Written By: Kenneth Ho
Hougang United managed to pull back against Tanjong Pagar on Wednesday evening at Hougang stadium by scoring a late goal to draw 1-1 with the visitors.
Hougang experienced defender Lau Meng Meng came off the bench and scored a goal in the 83rd minute, before having a couple of good chances which he was unable to put away.
The result has left Hougang coach Amin Nasir with mixed feelings, as he was contented with the point, but rued the chances at the very end which would have given his team the three points.
“We look at the actual whole, this is football, we try our best, I don’t say I’m disappointed, but if you break the game into two halves, first half I wouldn’t say we were bad, but we weren’t that good,” Amin added.
The Hougang coach went on to stress that this was a matter of consistency for his side, and revealed that he has spoken to the lads about their inability to start well.
“This is about consistency, I just told the boys, why can we play in the second half but not the first,” Amin shared.
“We did everything in training, but somehow they have to ask themselves why do we always struggle in the first half.”
Amin’s counterpart Patrick Vallee was less than happy about the draw, especially after they came so close to seeing the game out.
However, he was adamant that his side deserved at least a point, and that Hougang only had some clear chances towards the end of the game.
“Of course I am not happy about that. But I am happy with the performance of my team, They tried to play football, they tried to create, but its 1-1,” Vallee said.
“Of course Hougang had a few chances to win the game, everybody remembers the last moment of the games, but they deserve to win the game? I don’t think so.”
This game was also the eighth consecutive match that Tanjong Pagar United striker Monsef Zerka has failed to find the net, but Vallee insisted he was not alarmed by his striker’s form.
“No I am not worried, sure I would like him to score but when you see Monsef, he is a fighter. Every game his technique is superb and you can’t blame him. He wants to score for the team too,” the Tanjong Pagar coach said.