Tanjong Pagar United 1-0 Hougang United
4 July 2013
Queenstown Stadium
Scorers Monsef Zerka '22

By Ong Jiing Yih

Tanjong Pagar United remained four points adrift of second place following a hard-fought 1-0 win over Hougang United.

Monsef Zerka's 22nd-minute strike proved to be the difference as its execution was class personified – hard work yet effortless, simple yet majestic.

However, the contributions of an unsung hero cannot go unnoticed.

Aurelien Herisson was again in the thick of the action, making save after match-winning save – with one from Azhar Sairudin's freekick the pick of the bunch – and went on to draw praise from his Head coach after the game.

To offset the absences of Sazali Salleh and Zahid Ahmad, whom were out due to supension, Hanafi Salleh and Asraf Rashid were both included in the first eleven.

Over at the visitors, Igor Cerina made his debut in a team that still possess the likes of Syaqir Sulaiman, Lau Meng Meng and Faizal Amir as usual.

It was their star midfielder who in fact fired the first salvo in the opening minute.

Herisson, in his usual reliable self, was sufficiently competent to deal with the incoming strike and pushed it away.

Next was Mamadou Diallo who embaked on a shoot-on-sight policy only to find the wrong side of the near post following a long Cerina freekick.

Nur Hilmi Jasni then nearly capitalised on a rather soft backpass by Walid Lounis but could find no way past Herisson.

After some sustained pressure on the visitors' goal, the hosts thought they were going to record their first shot on target, only for fate to turn out otherwise.

Wilkinson's freekick found Zerka but before it could find a team mate and Syaqir was already on hand to head it out of danger.

Blocked shots seemed to be the order of the day and when Ismael Benahmed was about to profit from a couple of them, up came the linesman's flag to deny an 18th-minute opener.

Cerina seemed to be holding his own next to Syaqir, but he and his team were to be found out four minutes later.

In a flash, Kamel Ramdani toe-poked a pass forward and Zerka suddenly found himself in the clear, and promptly capped the move with a well-executed finish.

Benahmed threatened to double the team's tally before blasting over moments later, while Zerka drew a near-post save from Fadhil Salim.

With proceedings swinging Tanjong Pagar's way, Ramdani the swung in a cross into a danger zone, and as both Asraf and Benahmed leapt in a bid to connect, the latter brought out a tipping save from the overworked Fadhil.

It would not be Hougang not to cause concern however, as Nur Hilmi headed against the post on the half-hour mark.

Niggling fouls ensued until Jerome Baker attempted to pick his spot, succeeding only in finding the imposing Herisson in goal.

Danger lurked once again approaching the break but when Diallo created space for himself and launched a low grounder, the effort trickled inches past the right-hand post.

Play resumed after the break as the high octane show by both teams continued, and after Nur Hilmi snatched at his close range attempt Zerka almost scored having nudged in behind Syaqir.

The two sides were bent on an enthralling contest and after Fadhil fisted away the Moroccan's effort, Herisson at the Jaguars' end saved from Diallo virtually by the skin of his shin.

The Frenchman furthered enhanced his reputation by grabbing hold of Thomas Beattie's long-range effort on 54 minutes.

The match was not without chances as both Tanjong Pagar and Hougang had a right go, Hafiz Nor at one stage bothering Fadhil to the extent of the goalkeeper knocking away his testing cross at full stretch.

A foul by Ramdani on Diallo led to a 60th-minute freekick and with set-piece specialist Azhar in tow the away side fancied their chances.

Hold on though – they needed more thrust to pry open their way to goal.

Their defence meanwhile was almost breached in the 69th minute when Asraf found Zerka in the clear, apparently getting the better of Faizal who then recovered in time to perform a crucial block tackle.

Following the nearly chance, Benahmed then turned and shot after a long bout of the pinball the the box, reaching only a yard short of finding the target.

Moments later, the Hougang side saw fit to change things around and introduced Sobrie Mazelan and Liam Shotton into the match.

Skipper Walid Lounis kept to his side of the bargain however, putting his body on the line by blocking out Lau Meng Meng's intended fierce drive from the edge of the box.

Herisson proved colossal as he held onto a succession of crosses, and could even afford to see Beattie snatch at his volley.

With danger subsided and confidence growing, Wilkinson led the forward charge and rode through a couple of challenges in midfield in a bid to seek the game-clinching second goal.
Nevertheless, the Jaguars rode the storm impeccably to secure the result without much incident late on.

Post match, Head coach Patrick Vallee was pensive but nonetheless pleased to secure a clean sheet and the three points.

” I prefer to win 1-0. It might have been very difficult but I like (it that way) because we kept a clean sheet. July is a tough month with tough games; it had been a difficult win but a deserved one, where we managed to win the way we wanted.

“I'm also pleased defensively. During the match we had to manage substitues depending on the game – two players were suspended and nothing was easy tonight. Sometimes if you want to change things early everything changes in terms of adapting to and reading of the game. We had to show everybody we're a winning team as it was important to win at home.”