Paul Green
info@fas.org.sg 

Singapore’s senior national team, the Lions, came through a very worthwhile practice match against national Under-23 side Young Lions at the National Stadium on Friday evening with a 3-0 win as coach Radojko Avramovic rang the changes.Beginning the game without Daniel Bennett, Mustafic Fahrudin and John Wilkinson, who have only just returned from their holidays, the Lions quickly set about establishing their credentials. A determined Young Lions’ defence was unable to prevent the senior side opening the scoring in the 15^th minute. A Shahril Ishak corner landed the ball in the goalmouth and when big striker Aleksandar Duric fired in a shot a sea of legs got in the way. The ball ran loose and within a second or so 17 year old prospect Hariss Harun, who played with Young Lions last season, slammed the ball home from close range. Midfielder Shi Jaiyi rocked the crossbar with a shot from just inside the penalty area, after seizing on a loose clearance in the 19^th minute, but the Lions had only another nine minutes to wait to double their advantage. Captain Indra Sahdan hit a sweetly-timed drive from 30 yards out that skimmed the turf before whistling into the net. Changes made at half time by coach Avramovic, including the introduction of Agu Casmir for Duric, continued the momentum. Agu had a booming shot tipped over the bar by the Young Lions’ keeper in the 61^st before making a good run on the right four minutes later and sending through a low cross that Fazrul Nawaz met at the far post with a sizzling finish. Avramovic was pleased with the workout when it was over. “A few players experienced some tightness but that was to be expected,” he said. “The main thing was that some of the drills we did in training worked on the field today.” “Duric, Indra and Khairul (Amri) combined well,” he went on. Asked how the defence had fared he gave a ‘so-so’ verdict and this will probably be something the coach will work on as the days leading up to the first friendly on the team’s middle-east tour, against Oman on January 24^th, unfold.