By Song Sung Hai

It is never easy to describe a defeat and it is harder still to describe the manner in which the Jaguars fell 2-1 to Harimau Muda B at Jalan Besar Stadium earlier. A slew of questionable decisions by the men in black on the pitch against the injury-hit Jaguars, including two seemingly legitimate goals disallowed by the referee, helped the Young Tigers get their second win in a row.

Ahmad Latiff finally returned from injury for the game and as captain too. He took his place in the centreback position, partnering Tengku Mushadad while Hafiz Osman revelled as right-back.

An incident after just eight seconds from kick-off saw Harimau Muda’s defender, Abdullah Suleiman, lying motionless on the ground when his face caught his goalie’s knee when they both went to cover a long ball in from Kamel Ramdani. He was subsequently stretchered off and replaced.

That unfortunate incident did nothing to affect Harimau Muda when they took the lead in the 13th minute through a brilliant half volley from Ramzi Sufian which had Aurelien Herisson rooted to the ground.

From then on, it was the Jaguars all the way again. Firdaus Idros and Asraf Rashid stung from the flanks and it was a cross in from Firdaus Idros down the right in the 18th minute which was redirected towards Kamel Ramdani who had no problems putting it into goal. The linesman, however, ruled Sebastien Etiemble offside for the play even though Sebastien had tracked back into line just before Firdaus fired his cross in.

Firdaus Idros once again came to the fore in the 29th minute, this time from the left flank, to fire in a cross which was footed into goal by Asraf Rashid and had Monsef Zerka pushed down along the way but instead of awarding the goal, the referee chose to award the penalty kick, earning Asraf’s ire in the process. Sebastien stepped up for the kick but the Harimau Muda custodian guessed right and palmed Sebastien’s attempt away to safety.

The Jaguars eventually got the equaliser three minutes into stoppage time of the first half. Asraf Rashid swung in a delicate curling ball into the box from the right and Harimau Muda’s Syawal Nordin returned the beauty with an immaculately placed header into the right corner of his goal.

Firdaus Idros then had two good chances to put the Jaguars in the lead. One was another nice cross in from Asraf Rashid which Firdaus sent into orbit three minutes later in the 54th minute, Asraf Rashid once again found him free in the box. A moment of hesitation allowed the defenders to cover back and Firdaus missed his window of opportunity.

It was then in the 85th minute when a harmless ball into the Jaguars half was kept in play by Ramzi Sufian. He forced his way into the box and found himself facing Ahmad Latiff who slid in to stop him. The contact did not seem heavy but Ramzi made the most of it and flung himself onto the ground.

Referee Sukhbir Singh showed no hesitation in pointing to the spot and Shahrul Igwan duly converted to give his side the win.

Head Coach Patrick Vallee was clearly disappointed with the result and felt his players should have come away with the win.
“We had a plan to hand Harimau Muda and the players stuck to it but in football, when things do not go your way then you can’t do much about it,” he added.

He was also frustrated by the penalty conceded in the last five minutes of the game, especially after having goals ruled out.

“They scored a very nice goal in the first half but after that, my team had a goal disallowed and then another one when the referee blew for a penalty which we missed. Seeing that, you will say, ‘Oh surely something wrong again tonight’ but we got our equaliser just before the halftime,” Patrick continued. “It is a big disappointment for my team because they created many chances and played well and they deserve a better result.”

Patrick also mentioned that his team will never give up and that they will be working hard for the next game while also waiting to welcome the injured players back into the team.

So it was that the Jaguars fell to Harimau Muda in a manner very bitter for Jaguars fans to accept but the Jaguars are a feisty side and we will surely come back stronger next week against Hougang United.

Till next time!

LINE UPS:
Tanjong Pagar United: Aurelien Herisson, Hafiz Osman, Tengku Mushadad, Ahmad Latiff(c), Ruzaini Zainal, Asraf Rashid, Firdaus Idros, K Selvendhran (Lucas Jester 90’), Kamel Ramdani, Sebastien Etiemble, Monsef Zerka
Head Coach: Patrick Vallée
Substitutes: Shamsudin Hashim, Shafiq Noh, Justin Khiang, Seah Si Hao, M Arvin, Afiq Tan, Lucas Jester

Harimau Muda:Ramdhan Hamid, Ashmawi Yakin, Shahrul Igwan, Azrul Nizam Muhammad, Abdullah Suleiman, Syawal Nordin, Naim Zakaria, Ramzi Sufian, Nurshamil Abd Ghani, Akhir Bahari, Nor Azam Azih
Head Coach: Razip Ismail
Substitutes: Ahmad Solehin Mamat, Akmal Chin, Asri Mardzuki, Hardee Shamsuri, Afiq Azuan, Ilham Amirullah, Faris Shah

Referee: Sukhbir Singh
Assistant Referee 1: Ong Chai Lee
Assistant Referee 2: Syed Ibrahim
Fourth Official: Muhd Syarqawi