Written by: Khalis Rifhan

Following Warriors FC’s 4-0 drubbing of Albirex Niigata (S), coach Alex Weaver hoped that it would not be a one-off result and he rallied his players to replicate a similar effort in their next match.

“We have always been confident but we did not expect that (the scoreline) against Albirex,” said Weaver

“Their defence have been good this year and so is ours. But this means nothing if we don’t apply ourselves the same way against Courts Young Lions.”

Argentinean Nicholas Velez scored all four goals, with three of those goals assisted by Warriors top-scorer Miroslav Pejic.

But what brought smiles to Weaver and Chairman Lam Shiu Tong’s faces was Pejic’s unselfish attitude.

Especially for the last goal, when Pejic decided to square the ball to Velez, who smashed home his fourth goal, instead of going for goal himself.

“Our Chairman commended that and it is not a surprise as we got a fantastic team spirit in this team. Those two is excellent in training and off the field, as is everybody else,” explained the ex-Hougang United coach.

Weaver also gave a mention to his Prime League player Suria Prakash who had a decent game in his two appearances for the seniors.

“He has come on to the scene pleasantly surprising but Kevin Wee (Prime League coach) knows him very well and had faith in him. He did well against Tanjong Pagar and he looked like a good impact player. I am sure we will see more of him.”

Weaver’s opposite number, Tatsuyuki Okuyama was visibly upset with the scoreline.

“I am very disappointed. Of course I did not expect this kind of result. But they never give up,” remarked Okuyama who spoke through a translator during the post-match interview.

“Conceding goals, it was our mistakes, Our players lost concentration and we did not do our best until the last minutes of the game.

“We have to keep doing our best throughout the 90 minutes.”