Sembawang v Tanjong Pagar

[Rangers]

28th of Aug, Thursday at 7.30pm, Yishun Stadium.

[Rangers]

Form guide for both teams for the last 5 matches :

Sembawang Rangers

Lost away to Sinchi 0-2
Lost at home to Sengkang 2-3
Lost away to Balestier 0-2
Draw away to Woodlands 0-0 (win on penalties 3-2)
Lost at home to Tampines 2-3

Draw 1, Lost 4.

Tanjong Pagar

Lost at home to Saf 0-2
Lost at home to Tampines 0-3
Lost away to Jurong 2-6
Lost away to Home 0-6
Win at home Sengkang 2-1

Win 1, Lost 4

[Rangers]

Sembawang Rangers 3 Tanjong Pagar 0

Tanjong Pagar 0 Sembawang Rangers 1

[Rangers]

Can Sembawang finally break the 3 consecutive losses and 8 winless streak tonight against Tanjong Pagar Utd? It may all depends on the influential Tawan Sripan to lead the midfield battle. If Sembawang can take control of the midfield and twin strike force Pitipong and Supakit taking their chances, a win is easily in the bag as Tanjong Pagar is also on a winless streak and low in confidence. But as previous matches have shown, Sembawang has a tendency to miss plenty of chances in front of goal and lost concentration in the end to lose matches that they could have easily draw or even win. Lets hope tonight they won't let the fans down again like the past couple of matches.

[Rangers]

Fulltime result : Sembawang Rangers 2 Tanjong Pagar Utd 0

Sembawang Rangers finally break their 8 match winless streak by defeating Tanjong Pagar Utd 2-0 at the Yishun Stadium. In the 1st half TP has a slight edge as they dominated the midfield without creating any clear cut chances. Sembawang was without Razif Mahamud as he was with the national squad in Australia. Tawan Sripan was back in the starting line up. But the midfield just couldn't get going. Cumpee Pinthakul keep giving away possession to TP which didn't help the cause at all. Then Sembawang earned a few corners through the preserverance of Pitipong and Haffiz Nabrawi. But no goals resulted from the corners. In the 23rd minute, a cross from Nabrawi found the head of Pitipong and he made no mistake by scoring the 1st goal for Sembawang. 1-nil up.

Ronald played much better then previous matches and you can't fault with his running and his all action style all over the field. Cumpee was a let down as time and time again his pass keep finding the TP players rather than his teammates. The 1st half ended with TP attacking. They had a great chance to equalise when a cross from the left found the head of Eric Kwek at the far right who head back into goal. With the Sembawang defence in disarray, Adejumo Smith found himself unmarked but luckily for Sembawang, he headed the ball over the goal.

2nd half started in a much better fashion for Sembawang as Tawan begin to impose himself in midfield. TP continued to miss the chance to equalise. In the 67 minute, a counter attack found Tawan facing a TP defender. He tricked the defender by cutting from his left to his right foot and with TP defender totally stranded, he chipped the ball towards goal. And the TP goalkeeper didn't even try to attempt to save as the ball sailed into the back of the net. What a brilliant goal! I guess the TP goalkeeper was totally mesmerized by Tawan's effort. ;D

But the match turned ugly after that. TP seem to become a bad loser as they start complaining and threatening to lose their temper. On one such incident, a TP player push Pitipong after he has conceded a free kick while challenging for a header. And in the 1st of the number of free for all, the TP players and Pitipong almost came into blow. The referee tried to calm the situation by giving a red card to one TP player and a yellow to Pitipong. But by then the referee has already lost control of the situation. A few minutes later a tackle from behind by substitue Faizal Senin in a non dangerous position at the flank saw the referee produced a straight red. Guess the referee was trying to even up the score in red card for both sides.

Cumpee had a great chance to make it 3-0 when he managed to beat one TP player and with just the goalkeeper to beat and was about to pull the trigger, a last ditch tackle by a TP player resulted in just a corner for Sembawang.

Another free for all at Sembawang penalty area saw Nabrawi collect a yellow card for something (which in actual fact is nothing) which started by the TP players. And Nabrawi headed back for early showers after he has tackled a TP player on the flank and the referee showed him a red card.

By then the time was running out and TP couldn't make a come back.

All in all, a reasonable result for Sembawang. But they need to step up their performance if they are to match the likes of Saf, Geylang and Home Utd. After all, no disrespect to Tanjong Pagar Utd, Sembawang was expected to beat TP as TP was also on a bad run and they were missing Thai defender Choketawee Promrut and Singapore internationals duo Fadzu and Zainal Zainuddin who both were with the national squad in Australia.