Warriors march on

GEYLANG INT'L 0


WARRIORS FC 1

(Nicolas Velez 40)

It wasn't pretty, but Warriors FC got the job done in the end.

The title hopefuls eked out a 1-0 win over Geylang International at the Bedok Stadium last night to cut Brunei DPMM's lead at the top of the Great Eastern-Yeo's S.League to seven points.

Alex Weaver's side had to thank goalkeeper Hassan Sunny for the win.

The hulking, 1.84m-tall national shot-stopper had a great game for the Asean All-Star team last Sunday, and continued his fine form last night.

He made a number of fine stops, the pick of which was a flying save in injury time to keep out Geylang captain Ridhuan Muhammad's shot which looked destined for the top corner.

Geylang coach Jorg Steinebrunner said: "Hassan is a very good goalkeeper and had a great second half.

"That shot was flying into the top corner but he kept it out.

"Looking back at the great chances we had and the saves he made, I cannot fault my players."

The Warriors took the lead towards the end of a dull first half through Argentine forward Nicolas Velez.

Velez pounced on shoddy defending by his countryman Joaquin Lopez in the 40th minute to latch onto a long punt and fire home his ninth goal of the season.

Geylang came out a different side in the second half, but found Hassan unbeatable.

When he was finally beaten by Ridhuan's shot in the 82nd minute, the woodwork came to his rescue.

The shot-stopper left it late to make his most spectacular save of the night, diving full-stretch to turn away Ridhuan's injury-time effort to secure the win for his side.

Weaver did not only praise Hassan after the game.

"Hassan played well but so did everybody else," said the Briton.

"Everybody defended really well and attacked really well. One-nil is a very good scoreline. It breeds confidence after we've let in a few goals in our recent games (nine in three)."

Meanwhile, Harimau Muda B made it two wins out of two after they defeated Tanjong Pagar United 2-1 in last night's other match, played at the Jalan Besar Stadium.

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Hassan is a very good goalkeeper and had a great second half... Looking back at the great chances we had and the saves he made, I cannot fault my players.

— Geylang International coach Jorg Steinebrunner paying tribute to Warriors goakeeper Hassan Sunny

TNP MAN OF THE MATCH:

Hassan Sunny (Warriors FC)

YESTERDAY'S OTHER GAME:


T Pagar 1 Harimau 2


TOMORROW:

Home United v Tampines Rovers
(7.30pm, 
Bishan Stadium)