Singapore vs Jordan

2 weeks after the humiliating 6-0 mauling in Tehran to Asian bigwig, Iran; our national football team was under scathing scrutiny once again by local fans and media.

I caught the live streaming of that away fixture for our Asian Cup qualifying Group E campaign. I thought our gaffer, Radojko Avramovic did had a plan to contain the rampant Iranians then with 2 holding midfielders to curb the Iranian attack.
Little did he expected new Home United defender, Ismail Yunos was to get himself sent off with a blatant tackle from behind, and it was all the way downhill especially in the 2nd period which saw us conceded meekly, including 3 in 5 minutes when the lack of fighting spirit from the Lions.

The aftermath of that game saw the lack of interest with the national squad with the despondent attendance at the Grand Lady that never dies last evening.

Somehow many of the local fans like Raddy and the Lions felt a tinkling feeling of confidence going into the game against another Gulf nation, Jordan, 9 places above us in the FIFA World Ranking.

In the starting line up for the Lions was Sengkang new fullback, Mohd Noh Rahman who finally shrugged off that niggling thigh injury and was handed the captaincy after another prospective Sengkang sigining, Indra Sahdan was dropped.
However the most drastic change was in the back four when Raddy finally appeased the undying pleads from fans to have SAFFC centerback Daniel Bennett to move into the middle which was his natural position in his club line-up, replacing Precious Emuejeraye while club team mate Saiful Esah came in as the left back.

That move reaped immediate rewards when the backline shown a certain level of resilience and stoutness not seen since the 2-0 victory over Indonesia in the AFF Suzuki Cup tie.
Hassan Sunny who came in for Lionel Lewis between the sticks was composed and command his area well, much like that game against Saudi Arabia in the World Cup qualifying 3rd round.

Below is a good clip composed and uploaded by a local fan:

Last night was surely the redemption of the bad boys….
Just yesterday, a local tabloid was doing an article about Agu Casmir’s mending his way and instantly he scored a great opener down to a great run by Ridhuan Mohammad (who fizzled out in the 2nd half as he always does, and missed a golden chance to give us a lead). Sengkang’s own Noh Rahman was part of the build-up though very minimal with Ridhuan and fellow winger Sharil Ishak the main maestros.

However the skipper was adjudged to foul forward Odai Youssef though many claimed the challenge was always non-existent with the Jordanian player simulating it all. But from the replay, I can’t blame the referee to point to the spot which their own captain, Hatem converted because Noh Rahman’s right arm was in front of Odai and from afar it did look like a pull-down.

Fortunately we showed our true mantle when Daniel Bennett, surely the Man of the Match launched an innocuous long pass deep from Singapore defense which found Noh Alam Shah, his good ol’ sparring partner onside and our star striker who had served 7 months of suspension for his “fist of fury” in the 2007 Singapore Cup final duly put it away.
The finish surely showed his calmness and his ability to convert important chances.

Noh Rahman in the midst of his defensive duty (Picture courtesy of tpjkevin from KallangRoar forum)

From then on, our defense began absorbing whatever scarce attack the Jordanians could conjure while wily old Raddy put in the likes of Rosman Sulaiman and Precious to bolster the defense while Bennett came on top with a majestic display and getting a bloodied nose along the way.
The new starters like Saiful and keeper Hassan also staked their claim for future starting opportunity with an A-class displays.
As for our much demised strike force, in times when the likes of Duric, Khairul Amri and Fazrul Nawaz are out and Indra still struggling for form, it is always great to see them start scoring again.
As for our dear Mohd Noh Rahman, he had a disciplined game despite the penalty which that was perhaps too softly give to Jordan. He even tried a long shot outside the Jordan’s box which tested their keeper.
Truly hope to see him in club colors soon…

~~Why can’t we be friends?~~Why can’t we be friend?~~ sings Noh Rahman (Picture courtesy of tpjkevin from KallangRoar forum)

With the vital win, we are now 2nd on 3 points behind Group E leaders Iran who were shock to draw with Thailand last evening.
Our Southeast Asia rival is at 2 points after 2 good draws and surely set the stage for a thrilling double bill clash with us in November.

As for now, pride is reclaimed and the boys deserved a short rest before the S League kicks off on 16th February and hopefully we have less disruption to the league fixtures like last season; and hopefully the Lions would come out unscathed and stronger after another good season of football…Never know we might unearth more Saiful and Hassan this season…maybe  even from Sengkang Punggol!

Transfer Updates

Contrary to what was reported in the papers earlier, Fazrul Nawaz has yet to put pen to paper with the club.
Contract negotiation wasn’t unsuccessful as we had hope. Until some sort of understanding can be reached by both parties, at this point of time he is still a free agent.

As for potential target Indra Sahdan Daud, everything hinges on the national player-cum-captain’s application for interim release from the police force. Red tapes, red tapes. Nothing we can do but wait on it.

What has been confirmed though, is the recent signing of Azhar Baksin, an offensive player by trade. With his inclusion in the squad, the club has now fulfilled 19 of the 20 registered player quota for the upcoming season. It’ll be interesting to see who will be the player to fill that final slot.

Watch this space for future development.

Pre-season Friendly Report 3

	Opponent: Home United FC Date: 24th Jan, 1700hrs Venue: Hougang Stadium Final Score: 2 – 1 (Sharil Alias’ own goal, Mamadou Diallo)
Seven days after playing league champions SAFFC, we welcomed the third placed team up for another warm up match, our second in three days and fifth thus far. Jorg to Subramaini: Hey is that Itimi? We spotted a new African player when the team came on to warm up...looks alot like former Aston Villa & Man U striker, Dwight Yorke We noticed that Jorg like to divide his players into 2 for warming-up...1st eleven & the others? Defenders & attackers? Jorg to the players: Home Utd is definitely not Eunos Crescent FC Missing a host of national players (Lionel Lewis, Ismail Yunos, Shahril Ishak, Shi Jiayi, Rosman Sulaiman and Jumaat Jantan), S Subramani led out a team comprising mostly Prime League players assisted by their three retained foreign signings (Valery Hiek, Peres de Olivieira and Kengne Ludovick). A surprise player in their lineup was the mercurial Itmi Dickson, whose constant disappearance from the football scene resulted in us creating a “Where’s Itmi?” gag. Home's starting eleven with some new recruits (Note: that is not Shadan, our bad) S League Assistant Referee of the Year Jeffery Goh was at the end of some scorns from the crowd Starting lineup vs Home United FC Our team formation and first eleven look to be very much settled from the looks of thing, though the winger department is still worth additional try-outs. On this occasion the roles were entrusted upon new recruit Farizal Basri and Prime League graduate Duncan David. The game was split into three periods of 30mins each. The unique format resulted in a few befuddled heads in the stands, who left prematurely after the second period with the game still deadlocked at 1-1. On Sengkang's bench include confirmed signings Noor Ikhsan, Shane Neubronner & Azhar Baksin. Our first goal came from a free kick in the first period. Farizal floated in a tantalising cross which a Home United player’s back header looped beyond the keeper and into the net. The goal drew cheers from a tidy turnout of very vocal Sengkang supporters, who drove the team along throughout the game. The key incident in the period was the red card dished out for Itimi’s “smack” at Jerry. No real contact was made but the intent was clearly there, thus leaving the referee with no other choice but to send him for an early shower. Jerry though should really cut the gamesmanship. He fell like a stone the very moment Itimi moved his arm. We have enough of playacting Reginaldo last season, so let’s move on and let our football do the talking. With a man down, we pressed forward and on the stroke of the period, was nearly rewarded a second goal when a Yamamoto header off a corner was cleared to safety. Aide to Joey: Don't worry I have it covered Itimi was the allocated set piece taker but his pace was well decimated after long absence in professional game. The second period began promisingly. On one occasion Murphy attacked a well delivered right wing cross. What seem like a certain goal was somehow palmed away by the flying Home United reserve keeper. Great save. Home United then got back into the game when a Peres back flick hit the arm of a Sengkang player. The referee pointed to the spot and one of the league’s best dead ball specialists converted the penalty with ease. Sweet delivery from the likes of Sazali and Abdoulaye and the height of Anthony, Aide and Jerry, setpieces could be a useful piece of ammunition this season as shown in this game. 3 of our foreign players putting a pretty good display while the 4th look from the sidelines after a rather insipid display. By the middle of the third period, Jorg had already given the likes of Razali, Sazali, Nor Azli, Sobrie, Noor Ikhsan, Shane Neubronner and the recently signed Azhar Baksin a run out on the field. But it was an unknown African who stole a show with the matchwinner. He broke free from the right wing and beat the onrushing keeper with a delicate finish, erupting cheers from the crowd. It was revealed after the match that he is actually Abdoulaye’s younger brother and is currently on trial for a Prime League place. On the strength of his performance, it looks almost certain he’ll get it. Abdoulaye trying to score a freekick but it was his brother who stole the show with the cool winner The team showed a lot of promise today. Defensive-wise Joey had a very sound game in goal. In the first period he made a very good save with a full length dive to deflect a cleverly worked freekick from Itimi. He also showed good understanding, particularly with Meng Meng  who is very comfortable as rightback rather than a winger on a few occasions. The central defensive pairing of Aide and Jerry looked very solid while Zahid was at his reliable best. The penalty conceded was a case of ball to hand so that’s always contentious. The midfield could have done more to stamp their authority on the opposition, specifically when they were one man down. Yamamoto still need to clock more playing time in the anchor position, Abdoulaye had a quiet game while Murphy showed some his attacking promise fleetingly. A lot will depend on the three of them to orchestrate the play in the middle of the play so hopefully they will build up that much needed chemistry in time to come. The left winger position most probably will go to Sazali with Razali on standby. The former’s set piece delivery is a weapon on its own while the latter can rely on his pace and trickery to take down the opposition’s defense. The right side is still up for grabs but Sobrie has done an effective job while being called upon. Perhaps it’s a renewed self confidence and the shot in morale with the introduction of players of higher caliber, the likes of Sobrie and Duncan displayed a playing potential unseen last season and surely the winning mentality had been instilled. Up front Anthony has been playing very well on his own. His energetic display and imposing physique will ensure goals. Our next friendly will see the team travelling up north to face Malaysia Super League side Selangor. We hope to bring you news on the outcome.

Pre-season Friendly Report 2

	Opponent: Eunos Crescent FC Date: 22nd Jan, 1930hrs Venue: Hougang Stadium Final Score: 5 – 1 (Abdoulaye, Anthony 2, Murphy 2)
With three pre-season matches already under their belt, the Dolphins slotted in an additional warm up game, this time entertaining the National Football League Division outfit. Jorg started with Razali and Sobrie on the wings, Winston in centre of defense and Joey in goal. Meng Meng was placed in his accustomed right fullback position. Yamamoto skippered the team with Aide amongst the substitutes. Starting lineup vs Eunos Crescent FC There was a definite mark in improvement in the performance. The team played with more fluency, with the midfield stamping their authority throughout the match. The two wingers supported the attack very well, running at the defense and shooting whenever opportunities appeared. Razali, in particular, had a blinder of a game. He tormented the opposing defenders with his many mazy dribbles, turning them inside out and laying tentalising crosses to his teammates. It was through one of his forays that Abdoulaye scored the first goal. Murphy scored the second from his delightful left wing cross, an unstoppable half volley from just outside the box. Wonderful buildup, great goal. Sengkang Punggol added a third almost immediately from kickoff, Anthony stabbing in the goal after a cross shot from Razali was parried onto his feet. In only 26 minutes, Razali showed how good he can be when he is on song. We hope he is back to his devastating best. 3-0 up at half time. Jorg rested Meng Meng, Razali, Joey and Abdoulaye at the break and experimented with 4-4-2 by bringing in an additional striker to support Anthony upfront. The team continued to dominate proceedings and Anthony duly converted another chance by towering over the entire defense to head in the fourth goal from an inswinging corner. The intensity of the team dropped with the many substitutions and Eunos Crescent promptly pulled a goal back, conceded rather unimpressively through a counterattack. A momentary and blatant lapse of concentration from the defense. Another Eunos Crescent’s counterattack minutes later ended with the striker through on goal with only the onrushing Amos to beat but luck was not on his side as his shot bounced off the upright. Murphy, who was taken off earlier, was then sent back on to replace Yamamoto to allow his niggling injury to be treated. He didn’t look out of place in the anchor role, making full blooded challenges and clearly making his presence felt by the opposition. As if he wasn’t impressive enough, he capped off the night with another wonder goal, trapping the ball from a clearance and letting fly a rocket of a shot from way outside the box, leaving the keeper grasping nothing but thin air. Even the most nonchalant spectator in the stands applauded the goal. Aside from some minor work in the defensive third which still needs a bit of work, it was an extremely satisfying performance from the lads, one that surely allows me to sleep soundly tonight. We wait in anticipation for the next warm up game against Home United in two days.

Pre-season updates: The Remnants

It was confirmed on the article from S League.com that 6 of the 1st team playing staff were retained from last season, we shall have a run through of the lucky 6 able to be part of this revolution:

1) Winston Yap: The well-built center back joined Sengkang since July 2007 from Gombak United and played his part as a crucial defensive backbone to the squad.
Even with the recruitment of Ratna Suffian, Yamamoto Hiroyuki and Luis Eduardo Hicks, Winston was still an integral figurehead in the heart of the defense.
“Jekyll and Hyde” surely is the right description for his performance in 2008.
His high points would be close marshaling of top marksman, Aleksander Duric of SAF, keeping him quiet in 2 ties (once in Hougang and an televised match in Jalan Besar); although he was unfortunate to give the champions 3 points in the return fixture with an own goal in the dying minutes. Despite that his exemplary defensive display saw him snagging the Man of the Match Award.
But he will always be blamed for giving Geylang United all 3 points at home when Sengkang is 1 up in the 1st half with a torrid performance in the 2nd half.
Winston would still be a useful player to cover at the back in times of need and let’s hope he will refrain from hitting the showers too early this season.

2) Yamamoto Hiroyuki : Formed a renowned defensive partnership with current SAF stalwart, Kenji Arai for Albirex Niigata back in the 2005 season, Yamamoto was lured back to the S League after a year absence with Valiente Toyama by the Dolphins.
Over the course of last season, Yamamoto had time and again bailed us out in many defensive predicaments; he even showed his goal scoring prowess with the team’s 1st league goal of 2008.
Under the gaffership of Mirko and Swandi, Yamamoto was shuffled to the defensive midfielder role at times to shield the defence while assisting Simic in the center of midfield, displaying his versatility.
It seems like he would like to be in the defensive midfielder position and surely would work in tandem with the likes of Jerry and Aide.
Being the only foreign player being retained surely speaks volume of how the club had admired his commitment on the pitch and professionalism off it.

3) Joey Sim : Joey came to Hougang in 2008 with a decent reputation of an up and coming goalkeeping talent from Home United.
With the more senior Adi Salleh and Hafez Mawasi, Joey was placed down at the pecking order but by the end of the season, the local Chinese lad grew strength to strength and claimed the No. 1 position on his own.
Joey’s heroics in the 1-0 slender loss to Champions SAFFC didn’t go unrecognised and with a bit more composure, positional strength and handling skills, Joey surely could be a player with the ability to be drafted into the national squad.
With the mentorship of Sengkang legend Amos Boon, Joey should be able to matured further in 2009 and hopefully we will not see the same kind of horrendous challenge resulting in his expulsion in the Tampines game.

4) Razali Johari : We first took noticed of the pint-sized attacking midfielder in the Geylang United Nokia Corner Kick Challenge clip when he said with earnest sincerity in his eyes, “I want to play football”.
Razali shown omnipresence for the Dolphins last term as he was blessed without any major injury to keep him out of action nor any card problem.
Played more comfortably at the wings, Razali was called upon time and again to help out in an non-existent attack for most part of the season.
His low center of gravity plus a decent ability to dribble, Razali was constantly twirling around opposition defenders which most of the time hard to foul to halt his movements.
Razali finally scored in the 1-0 victory over Gombak Utd and should had scored more (then again he has much less chance than Haris Sumri, his pixie twin, and did much better).
We were hoping Razali would be one to be retained and seems like our wish came through.

5) Nor Azli Yusoff : The former Gombak & Tampines Prime League playerwas signed to provide some defensive cover but went on to become the first choice rightback last season.
Affectionately known as “Boy” by a mysterious aged “coach” from the stands hurling tactics, Nor Azli was pretty shaky for most part of the season but he seems to mature in his play through times.
On evidence, Jorg was convinced with his workrate in training and likely to put him as Noh Rahman’s deputy in the coming season.

6) Sobrie Mazelan : It’s pretty rare to have player coming through the youth ranks in Sengkang Punggol and stayed for a considerable amount of time, Sobrie surely was one of the rare breed.
Used sparingly as a substitute by all three coaches mainly as a midfielder or attacker, Sobrie was consistently ineffectual when he came on.
He had a penchant to over-dribble and prematurely ruined any good attacking chance Sengkang had when he was on the ball, though he does possessed some good touches and good positioning ability.
From what little we had observed, Sobrie seems to have a good rapport with his team mates as well as other local players, perhaps he is a great asset to boost the  spirits in the locker room.

Sadly beside Yamamoto, the rest of the remnants would only be consigned to the sub bench but one thing is for sure the bench had improved drastically from the parade of incompetent youngsters last season…

Jorg’s Vision

This is a great article from S League.com regarding the recent rejuvenation of Sengkang Punggol including a substantial interview with the new appointed gaffer and his vision for the squad…. Let’s try to decipher his words:

“If you look at all the players who have come in, they are good, quality players with experience and knowhow of being in the top six,” he pointed out.

“Looking at, say, the Geylang or Woodlands players who have come here, they are seasoned men who have consistently played in teams that have finished in the top six. Added to our foreigners, this is a group that knows what it takes to get into the top half.

Top six would be an unprecedented position for us the perennial minnows of the league. Surely we cannot walk shoulder to shoulder with the big boys but we should aim to put a strong challenge to the likes of Gombak ro Geylang. Though it’s still early days and football doesn’t just work on paper alone.

“So we have put together a team that is going to be competitive and very hard to beat. It’s a hardworking team, but it’s mixed with skilful players who are aware what is required in every game.

“People have noticed us because of who we’ve brought in, and I’m happy about that. We are on the right way in terms of building this team, but we still have a lot of work to do and plenty to prove when the league actually starts.”

There surely has a lot of work to be done especially with the incorporation of suah a slew of new players. However throughout the course of the previous season, our squad didn’t seem to acclimatise as a team and constantly looked like fishes out of water.
The likes of Aide and Jerry are taking responsibility to guide the younger players and leadership surely is a missing essence last season.
The Canadians look to be striving hard to win the trust of their local team-mates.
Commitment and hard work is always important, and hopefully that would translate to favorable results. It is not disgraceful to lose but we must lose with a fight.

But while further questions shed no new light on how Sengkang’s current revamp is being bankrolled, the Dolphins coach reassured that the books would remain balanced.

“On the financial side, what I can say is that we have not overshot the budget given to me from the start,” said the 37-year-old.

“There are limits to what we are able to pay, looking at current market circumstances and the recession in general. But we have our football plan, and a lot of players have accepted the football side of our plan and told us they like what is happening here.

“We never went out of our way to get a player at the risk of overshooting our budget. But the fact that the players have accepted the football side and put it before the money side has been very encouraging.

“Of course, it is also about how you talk to the players and make them feel their importance to your plan. It’s important to show them our sincerity, and that’s why people now talk about Noh Rahman deciding to be part of what we are doing at Sengkang.”

The economic recession was perhaps the main factor why the other teams would not want to hold on to their under-performing National team players who would demand more in wages as compared to a squad player who deliver the goods.
Sengkang may have benefited from the situation by hauling the likes of Noh Rahman and perhaps Fazrul Nawaz, Indra Sahdan and Precious Emerajayue.
Whether such moves will reap rewards, we shall see and not expect them to make miracles.
The budget is being overshot can also become a bane to the club finance that could haunt us, let’s hope our sponsorship is a long term one like Hyundai for Tampines.

“That’s what a lot of other people outside say, and I leave it up to others whether to call us title contenders or not,” he remarked.

“But for us, it’s important that we play a good season and build a team for the future, and from there we go on. We want to be successful, and at this moment, it means getting into a good position in the league and then stabilizing things for many years to come.

“At the end of the day, the players who have come in did so because they see that this is a club with long-term plans to move forward. We don’t want to be in a situation where we move into the top half for one year, and then drop right back into the bottom two.

“So unlike what some people may think, we are not buying a team for a one-off. We are working very hard to build something that will last.”

This exactly the words we Sengkang fans want to hear…
It’s apparent Chairman Ben Lim had want to make Sengkang a decent club which can compete for years and create our niche on the top half, once again much like Tampines.
It would be an ordeal task but it sure sparks optimism especially when the gaffer felt we can do so…

Here to a good season and more for the Dolphins!

Pre-season updates: New Personnel roll call

After Saturday’s game against SAFFC at Choa Chu Kang Stadium, the shape of the first team is evidently gaining shape in terms of who was retained and who was recruited.

Over the course this post, I would do a dissection of the players who are in our books that hadn’t been mention by wretchedguy previously…

1) Jerry Bartholomeusz, Zahid Ahmad & Sazali Salleh: With the new gaffer, Jorg Steinbrunner at the helms, it is not hard to imagine he might tried to lure some of his “vassals” from his previous club.
Jerry, Zahid and Sazali who were part of the mass exodus of the Woodlands Wellington main squad for the new season, were the backbone of a sound Woodland squad which saw the Rams finishing 7th and 8th respectively in the past 2 seasons.
All 3 had vast experiences in the S League having played since the early 2000s.
Jerry, the elder statesman of the 3 was an uncompromising defender who is comfortable in the center or on the right. Groomed at SAFFC, he had proven to be a tenacious tackler and I was particularly impressed during the live games Woodlands had played when he gave Khairul Amri (then with Young Lions) a hard time.
Zahid and Sazali had almost similar career path having played in Geylang earlier in their careers; they were the left wing fulcrum of Woodlands which should be a great asset for Sengkang’s left which had been pretty non-existent (despite Hicks, Razali and Ali Imran Lomri s’ efforts) last season.
While Zahid is a seasoned utility leftback who can be called to play in the middle when crisis arise, I was quite enthralled with the recruitment of Sazali who had displayed good pace,vision, crossing ability and even scoring freekicks as displayed last season.
It might be still early to forecast anything but he seems to have develop a chemistry with Murphy Wiredu as seen last Saturday…let’s keep our fingers crossed.

2) Amos Boon & Lau Meng Meng: Part of the Geylang old boys club together with Aide & Noh Rahman (perhaps Fazrul & Indra, and not forgetting the likes of Winston, Razali, Zahid and Sazali who had played at Bedok Stadium at a point of their careers).
Although people were skeptical for the import of almost the entire Geylang defense (less Baihakki Kaizan) which conceded more goals than us in the league (57 to our 54), I am sure it is something Jorg would rectify on.
Amos’ prodigal return to the side he played for a majority of his career look surely as a mentor to the young Joey Sim and with the depatures of Adi Salleh and Hafez Mawasi, would play an integral role between the sticks.
He had displayed agility and good reading of situation despite his grand age, but the rate that he conceded silly goals in the past left alot to be desired.
As for Meng Meng, he stepped into the rightback position for the Eagles comfortably in Noh Rahman’s long lay-off due to injuries; so when we lure Noh Rahman, we also made back up plan in case the national team player is absent due to national call-up or injuries.
On Saturday, we also saw Jorg playing Meng Meng on the right of midfielder which didn’t really left any impression due to his lack of real pace or ability to put in decent crosses.

3) Abdoulaye Djibril Diallo: The 25 years old Guinean playmaker were the final jigsaw in the foreign contingent this year was the captain of Indonesian Super League side, Persiraja Banda Aceh.
The slender West African who had a short stint with Gombak United (though not well known by many) shouldn’t had problem with the scene here after playing the past 3 seasons in Indonesia with Bandan Aceh as well as PSIS Semarang and Semen Padang (what a name!) previously.
This is a player of little known capacity to us but his ability did shown in the last game especially the final few minutes of the friendly with perhaps our best chance with a header which caused Sharil Jantan some problem.
He was allocated the free kick taking responsbility and do hope he can put a few in this season.

4) Anthony Christpher Bahadur: While we had been harping over Murphy, Anthony looks to be a decent targetman with his lanky and strong built (around 1.88 ) and the signature hairdo (a strong reference to former Nottingham Forest striker, Jason Lee).
He reminded me alot of the Brazilian striker Jo from Man City in terms of built but seems to possess some good ball control despite his height.
Although scoring in previous friendlies, he needed to take his chances against bigger sides like SAF after fluffing a couple in the first half.
Seems to be on constant tutelage by the more senior Murphy, hope they would both blossom in the team in the coming season.

There seemed to be another 3 new recruits in the stands on Saturday which required astute identifying or verifying in the coming weeks.
One of them could be ex Young Lions defender Noor Ikhsan while another could be former Home Utd Prime League player, Shane Neubronner.
There is also another ex Eagle defender Farizal Basri who were touted to join the Sengkang revolution previously but not knowing how he looked like, we couldn’t be too sure.

Will talk about those who were retained from the previous season soon…

Pre-season Friendly Report 1

	Opponent: SAFFC Date: 17th Jan 2009, 1700hrs Venue: Choa Chu Kang Stadium Final Score: 3-0
After victories over Johor and Police SA, the Dolphins played their first sparring match against an actual S.League opposition. This was also our first look on the new players and how the team has shaping up thus far. Lots of familiar faces were spotted during the warm ups. Warming up before the kick-off Earlier unofficial transfer news about Amos Boon, Lau Meng Meng , Sazali Salleh and Zahid Ahmad joining the club was confirmed. The pleasant surprise though had to be the inclusion of Jerry Bartholomeusz, who was previously believed to be the captain to lead the new look Woodlands Wellington. The experienced and tenacious defender is surely a sound acqusition, given how impressive he was in the heart of the Rams backline last season. Suddenly all these talks of signing out-of-contract Precious Emuejeraye seems overly redundant. The new foreign signings are Canadians Murphy Wiredu, Anthony Bahadur, Guinean Abdoulaye Djibril Diallo and Japanese Hiroyuki Yamamoto, who is the only foreigner retained from last season. With higher calibre players around him, hopefully we won’t have to see him so dejected from the countless defeats inflicted onto him. A player of his ability deserves better. Rounding up the squad are the retained Dolphins Joey Sim, Winston Yap, Nor Azli Yusoff, Sobrie Mazelan and Razali Johari. They will most likely be confined to the substitute bench but will add a considerable depth to the squad. Amos tutoring young protege, Joey With the exception of Noh Rahman (international duty) and Fazrul Nawaz (injured), this is pretty much the team for the upcoming season. Pretty impressive on paper, I tell you. Starting lineup vs SAFFC Ok, back to reality. Despite missing the likes of goal machine Aleksandar Duric (injury), Daniel Bennett, John Wilkinson and Shaiful Esah (international duty), the 6 time S.League champion was still able to hand us a 3-0 beating. All three goals came from lapse of concentration from the right. Clearly an area of concern for Jorg to look into. Handshakes all around a friendly game A huddle-up to build the team spirit...Chairman Ben Lim with a friendly handshake with SAF's gaffer, Richard Bok Still plenty of positives to take from the game. The defensive wall of Jerry and Aide looks to be sound. For once we have two defensive leaders at the back, Jerry being the vocal one while Aide giving out the necessary instruction and guidance when called upon. In addition to their defensive duties, fullbacks Zahid and Nor Azli made a few forays up to support the attack, one particular defense splitting through pass from the latter to Anthony a clear highlight. With a bit more work and playing time together, we should be pretty decent in this department. New Dolphins in Action The likes of Winston, Razali and Joey watched on from the sidelines in the 1st half The midfield triangle of Yamamoto, Abdoulaye and Murphy looked promising, albeit tentative at times. Winger Sazali Salleh had a quiet game by his standard while Meng Meng was probably finding his feet in a more advanced role, unlike his more accustomed fullback position when he was with Geylang. Not the end of the world here, there’s still plenty of time to work out the kinks since we know how good they can be. Playing the loneman upfront, Anthony showed plenty of attacking impetus with his direct runs and imposing physique. He plays hard but fair. I like the enthusiasm in his play alot. Jorg was able to give all the benchwarmers a run out, making full use of the playing time to try out players and tactics. One experienced Chinese keeper (Amos) to another experienced Chinese keeper (David Lee, SAF goalkeeping coach): You know my method of longevity in the game? 1 word...Wakeboarding! Jorg ging his afterthoughts to the squad...perhaps he saw plenty of positives All in all, it was a good match practice for the team and a great occasion for us to get familiarised with the players. Our next friendly will be on Saturday at 1700hrs where we’ll entertain Home United at Hougang Stadium. Stay tuned.

Pre-season Update

With the national team in the thick of a couple of qualifying game for the 2010 Asian Cup, their respective clubs are getting themselves ready for the new season with some pre-season friendlies.

Sengkang Punggol had been giving their new acquisitions as well as trialists some run out with a couple of friendlies over the past fortnight:

Sengkang started the ball rolling on the 29th of December last year beating Malaysian Super League side Johor at Singapore
According to the good people from The Voyageurs, Anthony Bahadur started as the lone striker and scored a goal.
He was supported by compatriot Murphy Wiredu who created both goals, boy we are relishing to watch those 2 play live.

Our 2nd friendly came in a 3-0 mauling of National Football League side Police Sports Association at the Old Police Academy.
No details are known about the game but the score surely is morale-boosting.

Sengkang will take on S League champons SAFFC this Saturday at Choa Chu Kang Stadium, a great chance to see how the team is shaping up to…

In terms of personnel, we are very sure Hafez Mawasi and Hashim Mahmood had moved to the young Balestier Khalsa club while Ratna Suffian has retired.
We wish them all well in their future endeavors.

Murphy Wiredu..our anwser to Obatola?

In the midst of all the wild speculations of who’s who in the local footballing scene is making their way to the rejuvenated Sengkang Punggol FC, I have my eyes on one foreigne talent already signed to the roster…

Murphy Wiredu, a 22 years old Ghanian born Canadian from Brampton who started perhaps his semi professional career at Toronto Lynx in the USA Premier Developmental League (4th tier) and then a swashbuckling debut season in the Canadian Soccer League side, Italian Shooters, supposedly one of the top teams in the league.

Wiredu scored 6 in 15 games (the same number Simic scored in twice as many games and many more than the rest of the Dolphins last season).
Wiredu also got the accolades of the Best Offensive Player of the Year during his Toronto Lync days after getting 10 goals in the last 9 games of the season.

So one thing for sure Wiredu is not shy to plummet the goals in and he sure had some pace and dribbling ability as well as seen in the video below:

Wiredu and other CSL prospects came to our sunny shores by invitation in October last year (when the S League was caught up in a 3 way slugfest at the summit), and Murphy and Rickey Harris Marvin who recently signed with Geylang Utd impressed with 2 goals each in 3 games.
Another Toronto Lynx player, Anthony Bahadur also impressed Ben Lim enough to sign together with Murphy.
Would love to give more in depth reviews of Anthony but all we know he was doing pretty well at his clubs as an attacking midfielder and was named Provincial East U21 MVP of 2006 in the Ontario Soccer League when he was with Cruz Azul Shooters.

Wiredu’s pace and attacking instinct could be comparable to Gabriel Obatola of Gombak United as the Nigerian young striker had been tearing the opposition defenses apart on weekly basis over the past year.
If Wiredu could remotely emulating the success of Obatola on the pitch (minus the wretched disciplinary record), our coming season could at least a promise supply of goals which many Dolphin fans like myself had been hungry for the entire last season…

Watch this space for the progress of our attacking phenom!