Home United 0-2 Tampines Rovers

It seemed that only one team turned up to play just now as Tampines Rovers stuck two goals past Home United without ever playing really well. Three of Rovers' four new foreign players featured; the goalie amongst them (Sasa Dreven of Montenegro) kept a clean sheet, while midfielder Davor Piskor and winger Gligor Gligorov both scored on their debuts. As suggested in an earlier post, Tampines Rovers seem to have done shrewd business this transfer window; while none of the foreign signings, or any of their other players for that matter, played tremendously well, they did show moments of quality and can only improve as the season moves by.

The Goals
4th minute - Jamil Ali exchanges passes with Imran Sahib on the edge of the Home United penalty box. Jamil's eventual shot is saved well by Lionel Lewis, but Davor Piskor is able to head the rebound into an empty Protectors net. 0-1 Tampines

60th minute - A long goal kick from Stags keeper Dreven finds Jamil Ali in space on the left flank. His cross evades a bunch of heads at the near post but falls kindly to Gligorov at the far stick. Gligorov has time to chest the ball down and drill in a half-volley that beats Home keeper Lionel Lewis at his near post. 0-2 Tampines

The Players
Lineup (Home United): (4-4-2) Lionel Lewis; Jeremy Chiang, Rosman Sulaiman (Hafiz Nor [Shaheer Afiq]), Kenji Arai, Zahid Ahmad (Sofiyan Hamid); Masrezwan Masturi, Shi Jiayi, Rhysh Roshan Rai, Frederic Mendy; Firdaus Idros, Shotaro Ihata


Lineup (Tampines Rovers): (3-4-2-1) Sasa Dreven; Jufri Taha, Mustafic Fahrudin, Anaz Hadee; Gligor Gligorov (Aleksandar Duric), Imran Sahib, Benoit Croissant, Sazali Salleh (Ismadi Mukhtar); Davor Piskor, Jamil Ali; Ahmed Fahmie (Ali Hudzaifi)

Star Man: Davor Piskor (Tampines Rovers). The Croatian midfielder may have scored the opening goal, but he earns this title on the merit of his ability to retain and distribute the ball well throughout the game. In a scrappy game with very little in the way of good build-up play, Piskor provided some telling passes of varying lengths and ensured that the Home United defenders were not afforded a single moment's rest.

Could Have Done Better: Frederic Mendy & Shotaro Ihata (Home United). On paper, these men are two of the S-League deadliest forwards; both are tall, strong and quick, Mendy is perhaps the more skilful player while Ihata edges it in the finishing stakes. However, this vaunted front line created nothing of note all game. The likelihood is that, given time, these two talented individuals will eventually form a true-blue partnership - the rest of the league better watch out then.


Other Thoughts

• I did say that there would be a fair bit of tactical interest in this game, and happily I was proven right. Both coaches - Home's Lee Lim Saeng and Tampines' Steven Tan - set their teams out in highly fluid formations that allowed for rapid and frequent interchanging of positions amongst players. For example, Gligor Gligorov, the Macedonian winger, started the game at right wingback, started the second half on the right of a more orthodox midfield, and played some minutes up front alone before being substituted for Aleks Duric. Tampines' starting right wingback last season, Imran Sahib, started the game as one of two defensive midfielders - the other was not, as many had expected, Mustafic, but instead was Benoit Croissant, the French centreback, who by the way had an excellent game. As for Home United, Frederic Mendy started the game on the left wing and, as the game progressed, moved closer and closer to his favoured centre-forward position. Firdaus Idros, Masrezwan Masturi and later on Hafiz Nor all spent some time ploughing up and down Home's right flank.
• Sasa Dreven might well be the best of the Stags' new signings. He may be only 21, but has all the attributes - height, handling and distribution - of a good keeper and the savvies of a seasoned pro.