The venue was the beautiful; flood-lit Jurong East Stadium; my favourite stadium in Singapore. And on hand was a moment in history: the first match ever for the newly-formed Lion City Sailors; who were of course the ex-Home United. And their opposition was the romantic Tanjong Pagar United; back after a six-year absence and formerly one of the powerhouses & most well-supported teams in the S-League.
The Lion City Sailors are known as the 'Real Madrid' of Singapore; the galacticos; the first-ever privatised club in Singapore owned by a billionaire businessman; and they made a host of star signings including top goalkeeper Hassan Sunny; influential midfield wizard Shahdan Suleiman; and national team winger Gabriel Quak. Not surprisingly; many had touted them to be championship favourites in this seasons's Singapore Premier League (SPL). As such; they were expected to coast through this opening round fixture against Tanjong Pagar; who were formed rather hastily only a couple of months ago and did not boost much star power in their ranks.
The match however; turned out to be anything but. Lacking some cohesion; the Sailors found the going tough against a highly-committed and teamwork-oriented Jaguars side. And it was a shock when the home side's towering Brazilian defender Yann Motta bundled the ball in from close-range from Tanaka's corner that left the Sailors' defence all at sea. Shocked into action; the visitors slowly clawed their way back; and Quak's beautiful left-wing cross was well headed home by Australian star Andy Pengelly to level things up before the break.
In the second half; it was the Sailors who upped the gears; starting to control possession and creating several gilt-edged chances. Time and time again though; they were thwarted by an effective Jaguars backline; especially goalkeeper Kenji Rusydi; who was unsurprisingly named Man Of The Match.
Based on this; the Sailors will have to up their game & cohesion to live up to their pre-tournament billing as top favourites. For Tanjong Pagar; with effervescent players like Brazilian Luiz Junior; Takahiro Tanaka & Ignatius Heng in their ranks; they look good bets to have a very productive season indeed.
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