Sengkang Punggol FC vs Gombak United FC

Caught the game between the dolphins and the bulls at Hougang Stadium last night. What a game it was between 2 teams which i always have a kin interest in. Dolphins being the team based at my home area and i have always liked the bulls for their brand of football after watching them on Channel 5 several times last season.

And surprise surprise, the dolphins managed to overcome the odds and came out with a 2-1 victory against the ten man bulls. Definitely one of the best performance i ever seen from the Dolphins. The game was a full-bloodied affair with tackles flying in from all over. And it was no surprise when a red card was pulled out by the referee when Fazrul Nawaz went in with his boot high into the chest of Murphy Wiredu. From then on, the Dolphins started to dominate and thoroughly deserved the victory.

It wasn’t the case from the start though as the Bulls were dominating the early proceedings with the odd counter attack from the Dolphins. But as the half drawn on, The Dolphins started to get back into the game it was really some pleasing football from the Dolphins that i have not seen in previous seasons. They kept the ball on the ground and was patient in their passing. The players all know their roles and the team spirit in the team was evident in the way they covered for one another.

Several players impressed me. You have heard of the big man – small man attack combination. But how about in defence? Shahir Hamzah and Nur Azli, standing at 185cm and 168cm respectively was colossal in central defence. Shahir repelled everything that was thrown at him in the air and Nur Azli went into every tackle with 110%! So impressive was Shahir that he kept the reigning Player of the Year Gabriel Obatola in his back pocket the whole night. Obatola who? Such was Obatola’s frustration that he had to resort to gamesmanship antics. Unfortunately, referee was not fooled by him. Captain Nur Azli was everywhere until he had to come off with concussion. The midfield trio of Murphy Wiredu, Jalal and Faizal Amir impressed me as well. They were everywhere and does not look out of place against the giant Goran Subara. Jalal provided the cross which led to Obadin’s own goal as well. Jordan Webb had an inconsistent game but was alert enough to place Murphy’s mishit freekick into the back of the net for what was the winning goal. Sobrie was pretty much marked out of the game. Moussa Keita was pretty quiet in the first half until Mamadou Diallo came on and both combine to great effect.

Was really impressed with the Dolphins last night. One of the thing that i can see in this team that was lacking in previous was the team spirit. Its obvious that the players were playing for each other. Every mistake was covered by a team mate and everyone defended together as a team when it matters. Credits really to Aide for moulding a young team into what it is now.

Hopefully the Dolphins can build on this victory and go on and perform well for the rest of the season. Maybe, just maybe, they won’t finish in the bottom 2 this season!

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