BG Tampines Rovers stunned Lion City Sailors in the Community Shield with a statement 4-1 win on Saturday, 16 August, bagging their record-extending sixth triumph in the traditional curtain-raiser of the Singapore Premier League (SPL) season.
Akbar Nawas’ Stags sent a warning to the rest of the league with some fluent, direct football on display to dismantle an off-colour Sailors – the defending SPL champions – in front of a 1,328-strong crowd in what was a packed Jurong East Stadium.
“It’s always good to play a team of that calibre (of the Sailors). And credit to the players and the staff for making this win all the more sweet,” Akbar said.
New recruits Trent Buhagiar, Koya Kazama and Seiga Sumi were the stars of the show with the Japanese duo pulling the strings in the midfield and the Maltese International notching a brace and an assist.
“A very good performance from the team. We came into this game knowing what Sailors will bring to the party and I think we matched them early on. We got a quick goal – two goals in the first half – and we carried on with that throughout the whole game and we defended really well,” said player-of-the-match, Buhagiar.
“We played as a team and that’s what we came into the game to do. We wanted to play as a team and we got the job done.”
The 27-year-old wasted no time in making his mark, striking just two minutes into his competitive debut for the Stags. An inch perfect Kazama pass found the former A-league striker who poked home past Sailors custodian Ivan Susak.
Tampines continued to pile on the pressure and almost got their second goal of the night when a close-range volley from right back Irfan Najeeb was palmed away by Susak.
And they did so in the 43rd minute when a pinpoint ball over the top from defensive midfield anchor Sumi found Buhagiar running in behind. The Stags’ no.12 made no mistake, calmly stroking the ball into the bottom corner.
After a stellar start, eyes will inevitably turn to the new Tampines frontman but Buhagiar remained grounded amidst expectations, saying, “There’s always something to prove. I’ve come here wanting to do well and I just want to keep on working on it and I hope to carry it out throughout the season.”
Across the other end of the pitch the best chance of the half from the Sailors came in stoppage time from a Bart Ramselaar potshot, but the Dutchman’s effort was tipped over well by BG Pathum loanee Nalawich Intacharoen in the Tampines goal.
Tampines continued to turn the screw on the Sailors. Just after the hour mark Kazama gave the Stags a three-goal cushion with a curling free-kick that left the 2.03m Susak grasping at air.
Sailors’ substitute Lennart Thy gave his side a consolation goal late into the game when midfielder Tsiy Ndenge pinched the ball from Jacob Mahler and set up the German.
But Tampines replied almost instantly. Forward Hide Higashikawa latched onto a Buhagiar long ball and put the ball into the net to cap off a dominant win.
For Sailors Head Coach Aleksandar Rankovic, the drubbing was a valuable lesson for his side.
“It was a fair win from Tampines. It’s good for my players to see what they’re going to be against this season and to step up,” said the Serb.
“I think we had some unfortunate moments, especially in the first half with the goal. But they defended really good, they didn’t give us enough space to really exploit.”
Despite masterminding a resounding victory to kick off his side’s campaign, Akbar was not getting ahead of himself.
“It’s a good morale booster for us going into the ASEAN Club Championship and the first league game against Geylang International but… this (the Community Shield) is a one-off game,” said Akbar, who was already setting his sights on the Stags’ SPL opener against Geylang next Sunday (24 August).
“We still have to work hard, we still have to look into what we have done wrong and what we’ve done right, we’ve got to do better and better,”
