Written by: Nevin Gabriel Khoo

After seven games without a win, Warriors FC finally managed to break their losing streak with a 5 -2 victory over bottom of the table club Garena Young Lions at Choa Chu Kang Stadium on Friday night.

Playing with a makeshift defence because of lack of personnels, the Young Lions struggled with the pace of Jonathan Behe, Hafiz Nor and in particular, Ridhuan Muhamad, who had a role in four of the Warriors’ goals.

Razif Onn’s men took the lead in the 22nd minute after some slack defending allowed Syaqir Sulaiman to rob Joshua Pereira of the ball and play Ridhuan through on goal, who then dragged the ball back to Nikola Rak for the easiest of tap-ins.

The hosts extended their lead in the 25th minute through a quick counter-attack. A ball over the defence found the surging run of Behe, who made use of his pace to round Young Lions custodian Zharfan Rohaizad and calmly chip the ball into an empty net.

Warriors’ three points seemed all but secured in the 30th minute when another brilliant ball from Ridhuan found an unmarked Syaqir in the penalty box and the defender finished with a curling shot into the top corner shot, a feat any striker would have been proud of.

The second-half was a more tightly fought contest as compared to the first, even though Warriors went 4-0 up in the 63rd minute. Hafiz Nor capped his brilliant performance with a well-deserved goal in the 63rd minute following another cut back by the tireless Ridhuan.

Their celebration was short-lived however, as the Young Lions immediately pulled one back.

Khairul Amri, who was starved of service for most of the night, managed to shrug off his marker in the penalty box and made his opportunity count by placing the ball into the bottom left corner beyond Yazid Yasin’s reach.

Galvanized by the goal, the Young Lions proceeded to reduce the deficit to two goals in the 64th minute after some neat exchanges between Rusyaidi Salime and Ryan Syaffiq saw the former going through on goal and firing past Yazid.

Things could have gotten worse for Warriors soon after as Rusyaidi was later brought down in the box, but the referee waved away the claims for a penalty.

The home team then managed to restore their three goal cushion when Hafiz Nor managed to beat the offside trap with a penetrating run. His cut-back found teammate Behe to finish from close-range in the 88th minute.

 

Warriors FC coach Razif Onn: “I’m happy because our scoring machine has started again but I am waiting bigger games. Hopefully we can to score more goals after this.”

“I believed that today’s win was a team effort … the rest of the team’s effort should be recognized as well.”

Garena Young Lions coach Patrick Hesse: “I am very disappointed to concede so many goals. Sometimes we made bad choices in terms of passing. If you have a little more experience maybe you (the team) would not lose the ball.”

“I am happy and proud about the second-half (as compared to the first), because in the first-half we did not show our true potential so I told the players (during the break) I was disappointed and that they must perform better in the second half in terms of playing better football and showing a higher intensity.

“I am proud because the players did show it in the second half and perhaps if the referee had given the penalty when Rusyaidi was fouled it could have been 4-3.”

Warriors FC: Yazid Yasin (GK, C), Zulfali Zainal, Syaqir Sulaiman, Kento Fukuda, Shaiful Esah, Poh Yi Feng (Madhu Mohana 79’), Nikola Rak (Hafiz Rahman 90’), Hafiz Nor, Ridhuan Muhamad (Fazli Jaffar 84’), Hafiz Osman, Jonathan Behe

Garena Young Lions: Zharfan Rohaizad (GK), Amirul Adli, Joshua Pereira, Tajeli Salamat, Jonathan Tan, Irfan Asyraf (Rusyaidi Salime 33’), Adam Swandi (Gareth Low 69’), Khairul Amri, Dhukhilan Jeevamani, Firdaus Kasman (C), Ryan Syaffiq