Poor defensive display by Bullets gifted Pasir Ris Sec

27th February 2017

Pasir Ris Secondary School took advantage of the Bowen Bullets' defensive lapses to record a 3-2 win in a School Premier League Round of 32 match this afternoon at the Cage Sports Park.

Bowen Bullets starting line-up

Though the two sides looked equally matched in the beginning, the more resolute and assured defending from Pasir Ris began to tell as the match unfolded.

The Bullets gifted their opponent a goal from close range as they failed to clear the ball in the penalty box and a Pasir Ris attacker sneaked in to head the ball into the goalmouth after it bounced in front of the Bullets keeper Desmond Ong.

6 minutes into the second half, an attempt by the Bowen defence to play the ball upfield was prematurely curtailed as the Pasir Ris boys poured forward to steal the ball away. Left with Bullet keeper Desmond out of position, the Pasir Ris striker had the easy task of steering the ball into goal for a 2-0 advantage.

The Bullets's attempts to come back into the game were mostly repelled, though left-winger Muhd Zamani was a constant torn. In the 47th minute, a reckless tackle by a Pasir Ris midfielder on Bullets Mohd Shakir paved the way for a Bowen comeback after he was given his marching orders by the referee.

The expected comeback from Bowen did not come even with an extra man and a changed 4-4-2 formation. Pasir Ris capitalised on some hesitant defensive work by scoring a similar headed goal  to the first one in the 72nd minute. This time, Bullets goalkeeper Desmond failed to come out to gather a rebound with a routine catch and left the Bullets with a mountain to climb.

As Pasir Ris eased up with a 3-goal cushion, the Bullets finally replied through 2 well-executed close range goals from skipper Muhd Tahalif in the 35th and 38th minute. But it was too little too late.

With the defeat, the Bullets ended up 2nd in the group and were left to rue their chance of topping the group and securing an easier route to the quarter-finals.

Bowen Starting Line-Up	Jersey No.
ONG JIAN HAO, DESMOND	1
NOOR RIFAT	18
MUHAMMAD RASYDAN B ARIFFIN	4
MUHAMMAD TAHALIF B ABDULLAL J  goal 35’, 38’	6
HARITH ANIQ B AZMAN	17
MOHAMED SHAKIR B SIRAJUDEEN	7
R SHARVEEN RAM out 51’	10
MUHAMMAD FAREEZ B JAMALUDDIN out 45’	13
MUHAMMAD ZAMANI B MD ZAMRI	8
AIZAL MURHAMDANI B AHMAD	9
MATIN UZAIR B MOHAMAD NAZRIN	12
Substitutes
RAEIS B MOHAMAD NOOR AZRIN	3
TANG GUAN YU	5
MUHAMMAD ZULHILMI B RAMLEE	19
KEITH WONG JIA FENG	20
MARK KOH HORNG AN  in 51’	21
MUHAMAD HAMIZAN B KARYAT	22
MUHAMMAD YUSRI B SELAMAT in 45’	14
ELHAN AKMAL B SAHRIL	11

SPL ROUND OF 32 GROUP H  STANDINGS

	P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
Pasir Ris	3	2	1	0	7	4	3	7
Bowen	3	2	0	1	6	3	3	6
SJI	3	1	1	1	4	5	-1	4
Regent	3	0	0	3	3	8	-5	0