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FROM JALAN BESAR STADIUM By Teng Kiat teng.kiat@goal.com @TengKiat |
Former Sengkang Punggol coach Trevor Morgan savored a sweet victory on Wednesday night, as he watched his East Bengal side beat Tampines Rovers 4-2 in a thrilling AFC Cup tie at the Jalan Besar Stadium.
“Ten times I’ve played Tampines and nine times was with Sengkang and once now [but] that’s the first win, so I am pretty happy with it!” he cheerily told the media after the game.
“Tonight we’ve come out on top, but we’ve got to do it again next week now [in the return match].”
His side caught the Stags out on the break for their three second-half goals, but the Englishman claimed they didn’t set out to play that way.
“It’s just the way we play, really,” Morgan said. “We tend to defend a bit deep because we have got players in the attacking positions who have got a bit of pace and who can make things happen.
“We didn’t really do that in the first half [but] the game became open [in the second] and we found spaces to exploit, and we looked dangerous on the counter-attack.”
Morgan admits he was a little worried until the fourth goal made the game safe, but was overall satisfied with victory.
“I can’t tell you whether I was expecting it [the win] because it depends on the Tampines players - the way they play the game, they try and win [and] we do the same as well,” he pointed out.
“I think it was a very, very open game - sometimes a bit more than I would have liked - but we’ve got some good players who can hit teams on the counter-attack, and we’ve done that tonight.”
With two wins and a draw from their first three games, Morgan believes that his team is well-placed to make the next round, especially as two of their remaining three matches will be played at home.
“We’ve got a good start and it’s important to get a good start and win your home games,” he said.
“We’ve only played one home game, which we’ve won, so anything you get away from home is a bonus and we are on seven points now.
“We’ve got two home games coming up [and] I can’t say I expect to win, but we will probably be favorites because it’s not easy to come and play at Kolkata [with] a 2p.m kick-off on a stinking hot afternoon, and two teams have got to come and do that!”