S.League Season 2009 – Match 10

	Opponent: Woodlands Wellington Date: 23rd Apr, 1945hrs Venue: Hougang Stadium Final Score: 1 – 0 (Anthony Bahadur 45′)
The taste of victory is oh so sweet. A scrappy affair it may be, but what an invaluable 3 points and confidence booster. Keep it up Dolphins! Anthony enjoys a rare start, partnering Indra upfront Anthony gives a good account of himself against the two giant centrebacks Anthony has a talk with Aide as Abdoulaye preps the decisive free kick Anthony, man of the 3/4 hour Anthony is... not in this picture There he is A relatively easy night for Joey Jorg savors his well earned moment A well deserved win for the team The beaten Rams regroup for their next match against the Glass of Bangkok The Woodlands fans sure make their presence felt, much to the chagrin of the cleaners Starting lineup vs Woodlands Wellington Wreckidigidy’s Relief Rendition: Last evening, it was not a game to advocate the beauty of attacking football but at the end of it, no one can say we didn’t deserve that 3 points for our last actual home game in the league till June when we meet Tampines. The long awaited home win lifts us off the bottom of the table (for now) and we saw plenty of positives amidst some jittery display at times. Anthony, surely the man of the match delivered the sucker punch just before the half time whistle, the best time to score a goal in our opinion. He was showing his usual exuberance and panache in front of goal and should have had another goal in the first half. On a night when Indra was surprisingly subdued, Anthony’s compatriot, Murphy Wiredu showed the Hougang faithfuls the potential he can produce, would be better if he could top it off with a goal. Clean sheet at Hougang Stadium has been so elusive so far but this should up some confidence for young Joey who might have his throat sore from all the anxious shouting to his fellow team-mates to hold their mantle. Our defense finally showed their experience with Hiro perhaps the most outstanding of the lot with his most composed performance to date. Skipper Aide was toyed by one of the Woodlands former NFL foreign strikeforce but grew in strength as the match wore on. Truthfully Iranian Moshee and Eygptian Mido looked short on fitness and idea, perhaps it’s just a collectively off night for the Middle East pairing. The one that really caught my eyes last evening has to be national team player Noh Rahman who had an assured performance in the middle of the park. Albeit losing some balls in the opening stages to the opponents, Noh’s presence did made a big difference, stifling many attack through the middle. However as the match is drawing to a close with us holding a precarious lead and Jorg thrown in more defenders into the fray, it was nerve-wrecking to see Woodlands trying to carve the way to goal especially a Daniel Hammond’s scoop which eluded everyone and inches above the top corner while Jamil Ali had been given too much space to let his pace dictate the attacking for his team. Another cardless evening at Hougang for the home team which is always a good thing despite another insipid officiating display from Mohammad Taqi. With this victory, I hope the lads had restored their confidence and winning mentality and buck the trend on coming Monday against the Young Lions which is not too far-fetched.