An Intense Cross-Border Showdown Ends In Defeat

The stakes were high as BG Tampines Rovers and Selangor FC faced off in a fiercely contested encounter on Wednesday night in the Shopee Cup, with both sides fully aware of the weight this cross-border showdown carried. Following a fantastic start to the campaign so far, the Stags looked to continue their winning start in the competition, and made two changes to the lineup with Hide Higashikawa and Irfan Najeeb returning to the starting XI.

With our previous matchup all the way back in 2016 against the Red Giants ending in a slim 1-0 victory in what was known then as the AFC Cup, all eyes were on Our Stags to see if we could replicate that result. With that in mind, we kicked off proceedings as The Stand awaited what was sure to be an intense fixture.

Controlling the tempo from the kickoff, Our Stags dictated play in search of the opening goal. The Stags started the game playing quick, offensive football down the flanks, testing the Home side with 2 attempts on goal. Despite the strong start, The Red Giants took the lead after Faisal Halim’s cross deflected off Shuya Yashimata to loop over goalkeeper Syazwan Buhari in the 17th minute. Nothing the Captain could have done about that, and we looked to regroup after this ill-fated sequence of play.

We found a bit of a groove between players, evident in moments of good link-up play to escape Selangor’s threatening press. Just as Our Stags were gaining momentum, the Red Giants struck again, doubling their lead after a defensive lapse. The Brazilian forward Chrigor Moraes dispossessed Shuya, before some patient play found Zach Clough through the mass of retreating bodies. We trailed 2-0 but showed no signs of giving up, as we looked for a breakthrough to shift the momentum. 

The Stags’ persistence paid off with a golden opportunity to get back into the game. Pinging passes across the wing, the ball from midfield was sent from Shah Shahiran, to Takeshi Yoshimoto, to Koya Kazama, then to Trent Buhagiar, who then returned the favour by finding Koya’s run into the box. With Richmond Ankrah adjudged to have tripped Koya, the referee did not hesitate to point to the spot. With a clean and calm strike down the middle, our Japanese maestro sent the goalkeeper the wrong way, and slotting the ball home as we claw our way back into the game.

We entered the half-time break down 2-1, but one could not help but feel that it did not necessarily reflect the story of the half. The half-time scoreline favoured the Home side with a slight advantage, but our late response in the first half ensured we went into the break with renewed confidence as we gathered focus towards the next 45 minutes.

The Stags survived some early scares after the restart, but a nice play from the Malaysian side meant that we were further on the back foot. A good pass found Zach Clough in space on the wing, and his ball across the penalty box found the run of Faisal Halim, who got a touch on it to regain Selangor’s 2-goal advantage. 

Despite trailing yet again, Our Stags maintained composure and continued to relentlessly press forward. A Koya flick-on from a Shah Shahiran pass found Hide with space for a 1-on-1, but his powerful shot blazed over the bar. Another attempt shortly followed, with Seiga Sumi, ever the sharpshooter from outside the box, found his deflected cannon of an attempt dipping towards the top left corner, but not quite enough to test opposing goalkeeper Kalamullah Al-Hafiz.

After some promising passages of play, however, a quick counter attacking goal by the Home side in the 59th minute, did not help but widen the lead further. Quentin Cheng found Chrigor’s fading run into the wing, setting up for Alvin Fortes to easily tap it into the net.

Our boys in Yellow and Black continued to dominate possession as we pressed forward in pursuit of scoring opportunities, and after a display of grit and resilience, Our Stags finally pulled one back from Hide in the 65th minute.

A beautiful long ball from Dylan Fox found the run of Trent, who unselfishly squared it for Hide. After his initial shot was saved, Hide pounced on the rebound and smashed it into the roof of the net.

We looked to provide some fresh legs into the heart of midfield, replacing Seiga with Jacob Mahler, and we added more attacking spark by swapping Glenn Kweh for Taufik Suparno, whose neat interplay with Koya in the 76th minute found the Japanese, with his deflected curling effort going out for a corner kick.

The Stags did not let the setback dampen their spirit, maintaining attacking pressure and creating openings, continuing the fight with urgency and belief. 

Another pair of substitutes came in the 82nd minute, as we saw Amirul Adli come on for Irfan in a like-for-like swap, while Joel Chew looked to replace the offensive output of goalscorer Koya.

In a big burst of offense in the 84th minute, the substitutes linked up for a glorious attempt - Taufik looked to pull one back after Jacob’s pass found him just outside the six-yard box, but his effort flew just above the crossbar. Another attempt on goal by Taufik a few minutes later was acrobatically punched away by the goalkeeper. And finally, a brilliant ball from Shah Shahiran found Trent in behind the defence, who looked to replicate the sequence from the earlier goal, as he passed it to Hide for a great chance, only to see it saved by some brave goalkeeping.

A final throw of the dice saw Saifullah Akbar replacing Hide, aiming to spur one last push in front of the goal. Though, the final whistle soon arrived, signalling the unfortunate end of our unbeaten start to the season.

The tale of the tape showed the intensity of the match-up, with 8 shot attempts per team, and a similar number of corner kicks on both ends, reflecting the shoot-out that was the fixture. The Stags dominated 65% of the possession, and while the lack of clinical touch in the attacking third did not convert to goals, the team’s ability to break down the opposition and dictate possessive play was highly encouraging.

“I cannot be pleased with the result, but I am pleased with the manner we tried to play our football,” said Head Coach Noh Rahman after the match, and this sentiment was echoed by Koya Kazama, who mentioned, “I think it’s very good that we had many opportunities in this game.”

Adding to his tally of 6 goal contributions in 5 games with his goal tonight, Koya reflected on his individual performance: 

“I am happy to have scored and I will always focus on improving myself so that I can contribute more to the team with goals and assists.”

He also spoke about how the team is set to bounce back from this defeat:

“It was the first time this season that we were trailing and so, it was a good test for our character as a team. There were many good opportunities that we could have scored, and we will improve on this in training.”

We knew that this was going to be a tough series of matches, but Head Coach Noh Rahman was quick to deflect any blame on the schedule.

“(The back-to-back Away games) is not an excuse. There were moments in the game where we dominated a lot in terms of possession and creating chances, but in those critical moments (where we conceded) were where we allowed them to come into the game.”

Crediting the team’s resilient performance and looking ahead, the gaffer added: “In every game, there are definitely takeaways, whether we win or lose, and I think there are a lot of lessons to learn from today’s match.”

Koya wrapped up the team’s mindset succinctly, “We will not let this result affect us as we still have a long season ahead with more SPL, Shopee Cup and ACL Two games. These games are still important to us. Now that this game is behind us, we move on to prepare for the next big game against BG Pathum United.”

It is now time to reflect, and recover for the next match, as we welcome our fellow BG affiliates, BG Pathum United to Singapore in the AFC Champions League Two on 2nd October.

A special mention and heartfelt thank you to our beloved fans who made the journey to MBPJ Stadium to cheer on Our Stags. Your presence, chants and colours created a home-away-from-home atmosphere and gave the team a massive lift.