SAFFC beat Home United to make League Cup final against Brunei DPMM FC

Story by Koh Yizhe/Red Sports. Photos by Vanessa Lim/Red Sports.

Jalan Besar Stadium, Tuesday, June 16, 2009 – Singapore Armed Forces FC (SAFFC) beat Home United 2-0 and will now face Brunei DPMM in the final of the 2009 League Cup this Friday.

SAFFC struck on the counter attack twice in the second half. Park Tae Won grabbed a goal in the 67th minute while Aleksandar Duric finished Home United off with a late goal deep into added time to give the Warriors a 2-0 victory over their uniform derby rival.

Both sides registered a slow start for as they struggled to settle into the match. SAFFC's Ahmad Latiff watched from the bench along with Hafiz Osman, while Home United fielded an offensive line up with Kengne Ludovick, Norikazu Murakami and 21-year-old Naruphol Ar-Romsawa spearheading the attack.

Thai talent Naruphol capitalized on a defensive error to test Shahril Jantan in the 9th minute as Home United took the initiative to open the game. Just 10 minutes later, the Thai linked up with Kengne Ludovick to take a crack at goal that was saved by SAFFC's custodian.

Soon after, Park Tae Won weaved his way to the by-line only for Aleksandar Duric to be crowded out by two defenders, making a simple tap-in impossible.

SAFFC were placing players behind the ball and absorbing the attacks from Home United but this strategy almost cost them when Naruphol slammed wide a golden opportunity to put his side ahead in the 31st minute.

Naruphol had received a lifted pass from Itimi Dickson which left him through on goal and although he did well to beat Shahril Jantan, nerves got the better of him as he carelessly blasted the shot wide with the goal mouth invitingly unguarded.

On the other end, Aleksandar Duric forced an instinctive save from Ridzuan Fatah Hasan after John Wilkinson's shot landed at his feet and both teams went into the dressing room 0-0.

Much of the same continued in the second half with SAFFC piling players behind the ball while Home United gradually broke down the SAFFC defensive wall. Shahril Jantan was again kept on his toe when he had to tip over a Naruphol cross that was sneaking in just after the half-time break.

Despite dominating possession, Home United failed to convert the chances presented to them. SAFFC continued to sneak in surprise attacks with Park Tae Won forcing a save from Ridzuan Fatah Hasan after combining well with Duric.

Just when Home United were carving out chances with their possession with Azhar Sirudin volleying high and wide from a good position, SAFFC stole the show in the 66th minute.

Aleksandar Duric received a long ball on a counter attack and did just enough to keep it from Valery Hiek before slipping a pass to Park Tae Won, who arrived in the penalty area just in time to volley home the first goal of the night.

Responding to the 0-1 deficit, Home United's national midfielder Shi Jiayi was immediately brought on in an attempt to change the face of the game, but he blasted the ball over the cross bar on his first touch.

SAFFC, on the other head, continued to sit back and defend their slight 1-0 lead. With time winding down, goal scorer Park Tae Won was taken off in the 89th minute to make way for Ahmad Latiff, who has been kept on the bench due to his tight hamstring.

Home United had a great chance to equalise right at the death when Dickson managed to shoot from a low position, but his shot was instinctively pushed away by SAFFC guardian Shahril Jantan.

Before the Protectors could mull over their wasted chance, SAFFC wasted no time to launch a counter attack with the resulting corner. The ball was pumped to Duric, who was through on goal, and with nerves of steel, slipped the ball past the on-rushing Ridzuan to seal a convincing victory for the Warriors.

"Home United has been on form in this competition and has been playing good football so we decided to let them come at us," said SAFFC coach Richard Bok, who felt his team executed the game plan to perfection.

"In the first half, we sat further back and defended deeper. We did the same in the second half and hit them on the counter attack. The team executed it well. It is not that we have been playing well, but we have not been playing that bad either."

On the final match against Brunei DPMM, whom SAFFC have lost to twice this season, he said, "It is tough as we will be playing three games in seven days and I hope we will make a good recovery. But it is a new ball game every time we play so we can just hope things go our way this time."

In the earlier semi-final match on Monday, the Bruneians carved out a 2-1 victory over Woodlands Wellington with Ivan Jerkovic and Abdelhamid Berguiga scoring a goal each to seal the win for the foreign side.