Eagles' Solid Defence Holds Warriors Status Quo

By Janet Chia

(original submission to voxsports)

The game between Warriors FC and Geylang International FC kicked off at 8pm on 6^th August at Warriors' homeground, Choa Chu Kang stadium. The game of round 19 saw 9^th placed Eagles and 10^th placed Warriors which are two points apart at the start of match, put in their best effort to claim the full three points crucial for top six finish in the league.

With the return of both teams' star strikers, Eagles' Jozef Kaplan and Warriors' Mislav Karoglan after suspension, the two teams were evenly matched on both offense and defense.

Early challenge by Warriors just two minutes into the game saw Warriors' offense into the box which was promptly cleared by Norihiro Kawakami at first attempt. A quick return saw Matthew Abraham sending a close pass to Abdil Qaiyyim, however his deflection to Marin Vidosevic went high above the bar under tight pressure from Eagles' defenders.

At 14^th minute, Warriors passed from the flank to Zulfadli Zainal Abidin who then passed to Kazuyuki Toda whom connected the ball to Tatsuro Inui. However, not withstanding Eagles' defense, Inui's shot at goal went wide.

Hero of the Eagles' defence line, Nori subsequently brought the ball out to midfield and promptly cleared it off the side. The first half saw Nori's numerous stellar clearance to deny Warriors of any chance to put in the opening goal.

Eagles came close to scoring at 16^th minute when Takumi Ito collected a corner ball and passed it to Jozef, but was cleared off by Abdil. 6 minutes later, Eagles lost the opportunity to score after Stefan Milojevic skillfully brought the ball close to the goal but hesitated, thus giving Warriors time to build up their defense.

At 30^th minute, Ito displayed Eagles' superior defense again by denying Inui's freekick which was aimed at the top left corner. The full stretch dive saw the ball denied entry off Ito's gloves.

While both teams worked hard to put in the opening goal, at half time, the score remained at 0-0.

The 54^th minute saw Eagles yet another attempt at goal, however was saved by Hassan Sunny. Eagles' captain Jozef was charged with energy, and ran across the pitch several times in Eagles' serious attempt to put in the opening goal.

Three minutes later, Inui's kick from the corner almost broke Eagles' goal after Ito went low on the first save which saw the ball rebounded to Warriors right in front of the goal. It was Eagles' solid defense that shutted Warriors out again.

At full time, both teams were contended to walk away with one point each as the score stood at 0-0.

Coach Kanan creditted his boys for the draw and recognised the challenge for Eagles to go into Top 6 of the league table after not claiming the full three points. However, he affirmed that ambitious Eagles will still continue to work hard and aim for Top 6 finish.