By Kenneth Tan/Red Sports

Jalan Besar Stadium, Friday, June 4, 2010 — Reigning champions Singapore Armed Forces FC (SAFFC) missed the opportunity to close in on league leaders Tampines Rovers as they slumped to their fifth defeat of the season against erratic side Gombak United.

A victory could have seen them go within six points of the Stags after they suffered a shock defeat against Young Lions the day before. However SAFFC failed to capitalise.

Both sides suffered disappointments in their respective RHB Singapore Cup first round fixtures as they fell to foreign sides Bangkok Glass FC and South Melbourne FC. It was Gombak who had the perfect recovery as Korean forward Park Kang Jin scored the solitary goal of the game.

Several goalscoring opportunities were created in a very open first half where both teams adopted attacking approaches.

The first one was created on two minutes when SAFFC midfielder John Wilkinson whipped in a free kick from the right but Uruguay forward Federico Martinez headed over the bar.

Seven minutes later, Gombak had their first opportunity and nearly scored. Centre back Bah Mamadou’s long ball released national team forward Agu Casmir down the left flank before the latter marauded into the box. Agu got past SAFFC goalkeeper Hyrulnizam Jumaat before shooting towards the empty goal, but Daniel Bennett got back in time to clear off the effort off the line.

SAFFC forward Indra Sahdan had a one-on-one opportunity on 14 minutes which was saved by Gombak goalie Zaiful Nizam before Wilkinson fired a left-footed volley wide two minutes later.

Gombak had the ball in the net on 18 minutes but winger Hamqamaal Shah’s neat finish inside the box was ruled out for offside. That was the prelude to what happened four minutes later as they managed to take the lead.

Korean forward Park Kang Jin played a smart one-two with Fazrul Nawaz before shrugging off Daniel Bennett well and shooting just outside the box. His low left-footed effort beat Hyrulnizam Jumaat and went into the bottom left corner of the goal.

SAFFC had another opportunity to equalise on 25 minutes but Federico Martinez stabbed wide of the goal after Indra picked him out in the box.

Gombak created a couple of opportunities to extend their lead in the first half. Firstly Fazrul Nawaz’s shot from an acute angle went off the angle of post and bar before Agu Casmir’s curling effort from outside the box was saved by Hyrulnizam.

The second half saw less intense action as compared to the first half with both teams struggling to create opportunities.

Despite having Federico Martinez and Indra Sahdan spearheading their attack, SAFFC seemed to lack firepower in attack and had to rely on their midfielders to carve out openings.

John Wilkinson fired a free kick over the bar on 61 minutes before Ahmad Latiff volleyed wide of the left-hand post eight minutes later.

Gombak’s national team forward Fazrul Nawaz should have sealed the game on 86 minutes but he spurned an gilt-edged opportunity.

Australian midfielder Goran Subara’s flick-on picked out Fazrul Nawaz just in front of the six-yard box. Fazrul connected with a fierce volley that looked destined for goal before Hyrulnizam Jumaat somehow produced a stunning reflex save to tip the effort over the bar.

However he could not save SAFFC from defeat as they failed to break the resolute Gombak defence in the closing stages. Firstly substitute forward Erwan Gurnawan’s tame volley from an acute angle was easily smothered by Zaiful Nizam in the third minute of injury time.

Then they had a shout for a penalty one minute later when centre back Ivan Lovric ventured into the Gombak box and looked to go down under pressure from Gombak centre back Obadin Aikhena, but it was turned away by referee Muhd Taqi.

That was the last opportunity of the game as Gombak held out for a slender 1-0 victory that lifted them two places into fourth position with 24 points, leapfrogging SAFFC in the process. Meanwhile SAFFC dropped one place to fifth with 22 points, a massive nine points behind leaders Tampines Rovers.

SAFFC will look to recover on Tuesday, June 8 when they take on strugglers Sengkang Punggol at their home ground Choa Chu Kang Stadium while Gombak will look to sustain their efforts when they host Albirex Niigata (Singapore) on Monday, June 7 at Jurong West Stadium.