S.LEAGUE: Shahril Ishak saves Warriors from Home defeat with two late goals

SINGAPORE - Home United's Stipe Plazaibat may be the striker in red-hot form in the Great Eastern-Hyundai S.League right now but it was national skipper Shahril Ishak who stole the show on Saturday night when he scored twice to save the Warriors from certain defeat. 

The 33-year-old struck twice in the last 10 minutes of the game to help his team to pull off a 2-2 draw at the Choa Chu Kang Stadium, which was a stunning result as the Warriors were down to 10 men after having one of their own sent off during the game.

It was Plazibat, however, who drew first - and second - blood for Home United.

The 27-year-old Croat strike found the net as early as the fifth miunte after he was brought down by Warriors goalkeeper Hyrulnizam Juma'at in the box. He put the penalty into the net but his celebrations were cut short when referee Ahmad A'Qashah ordered a retake. But unflustered, Plazibat strode up to the ball again and calmly sent it past Hyrulnizam again.

Plazibat then made it 2-0 three minutes after the break when he received a long ball from Khairul Nizam perfectly, and sped past his markers before slotting the ball into the bottom left corner of the Warriors' net.

Home must have thought they had sealed the win by the 70th minute after Warriors defender Hafiz Osman was sent off after gettng his second yellow card.

But Shahril had other ideas. The veteran striker delivered two goals in six minutes - the first from a penalty after being seemingly brought down by Afiq Yunos in the box, and the second in the 87th minute via a superb header off Fazli Jaffar's cross.

Minutes later, A'Qashah blew the final whistle, and while the Warriors celebrated an unlikely draw and escape from the jaws of defeat, Home United's players and coach Aidil Sharin were left despondently wondering what had happened and what could have been.

Aidil noted that this was the second time the Protectors had let a 2-0 lead slip. Previously, they too led 2-0 against Albirex Niigata, only to have the Japanese side put two goals in for a comeback draw.

“I thought that in the first half, we controlled the game very well," he said. "In the second half, we had good chances but after the penalty (that Shahril scored), the boys’ heads were down and I was not sure why.

“Teams like Warriors are strong. They have very experienced players and know to push up and when not to. With 10 men and nothing to lose, they threw everyone forward.”

Warriors coach Razif Onn was thrilled with his team's comeback. This is the second time the Warriors have staged late comebacks to pull themselves out of certain defeat. Prior to this, they had overturned the Garena Young Lions' 3-1 lead into a 4-3 win.

“With 10 men, I think it was fantastic to come back. I don’t know how to describe this feeling. I really appreciate the boys. They were fantastic.”

He added: “We didn’t really play well in the first half but the difference was when we made changes. With players like (Fazli) Jaffar, Home united were threatened more with our crosses.”