Home striker Ilso downs arch-rivals Warriors

WARRIORS FC 1

(Jonathan Behe 63)

HOME UNITED 2

(Song Ui Young 20, Ken Ilso 85)

It was a match littered with careless passing and comical defending.

But former Bundesliga forward Ken Ilso showed his class by leading Home United to a 2-1 win over arch-rivals Warriors FC in a Great Eastern-Yeo's S.League clash at Jalan Besar Stadium last night.

This was the 57th uniformed derby between the two clubs, and the Warriors could have set up a 25th win with an early goal, but Kento Fukuda could not divert Nikola Rak's shot from Zulfadli Zainal Abidin's 11th-minute corner past Yazid Yasin.

They were made to pay in the 20th minute when Azhar Sairudin broke clear and relayed the ball to Ilso, whose square pass was bravely slid into goal by Song Ui Young at the back post.

Seven minutes after the half-time break, Home's Aqhari Abdullah failed to capitalise on Rak's turnover, opting to shoot when he had Azhar and Ilso in support.

From then on, an equaliser looked inevitable and it came 11 minutes later, when Hyrulnizam Juma'at and Sirina Camara's lines got crossed, allowing Jonathan Behe to sneak in, steal the ball and tap it into an empty net.

While his teammates hung their heads in despair, up stepped Ilso, the former Fortuna Duesseldorf man, to get the job done in front of 2,308 fans.

JOB DONE

Five minutes from time, the 29-year-old Dane won the ball in midfield and spread it to the left for Camara.

The Frenchman made amends for an earlier howler with a tantalising cross for Ilso to finish from close range and seal Home's 18th uniformed derby win.

Post-match, both coaches lauded the Home playmaker.

Protectors coach Philippe Aw said: "Ken played an important role in the final minutes, scoring the goal and after that using all of his experience to slow the game down.

"We played him in a wider role today and you all saw the work he did in defence and attack.

"However, we need to stop giving away easy goals. The equaliser was a result of miscommunication and we will continue to work on improving.

"We really have to stop such mistakes, if not we will continue to drop points."

With the result, Home moved up to fifth, three points ahead of sixth-placed Warriors FC.

Warriors coach Jorg Steinebrunner felt a draw would have been a fairer result, but agreed that Ilso made the difference.

"Ken was brilliant. He started the move by turning our midfielder and then finished it by scoring," he said.

"We could have done better. Sure, work ethic and eagerness are welcome, but sometimes we need to keep our calm and make better decisions like put the ball out to regroup."

In last night's other match, Albirex Niigata came from behind to beat Brunei DPMM 2-1 in Bandar Seri Begawan, extending their lead at the the S.League summit to three points.

WARRIORS FC: Yazid Yasin, Syaqir
Sulaiman, Madhu Mohana, Kento Fukuda,
Zulfadli Zainal Abidin, Hafiz Osman
(Shaiful Esah 60), Poh Yi Feng, Hafiz Nor
(Fazli Jaffar 83), Nikola Rak, Hafiz Rahim
(Ridhuan Muhd 71), Jonathan Behe

HOME UNITED: Hyrulnizam Juma’at,
Juma’at Jantan, Abdil Qaiyyim, Shahrin
Saberin (Shamil Sharif 56), Sirina
Camara, Song Ui Young, Zulfahmi Arifin,
Azhar Sairudin (Syahiran Miswan 80),
Ken Ilso, Aqhari Abdullah (Faris Ramli
69), Khairul Nizam

TNP MAN OF THE MATCH:
Ken Ilso (Home United)

LAST NIGHT’S OTHER RESULT
Brunei DPMM 1 Albirex Niigata 2