SINGAPORE, 1 APRIL 2019 – Albirex Niigata (S) became the first team to take points off Tampines Rovers, while Home United clinched their first win of the season in a huge derby contest against Warriors FC. In the final day of action, the Young Lions pulled off an upset against Hougang United and Balestier Khalsa romped to victory over Geylang International; we recap the weekend’s action below…

Tampines 0-0 Albirex | Our Tampines Hub | 29 March

The White Swans took the game to the Stags and may feel unfortunate not to have come away with all three points, though the hosts had a penalty shout turned down in the closing stages. Tampines stay top of the table after four games and Albirex will hope to build on an encouraging display as they continue to hunt their first victory.  

Facts
– Tampines halted a run of nine straight losses to Albirex.
– Tampines failed to score for the first time in 17 games.
– Albirex failed to score in three successive games for the first time since August 2013.  

Tampines XI: Syazwan Buhari (GK), Madhu Mohana, Amirul Adli, Daniel Bennett, Irwan Shah, Shahdan Sulaiman (C), Yasir Hanapi (Taufik Suparno 87’), Shah Shahiran (Zehrudin Mehmedović 46’), Ryutaro Megumi, Jordan Webb, Zulfadhmi Suzliman (Khairul Amri 46’).  
Unused subs: Zulfairuuz Rudy (GK), Akmal Azman, Hamizan Hashim, Joel Chew.

Albirex XI: Kengo Fukudome (GK), Shuhei Sasahara, Naruki Takahashi, Shoki Ohara, Sota Sugiyama (Kodai Sumikawa 88’), Kaishu Yamazaki, Daizo Horikoshi, Zamani Zamri (Daichi Tanabe 46’), Daniel Martens (Yoshikatsu Hiraga 61’), Kyoga Nakamura (C), Hiroyoshi Kamata.
Unused subs: Hyrulnizam Juma’at, Gerald Ang, Firas Irwan, Shunsuke Fukuda.

Warriors 0-3 Home | Jurong East | 30 March
Hami Syahin 51’, Song Uiyoung 71’, Oliver Puflett 84’

This could be the win that ignites Home’s season as they turned in a polished second-half showing to take the Uniformed Derby spoils. An opportunistic finish from Hami Syahin got them underway and Song made an immediate impact off the bench in his first league appearance of the season. Having assisted the opener, debutant Oliver Puflett then capped an impressive display with a cool lob to round off the scoring.

Facts
– This was the 79^th edition of the derby and Home have now won the last three.
– Home won their first game of the season.
– Warriors suffered a fifth consecutive league defeat for the first time ever in their history.

Warriors XI: Shahul Rayyan (GK), Ryhan Stewart, Kento Fukuda, Emmeric Ong, Daniel Shafiq (Shameer Aziq 56’), Aarish Kumar (Sahil Suhaimi 59’), Poh Yi Feng (C), Fadhil Noh (Zulkiffli Hassim 75’), Gabriel Quak, Ignatius Ang, Fairoz Hasan.
Unused subs: Riki Kimura (GK), Yeo Hai Ngee, Delwinder Singh, Afiq Azrhy.

Home XI: Nazri Sabri (GK), Faritz Hameed, Faizal Roslan, Abdil Qaiyyim, Hami Syahin (Song Uiyoung 68’), Izzdin Shafiq (C), Adam Swandi (Juma’at Jantan 88’), Iqram Rifqi, Isaka Cernak, Oliver Puflett, Shahril Ishak (Aqhari Abdullah 18’).
Unused subs: Haikal Hasnol (GK), Hafiz Nor, Ho Wai Loon, Suhairi Sabri.

Young Lions 2-1 Hougang | Jalan Besar | 31 March
Syukri Bashir 33’, Saifullah Akbar 70’ | Afiq Yunos 58’

Fandi Ahmad’s charges got their first win of the season in style by seeing off title contender Hougang thanks to a gritty display at home. An excellent right-wing cross from Syed Firdaus Hassan was met with a superb header from Syukri to give the home side a deserved lead. Afiq Yunos’ close-range finish restored parity as the Cheetahs improved after the break, but Saifullah Akbar benefitted from some good fortune as he deflected in a clearance to seal three points.

Facts
– Young Lions won a fourth consecutive encounter against Hougang.
– Syukri scored his first ever professional goal.
– Heng How Meng became the third different goalkeeper to play for Hougang this season (after just four matches); no other side has used more than one.
– Afiq scored his first league goal in five years.

Young Lions XI: Kenji Rusydi (GK), Lionel Tan, Jacob Mahler, Syahrul Sazali, Zulqarnaen Suzliman, Joshua Pereira (C), Syed Firdaus Hassan (Gareth Low 46’), Nur Luqman Rahman, Saifullah Akbar (Rezza Rezky 87’), Haiqal Pashia, Syukri Bashir (Naqiuddin Eunos 72’).
Unused subs: Zharfan Rohaizad (GK), Prakash Raj, Qayyum Raishyan, Syahadat Masnawi.

Hougang XI: Heng How Meng (GK), Muhaimin Suhaimi (Nazrul Nazari 46’), Kong Howon, Afiq Yunos, Jordan Vestering, Zulfahmi Arifin (C), Hafiz Sujad (M. Anumanthan 79’), Fazrul Nawaz, Amir Zalani (Afiq Noor 46’), Faris Ramli, Stipe Plazibat.
Unused subs: Ridhuan Barudin (GK), Shahfiq Ghani, Faiz Salleh, Mahathir Azeman.

Balestier 3-0 Geylang | Bishan | 31 March
Darren Teh O.G. 58’, Hazzuwan Halim 65’, Kristijan Krajček 84’

Balestier rose to second in the table after inflicting a third consecutive league defeat on Geylang. Daniel Goh, who had hit the bar barely 60 seconds prior, saw his low cross turned in by Darren Teh just before the hour mark as the deadlock was broken. Hazzuwan Halim then collected Kristijan Krajček’s 50-yard pass with an excellent first touch, before calmly lifting the finish over Zainol Gulam and into the net. Krajček then scored his first goal for the Tigers by turning his marker inside out before smashing the ball in at the near post.

Facts
– Balestier have made their best start to a season since 2012 (eight points from first four games)
– There has now been a clean sheet kept by at least one side in all but one of their last 10 encounters.
– Geylang failed to score in a third straight league game for the first time since August 2013.

Balestier XI: Zaiful Nizam (GK)(C), Fadli Kamis, Nurullah Hussein, Ahmad Syahir, Fazli Shafie (Illyas Lee 85’), Huzaifah Aziz, Raihan Rahman, Daniel Goh (Sameer Alassane 90’+1), Kristijan Krajček, Sanjin Vrebac, Akbar Shah (Hazzuwan Halim 46’).
Unused subs: Zachariel Leong (GK), Khalili Khalif, Sufianto Salleh, Fariz Faizal.

Geylang XI: Zainol Gulam (GK), Jufri Taha (C) (Syahiran Miswan 64’), Yuki Ichikawa, Darren Teh, Shahrin Saberin, Barry Maguire, Firdaus Kasman, Danish Irfan (Anders Aplin 46’), Christopher van Huizen, Muhd Noor Ariff (Amy Recha 46’), Fareez Farhan.
Unused subs: Hairul Syirhan (GK), Umar Akhbar, Zikos Chua, Corey Warren.

Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram!