Tampines Demolish 10 Man Hougang in Opening Game

In this clash between two potential challengers for this season's SPL it was the experience and stability of Tampines Rovers who triumphed over Hougang's newly constructed team of stars this afternoon in a match that ended 1-5 in the Stags' favour. A first half goal from Irwan Shah followed by second half goals from Ryutaro Megumi, Zehrudin Mehmedovic, Jordan Webb and an own goal by Zulfahmi Arfin were enough to defeat the Cheetahs who got a consolation goal early in the second half through new signing Faris Ramli. The result leaves Hougang in a familiar position, bottom of the SPL.

Jordan Webb was closely marked for much of the first half

The Stags played their usual short passing possession football but they seemed to be finding it hard to find a way through the Hougang defence during the first 20 minutes of the game. Hougang were looking to crowd the midfield and played with a high defensive line, a tactic that restricted the amount of space available for Tampines centre midfielders. The highly rated central midfielder Joel Chew, starting his first game for Tampines, showed a few good touches but did not get the opportunity to show the crowd why he is expected to be Singapore's next star. When Tampines tried to find space out wide Jordan Webb would find himself facing two defenders and showed a tendency to hold onto the ball a little too long. In fact, it was Hougang who looked the more dangerous in the early stages, they adopted a direct game that often bypassed the congested middle of the pitch in an effort to find one of their dangerous strikers. Iqbal Hussein and Faris Ramli combined nicely on the left wing on a couple of occasions and Daniel Bennett showed why he is still a top defender with some well timed tackles and interceptions. At one point, Plazibat looked to be clean through after a quick free kick only to be called back for offside, strangely the free kick was then retaken by Hougang.

Bennett made important clearances all night

Tampines stuck to their game plan and eventually started to find some success towards the end of the first half. The Stags commitment to a stylish short passing game is impressive, even looking to play goal kicks short. The Stags' best play came through Ryutaro Megumi playing on the right wing, the 26 year old Japanese player put in a dangerous far post cross after 35 minuted which Jordan Webb managed to get on the end of but couldn't direct his shot on target. A couple of minutes later Megumi once again caused chaos in the Hougang back line cutting inside before smashing his shot across the face of the goal, only the woodwork could save Hougang on this occasion. Tampines' increasing confidence was further illustrated when centre back Daniel Bennett showed that he is more than just a destroyer as he bought the ball out of defence, dropping his shoulder to skip past the Hougang players.

Bennett drops a shoulder and skips past a Hougang player

The game was opening up and a goal was inevitable. The fact that Megumi was involved shouldn't surprise anyone. The tricky winger again cut inside from the right, drawing defenders out of position before finding Jordan Webb, who had missed another chance moments before. Webb, who had drifted in slightly from the left wing, played a delightful through ball for the overlapping Irwan Shah who exploited the space vacated by Webb and smashed the ball home. The goal came in the 44th minute and was the perfect time for Tampines to take the lead. Before the end of the first half there were signs that tempers were beginning to fray with Webb and Iqbal Hussein squaring up to each other in ugly scenes that resulted in a booking for both players just before the halftime whistle was blown.

The bad tempered end of the first half perhaps had an impact on what happened next. In what was arguably the turning point of the game, Justin Hui will be disappointed with himself after he was awarded two yellow cards in quick succession after the break, the second of which could have been a straight red. With Hougang a goal down and a man down there seemed no way back. However, the red card initially seemed to inspire the Cheetahs who went straight on the attack and, surprisingly, leveled the game. Faris Ramli looked to have gotten the better of Bennett before being tripped by the veteran centre back in the penalty area, it was Ramli who stepped up and converted the penalty, giving the Hougang Hools someting to shout about, not that they needed much encouraging.

Despite the equaliser Tampines didn't panic. The inevitable breakthrough came in the 63rd minute from the constantly dangerous Megumi. The winger again cut inside from the right but instead of passing to a team mate decided to go himself, rounding a defender before slotting the ball home. The extra man gave Tampines more space in midfield and it was exploited by 21 year old Serbian playmaker Zehrudin Mehmedovic, who had replaced the quiet Joel Chew at halftime. Mehmedovic seemed to be operating on a different level at times, he seemed so relaxed and always had time to pick the right pass. Tampines had a goal correctly ruled out for offside after Webb moved a fraction too soon to get on the end of one of Mehmedovic's through balls. The Serbian again linked up with Webb a few minutes later but the Canadian Winger put his effort narrowly over the bar. Mehmedovic's back heel in the build up to Tampines third was sublime but it was Taufik's good work that forced the mistake from Hougang captain Arifin who deflected Taufik's cross into his own net. Mehmedovic showed another side to his game in the 75th minute when he raced through to get on the end of a through ball, showed strength to hold off the defender before displaying his trademark cool to slide the ball home, a great goal. These 3 goals in 12 minutes broke the Hougang spirit and it seemed to be a question of how much Tampines were going to win by.

Webb hit the bar with this downward header. The winger would eventually get his goal.

It could have been more than 5. Tampines were awarded a penalty in the 82nd minute that was well hit by Shahdan Sulaiman but fantastically saved by Khairulhin Khalid and Webb hit the bar with a header from a free kick. Jordan Webb finally completed the scoring in stoppage time getting the goal he had been threatening to score all night after yet more good work from Mehmedovic. Hougang, cheered on by their incredible fans who seemed to be in denial about the whole thing, showed some threat towards the end but Bennett, who had a brilliant game, showed that he was still concentrating as he executed a fine challenge on Plazibat to stop any consolation for Hougang.

Tampines once again show that they are confident enough to stick to their game regardless of the opposition. It worked for them in Myanmar last week and worked superbly at Jalan Besar stadium. It's still very early days in the season but defeat for Home today means that Tampines are the only one of the four main title contenders to finish match day 1 with 3 points. To win what was expected to be tight game in such convincing manner sends out a clear message to the rest of the league. Tampines host Home United on Friday in what will be another clash of title contenders.

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