League Play-Off

King Edward VII
Spectators: 35 (Terracing: 27, Seating: 8, VIP seats: 0) The mood of the audience was pleasant when Joel Mathews made the kick off which started today's match. After 2 minutes of play, the referee blew the whistle. It was a penalty for Shepshed! The supporters of Merlion FC booed when Shepshed was adjudged a doubtful freekick after 7 match minutes in a wonderful position. Azly Tuan didn't get a good kick on the ball. In the 11th match minute, Shepshed was awarded a freekick, the ball was picked up by Azly Tuan to maneuver through the defense. Shepshed's Dale Yi-Sheng played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Joel Mathews in the 19th minute of play. Alif Chian's shot was meant for the net just under the crossbar, but Albert Lim read the situation well and was quickly in position to make a wonderful save in the 25th minute of play. Shepshed's Alif Chian got a good chance for a goal in the 27th minute, but he totally mistimed the shot and it went over the crossbar. If Afiz Leng had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 32nd minute. The ball went over the crossbar and out instead. When Wong Hsin came up free with the goalie in the 34th minute, the Shepshed fans jumped to their feet. But the shot missed the goal by a fraction of an inch, and the fans sat back down disappointed that Wong Hsin couldn't finish the play. In the 35th minute, Alif Chian got an opportunity to score, but he didn't get a solid hit on the ball and ended up kicking it wide of the goal. John Chandran kicked well hit freekick during the 39th minute of the match. Albert Lim showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Alif Chian in the 44th minute of the match. Thanks to some nice foot action and superb ball handling Alif Chian in the 46th minute a chance for a shot on goal. With an extended leg and a bit of luck Albert Lim prevented the ball from getting in the gole. When the referee blew for the end of the half the home team players were clearly happier, as they went in to the break leading 1-0.

The hometeam waved at the audience when it was time for Alif Chian to strike the kick off in the second half. Merlion FC were furious when Albert Abisheganaden was red carded, 52 minutes into the game, but the referee dismissed their protests. In the 52nd minute, one of Merlion FC:s players had the ball in front of the goal but got pushed and fell. The referee felt it was an obvious case and blew a penalty for Merlion FC. When the match had been going on for 54 minutes, Shepshed's John Namasivayam got an opportunity to shoot a penalty. He stayed cool and waited for the goalkeeper to move, before he confidently shot the ball into the goal, to the left of Albert Lim. An unexpectedly hard shot by Afiz Leng in the 58th minute of play forced Shepshed's goalkeeper Dale Yi-Sheng to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. Alif Chian received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 65th minute. Albert Lim tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere. Danial Hsin charged in rather forcefully in the 68th minute of the match, and managed to knock his opponent down. The referee showed Danial Hsin the yellow card, and asked the players to shake hands before continuing play. After a rather tough play, Merlion FC's Danial Hsin got a free kick in the 68th minute. Shepshed's Dale Yi-Sheng played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Fariz Chien-Kwan in the 72nd minute of play. In the 74th minute, Danial Hsin had to be helped off the field due to a pulled leg muscle. John Namasivayam kicked well hit freekick during the 75th minute of the match. Dale Yi-Sheng showed his good apprehension of the play when he made a fantastic save on a shot from John Chandran, who was totally free with the ball in the 79th minute. Albert Lim made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Wong Hsin in the 85th minute of play. After 86 played minutes Shepshed got a freekick which was hit by Alif Chian. When Afiz Leng fell near the penalty area in the 88th minute he thought he would be awarded a free kick. The referee ignored Merlion FC's protests and gave Afiz Leng a yellow card for diving instead. After a rather tough play, Merlion FC's Afiz Leng got a free kick in the 88th minute. Wong Hsin fired away a screaming shot towards the goal in the 91st minute, but the shot went just over the crossbar without Albert Lim having to interfere. Despite being the better team, Shepshed failed to find the winning goal and were forced to settle for a single point.