Written by: Muhammad Yazid

Woodlands Wellington’s 2-0 loss to Tanjong Pagar United on Saturday evening not only saw their opponents gain a long-awaited win, but also saw Woodlands continue their streak of poor results.

Just last week, they were knocked out of the RHB Singapore Cup by Geylang International 5-1 in a game where chances poured in their way.

That same scene repeated itself last night as the Rams created numerous goal-scoring opportunities but failed to make them count, something Woodlands coach Darren Stewart was disappointed about.

“We played so much better than when we played against Geylang, but it is tough to take the 2-0 defeat,” he said after the match.

“We were not able to bury at least one out of the six to seven chances we had.

“Congratulations to our opponents and their goalkeeper [Aurelien Herisson] was the man of the match, clearly the best player. Their first goal was brilliant also.”

Despite the defeat, the Australian praised his team for their astounding effort.

“I salute all my boys. Four or five of them should not even be on the field with the injuries, but they stayed strong all the way and it was very inspiring,” Stewart explained.

Instead of dwelling over the fact that the results have not been going their way, Stewart chose to look on the positive side.

“If we keep playing like tonight, the results will turn around for sure one day and we will start winning,” he promised.

Tanjong Pagar assistant coach Nicolas Possetti meanwhile addressed the media on behalf of head coach Patrick Vallee, who had personal issues to deal with.

The Frenchman was delighted with the win which ended their winless streak.

“All of us are very happy with the victory after a long time and it is also our first clean sheet of the season,” Possetti said.

“We have not won a lot of games but we have always been fighting till the end as a team and tonight we got rewarded with a deserved win.”

Refusing to single out any player for praise, Possetti then gave credit to the entire team.

“The whole squad played very well. It was a great team effort, credits to every single player,” he said.

“Now we are hoping to continue the form and go for a win against Courts Young Lions on Thursday.”