Young Lions wins after 11 matches of disappointment

Sengkang Punggol forward Benedict Low looks for a chance to shoot while Young Lions' Ismail Yunos and Firdaus Idros try to stop him. (Picture by Fujimiya)

Young Lions ended their 106 days run with winless matches with a victory over Sengkang Punggol on Saturday night.

A first minute goal by former Sengkang player Fairoz Hasan and another in the second half at the 57th minute by Firdaus Idros gave the Young Lions a win.

Sengkang Punggol had to make do with a first team with 3 Prime League players after some of their usual players were out due to injuries or suspensions.

The match had barely started when Sengkang found themselves already one goal down after their former boy Fairoz put the ball into the net after the defence failed to clear the early ball.

Young Lions had the chances to increase their lead but their shots were either off target or saved.

Sengkang also had their chances but their story was almost the same as Young Lions'.

Firdaus Idros finally secured Young Lions' win by putting the ball into the bottom left of the net after Sengkang defence failed to make a good clearance.

The win maintains Young Lions' 9th position on the league table while Sengkang is still 11th.

Young Lions next meet Woodlands Wellington away in the Singapore Cup semi finals on Thursday, while Sengkang meets Home United at home for another league fixture 7 days later.

Minute-by-minute

First Half

1' Fairoz Hasan scores for Young Lions after a defensive error by the Sengkang defence.
18' Isa Halim's long pass is saved by goalkeeper Hafez Mawasi.
24' Abdul Rahim tries a shot but it was saved.
24' Fairoz Hasan passes the ball to Firdaus Idros who then passes it to Fadhil Noh on the right but the latter misses the chance to score.
24' Daniel Hammond passes to Fairoz Hasan but the latter's shot is saved.
27' Haris Sumri's freekick is cleared.
32' Freekick for Sengkang at the left outside the box.
33' Haris Sumri takes the freekick but the ball is punched and saved by goalkeeper Hyrulnizam Juma'at.
36' Haris Sumri shoots wide on the left.
37' Corner for Young Lions cleared by Sengkang defence.
39' Ismail Yunos makes a through pass to Fadhil Noh but the latter does not manage to get a shot.
41' Fairoz Hasan passes to Fadhil Noh on the right but the latter shoots wide.
45' Firdaus Idros passes to Fairoz Hasan but the latter shoots over the top bar.
45' The fourth official indicates 1 minute of added time.
45' Half Time

Second Half

53' Haris Sumri's freekick is saved.
54' Substitution: Sengkang: 10 Zdravko Simic for 23 Duncan David.
54' Freekick for Young Lions after Sengkang's Ali Imran Lomri makes a foul.
55' Isa Halim takes the freekick but Zdravko Simic manages to head it out.
56' Ismail Yunos attempts a shot outside the box but shoots wide on the left of goal.
57' Firdaus Idros scores Young Lions' second goal into the bottom left of the net after Sengkang defence fails to make a good clearance.
59' Zulfadli Zainal Abidin's shot is saved.
61' Haris Sumri tries to make a pass from midfield but the ball ended up in Young Lions defence.
62' Zulfadli Zainal Abidin makes a good run down the left flank before squaring the ball into the middle but none of his teammates are there to connect.
63' Haris Sumri passes to Mahmod Hashim but the ball is cleared for a corner.
63' Ali Imran Lomri takes the corner but the goalkeeper saves it.
64' Substitution: Sengkang: 36 Shazni Zahid for 22 Benedict Low.
74' Substitution: Young Lions: 26 Gabriel Quak for 7 Zulfadli Zainal Abidin.
75' Substitution: Young Lions: 19 Goh Swee Swee for 25 Fadhil Noh.
79' Substitution: Sengkang: 35 Alif Abdul Rahman for 20 Luis Eduardo Hicks.
83' Substitution: Young Lions: 24 K Sathiaraj for 4 Isa Halim.
90' The fourth official indicates 3 minutes of added time.
90' Full Time

Attendance: 1120