The Lion City Sailors Women’s Team are just one win away from securing their third consecutive Deloitte Women’s Premier League (WPL) title, following a resounding 10-0 win over BG Tampines Rovers in their penultimate league game of the season at the Jalan Besar Stadium on Wednesday (11 September) night.
Five points behind league leaders Albirex Niigata (S) before this match, and with two games remaining, the Sailors knew that anything less than a win would hand the White Swans the title.
Priscille Le Helloco starred against her former side with a clinical hat-trick, while Raeka Ee and Nur Ain Salleh each grabbed a brace. Dorcas Chu, Sarah Zu’risqha, and Yuvika Suresh also found the net in what was the Sailors’ fourth win by at least a ten-goal margin this season – they had beaten Balestier Khalsa 18-0 and 11-0 earlier this year, on top of a 13-0 victory over Tiong Bahru.
It was an encouraging performance that pleased Sailors Women Head Coach Daniel Ong, who praised his side for bouncing back from a disappointing 0-0 draw against Geylang International just three days earlier.
“Today’s game was great; the girls were getting into good positions and creating more movement upfront. What really pleased me was seeing how they enjoyed playing together as a team and supporting one another. The smiles on their faces showed the unity and strong bond within this group,” said the 35-year-old.
Daniel made three changes to the lineup that started against the Eagles, with Izairida Shakira replacing Beatrice Tan in goal, while Liyana Rickit came into the heart of midfield along with Dorcas Chu.
Making just her third start of the season, Liyana – who only turns 15 in October – delivered a composed and all-action display, impressing with her superb range of passing.
“I was very excited and thankful to get a start in such an important game – a game that we had to win,” the teenager reflected. “I was quite nervous to be honest, as I was playing in quite an important position where I couldn’t afford to lose the ball.
“But I’m very grateful that I had the help of Dorcas. She kept motivating me and told me to focus on my strengths. I had some loose touches and some moments where I could have scanned the pitch better, but overall, I’m happy to help the team with some good plays in the middle.”
The Sailors created a flurry of chances from the get-go but had to wait until the 25th minute to break the deadlock, with Dorcas sneaking in at the far post to nod home Miray Altun’s outswinging corner.
This was followed by two quickfire goals, with Raeka poking home from close range after great work by Khairunnisa Anwar down the left flank in the 31st minute, before the Sailors no. 9 turned provider to tee up Priscille for a curling finish a minute later to extend their lead to 3-0.
Raeka was at it again eight minutes into the second half as she produced an unerring finish into the bottom right corner after being found by a low cross from Nurhidayu Naszri.
That was the 20-year-old’s 16th goal of the season, as she kept her faint hopes of overhauling Albirex’s league-leading scorer Manami Fukuzawa – who has 23 to her name – alive.
Another two goals came in quick succession, with Priscille benefitting from Syazwani Ruzi’s defence-splitting pass to score in the 56th minute, before she got to the end of an unselfish Raeka cut-back to complete a memorable first hat-trick in Sailors colours.
Ain, Sarah and Yuvika were then introduced as substitutes shortly after, with the former scoring with her first involvement of the game.
The 14-year-old latched on to Umairah Hamdan’s ball over the top before directing a shot into the bottom left corner in the 59th minute to put the Sailors 7-0 up.
Sarah then joined in on the act eight minutes later with a brilliant placed shot for her 10th goal of the season, before Ain fired home her second in the 81st minute.
The rout was completed six minutes from time, with Yuvika dispossessing a BG Tampines defender before firing home from a tight angle to make it a perfect ten for the Sailors.
The result meant the Sailors closed the gap between them and Albirex to just two points. More significantly, it means a win on Sunday (15 Sept) in their final game of the season against Still Aerion would guarantee them a third straight WPL crown.
