Written By: Kenneth Ho
Harimau Muda coach Razip Ismail was pleased his side achieved their target of finishing above rivals Courts Young Lions in the league table after a 2-1 win over Hougang United.
With only one game left to play, the Young Lions are unable to overtake Harimau after a 1-1 draw with Geylang International on the same evening saw the gap between both sides grow to five points.
“We were under a lot of pressure before the game with Hougang as it was tight with Young Lions but tonight’s win confirmed our position, which met our target of finishing above them,” Razip shared.
The manner by which Harimau attained their win also pleased Razip, as he witnessed his charges overturn a 1-0 deficit in the game despite missing several regulars who have been called up to the Malaysia national team.
“I am glad of the way my players played despite being down 1-0,” he added.
“The attitude and fighting spirit was excellent, and we deserved the win.
“It was very worrying before the game as some of the players have not been playing for quite some time but I think they showed that they are capable – when you need them, they will play very well.”
Hougang coach K.Balagumaran on the other hand was fairly disappointed he suffered a loss in his first game since taking reins of the team.
While he welcomed Nurhilmi Jasni’s 16-second goal, Balagumaran also felt that it played a part in his side’s defeat.
“I didn’t expect us to score that early and for the first 10 to 15 minutes we were in control,” he explained. “But we became overconfident and a lapse of concentration saw us conceding the equaliser.”
Still, the new man at the top refused to blame his charges as he felt that they had done plenty to merit a win, only for Harimau goalkeeper Ilham Amirullah to be in superb form.
“I was confident we could have gotten the three points and they did play according to the game plan, the boys did very well,” he said.
“I will tell the players to go and enjoy the next game, don’t put pressure on themselves. Whatever happens, just enjoy the game and the result will come.”
