South Melbourne found RHB Singapore Cup opponents, Albirex Niigata, a shade too special on the night as they went down 0-3 to their Great-Eastern-YEO’S S.League opponents at Jalan Besar Stadium on Sunday night.

Souths coach, Eddie Krncevic, their captain, Carl Recchia and team manager Frank Piccione all faced the media after the game and felt that the final scoreline probably flattered Albirex who got their last two goals in the last five minutes.

Considering the Australian side hit the post, when going for an equaliser and had other chances that on another day might have been gobbled up there could be some substance to those feelings on the part of the Victorian Premier League side spokesmen.

South Melbourne came to Singapore around midnight on Friday, having played on Wednesday night in Melbourne, Australia, in a Victorian Mirabella Cup game they had already postponed and had to play before this weekend.

They then lost key defender Rhodri Payne to a serious injury in that match and travelled without several other key players like captain Steve O’Dor, Joe Keenan and Fernando De Moraes. “I must pay tribute to Albirex, though,” said Krncevic.

“They are a good side and I think they’ll probably give the S.League title a very good shake.

“They had a number of very talented players and they gave us a very hard game, but the match will benefit us as we go on to play our eight remaining games in the VPL.

A poor clearance by the Albirex keeper in the eight minute nearly gifted South a goal, but when Daniel Vasilevski played the ball through to Jesse Krncevic the latter could only clip the ball over the bar. A 12th minute free kick from 25 yards out by Carl Recchia found the head of Vasilevski only for the ball to again miss the target.

Vasilevski let fly in the 15th from 20 yards, but again his effort flew just wide.

Albirex worked their way into the game as the visitors began to feel the effects of the humidity and their keeper, Zaim Zenelli, needed to be on song to hold a shot from Atsushi Shimono from a Shotaro Ihata pass in the 16th.

Albirex, currently fourth on the S.League ladder and enjoying their best season to date in the Singapore competition hit the lead in the 22nd minute.

A throw on the right after initial pressure down that flank led to a cross from Tatsuro Inui who found Ihata at the far post.

Ihata, though surrounded by defenders, on the left of goal was able to pick his spot with a precision header and find the top right corner of Zenelli’s net.

When Kyle Joryeff and Steven Weir emerged from the bench in the final stages in place of Daniel Dragicevic and Sebastian Petrovich, South Melbourne began to pose more of a threat to Albirex with their physical presence as much as anything and they clearly dug deep to try and force the issue.

The latter pair combined well in the 74th with Weir’s shot saved well by the Albirex keeper, Yoshito Mutsuhito.

The keeper was then required to push a shot from Joryeff around the post in the 79th as the game moved towards its climax.

From the ensuing corner from another substitute, Marinos Gasparis, a far post header from Jesse Krncevic rattled the upright to deny the visitors a late equaliser.

But then, in the 85th and with more men committed forward, South found themselves under-manned when Albirex substitute, Yosuke Saito, on for Bruno Castanheira in the 74th, played a delightful ball through for Shimono to tuck just inside the right hand upright as the keeper tried to spread himself as big as possible.

In the final minute Albirex made it 3-0.

Ihata played the ball to Saito who raced to the right by-line. He then played the ball back for his captain, Shimpei Sakurada, to drive the ball home from just inside the area.

In stoppage time Gasparis fired just over the bar as South Melbourne tried to end their visit with a consolation goal.

They had been a good opponent for Albirex as their coach, Koichi Sugiyama, agreed after the game.

“They were a strong opponent both tactically and physically and we wish them well for the rest of the season in their own competition,” Sugiyama said graciously.

Krncevic felt that had Albirex been missing as many players as he had to do without on this occasion it could have been a different game altogether.

“The boys did their best and it gives us a good platform to build on for the rest of the season. I think we showed enough to indicate what we are capable of and I’m hoping we did enough to receive an invitation to play again next season too,” Krncevic concluded.

MATCH STATS:

Crowd: 889

South Melbourne FC :
Player listing:
21. Zaim Zanelli (gk); 2. Thomas Matthews, 8. Carl Recchia, 80. Junior Meyer Carlos, 6. Steven Topalovic; 16. Trent Waterson, 10. Kliment Taseki, 23. Sebastian Petrovich (14. Steven Weir +58'), 20. Daniel Dragicevic (25. Kyle Joryeff +73'); 5. Daniel Vasilevski (18. Marinos Gasparis +78'); 11. Jesse Krncevic

Substitutes not used: 33. Robert Russell

Coach: Eddie Krncevic

Yellow Cards: Steven Topalovic 49'
Red Cards: Nil

Albirex Niigata FC :
Player listing:
1. Yoshito Matsushita (gk); 2. Ryuta Hayashi, 3. Shuhei Hotta, 5. Kazuki Kobayashi, 20. Norihiro Kawakami, 23. Takuya Hidaka, 6. Atsushi Shimono, 8. Shimpei Sakurada (c), 10. Tatsuro Inui (14. Musashi Okuyama +90'), 7. Bruno Castanheira (9. Yosuke Saito +74'), 11. Shotaro Ihata

Substitutes not used: 22. Kazuya Inagaki, 4. Keisuke Matsui , 18. Shunsuke Sagesaka, 19. Hidekazu Yamamoto, 13. Ryo Hasegawa

Coach: Koichi Sugiyama

Yellow Cards: Nil
Red Cards: Nil

Referee: Leow Thiam Hoe 7/10
Assistants: Asst Referee 1 Edwin Lee, Asst Referee 2 Andrew Kee; Fourth Official: Muhd Taqi; Match Commissioner: A Raamasamy

Game rating: 8/10
Pitch rating: 10/10 (synthetic)

Players to note: Ryuta Hayashi, Tatsuro Inui, Shimpei Sakurada (AN); Steven Weir, Carl Recchia, Kyle Joryeff (SM)

Match Report by Corinthian (Photos courtesy of Ko Po Hui [http://www.bolasepako.com ])

(Photos courtesy of Ko Po Hui [http://www.bolasepako.com ])


(Photos courtesy of Ko Po Hui [http://www.bolasepako.com ])


(Photos courtesy of Ko Po Hui [http://www.bolasepako.com ])


(Photos courtesy of Ko Po Hui [http://www.bolasepako.com ])


(Sth Melbourne coach Eddie Krncevic - Photos courtesy of Ko Po Hui [http://www.bolasepako.com ])

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