Courts Young Lions: Disappointed With ‘Sleeping Defence’ - Coach Aide Iskandar

Once more, Courts Young Lions neglected to keep a clean sheet as they surrendered for the eleventh time in 12 games in the wake of going down to 3-1 to Balestier Khalsa at Toa Payoh Stadium on Thursday evening.

This brought about Young Lions coach, Aide Iskandar to express his bafflement at his team’s 'sleeping defence' as he didn't accept his group were any poorer than Balestier’s as far as making shots.

Aide, expressing his disappointment said, “Definitely disappointing score line, for me it is more of the goals we conceded because for the three goals, we failed to defend the high balls and pick up on the second balls and Balestier capitalised on that.”

“In terms of open play we managed to compete with them, we had our chances. I think there was a chance for us to go 2-2 but unfortunately we missed that chance and Balestier came back 3-1.

“The pitch was a bit difficult to play. I think we got caught within the first five minutes, and within 20 minutes the game had been won there by Balestier, we tried to come back in the second half but we couldn't do that.”

On the other side, Balestier coach Marko Kraljevic was in a great temperament after the game, as he kidded around with the press before turning serious for the post-match press conference.

Kraljevic applauded his team for the eminent execution today, particularly since they did it without the supports of the group as Park Kang Jin just fell off the bench late on in the game while skipper Paul Cunningham sits out the second round with an injury.

Kraljevic smilingly said, “Good performance from my boys today, I am really pleased with the playing, the mental skills.”

“What I am saying is that after 2-1, when you concede a goal it is very tough. I used to play many games and I know this is very tough.

“We defended well, and the midfield worked very hard, and the attackers scored goals. I mean we did very well.”

With Park crawling his path over to full wellness, the Croatian was persuaded that Balestier will now have the capacity to showcase the group's actual capability and go on a respectable run of results.

“I am always positive, of course I always think we can do better. We can score some more goals, I always think like this,” Park said.

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Kelantan: President Tan Sri Annuar Musa Announces Prince Tangoe’s Appearance In The Next Game

Kelantan's new signing, Prince Tagoe might have some minutes on Red Warriors’ next game as confirmed by President Tan Sri Annuar Musa.

After Kelantan’s win against PKNS, it will be noticed that Annuar created a post on his Facebook account saying, “Prince Tagoe can play in the next game.” The post was actually a big boost for the struggling Kelantan team.

As per Astro Arena, recent reports recommended that Chief Executive of the Red Warriors, Kevin Ramalingam has said “FIFA told us they are going to solve the issue and we are still waiting news from them.”

Azman Ibrahim, the manager of Kelantan, likewise denied reports that expressed they may recall defender Obinna Nwaneri, and he additionally demanded that Tagoe's ITC is still a work in process.

Previously, Azman conceded that they are facing troubles in finishing Tagoe's provision and that they may just utilize Tagoe for the next season.

But since Annuar Musa has officially broken this news, it appears that the striker will certainly be part of the team starting this season.

It will be noticed that lately, Kelantan's form has shown poor performances, especially right in front of the goal. And, Tangoe’s arrival will certainly be a huge boost for the team as well as with Kelantan’s supporters.

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Coach Zainal Abidin Believes Pahang’s Defeat Will Make Them Better

Pahang head coach Zainal Abidin Hassan would not like to harp on the annihilation against Selangor as he accepts that his group can bounce back on their next game.

Pahang were vanquished by Selangor on their own home ground by a scoreline of 0-1, the goal came from Selangor’s midfielder Andik Vermansyah. Now, the Red Giants are enjoying the top spot.

As per Bernama, Zainal said “It’s not the end as the season has a long way to go and we can redeem the loss by winning our next game.”

Coach Zainal conceded that he was dissatisfied with his group's performance, as they impelled great scoring opportunities throughout the game.

Rather, it was Selangor who took advantage when Indonesian, Andik scored in the 64th minute to give the visitors some vital three points.

After the win, Selangor now has the lead among all the teams in MSL with 31 points from 15 matches; they are three points ahead of Pahang who is now on the second place with a total of 28 points throughout the season.

Pahang’s next match will be against JDT at the Larkin Stadium before they get to face Selangor again in Kuantan for their second leg of FA cup semi-finals.

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FA Cup: Nik Shahrul Red Warriors’ Man Of The Hour

Nik Shahrul has been hailed as the Red Warriors hero after his last-minute clearance in the 89th minute that spared his team from losing to Felda United.

Kelantan defender, Nik Shahrul Azim has been given massive acknowledgment for denying an attempt by Felda United's Indra Putra in the final minute, throughout their 3-3 draw in the FA Cup first leg of semi-finals.

Throughout a profoundly intense game, both teams were gunning for the winning goal, yet it was previous Kelantan hero Indra Putra who ended up in an impeccable position to score before an empty goal.

But out of nowhere, his shot was cleared off of the line at the very last second by Nik Shahrul, who then injured himself in the wake of rescuing his team.

As per Astro Arena, Nik Shahrul said “I would rather be injured than let my team concede another goal.”

The last-minute clearance has lifted Nik as hero, after the home team were humiliated by the Premier League team in the first half after surrendering three goals.

Then Indra Putra said he didn't anticipate that Nik Shahrul will keep the ball from going in, and he was truly frustrated that they neglected to record their first win at Kota Bharu.

Both teams will have another face-off at the Shah Alam Stadium on May 31 for the second leg of the FA Cup semi-finals.

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S. League News: Harimau Muda B Finally Cut Off Their Losing Streak

One of the S. League's most exceedingly terrible ever runs arrived at an end on Wednesday night, when bottom-of-the-table Harimau Muda B crushed Woodlands Wellington 1-0 at Pasir Gudang Stadium.

Ramzi Sufian's 58th minute strike was sufficient to bring to an end a shocking run of 10 straight thrashings that started from the opening round of the competition.

But how awful was Harimau Muda B's 10-match losing streak?

A record-breaking number of terrible defeats. It is the most noticeably awful opening season form of a returning S. League club in the 18-year history of the competition.

Actually, the club broke the record of a 9-match losing streak of Tanjong Pagar in 2004.

However, the Jaguars had broken their record in 2004 after managing an opening run of 8 straight defeats in 2003. That year, the Jaguars finished 10th in a 12-team league.

Yet the inconveniences tormenting the club were evident then as Tanjong Pagar hauled out of the S. League from 2005, and just came back six years after.

Harimau Muda B, nonetheless, can inhale a sigh of fresh air after putting an end to their run of 10-match defeat.

Finally tasting their sweet victory on their 11th match; the club was able to somehow avoid breaking the record for the worst ever opening season form.

The tragic honour fits in with Payar Lebar Punggol FC who hold the record for the most exceedingly bad start to a season, losing an enormous 15 consecutive games in 2005. Their hopeless run finished when Courts Young Lions were held to a 2-2 draw, with future naturalized Singapore internationals Shi Jiayi and Itimi Dickson on the scoresheet for the Cubs that day.

Payar Lebar, who experienced a merger and a few name changes through the years and are presently known as Hougang United were making their introduction that year.

They in the end lurched through the season and happened to lose 25 of the 27 league matches that season. Apart from the draw against Young Lions, they dealt with a 3-2 win against Geylang United (now known as Geylang International) with Jafri Hashim finishing his hat-trick with the winning goal pressed towards the injury time.

The four points they accumulated throughout the season was also the worst tally ever for a team in the S. League.

In any case they did abstain from being remembered for all time as having the most noticeably awful defence.

The Woodlands Wellington team of 2011 surrendered a huge 92 goals in one whole league campaign despite the fact that, that was for a 33-round season.

So how faraway are Harimau Muda B from breaking any of the remaining records?

The win against the Rams keeps them at the foot of the table still, however they now have three points from 11 matches, with 31 goals surrendered and nine scored. Still, there are 16 rounds of matches to be played.

For Woodlands, they will need to fight with being the only team to not beat Razip Ismail's side this season, and need to hold up for their chance at Woodlands Stadium until the end of August.

Harimau Muda B’s next match will be against Tanjong Pagar United on May 16 at the Queenstown Stadium.

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Baihakki Khaizan back at LionsXII: The Most Wanted Rejoining Commenced

Singapore international, Baihakki Khaizan has rejoined LionsXII in the wake of being dropped from the Johor Darul Ta'zim (JDT) team a month ago.

Baihakki joined JDT this season and began everything except one of the 10 Super League matches for JDT throughout his time there.

Aidil Zafuan began as his accomplice in defence before a switch to Fadhli Shas after the introductory association didn't work out the way it was expected to.

When talking about the retraction of Baihakki's contract a month ago, the President of the Johor Football Association, Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim (TMJ) said that Baihakki is a great defender.

He pointed out that JDT required somebody with more international experience to go up against outside strikers.

In a meeting with Across The Line, Baihakki iterated that he did not harbour any ill feelings towards his removal from the club.

“Being removed from the set up is part and parcel of football; there are no hard feelings whatsoever.

In fact, (Tunku Ismail) has been very kind and understanding of the situation I am in.

The move to terminate my contract was based on mutual understanding, and joining the LionsXII will allow me to work towards winning a place in the year-end AFF Suzuki Cup with the Singapore national team,” Baihakki said.

Baihakki left all needed signatures to re-join LionsXII on a 7-month bargain however has a condition in the agreement which stipulates that he can't play against JDT in any match for the whole 2014 season.

A circumstance which puts him out of dispute for the match between the two teams on the 20th of May 2014.

Despite the fact that his contract with JDT was ended, it appears that the plan to have Baihakki joining JDT II side, is still on the works. With JDT II being in the second tier of Malaysian football, Baihakki is required to take a huge pay slice to empower him to join the group.

Of which, the core of playing with JDT II is resolute that cash is not the primary necessity for him.

“Yes it’s a massive pay cut. But at this stage of my career, I feel that there are more important things than just money. If I don’t play regularly in the build-up to the main tournament (Suzuki Cup 2014) come end of the year, I could lose out even more in football terms – and maybe in other terms as well, in the future,” Baihakki concluded.

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S. League News: Courts Young Lions Take On Protectors

A self-assured Courts Young Lions will tackle Home United in Jalan Besar Stadium after an amazing trip the last time.

Winning their second win of the season in style, they put three unanswered goals past Hougang United to obtain their first clean sheet of the season all the way.

But, the Courts Young Lions will feel the absence of the player of the hour who is responsible for those three goals, Sahil Suhaimi. He will sit out for two games following his dismissal on a match against the Cheetahs.

Young Lions’ goalkeeper, Syazwan Buhari needs to maintain his fantastic form as he will be badly needed by the club on their face off against Home United.

The Protectors collided with a stunning 4-0 thrashing by Albirex Niigata, yet bounced back to daze title and customary opponents Warriors FC 4-1 last week.

This was not lost on Young Lions coach, Aide Iskandar, who urged his charges to keep up their focus and give an unyielding test to the Protectors.

The holy trinity of Fazrul Nawaz, Qiu Li and Bruno Castanheira up front have been bringing on harm to most defences, and they have been suitably upheld by 2013 Great Eastern Yeo's S. League Player of the Year, Lee Kwan Woo as his clever passes have frustrated resistances and permitted the trio to have clear runs at goals.

A huge win over Warriors might have helped the Home camping ground. There is nobody who is more dangerous than a Home side who are confident in outscoring their rivals.

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