Competition: Woodlands Wellington FC vs Balestier Khalsa
FC
Date & Time: 14 July 2005 7:30:00 PM
Venue: Woodlands
Bencherifa confident of team's
chances
The leagues third and fourth placed sides meet at the Woodlands
Stadium on Thursday night, attempting to get back to winning ways
and gain some ground on league leaders Tampines Rovers.
While Balestier and Woodlands are suitably placed to give
themselves some hope in the title race, their recent results have
left a lot to be desired. The Tigers have only won once in their
last five games, and their level of inconsistency has not allowed
any kind of momentum to be generated.
Indeed, a D-L-W-D-L record hardly depicts the form of a team
chasing for top honours, and many critics may swoop in proclaiming
that the Balestier bubble has burst for good. Still, coach Abdul
Karim may garner hopes of inspiring his team to reclaim their
earlier form, which had kept them well in touch of the leaders
early in the season.
Woodlands coach Karim Bencherifa is not taking anything for
granted, recognising that Balestier is still a force to be reckoned
with.
Balestier is a threat to any team. Their big advantage is that
they work very hard as a team, from the first minute to the last,
said Bencherifa. They have strikers who can score well, plus a
very good defence and it will not be easy for us.
The Rams go into this game on the back of an eight match unbeaten
run, but the two goalless draws prior to Thursday nights clash
highlight the lack of firepower in the Woodlands attack.
The main factor in this drying up of goals looks to be the absence
of striker Jonathon Angelucci through suspension. The target man
will again sit out this game, serving out the last of his two match
ban.
We will definitely miss him, as Anglelucci is our main striker.
Still I have confidence that the rest of the players will make up
for it, noted the Rams coach. We missed Masrezwan and Angelucci
in our match (against Home) and that made it difficult for us. But
Masrezwan is back for this game, and I am sure he will do
well.
Bencherifa also reflected on his teams title chances for this
season, with his charges currently trailing leaders Tampines by
eight points.
We have to be confident! At the moment Tampines are definitely
favourites, especially with the way they are playing. We have to
focus on our own game, and get the results we need, and wait to see
what happens in the other matches with the league leaders, said
Bencherifa.
Woodlands fans will be hoping that Bencherifas confidence and
optimism rubs off on his players, and that he will be able to
inspire his team to gain more ground on the league leaders.
While the Rams have lost a bit of steam upfront in recent games,
their defence is looking increasingly unbeatable, and one feels
that the key to this match is whether Bencherifa finds the key to
unlocking the Balestier defence.
Armed with the fact that they are playing on home soil, Woodlands
will be quietly confident of their chances against the Tigers, and
home fans will definitely be hoping for a repeat of the 3-1 away
win back in April at the Toa Payoh Stadium.
Still the unpredictable Tigers may have something to say about
that, and it remains to be seen which side of them shows up on the
night. It all points to an exciting clash, and the pressure is on
both teams not to be the next team to bow out of the title
race.
