(Pictured above) This attempt by Tai Po's Ye Jia (23) was the first "decent" shot of the game I took.SHORT SCRIBE
To be honest, it was a poor first half for me as there were barely any worthy shot that deemed "photogenic"
Time to time, I could only recall myself deleted those "unworthy" shots - in short, it was a frustration first 45minutes.
Things were made even more challenging, when I was told to stay near to the corner area (pictured above), instead of roaming behind the goal within the limits set by the billboards, which were not existed during the game!
(Pictured above) Geylang's skipper Miroslav Latiak had a good game as he practically involved most of the Eagles' offences.
(Pictured above) Geylang's striker Peter Tomko (right) had a fairly quiet game.Things improved in the second half when Geylang were attacking towards the goal, which I still positioned behind, as they shown more innovative style of attacking plays as compared to their guests from Hong Kong.
The lack of innovative play in Tai Po had let Christian Annan (pictured right, above) down Yet, against the run of play Tai Po took the lead in the 70th minute through Ghanian winger Christian Annan, who may have caused considerably threat to Geylang's defence which Tai Po attacking build-up failed to allow him to shine for large part of the game.
(Picture above) The Eagles celebrated after Belicak's equalizer.POST-MATCH PRESS CONFERENCE
Tai Po's coach Andy Cheung (pictured left above with Christian Annan) acknowledged that it was a tough game, but he glad he achieved what he set out in the first place – to secure a draw from this game, while added that his team were not used to the artificial turf of Jalan Besar Stadium (like most foreign teams would share the same sentiment)
“As this is first game (of the AFC Cup), we can't just blindly go for an 'all-out attack' as we don't know how they (Tai Po) play and we decided to play it tight.” replied Geylang's coach Mike Wong (pictured above with skipper Latiak) when queried if his team were playing too cautious in their first game back in continental football after six years of hiatus.“I felt we gave away the ball in our defensive third and the lack of communication among the players that led to their first goal (in the 70th minute)” commented Coach Wong on his thoughts of the goal conceded by his team.
With two away game scheduled in their next continental adventure, the Eagles' chief revealed that “there'll be not changes in their approach” in those match on the road.
MORE PICTURES ON THIS MATCH, PLEASE CLICK HERE.
To be truthful, this Geylang team really do not seem to be able to go far in the continental tournament which could be attributed to a few reasons.
ReplyDelete1) Head coach: Mike Wong might not be the most astute tactician in this playing field. Someone mentioned that he is clueless with the formation Mike is playing in the league of late.
2) Players: Although the bulk of the 2009 Singapore Cup team was retained, the lack of a defensive lynchpin in Seto and the midfield creativity of Kim Jae-Hong is apparent. Defensively the team is still sound but mainly due to Yazid Yasin being the inspirational goalkeeper. Newcomers like Ghindaru, Tomko and Itimi had yet to add to the team, but could still be early days.
3) Outside intervention: A director of football, a team manager etc etc... alot of outside intervention
Hi "fishoutofwater",
ReplyDeleteMaybe you had a clearer view of the match than I do.
But like I mentioned at the start of my blog, it was a disappointing first half for a photographer and also as a spectator watch a dull half of football.
And IMO, Geylang may have much of the ball but they weren't threatening enough, as like what coach Wong said, "can't just blindly go for an 'all-out attack'".
Various school of thoughts?
From several posting seen on the Tai Po's official blog, it seems that the HK fans are taking this second-tier continental tournament very seriously and already urge all HK football to turn up at Tseung Kwan O Sports Ground for their AFC Cup home fixtures
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