Home United 1-1 Tanjong Pagar United
27 June 2013
Bishan Stadium
Scorers Firdaus Idros '59, Ismael Benahmed '84

By Ong Jiing Yih

Match Highlights

Third and fourth came to blows in the arena of Youth Olympics fame, Bishan Stadium and with it, even stevens.

A 1-1 draw had only managed to separate Tanjong Pagar United and Home United at arm's length, their positions remain unchanged.

The hosts nudged themselves ahead with a 59th-minute strike by Firdaus Idros, who seemed to break little stride upon flicking the ball past Aurelien Herisson in goal.

That was cruel justice on the Frenchman, who kept his side in the bargain and his opponents at bay for large swathes of the game.

However, Ismael Benahmed refused to lie low – much like the rest of his team – and brought about a late and deserved poacher's strike to restore parity.

There was some concern early on when Ismail Yunos had to be stretchered off the field following a 50-50 challenge.

Unsurprisingly as usual, Home relied on Lee Kwan Woo and Jordan Webb to provide thrust and inspiration in spite of that early setback.

As danger lurked on his side of the defence Ahmad Latiff had to be mindful of Webb's presence when clearing the ball out to touch.

Herisson then went full stretch to push away a stinging freekick by Sirina Camara after five minutes.

Otherwise, the visitors with Korean defender Kwon Dakyung making his league debut, were intent on testing the hosts' backline.

However, it was their turn to be tested in the 14th minute and after Lee Kwan Woo and Hafiz Rahim combined to set up Webb, Herisson came out tops with another vital stop.

Hafiz Rahim made a nuisance of himself in the box and was almost about to pull the trigger, until a smart block foiled him in his tracks.

Undeterred, Tanjong Pagar went up the other end and following Kamel Ramdani's lofted cross, Hafiz Nor produced his side's first attempt on 23 minutes.

As the likes of Lee and Webb continued to push forward a succession of fouls and freekicks were somehow given in their favour; but thankfully Herisson managed to stand tall and repelled everything Home could throw at him.

However, as time wore on towards the break the midfield was finding the going tough, at times needing extra effort to push past Sofiyan Abdul Hamid and Song Ui Yong in the home engine room.

Just as the Jaguars began to rack up yellow cards, up popped Hafiz Rahim with another attempt whose shot lacked the necessary conviction to trouble Herisson.

The Jaguars goalkeeper again denied the Protectors three minutes to the break.

When Lee waltzed though the defence and broke clear, his joy turned to despair when his toe-poke gleamed across goal aided by the Frenchman's palm.

The visitors even proceeded to conjure up their next effort on goal – a piledriver by Wilkinson after Benahmed's cutback forcing Shahril Jantan to scramble across his goalmouth.

Following a nondescript first half, Lee Lim Saeng saw fit to change his Protectors side by bringing on Indra Sahdan.

It was not the veteran forward who produced the sparks however, rather Lee who continued to be the scourge of Tanjong Pagar, who kept the score with Herisson's umpteenth spectacular save.

However, nobody told Firdaus as he slalomed past the static backline, presumably preoccupied with a foul leading to the buildup, to touch the ball into the net.

Tanjong Pagar then had two opportunistic moments which they could have forced in the equaliser – first Ramdani arrived two seconds late before he could touch in Latiff's dangerous cross.

Substitute Hanafi Salleh even dragged himself forward and it only needed a yard to connect with another well-intended centre by Benahmed.

The French forward is a firm believer of chasing lost causes and tested Shahril at his near post, who subsequently produced a double save off the resultant corner.

The Jaguars stood firm in the face of sustained pressure from the hosts for much of the match, and having performed a commanding job to contain, they finally got the reward their endeavour deserved.

Ramdani found possession in the centre circle and reached out to Benahmed, who saw Asraf in the clear.

The winger took two steps forward and pumped a low cross across the face of goal, and having resisted his marker's attention Benahmed expertly finished off a move he had partly created.

A priceless leveller six minutes from the end, there was still time to perform a last-gasp smash-and-grab raid, but the score remained till its conclusion.

D. Tokijan, standing in for Patrick Vallee, cited on maintaining concentration as he shared thoughts on the point gained.

“We went into the game with caution, (mindful of the fact) we played openly and lost 3-0 in the previous encounter. We knew the strength of HUFC, so we played defensively and played on counter attack.

The team managed to close opponents down quickly in second half but a lack of concentration led to their goal. Crucially, we brought in Asraf to (provide more width down) the flanks. In the end we're pleased to collect a vital point. We had worked on the game for past week and we're very happy.”