Hilderinc Football Club

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It might be early days in the festivities interrupted fledgling ESPZEN Saturday League 17 season, but Hilderinc FC are still waiting for Lady Luck to turn her attention towards their cause as they were held to a draw against old acquaintances, Vietnam United.

Having last met in 2013 when both were ESPZEN Sunday League sides, it was a re-introduction of a duo who had little between themselves if encounters were any reference.

With the Blacks still seeking their first win in their Saturday league debut after their transition, nothing was left for chances as they turned up in strength and depth.

Buoyant by the return of Lim Yong Kiat in goal and Denis Lobov, who was playing his first competitive following a lengthy spell on the sidelines with a hamstring injury, the Hilderincs were off the blocks with their blistering start in the drizzle.

Relentless with their attacking approach, the Blacks, with unleashed rigor were encamped in the opposing half, threatening to tear United open without mercy.

It was therefore unavoidable that they surged into the lead with a perfectly executed team goal when Lim Yong Kiat's long was headed by Rahmat Saring to set Serhat Dalbeyler racing down the flank before the Turk dispatched a cross of the highest quality into the heart of the Vietnam box to find Rahmat, who though under pressure, rose high to nod the Blacks into the lead.

Paradoxically, if the intense heat in their last league game had a discriminating hand on them, the weather turned to the other extreme of the scale to cruelly curtail the Blacks’ onslaught of their opponents, who looked to be gasping for a reprieve.

So it was no surprise that they were eager to jump at the chance of a postponement after the field resembled a lake in the torrential downpour, however, with the Hilderincs and the referee opting to allow a time-out before making a final call.

With the rain somewhat easing and overflow slowly receding, the game was restarted, albeit on a heavy and difficult pitch.

On the hindsight, though the Blacks continued with their pressing of the opponents, they could have opted for a rescheduling, as their own intensity and adverse playing conditions started to take their toll.

Allowing the Vietnamese into the game, who at this point had upper the ante with a more physical approach on the slick pitch, the Hilderincs started to see more of them in their own half, though even at this point, did not see any clear or present danger to duly trouble a stoic defensive wall.

However, when Lady Luck decides to turn her back, even a blade of grass could affect the course of the game.

Defending a routine corner, the ball skidding off the pitch unto the legs of a unsuspecting Rama Witjaksono, bounced off the post, hit him again before it was swept into the back of the net by a United player, who took trouble to hide his unearned glee.

Having pegged back in the most fortuitous manner, the walk to the break was long and laboured, as the Hilderincs looked to regroup in the second half, and there was no shamed in the way the Hilderincs restarted the game as they pressed for the lead.

Within minutes they were inches from taking the lead when Ian Morris, picking on a perfectly weighted pass from Omar Mahnin, unleased a left-footed strike, only for the fingertips of the goalkeeper to deflect it pass the woodwork.

After an intense fifteen minute spell of the Blacks attacking and the United defending, everything went sterile and reached a lifeless plateau, as both teams laboured to break each other’s’ resolve in a midfield impasses before settling to a point a piece.

While the Hilderincs will feel that they could have done better, and rightly so to some extent, but in the context of the large scheme of things in a long season, a measured and mature reaction will be greatly essential and beneficial.

Final Score

Vietnam United 1 : Hilderinc FC 1

Goal: Rahmat Saring

MOM: Ram Witjaksono

Yellow Card: Basil Al Barr

Starting Line Up

1. Lim Yong Kiat

2. Nicholas Ledenmark

3. Sunny Tharidu

4. Denis Lobov

5. Nejat Mena

6. Sam Thorley

7. Rama Witjaksono

8. Rahmat Saring

9. Serhat Dalbeyler

10. Ian Morris

11. Khaled Harnavin

Substitutions

12. Axel Blomgren

13. Kavin Singh

14. Jon Loh

15. Basil Al Barr

16. Omar Mahnin

17. Logaraj Sundram

18. Glenn Sandhu

• ESPZEN Saturday League 17 Division 2

• HFC ESPZEN League 17 Season Player Stats