Singapore: Park Reaches Ton For Woodlands

The second-half strike was not enough to avert defeat for Woodlands Wellington, however, as they went down 1-2 to the Bulls at Jurong West Stadium.

Kingsley Njoku scored both goals for the home side, pouncing on a botched punt by Woodlands goalkeeper Yazid Yasin to draw first blood on eight minutes before doubling Gombak’s advantage five minutes after the break.

But the goal of the evening undeniably went to Park, who converted a sweet free-kick to send Rams fans into cheers of delight at his achievement.

The Korean had headed into the match as the club’s leading scorer with 14 goals in all competitions, which meant the burden of finding goals against Gombak fell primarily on his shoulders as Abdelhadi Laakkad sat out due to suspension.

Also absent for Woodlands were suspended duo Zahid Ahmad and Azmi Mahamud, while reserve custodian Ahmadulhaq Che Omar missed the match with an eye infection.

With so many players missing, Jorg Steinebrunner knew his boys would have a difficult task against a Gombak side that had dropped just two points in their last six games.

Funnily enough, that run had started with a 2-0 victory at Woodlands Stadium, on a night where Njoku and Ojimi Gabriel Obatola did not play and Agu Casmir had not yet been cleared to play for the Bulls due to administrative issues.

All three were in A. Shasi Kumar’s starting lineup this time, with Emmanuel Emuejeraye completing a front four that boasted pace and power in abundance.

They needed none of that to fire themselves into the lead eight minutes in, though, as an ill-judged backpass to Yazid put the goalkeeper under undue pressure, causing him to punt the ball into Njoku’s path.

With no defender anywhere nearby to close him down, the Nigerian brought the ball past the goalkeeper before slamming it emphatically into an empty net.

It could have been double happiness for Njoku 60 seconds later, but this time Yazid rushed out and took the ball away from the striker’s feet to make up for the earlier gaffe.

Still, the Rams’ poor defending must have made for worrying viewing for Steinebrunner, who was aware SAFFC coach Richard Bok was in the stands to spy on his team.

Njoku in particular was causing all manner of problems for Lucian Dronca and Jerry Bartholomeusz, who could have been penalized for impeding him in the box on 18 minutes had referee Leow Thiam Hoe taken a stricter view of the incident.

Casmir then spurned a chance to extend his recent scoring streak to four games, when he checked and shot weakly from eight yards out instead of going for a first-time effort.

Compared to these “could have been” moments for Gombak, Woodlands had far fewer chances at the other end, Fadzuhasny Juraimi struggling to make an impact despite his earnest efforts while Park had an anonymous first half.

Indeed, the only surprise about the half-time score was that the Bulls had not scored more than one goal, but it took them just five minutes in the second half to rectify that problem.

It was Njoku who again struck the telling blow, heading Faizal Abdul Hamid’s lofted ball into the bottom corner after the Woodlands defence had given away possession too easily.

For all their faults at the back, though, the Rams always had their tails up whenever they went on the attack, and gradually they pushed Gombak into making errors of their own.

Park earned a free kick on the edge of the area when he was fouled by Bah Mamadou on 56 minutes, but his first attempt to hit the century mark failed as he drove his effort into the wall.

There was to be another opportunity for Park four minutes later, when Emuejeraye’s lack of defensive skill betrayed him as he brought Akihiro Nakamura down 30 yards out.

Up stepped the Korean once again, and this time his left-footed effort sailed just beyond the reach of a fully-stretched Fadhil Salim.

Immediately the 31-year-old ran ecstatically to the Woodlands bench to celebrate with Steinebrunner, while the Rams supporters chanted his name in delight.

But there were still 30 minutes to play in the match – a long time for Yazid, who was playing through the pain barrier after picking up an injury early in the second half.

Showing his determination to carry on by refusing to get himself substituted, he proceeded to punch away a stinging cross by Bulls substitute Ruhaizad Ismail.

Theerawesin Seehawong then fired a low shot right across the face of the Woodlands goal, but by now Gombak were getting quieter and quieter up front as they seemed unable to maintain their attacking momentum beyond 70 minutes.

Ruhaizad came close to finding the killer third goal in injury time, when he picked up a layoff at the end of a smooth passing move but fired wide from outside the box.

In the end, the Bulls did just enough to consolidate their grip on fifth spot – but there was no denying Park’s moment in history as he left the field proud of his work on the night.

Steinebrunner pays tribute to centurion Park

Woodlands Wellington coach Jorg Steinebrunner hailed Park Tae Won’s achievement as the latest player to hit 100 goals in Singapore football, describing him as “one of the best” to have graced the S.League.

The former Jurong FC and Balestier Khalsa winger completed his ton with a free kick against Gombak United, handing the Rams a silver lining to their 1-2 defeat by the Bulls.

“I’m happy for Park, and I would put his achievement higher than some of the others who have done the same thing,” Steinebrunner told sleague.com after the match.

“You look at the clubs he has played for when he scored his 100 goals, like Jurong and Balestier, and you will see that he was in teams that did not find it so easy to score. Looking at that, to me, the 100 goals are a greater credit to what he has achieved.
“He had to rise above playing for teams that weren’t challenging for titles, but that’s what he always did. That’s why Park is, in my opinion, one of the best players in the S.League.

“I don’t mean to take anything away from the other players who have scored 100 goals. But looking at him, his deeds speak greater volumes of what a quality player he is.”

Despite the pleasant news, the German did not overlook the fact his team had finished on the losing side, noting that the defenders did not do themselves any favours.

He however excused goalkeeper Yazid Yasin from blame for giving the ball away to Kingsley Njoku for the opening goal, noting that the defenders should not have set him up for an awkward situation in the first place.

“The two goals we conceded were gifts, unfortunately,” he noted candidly.

“We played our own part in giving away both of the goals. I wouldn’t blame Yazid for the first goal, because it was a situation where the defenders could have cleared the ball.

“As a defender, if I’m in a position where I could avoid putting my goalkeeper in a difficult situation, why wouldn’t I do it? That’s what the defence has to do: get rid of situations that would be difficult for the keeper.

“But to be fair, the boys made things difficult for Gombak, who are on a good run. Looking at the circumstances, we may have lost, but I’m happy with what we’ve put up.”

Tam Cheong Yan