, an onrushing Fawwaz foiled Qayyum Hakim before Warriors subtitute Danial Zulkifli saw his looping shot from the rebound come off the bar.

The home side would pile on the pressure in the closing stages of the match but were unable to find a way past a resolute Warriors defence as they fell just short at the final hurdle.

Yishun Sentek Mariners FC Head Coach Yakob Hashim: “It was a beautiful game of football today, we created so many chances but could not put them away – that’s football. Credit to our opponents’ goalkeeper for making a number of good saves but I am proud of my players and officials for the effort they put in, we gave them a run for their money.

“Warriors scored from our individual mistakes and killed off the game. But we came back strong, we never gave up. We will try again for the league, this is just the beginning for Yishun Sentek Mariners and I hope we can learn from this and come back stronger.”

Warriors FC Head Coach Efendi Rahmat: “It was a fantastic feeling for me to win my first trophy as a young coach. We played against experienced players and boys stuck to the plan. They showed the desire and determination to win this for everybody at the club, it’s a job well done and they deserved this.

“We were really hanging on but it was an exciting finish to the game for every boys here. I must give credit to Yishun Sentek for giving us a good fight.

“Hopefully we can keep this bunch of boys for next year and maybe some of them will be good enough for the national team, who knows? But we definitely have to keep them together.”

Yishun Sentek Mariners FC: Fawwaz Anuar (GK), Shahir Hamzah (C), Shamsurin Rahman, Ridho Jafri (Syazni Ramlee 11’), Zulkiffli Hassim, Haziq Sudhir, Zul Feshal (Rafiq Jamal 84’), Asnol As’at (Satish Varmaan 79’), Na’iim Ishak, Azlan Razak, Zulfadhli Suzliman (Amirul Walid 69’)

Warriors FC: Mukundan Maran (GK), Clay Matthew Silvas (Helmi Razali 90’), Naasirudin Wahab, Andin Djayady (Danial Zulkifli 63’), Fazli Shafie, Zuhaili Mazli, Luqman Abdul Rahman, Aniq Iskandar (C), Daniel Shafiq, Qayyum Hakim (Mikhail Ramdan 79’), Ruzree Rohzaini (Hairul Asri 43’)