Saint Wilfred, Singapore
Chestercity takes on TGA Buffalo aiming to put pressure on league leaders Teban Thunder. With the manager expecting the return of Aizam and Afizan, he was merely disappointed by the no show of the two key players. Safiuddin sit this one out along with Sufiyan, Hadi, Yusuf, Zaini, Herman.
Faizal, Syafiq still weeks away from full fitness while Izzat was down with illness. City welcome new player on board in Indra.
With only 11 players at kickoff,
City plays Rohaizad in goal, Xavier at right back, the two Aussie at the heart of defence and Syaikhan at left back. The 4 man midfield saw Eizzul at right wing, debutant Indra partners Hakim in central midfield and last week goalscorer, Jelson sticks to the left wing. 19 goal Airul partners flamboyant Alang upfront.
Equal possession between the two teams as TGA has build and aerial threat compared to City but that does not put City off as they drew first blood. Alang showed why he was missed in the last match as he mesmerized the whole TGA team, rounds the goalie only to see his shot saved but squared the rebound to Airul who scored his 20th goal of the season with a shot to the roof of the net. City leads 1-0 in the 10th min.
TGA pressed on. 4 mins later, they won a freekick at the edge of penalty box but the midfielder scuffed the shot over. Charlie was outstanding at the back cutting off every single attack from TGA. Good leadership by the captain.
Indra on the other hand link well with Hakim. One link up play by the duo was excellent which saw Indra's through ball released Jelson free one on one but somehow he scuffed his shot wide. Things were boiled over as TGA midfielder caught Indra with a late tackle and both players squared up to each other only to be separated by each side and referee did his job by booking the two players.
Half time stays at 1-0 with City dominating.
Second half, the arrival of Tam is a boost for the City players as they intend to extend their lead.
2 mins after the restart, the referee awarded a freekick to City for shirt tugging but showed Alang the yellow card after the forward's intentions of elbowing the right back. The freekick was put just over by Indra.
6 minutes later, Izad makes a good save after TGA found themselves in a good position to score.
Tam and Hafiz was brought on in replace of Jelson and Stanton.
Again Izad was in action yet again in the 54th min making yet another great save this time to deny the TGA top scorer, Krauss. Izad was on fire.
4 mins later, City were 2-0. This time Airul return the favour to Alang as the forward burst into space and tucks it in to the bottom corner. City were celebrating. City defended well as every attack was stopped and TGA rues their chance on getting back.
In the 60th min, It was all over. Hakim found Airul who lays it to Indra who spotted the run of Alang who scored a photocopy goal giving TGA custodian no chance to Make it 3-0. City held on to possession pretty well but TGA shifted a gear up and was trying their best to claw back into the game which one found to the corner after the TGA player volleys with Izad rooted to the spot. 3-1. That marks the end of Syaikhan's game after the clash leaving him with a suspected broken arm.
Final min of the game, it was the icing on the cake for City as Alang picks up Airul's flick on, left the right back scrambling back, bamboozles the goalie and defender before scoring his hattrick leaving the players in awe.
City ran out 4-1 winners.
Captain Charlie commented after the match, "Today was a great display of playing for each other, and being patient until the opportunities arose. These are the qualities of a champion winning team. It's taken up until the last two weeks but it was to be expected to take a while given we are a new team who only met each other a few months ago. And it's is very pleasing to see some of the fringe players stepping up and putting in performances that are worthy of being in the starting eleven. Some may even have cemented their position even when all the players are back and available."
Hattrick hero, Alang also said,"Overall our team played well. Only thatt we need to buck up the defence. The opponent played well to when they tried to penetrate our defence. Credit to our goalkeeper for making alot of great saves. For the hat-trick,well i tried my best to to win for the team and i manage to get the goals thanks to my team mates. I always tried to play my best during evry game. Hopefully we'll play better for the coming remaining games."
City coach Ridwan added,"Well we are giving our final push to the title. With Teban having a scare today by Silver Titans, I can see the pressure is on them to keep the pace at the top. We are giving our best. Yet again the players overcome the odds, it's a good experience for young players like Xavier, Jelson and Eizzul to play in such atmosphere cause this match will make them stronger and they will be mentally prepared if the occasion arises. Good team display and I can't ask for a better more performance from the lads. We did the double over TGA and we did it tremendously well. I just hope that Teban would drop some points as they've yet to meet TGA. Izad was great in goal denying a few clear cut goals. Indra had a good debut today. With Faizal, Izzat missing, I hope that Indra and Hakim can control the central of the park just like they did today. Both were outstanding. Charlie was exceptional. At his age, he never stops running and that is what a great example of Captain Marvel has to do. Overall performance by the team was 10 out of 10 today, About Syaikhan's injury, i pray for the best cause it does not look good just now. Will be getting updates on him.
