The Lion City Sailors Women stormed to a 6-0 victory over Tiong Bahru in their penultimate Women’s Premier League (WPL) fixture of the 2025 season at the Choa Chu Kang Stadium on Wednesday (1 October).
First-half goals from Dhaniyah Qasimah, Dorcas Chu, and Syazwani Ruzi set the tone, before Farah Nurzahirah, 16-year-old debut scorer Tyan Foong, and captain Umairah Hamdan added further gloss after the break.
The result kept the Sailors in the hunt for second place going into the final day of the WPL season this weekend, as they closed the gap between them and Still Aerion to three points.
“The margin of victory could have been much higher. Finding pockets of space and making intelligent runs was the key factor tonight,” said Head Coach Daniel Ong.
Buoyed by Sunday’s stoppage-time equaliser against Aerion, the Sailors started brightly and nearly struck early when Dhaniyah rattled the crossbar in the 7th minute.
Four minutes later, she made no mistake with a calm close-range finish for her third goal of the season.
Dhaniyah and Umairah both went close before substitute Tia Foong made an immediate impact after replacing Wan Nashirah in the 35th minute. The 18-year-old swung in a cross that Farah cushioned perfectly for Dorcas to slam home in the 38th minute.
Six minutes later, Syazwani brilliantly flicked home Dhaniyah’s cross to send the Sailors into the break with a commanding 3-0 lead.
Daniel then handed goalkeeper Nurul Haziqah Haszman her WPL debut in the second half as the Sailors continued to maintain control of proceedings.
Within two minutes of the restart, Farah headed Dhaniyah’s cross goalwards, and though her initial effort was saved, she reacted quickest to tuck home the rebound to extend her fine scoring run after netting the winner against Tiong Bahru last week.
That was Farah’s 13th goal for the Sailors since joining in the mid-season transfer window and her 24th of the season overall.
In the 83rd minute, teenager Tyan Foong – who replaced Khairunnisa Anwar midway through the half – announced herself in style. Latching onto a through ball, the Sailors Girls Academy graduate coolly lobbed the ball over the onrushing keeper to notch her maiden WPL goal.
“It feels surreal to score at this level,” said a beaming Tyan. “From captaining the national Under-16s at the Lion City Cup to now finding the net in the WPL, it’s such a big step in my journey. I’m grateful to the coaches for believing in me and helping me grow.”
Tyan’s goal also meant a total of 19 different players have netted for the Sailors in this season’s WPL.
There was still time for one more goal, as Umairah’s late effort deflected into the net to complete a resounding win for Daniel’s charges.
The Sailors will now look to close their domestic campaign on a high as they face Geylang International on Sunday (5 October). A win will be enough to overhaul Still Aerion for second place, if the latter loses to Albirex Niigata (S) on the same night.
