Tanjong Pagar United 1-1 Geylang International
28 Aug 2013
Queenstown Stadium
Scorers Shotaro Ihata '62, Kamel Ramdani '90

Kamel Ramdani came to the rescue as his late heroics rescued a face-saving point for Tanjong Pagar United in Great Eastern Yeo's S.League.

The point and confirmation of a top-six placing was ultimately achieved after a bruising encounter which featured no less than five yellow cards.

In a night where two founding members of Singapore's top flight did battle the end result was 90 minutes of end-to-end action, a disallowed goal for Jozef Kaplan and a share of the points.

Much of the talk pre-match centred on the abilities of the hosts to rouse themselves from the slumber, following the shocking result three days earlier.

Despite circumstances involving injuries and suspensions to give a slightly depleted squad and also opponents' reading of their play, Tanjong Pagar regained their lustre and semblance of pride.

If only Shotaro Ihata didn't net his maiden strike of the season with a header at the far post.

The result could have been much worse despite them making the early running only to concede possession for much of the first half.

With both Ahmad Latiff and K Vikraman suspended, the likes of skipper-on-the-night Zahid Ahmad and returning playmaker Ramdani and took to the field.

In addition, Shafiq Noh sand Irfan Ibrahim came off the bench for their league debuts late on.

Harithzan Jantan and Ihata were drafted into the Geylang lineup with their side decimated by a lengthy injury list.

For starters it was Jalal, who was to have a decent evening, that produced the first attempt of the night.

Having profited from a foul on Stefan Milojevic the left-sided player scooped the resultant freekick wide of the mark.

Milojevic was next to be involved when he headed over a delivery by Duncan Elias and then a free header off Jalal's centre, in the 11th and 24th minutes respectively.

The rainy conditions somewhat affected the game as a spectacle as was the continuous sequence of niggling fouls on Monsef Zerka.

Positively though, Ismael Benahmed produced the first attempt on target on 26th minutes after both Hanafi Salleh and Asraf Rashid combined to free him up.

The Frenchman then continued his pursuit of the opening goal, chasing down a raking through ball by Kamel Ramdani and left young Harithzan and Norihiro Kwawkami trailing in their wake – if only his effort troubled the goal.

Hence no surprise of a tense, tepid affair which offered little in the way of creativity.

As the visitors held their own in terms of possession, it went all the way until just before the break where Zahid shot straight at Takuma Ito from over 25 yards.

Straight after the restart the visitors continued from where they left off, with Geylang's Yasir Hanapi a significant threat as time passed.

Thankfully, the Tanjong Pagar defenders literally threw their bodies about and prevented the academy graduate from making full use of the ball.

Otherwise, the massed ranks of white shirts continued to prove a stumbling block en route to goal.

The Jaguars could even afford the sight of Jozef Kaplan running through only for him to rifle his effort into the advertising hoardings behind the byline.

Approaching the hour mark, Aurelien Herisson had to be at his best to tip away a teasing freekick from Jalal.

However, the goalkeeper could not prevent Ihata from opening his accounts after the ex-Albirex Niigata hitman glanced in Jalal's subsequent corner.

With less than 30 minutes to go before the end of the match, there was still time for the Jaguars to give their opponents a taste of their own medicine.

Needing two goals to turn things around the team had nothing to lose and went for the jugular.

Amazingly, the fouls did not stop unlike the rain and Fuad Ramli escaped a certain red card when he looked to have caught Ramdani following a full-blooded studs-up challenge.

That brief setback did not stop the hosts however, typified by John Wilkinson who let rip from near the edge of the box late on, in a bid to force an equaliser with minutes left on the clock.

Hafiz Nor popped up moments later to ensure the sustained assault only to see his shot deflect away for a corner.

Thankfully, endeavour paid off in handsome fashion after Zahid, Zerka and Benahmed all had a hand in the equaliser.

The captain's lofted ball deep into the box approaching stoppage time was cleverly knocked down by Zerka, which Benahmed looked to devour.

Brilliantly done, the Frenchman instead decided to tee up his fellow countryman who accepted the invitation to shoot the ball into the bottom-right corner.

Head coach Patrick Vallee was composed as once again, the team gets the credit.

“Firstly I want to congratulate my team who had been hardworking. We have achieved our first objective of top six so there's no need to wait for other results. We deserve to achieve the top six position. I'm very happy because everything is against us at this moment, but we never give up – the players wanted to get a good result by the end of the game.”

The French tactician also shared his thoughts on how Ramdani's return and how far the Club has progressed this year.

“Everyone can see what Kamel brings to the team – he's technically better, he tries to help the team and it's easy to play with him. Also, the Club believed in me and gave me a free hand; it has been two years since Tanjong Pagar returned (to the S.League) and we've achieved lot. Now we see what we can do better.”

Tanjong Pagar United

Aurelien Herisson, Hanafi Salleh (Shafiq Noh ’80), Anthony Aymard, Zahid Ahmad, Azhar Ahmad, Asraf Rashid (Irfan Ibrahim ’85), John Wilkinson, Kamel Ramdani, Hafiz Nor, Monsef Zerka, Ismael Benahmed

Substitutes not used: Abdul Rahim, Shamsudin Hashim, Rizawan Abdullah, Seah Si Hao, Nazri Jaffar

Coach: Patrick Vallee

Geylang International

Takuma Ito, Duncan Elias (Andrew Tan ’46), Norihiro Kawakami, Jalal, Wahyudi Wahid (Fuad Ramli ’36), Harithzan Jantan (Wyldan Wisam ’74), Taufiq Ghani, Stefan Milojevic, Yasir Hanapi, Jozef Kaplan, Shotaro Ihata

Substitutes not used: Joey Sim, Asshidiq Wahid, Ashrul Syqfeeq

Coach: Kanan Vedhamuthu

Referee: Leow Thiam Hoe
Assistants Referees: Lim Kok Heng, Daniel Wong
Fourth Official: W Ravisanthiran

Booked: Asraf Rashid (’30), Monsef Zerka (’32), Zahid Ahmad (’36), John Wilkinson (’67)