S. LEAGUE - SINGAPORE - NEWS

  

PROTECTORS MARCH ON TO RHB SINGAPORE CUP SEMIS

Home United secured a spot in the RHB Singapore Cup 2015 semi-finals following a 2-0 win over Warriors in the return leg of their quarter-finals.

Their victory at the Yishun Stadium on Saturday evening, as well as a 2-1 win in the first leg meant Home bested Warriors 4-1 on aggregate.

Ambroise Begue's 38th minute opener put in Home in the driving seat before Imran Sahib made sure of their victory with a deflected goal in the dying minutes of the game.

Warriors were confident coming into the game, despite their defeat in the initial leg, as Home were missing key players Sirina Camara and Yasir Hanapi through suspension.

In fact, the visitors could have levelled the aggregate in the ninth minute, but Shi Jiayi contrived to side-foot a corner wide from close range.

Home nearly made them pay for that miss six minute later, after Ken Ilso cutted the ball back for Juma'at Jantan but the latter could only lash his 25-yard shot against the post.

Ilso himself nearly got on the scoresheet in the 33rd minute, but he blazed over despite finding himself at point-blank range with only Daniel Ong to beat.

Similarly for Warriors, Karlo Ivancic wasted a great chance after being put through on goal by Hafiz Rahim but he went for a long range strike which flew past the post in the 36th minute.

The Warriors were made to rue that miss, as Home opened the scoring two minutes later.

Ilso did brilliantly well to escape the attention of his marker and he picked out Begue in the six-yard box, leaving the winger with an easy finish to put his side two goal up on aggregate.

Needing a goal badly, Warriors coach Alex Weaver threw on Nicolas Velez and Kevin McCann at half-time in order to rejuvenate his team.

His move nearly paid off, as the duo combined in the 51st minute to pry Home's defence open, only for McCann to divert Velez's cross onto the woodwork.

However, Home heeded the warning signs and tightened up considerably at the back, leaving Warriors with few chances to pull a goal back from.

The Protectors could have buried their uniformed rivals nine minutes from time, but Ilso was denied by Ong after racing through on goal.

That miss proved inconsequential, as Imran ensured there would be no late drama for Home after his pass for Azhar Sairudin was deflected past Ong towards the end of the game.

Home United: Shahril Jantan (GK), Juma'at Jantan (C), Abdil Qaiyyim, Azhar Sairudin, Ken Ilso, Stanely Ng (Imran Sahib 66'), Fazli Ayob (Sufianto Salleh 73'), Ambroise Begue (Syahiran Miswan 86'), Ang Zhi Wei, Kamel Ramdani, R.Aaravin

Warriors FC: Daniel Ong (GK), Syaqir Sulaiman, Thomas Beattie (Kevin McCann 46'), Shi Jiayi (Nicolas Velez 46'), Emmeric Ong, Daniel Bennett (C), Fazrul Nawaz (Hazim Faiz 61'), Irwan Shah, Hafiz Rahim, Karlo Ivancic, Miroslav Pejic

CLINICAL ALBIREX SEND DEFENDING CUP CHAMPIONS BALESTIER OUT

Albirex Niigata (S) put four past ten-man Balestier Khalsa at the Toa Payoh Stadium on Monday evening to secure a 4-1 win in the second leg of a RHB Singapore Cup quarter-final.

The win gave the White Swans a 5-1 victory over the defending Singapore Cup champions on aggregate, and they will face Global FC next in the semi-finals.

Balestier had created numerous chances throughout the game as they look to overturn a 1-0 loss in the first leg, but they failed to make them count.

Albirex on the other hand created significantly lesser goal-scoring opportunities, but they were clinical in front of goal and that proved the difference in this second leg.

The White Swans had sight of goal as early as the second minute, but Fumiya Kogure's long-range effort just went wide of the post.

However, the visitors managed to double their advantage on aggregate in the 19th minute, as Atsushi Kawata opened the scoring with a blistering 30-yard free-kick that went past Zaiful Nizam via a slight deflection.

Rion Taki then had Albirex on the ascendancy two minutes later, as he was left with an easy tap-in to make it 2-0 following Kawata's cross from the right.

The Tigers still had a fighting chance to get back into the game thereafter, but they were let down by their profligacy in front of goal.

Tarik Cmajcanin wasted a glorious opportunity in the 28th minute after he pounced onto Takahiro Saito's mistake and raced towards goal, but he shot wide despite having only Yosuke Nozawa to beat.

Nozawa then produced a brilliant save to tip away Miroslav Kristic's volley several minutes later, before Cmajcanin once again failed to hit the target in a one-on-one situation.

Yet another save was made by Nozawa in the 36th minute, when he parried away Poh Yifeng's fierce drive, and Albirex took advantage moments later to extend their lead.

Beating the offside trap, Kawata provided his second assist of the game as he found Shun Inaba with a close and from seven yards out the forward planted a header beyond Zaiful in the 38th minute.

Despite facing a mountain to climb, Balestier still gave it their all after the break as they created chance after chance.

The hosts had the ball in the net right after the break, but Kristic's effort was chalked off after he was adjudged to have been offside.

Robert Pericic and Emir Lotinac then headed over from close range while Kristic drilled a shot just wide, as the Tigers tried desperately to pull a goal back.

Their hard work appeared to have finally paid off in the 80th minute, when Hazzuwan Halim sent a half-volley from the edge of the box towards the bottom left corner. However, Nozawa produced an outstanding save to deny the substitute.

These misses allowed Albirex to make it 4-0 three minutes later, as Rui Kumada won the ball off Yusiskandar Yusop and he duly beat Zaiful with a fierce shot from close range.

Balestier's misery were further compounded two minutes from time, as Ridwan Jamil saw red for catching Kumada with his elbow while tussling for the ball.

The Tigers finally earned a consolation goal just before the final whistle went, with Pericic heading past substitute goalkeeper Kenjiro Ogino, but it was too little too late for them.

Balestier Khalsa: Zaiful Nizam (GK) (C), Yusiskandar Yusop, Hanafi Salleh, Emir Lotinac, Igor Cerina, Nurullah Hussein, Tarik Cmajcanin (Hazzuwan Halim 75'), Miroslav Kristic, Jonathan Xu (Robert Pericic 55'), Ignatius Ang (Ridwan Jamil 55'), Poh Yifeng

Albirex Niigata (S): Yosuke Nozawa (GK) (C) (Kenjiro Ogino 85'), Mikiya Yamada, Kento Fujihara, Takahiro Saito, Itsuki Yamada, Hikaru Mizuno, Fumiya Kogure (Rui Kumada 60'), Rion Taki, Atsushi Kawata (Yusuke Mukai 72'), Shun Inaba, Kento Nagasaki

GLOBAL OVERTURN FIRST-LEG DEFICIT FOR SEMI-FINALS SPOT

Global FC bounced back from a loss to Geylang International in the first leg of the RHB Singapore Cup quarter-finals to earn a 4-1 (2- on aggregate) win over the Eagles in the return leg at the Bedok Stadium and qualify for the semi-finals.

Geylang had initially won the first leg 1-0, and were seemingly set to progress after Bruno Castanheira had cancelled out Mark Hartmann's opener with a strike in the 76th minute.

However, Paulo Salenga struck in the 80th minute to level the tie 2-2 on aggregate and sent the game into extra-time.

Hartmann proceeded to score again in the 102nd minute to put his side in front, before claiming his hat-trick right at the death to condemn the Eagles to a 4-3 loss on aggregate.

In the second leg at Bedok Stadium on Sunday, Hartmann had lashed a fine shot beyond Yazid Yasin in the 19th minute to give his side the lead in the game and level the aggregate in a largely uneventful first half.

The game continued in the same vein after the break, with both teams struggling to carve out clear-cut chances.

Hartmann nearly scored his second goal in the 70th minute, although this time Yazid was placed perfectly to deny him with a fingertip save.

The Eagles took advantage and equalised six minutes later, with Castanheira latching onto Nor Azli's long ball before slotting past Patrick Deyto to give his side a 2-1 lead on aggregate.

However, Geylang's joy only lasted four minutes, with Salenga capitalising on a defensive mix-up to lob over Yazid in the 80th minute to make it 2-1 in the game, and 2-2 on aggregate.

Sensing that the momentum had swung back in their favour, The People's Club tried to settle matters in regulation time and amazingly hit the woodwork twice in the 82nd minute.

Captain Misagh Bahadoran then wasted two glorious opportunity towards the end as the game went into extra-time.

There, Global finally took the lead for the first time in the two-legged affair, albeit in a controversial manner.

Despite having a Geylang player injured on the pitch, the referee did not stop play and Global took advantage with Hartmann driving in a shot from the edge of the box to make it 3-1.

Both Bahadoran and Hartmann then had opportunities to kill off the Eagles but they just could not put away their chances.

The latter finally did so right at the death, as Yazid missed his interception off the line and allowed Hartmann to place the ball home from 40 yards out.

Geylang International: Yazid Yasin, Khairulnizam Jumahat (Shafeeq Faruk 104'), Kento Fukuda, Anaz Hadee, Shawal Anuar, Tatsuro Inui (Bruno Castanheira 54'), Hafiz Nor, Shah Hirul (Mustaqim Manzur 70'), Hafiz Osman, Jozef Kaplan (C), Nor Azli

Global FC: Patrick Deyto (GK), Matthew Hartmann, Dennis Villanueva, Misagh Bahadoran (C), Daisuke Sato, Norio Suzuki, Mario Clarino (Jason De Jong 69'), Mark Hartmann, Masaki Yanagawa, Jerry Barbaso, Yu Hoshide (Paulo Salenga 72')