By Song Sung Hai

The Jaguars defeated the Young Lions 3-0 earlier at Queenstown Stadium to record our second consecutive clean-sheet victory for the first time this season in the S.League.

The Young Lions were simply outclassed and could find no answers to withstand the onslaught of the Jaguars who were raring to show their class on the night.

It took only sixteen minutes for the Jaguars to stamp their authority in the game. Ruzaini Zainal had perhaps intended for his punt up to be an in-swinging cross but instead the ball flew straight at goal and the Young Lions’ custodian managed to fumble the ball into his own net.

The Jaguars created several more chances in the first half but some desperate defending denied the likes of Firdaus Idros and Monsef Zerka. Hafiz Osman also had a chance to follow up on his goal last weekend but his header off a Monsef nod-on went wide with only the keeper to beat.

The only real danger of the night from the Young Lions came in the 57th minute when Sahil Suhaimi’s shot escaped everyone, including the stretched hands of Aurelien Herisson, but ended its flight smashing into the post.

That attempt perhaps sprung the Jaguars into necessary actions to secure the win and the pressure piled onto the hapless Young Lions.

Kamel Ramdani rose ahead of his marker to head in a free-kick from Sebastien Etiemble with the goalie stranded in No Man’s Land just a minute past the hour mark. Merely four minutes later, Sebastien Etiemble turned his markers inside out within the box and drilled a ball in goalwards. Monsef Zerka was present to slide the ball into goal for his fifth league goal and second consecutive goal.

The Young Lions tried hard to get back into the game but Aurelien Herisson was once again in fine form and dealt with crosses into the box with little trouble. Captain Ahmad Latiff and Hafiz Osman marshalled the defence well once again and with added support from Sazali Salleh and Anthony Aymard, play down the middle was always going to be owned by the Jaguars.

Firdaus Idros returned from suspension and straight into the starting eleven and he showed why Head Coach Patrick Vallée had faith in him with his high workrate and mazy runs deep into enemy territory.

Head Coach Patrick Vallée had every reason to be happy with the performance and the win of the night.

He said, “This is a second win in a row and it is very good for the mentality and teamspirit. I am also pleased with how we managed the game tactically. We know the Young Lions just had a game on Monday so we managed our fitness well and took our time and scored the goals at the right moments.”

Patrick also mentioned how the team performed well defensively and that made the win even sweeter.

“We did not concede a goal and offensively, we were able to score and that is very good for the team’s confidence, especially with Albirex Niigata coming up next. They are a very tough team but we can do something good if we can keep up the concentration and the desire to win.”

With this victory, the Jaguars finally move up into 9th place on the table but Woodlands Wellington are only a point away and they do have a game in hand. More importantly, the Jaguars are slowly getting the points back in style and Albirex will prove to be an interesting opponent next week.

Till next time!

LINE UPS

Tanjong Pagar United: Aurelien Herisson, Hafiz Osman, Ahmad Latiff(c), Ruzaini Zainal (Hanafi Salleh 83′), Asraf Rashid (Zahid Ahmad 90′), Anthony Aymard (Tengku Mushadad 78′), Sazali Salleh, Firdaus Idros, Kamel Ramdani, Sebastien Etiemble, Monsef Zerka
Head Coach: Patrick Vallée
Substitutes: Shamsudin Hashim, Tengku Mushadad, Shafiq Noh, Zahid Ahmad, Sazali Salleh, Hafiz Rosli, Zairul Rahmat
Cautions: Sazali Salleh (45′), Firdaus Idros (80′), Ahmad Latiff (84′)

Young Lions: Syazwan Buhari, Fadil Kamis, Delwinder Singh, Faris Azienudin, Stanely Ng, Nur Naiim Ishak, Jordan Webb, Sahil Suhaimi, Sherif El-Masri, Amirul Adli, Ammirul Emmran
Head Coach: Aide Iskandar
Substitutes: Shahul Rayyan, Ali Hudzaifi, Iqbal Hamid Hussain, Amy Recha, Shameer Aziq, Shahrin Saberin, R Aaravin
Cautions: Ammirul Emran (27′)

Referee: Farhad Mohd
Asst Ref 1: Nathan Chan
Asst Ref 2: Muhd Farhan
Fourth Official: Lim Kok Heng