By Les Tan/Red Sports

Jalan Besar Stadium, Tuesday, April 7, 2009 – The Singapore Armed Forces FC fell 1-4 to Kashima Antlers of Japan in their Group G AFC Champions League game.

SAF FC have now lost all three of their group games, previous losses coming against Shanghai Shenhua (1-4) and Suwon Bluewings (0-2).

Kashima Antlers opened the scoring in the 23rd minute through Motoyama Masashi (#10) who was left totally unmarked in the 6-yard box and he finished off the cross with ease.

SAFFC lit up the faces of the home crowd when they scored an equaliser through Hafiz Osman in the 26th minute. A free kick from Therdsak on the left was met by an unmarked Hafiz in the 6-yard box and the defender made no mistake with his header.

Then Aleksandar Duric almost scored in the 41st minute in what would have been an unexpected SAFFC lead but the big number nine couldn’t get the right touch on a Therdsak through pass and saw the ball roll agonisingly wide past the left upright with the onrushing Kashima keeper Hitoshi stranded.

Kashima then delivered a sucker punch just two minutes later in the 43rd minute when defender Uchida Atsuto ran the full length of the field on a breakaway to meet a pass. He still had everything to do in the penalty box but his curler had enough force to get past Shahril who got a hand on it.

The second half saw Kashima Antlers stamp their superiority early with a goal within two minutes of the restart.

Osako Yuya scores the third for Kashima after Marquinhos set him up with a cross in the 47th minute.

A penalty opportunity in the 56th minute gave hope that SAF FC could actually stay in the game but Kashima keeper Sogahata Hitoshi guessed correctly to palm away the Duric penalty.

With that deflating incident, SAFFC never looked like scoring again and it was a cruel end for them when Daniel Bennett turned a cross into his own goal in the dying moments of time added on.

“I thought at a certain stage of the game we played quite well,” said SAF FC coach Richard Bok. “We gave a good account of ourselves. It’s just unlucky we lost to a higher level team.”

“The last three games, we always raise our games whenever we play in the champions league. I hope this transfers to the S.League.

The three teams we played in the champions league – their passing, their movement – there is a lot to learn from them.

We gave our best in terms of the resource we have. In the end, class showed.”

On the penalty miss by Aleksandar Duric, coach Bok stood by his captain.

“He is still my captain. He may miss a penalty. No need to talk to him about it. He might be in a lean spell but he is still a trusted warrior.”

The poor form of Shaiful Esah recently also cost him a place in the starting lineup, coach Bok revealed.

“Shaiful has not been doing as well as I expected of him and so Zul came in for him. As simple as that. Zul did reasonably well.”

Coach Bok also expected Suwong and Kashima to qualify from the group.

“Hopefully when Shanghai visit us, we can give them a Shanghai surprise,” he said.

SAFFC starting lineup

Shahril (GK)
Daniel Bennett (#16)
Hafiz (#4) (79th min: Kenji Arai)
Razaleigh (#13)
Zulfadi (#21)
Park Tae Won (#18) (68th min: Shaiful Esah)
Therdsak (#8) (84th min: Guntur)
Mustaqim (#19)
Latiff (#7)
Masahiro (#6)
Duric (#9)

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Join us for a live play-by-play commentary.

90th min: Own goal by Daniel Bennett whose attempt to cut out a cross is deflected cruelly past a stranded Shahril.
84th min: Guntur comes on for Therdsak. The Thai midfield general must be spent.
81st min: Substitute Masuda Chikashi of Kashima tries a cheeky chip that Shahril just tips over.
79th min: Coach Richard Bok preparing to send on Kenji Arai – a defender! Kenji replaces Hafiz.
78th min: Marquinhos shows some speed to take him clear but his shot just flashes wide of the upright.
76th min: Kashima walking their way through the SAFFC defence. An attacker just went past Hafiz like he wasn’t there.
Zulfadi’s first touch not so assured. Latiff has enough skill and strength to play one-on-one. Bennett is composed at the back. Therdsak has the skill, but not enough speed.

66th min: The game is slowing to a crawl. Shaiful Esah comes on for Park.

The game would have been so much more interesting if Duric had scored. SAF FC will surely now be a little deflated. What a shame.

56th min: A penalty for SAFFC! Park gets hauled down in the box. Duric to take… he misses! Keeper guesses correctly and dives to his right to palm it away.
51st min: A dazzling series of passes by Kashima gets halted by the offside trap. Beautiful football though.

It looks like Kashima are good for a few more goals. It’s just one-way traffic now towards the SAFFC goal.

47th min: Osako Yuya scores the third for Kashima after Marquinhos sets him up with a cross.

Start of 2nd half.

Half-time whistle goes. Three goals in one half so far – no one is complaining here at Jalan Besar Stadium.

43rd min: What a sucker punch. Kashima score their second through Uchida Atsuto – a defender, no less – who ran the full length of the field on a breakaway to meet a pass. He still had everything to do when he was in the box but curled it past Shahril who got a hand on it.
41st min: Duric almost scores! A cross by Therdsak is met by Duric who gets the faintest of touches on it to prod it past the onrushing keeper Hitoshi but the ball rolls agonisingly wide.
35th min: Kashima are putting on a class in passing and possession. They are pinning SAFFC back in their own half.
29th min: A searing shot by Aoki Takeshi of Kashima is firmly held by Shahril. Kashima are just lining up to take pot shots at the SAF FC goal like a training session.
29th min: A searching pass by Latiff over the top finds Duric but the big number 9 can’t chase it down.
26th min: Hafiz equalises for SAFFC! A free kick from Therdsak on the left is met by an unmarked Hafiz in the 6-yard box. The game has lit up quite nicely.
24th min: A Park Tae Won drive goes over the bar. But nice work by Therdsak to set him up with a pass and good touches by Park to get space.
23rd min: Kashim score! Motoyama Masashi (#10) was left totally unmarked in the 6-yard box and finishes off the cross with ease.
22nd min: Kashima are camped in the SAFFC half. SAFFC are playing with 10 men behind the ball. SAFFC coach Richard Bok has strung five midfielders across the middle.
17th min: Masahiro has guts and plays himself out of a tight spot.
15th min: Duric fails to connect! Therdsak ran half the field to chase down a ball and cuts it back into the box for Duric who got thrown off by the defender and just couldn’t connect. But he knows it was an opportunity.
12th min: A Therdsak shot is well saved! Good link up play involving Latiff and Park Tae Won. Tae Won was sharp to spot Therdsak.
11th min: Both Therdsak and Duric go for the same ball. Playing like over-eager teenagers.
A Park Tae Won free kick inside 5 minutes comes close. SAFFC fans dream for awhile. Still 0-0.