Warriors FC vs Home United

(27 October, Friday, 7.30pm, Choa Chu Kang Stadium)

Written by: Rashid Sulaiman

Warriors FC’’s Emmeric Ong is hopeful of a good result when they face Home United in the Great Eastern-Hyundai S.League traditional uniformed derby at the Choa Chu Kang Stadium on Friday night.

Warriors are currently in fifth spot on 30 points while Home are two position above them on 43 points.

It has been a topsy-turvy season for the nine-time S.League champions who were once challenging for the title earlier in the season before inconsistency saw them plunge down the standings.

Razif Onn’s charges have not won a match in their last five S.League encounters, picking up only two points out of a possible 15

Despite the poor run of form, Ong feels that the match against the Protectors can be the turning point for the team as they eye a strong end to the season.

“It’ll be tough as we have games against Home (United), Albirex (Niigata (S)) and Hougang (United) coming up. But nonetheless, we will always fight till the final game,” he said

“Yes we started really well and confidence was high but things started going downhill. Our confidence was hit and things didn’t pick up after that.

“We never really recovered from that slump. But we showed that we can compete against the best with that 1-1 draw with in-form Tampines. So I hope that we can prove the doubters wrong starting against Home and next up Albirex,” the former Hougang United and Garena Young Lions player added.

The two sides have met earlier in the season, once in The New Paper League Cup and twice in the S.League. Warriors showed grit to win the encounter in the League Cup while the two played out a draw in both their league meetings this season.

“Having something to fight for is crucial, but the uniformed derby is always a tough game no matter what is riding on it,” Ong noted.

“With such a talented squad, a game against Home will always be interesting. Just as how we both showed in our 4-3 victory in the League Cup and 2-2 draw in the league at start of the season.”

For Home, they will also be keen to get back to winning ways after their title aspirations were dealt a blow as they suffered a 2-0 loss to Tampines Rovers a week ago.

“I don’t want to give excuses, but we’re the only team that played so many games. Today not just one or two, but many of them didn’t look sharp at all. They’ve been playing many games since the start of the year so it’s not easy to maintain the quality,” The passes were bad today and we need to find out why. said head coach Aidil Sharin after that loss.

“Since we cannot finish first, we want to finish second. We’ve another big game against Warriors coming up at Choa Chu Kang on Friday.”

Suspension: Irfan Fandi (Home United)

Warriors FC – DLDLL

21/10/17 Brunei DPMM 3-2 Warriors FC

14/10/17 Warriors FC 0-1 Garena Young Lions

20/09/17 Tampines Rovers 1-1 Warriors FC

15/09/17 Warriors FC 0-2 Geylang International

17/08/17 Balestier Khalsa 2-2 Warriors FC

Home United – LLWWL

23/10/17 Home United 0-2 Tampines Rovers

20/10/17 Home United 2-0 Balestier Khalsa

15/10/17 Hougang United 0-2 Home United

30/09/17 Home United 1-2 Albirex Niigata (S) (RHB Singapore Cup)

27/09/17 Albirex Niigata (S) 3-1 Home United (RHB Singapore Cup)

Head to Head (S.League)

25/07/17 Home United 1-1 Warriors FC

22/04/17 Warriors FC 2-2 Home United

04/08/16 Home United 3-0 Warriors FC

22/04/16 Warriors FC 1-2 Home United

14/02/16 Home United 2-2 Warriors FC