Albirex 1-1 Korean SR: Foreign Teams' Unbeaten Run Continues

I previously posted that the the 3 foreign teams haven't lost since 16-July, this run has now continued after 2 foreign teams, Albirex & Korean SR, squared off to a 1-1 draw on 15-Aug. More info on the match at:
ZaoBao's Report,
ChannelNewsAsia's Report,
TodayOnline's Preview + Report &
S.League's Preview + Details + Report.

Albirex is now unbeaten in 2 games; while Korean SR hasn't lost for 4 games in a row, and more significantly the latest draw has brought its season tally to double digits, thus avoiding the embarassing fate of single digit finish in a season, "enjoyed" by the following "elite" group of teams:

Team------------- Season Games- Record Points PPG--
Paya Lebar------- 2005-- 27---- 1-1-25 4----- 0.148
Home United------ 1997-- 16---- 2-1-13 7----- 0.438
Sembawang Rangers 1997-- 16---- 1-5-10 8----- 0.500
Marine Castle---- 1998-- 20---- 2-3-15 9----- 0.450

Will this unbeaten run continue when Liaoning Guangyuan takes on Sengkang Punggol at Hougang Stadium on 16-Aug? It is also worth noting that Sengkang has also lost its last match against another foreign team, Korean SR earlier in 6-Aug. More info on this tie is available on S.League's Preview.

This is also posted at: KallangRoar.Com: Albirex 1-1 Korean SR: Foreign Team Unbeaten Run Continues

SLVC Preview - Tampines vs Home on 17-Aug: An electrifying contest!

Home United's next SLVC opponent on 17-Aug, Tampines Rovers, has won the SLVC title 8 times & currently ranked joint-4th all-time (with Woodlands), behind:
1.SAFFC------- (12),
2.Home-------- (11) &
3.Geylang----- (10).

Tampines Rovers's all-time record in the SLVC mini-league is 5th best, having played 60 macthes, won 27, drew 12 & lost 21, amassing 93 points in the overall standings, behind:
1.SAFFC-------- (58-23-18, 197),
2.Home--------- (59-20-19, 197),
3.Geylang------ (32-17-22, 113)&
4.Woodlands---- (27-18-24, 99).

Should Home earn at least a draw against Tampines, they will replace SAFFC as the sole leader in the SLVC all-time mini-league.

If Tampines win this contest instead, it will not just increase its SLVC titles won & mini-league points total, but also overtake Geylang in the All Time S.League Table, who are currently just 2 points ahead after Tampines' 2-1 over Gombak on 14-Aug!

Tampines has met Home 12 times in the SLVC so far; it won 2, drew 3 & lost the other 7; scored 20 & conceded 28 in the process.

Coincidentally, Tampines last SLVC title was also wrested away by Home on 28-Apr in a 1-3 loss, it would surely like to exact revenge in the coming fixture!

The following are Tampines' 8 previous SLVC title winning matches:
045 1997-07-08 Tampines-- Jurong---- 3 1
133 2001-07-26 Tampines-- Tan. Pagar 2 1
143 2001-10-06 Geylang--- Tampines-- 0 1
199 2003-07-17 Tampines-- Sinchi---- 5 1
235 2004-08-17 Sinchi---- Tampines-- 0 2
248 2005-05-04 Woodlands- Tampines-- 0 3
276 2006-10-15 Woodlands- Tampines-- 1 3
304 2007-04-02 Balestier- Tampines-- 1 3

For more info on the match-up, please visit S.League.Com's Preview+Trailer & TodayOnline's Preview.

Who do you think will win on 17-Aug? With both teams fighting fiercely for the 2007 League Title & SAFFC sandwitched in-between, it is going to be an electrifying contest!

This is also posted on KallangRoar.Com: SLVC Preview - Tampines vs Home on 17-Aug: An electrifying contest!

SLVC - Title remains Home after 3-2 win over Balestier

Despite scoring just 2 goals against Balestier's "3", Home United managed to win 3-2 on 14-Aug, thanks to its opponent's own goal. Details are available at S.League's Match Details+Report, TodayOnline, ChannelNewsAsia & ZaoBao.

Balestier's losing streak against Home in SLVC is now extended to 9 straight games, how unfortunate for it! This is also its 2nd SLVC loss to Home United in 2007, after a 1-3 defeat at home on 2-Apr.

Meanwhile, Home's record as the current SLVC holder is now an amazing 10 wins & 2 draws, their next match is a top-of-the-table clash against Tampines on Aug-17th.

With this result, Home has also achieved several significant milestones:
1.It has pulled level with SAFFC at the top of the all-time SLVC mini-league table with 197 points.
2.It has bacame only the 2nd side to have scored (202) more than 200 goals in SLVC alongside SAFFC (218).
3.It has amassed the most number of wins (59) among all teams in SLVC matches, followed by SAFFC (58).

A preview shall be posted very soon. For the time being, why not watch the corresponding S.League's Trailer?

This is also posted on KallangRoar.Com: S.League Virtual Championship.

SLVC Preview - Home vs Balestier on 14-Aug: Who will win?

Home United's next SLVC opponent on 14-Aug, Balestier Khalsa, has a long history in SLVC, having taken part since the first ever SLVC match in 1996, which it lost to Home as well (what a coincidence!!), who were known as Police back then.

It has won the SLVC title 3 times & currently ranked joint-7th all-time with Young Lions (also 3), behind
SAFFC------- (12),
Home-------- (11),
Geylang----- (10),
Woodlands---- (8),
Tampines----- (8) &
Tanjong Pagar (4).

Despite their 3 title-wins, Balestier's all-time record in the SLVC mini-league is a more lowly 10th best, having played 32 macthes, but won just 3 (these were all title-winning games), drew 4 times & lost all the remaining 25, amassing only 13 points in the overall standings, behind
1.SAFFC-------- (58-23-18, 197),
2.Home--------- (58-20-19, 194),
3.Geylang------ (32-17-22, 113),
4.Woodlands----- (27-18-24, 99),
5.Tampines------ (27-12-21, 93),
6.Tanjong Pagar- (15-11-16, 56),
7.Young Lions---- (11-2-10, 35),
8.Sinchi----------- (4-3-8, 15) &
9.Clementi--------- (2-9-9, 15)

Should Home beat Balestier on 14-Aug, they will match SAFFC's all-time points total in the SLVC mini-league.

It is also worth noting that Balestier's first ever SLVC title only came in 2004, almost 8 years since it began playing in the S.League. As implied earlier, it has never been able to defend its SLVC title, always lost in the very next games as a title holder.

Balestier's SLVC record against Home United was equally pathetic, having lost all 8 meetings so far. The other team Balestier fared worst against in SLVC is SAFFC, whom it only drew once & lost 7 other times.

The following are Balestier's 3 previous SLVC title winning matches:
233 2004-08-03 Woodlands- Balestier- 2 3
246 2005-04-24 Balestier- Tampines-- 2 0
303 2007-03-29 Super Reds Balestier- 0 2

For more info on the match-up, please visit S.League.Com's Preview & TodayOnline.

Who do you think will win on 14th-Aug? Speaking on past records alone, the answer is pretty obvious, but who knows?

This is also posted on KallangRoar.Com: SLVC Preview - Home vs Balestier on 14-Aug: Who will win?

S.League Milestone Games - Comparisons between Original / Alternate Versions

Similarities:
1.SAFFC still top both standings winning all 4 games it took part.
2.SAFFC also scored the most number of goals in both versions.
3.Home United still maintained its 100% records in both versions.
4.Korean SR was the surprise package: the only other team with 100% record.
5.Sengkang is still hapless as the only team to lose all games in both versions.

Differences:
1.The Original Version contained 15 teams, while the Alternate Version has 14.
2.The Home Teams are more dominant in the Alternate Version, with 10 wins to 5 vs Away Teams.
3.Except SAFFC, every other team occupy different positions in both versions.
4.Jurong, Balestier, Paya Lebar, Albirex & Clementi, who were present in the Original Version, are out of the Alternate Version.
5.Tanjong Pagar, Liaoning, Afrique & Sinchi, who were absent from the Original Version, are in Alternate Version.
6.Tampines was still the "luckiest" team by participation, but not so lucky in terms of results as they lost all 5 games played & firmly rooted at the bottom of the Alternate Version.
7.Tampines also conceded the most number of goals in the Alternate Version. This a far-cry from their 2nd-placed performance in the Original Version.
8.The 2nd position in the Alternate Version now goes to Woodlands, who also played 5 games, though they could only manage a negative goal difference.

S.League Milestone Games (Alternate Version) - Analysis

Alternate Version Consolidated Table:

(Brackets = Original Version Placings)

01 (01) SAFFC----- 4 4 0 0 13-04 12 +9
02 (08) Woodlands- 5 2 1 2 11-12 7 -1
03 (06) Home------ 2 2 0 0 07-02 6 +5
04 (05) YoungLions 2 2 0 0 06-01 6 +5
05 (13) Sembawang- 3 2 0 1 05-04 6 +1
06 (NA) Tan.Pagar- 3 1 1 1 04-05 4 -1
07 (14) Geylang--- 2 1 0 1 02-01 0 +1
08 (NA) Liaoning-- 1 1 0 0 01-00 3 +1
09 (07) Korean SR- 1 1 0 0 01-00 3 +1
10 (NA) Afirique-- 1 0 0 1 00-03 0 -3
11 (04) Gombak---- 2 0 0 2 00-03 0 -3
12 (10) Sengkang-- 2 0 0 2 01-05 0 -4
13 (NA) Sinchi---- 1 0 0 1 01-05 0 -4
14 (02) Tampines-- 5 0 0 5 04-11 0 -7

Statistical Summary:
Matches Played: 17
Home Win------: 10
Draw----------: 1
Away Win------: 6
Goals---------: 56
Home Goals----: 36
Away Goals----: 20
Most Frequent Scores: 1-2 (4 times)

S.League Milestone Games (Original Version) - Analysis

As promised, the following are some analysis on the S.League Milestone Games (Original Version), up to the 1700th game between KSR & Sengkang on 6 Aug 2007:

Consolidated Table:
1 SAFFC----- 4 4 0 0 14-7 12 +7
2 Tampines-- 6 3 1 2 10-7 10 +3
3 Jurong---- 3 2 1 0 4-1 7 +3
4 Gombak---- 2 2 0 0 5-2 7 +3
5 YngLions-- 3 2 0 1 5-3 6 +2
6 Home------ 1 1 0 0 3-1 3 +2
7 Korean SR- 1 1 0 0 2-1 3 +1
8 Woodlands- 1 0 1 0 1-1 1 +0
9 Balestier- 3 0 1 2 4-7 1 -3
10 Sengkang- 1 0 0 1 1-2 0 -1
11 P.Lebar-- 1 0 0 1 2-4 0 -2
12 Albirex-- 1 0 0 1 1-3 0 -2
13 Sembawang 1 0 0 1 1-3 0 -2
14 Geylang-- 2 0 0 2 1-4 0 -3
15 Clementi- 4 0 0 4 3-11 0 -8

Statistical Summary:
Matches Played: 17
Home Win------: 5
Draw----------: 2
Away Win------: 10
Goals---------: 57
Home Goals----: 23
Away Goals----: 34
Most Frequent Scores: 2-4 (3 times)

Trivia:
1.SAFFC is the all-time leader with a perfect record of 4-wins out of 4 games!
2.SAFFC is also the top scorer in the consolidated table with 14 goals.
3.Conversely, Clementi is the all-time worst team, losing all 4 games it took part.
4.Not surprisingly, Clementi also leaked the most number of goals at 11.
5.The away teams were much more dominant than the home teams, with 10 wins to 5.
6.Tampines is the "luckiest" team to have taken part in most (6) Milestone Games.
7.Teams who unfortunately had never played in any Milestone Games:
--Tanjong Pagar,Sinchi & Sporting Afrique, which have all folded.
8.Liaoning may still have a chance to play if they stay in the league next season.

This is also posted on KallangRoar.Com: S.League Milestone Games (Original Version) - Analysis.

All Time S.League Table as at 9-Aug-2007

As the S.League took a break between 8 to 14th-Aug for the SOS-Cup, I thought it would be a good opportunity to post the latest All Time S.League Table FYI:

All Time S.League Table Combined (1996 to 2007-08-09):
#- Club Seasons GP- W *PK D- L-- F-- A-- GD- *Pts PPG #PPG
01 SAFFC--- 12 *312 204 2 56 050 765 381 +384 672 2.154 01
02 Home----- 12 309 169 2 56 082 652 430 +222 567 1.835 02
03 Geylang- 12 *311 143 3 65 100 542 403 +139 500 1.608 03
04 Tampines- 12 309 142 3 63 101 598 457 +141 495 1.602 04
05 Woodlands 12 310 121 4 68 117 539 516 +023 439 1.416 08
06 Tj.Pagar-- 9 234 100 2 46 086 399 385 +014 350 1.496 06
07 Balestier 12 310 090 2 69 149 461 625 -164 343 1.106 10
08 Jurong---- 7 179 070 7 29 073 261 274 -013 253 1.413 09
09 Sembawang- 8 207 053 5 47 102 256 409 -149 216 1.043 12
10 YoungLions 5 138 056 1 28 053 249 240 +009 198 1.435 07
11 Gombak---- 7 179 047 0 38 094 240 347 -107 179 1.000 14
12 Sengkang-- 8 212 042 8 35 127 246 471 -225 177 0.835 16
13 Albirex--- 4 102 042 0 28 032 178 148 +030 154 1.510 05
14 Clementi-- 4 110 022 0 29 059 150 261 -111 095 0.864 15
15 Sinchi---- 3 087 022 6 13 046 109 167 -058 *88 1.011 13
16 Afrique--- 1 030 005 0 09 026 036 059 -023 024 0.800 17
17 Liaoning-- 1 019 006 0 02 011 022 035 -013 020 1.053 11
18 Super Reds 1 019 002 0 03 014 011 055 -044 009 0.474 18
19 Paya Lebar 1 027 001 0 01 025 023 078 -055 004 0.148 19

Remarks:
* SAFFC & Geylang played an extra title game in 1996.
* Total Points of each team included PK wins in 2003.
* Sinchi FC was deducted 3 points at the end of 2005.

Highlights:
* 4th-placed Tampines may soon overtake 3rd-placed Geylang.
* 7th-placed Balestier may soon overtake 6th-placed Tanjong Pagar.
* 12th-placed Sengkang may soon overtake 11th-placed Gombak.
* 17th-placed Liaoning may soon overtake 16th-placed Afrique.

This is posted on KallangRoar.Com: All Time S.League Table as at 9-Aug-2007.

SLVC - All Time Statistics Up To 2007, as at 9-Aug

All Time Table Up To 2007, as at 9-Aug:
1 SAFFC---- 99 58 23 18 218-118 197 +100
2 Home----- 97 58 20 19 199-124 194 +75
3 Geylang-- 71 32 17 22 134-094 113 +40
4 Woodlands 69 27 18 24 119-121 099 -02
5 Tampines- 60 27 12 21 115-097 093 +18
6 Tan.Pagar 42 15 11 16 67-65 56 +02
7 YngLions- 23 11 02 10 52-49 35 +03
8 Sinchi--- 13 04 03 08 18-29 15 -11
9 Clementi- 20 02 09 09 26-50 15 -24
10 Balestier 32 3 04 25 38-87 13 -49
11 Sembawang 21 2 05 14 20-52 11 -32
12 Gombak-- 23 02 04 17 26-56 10 -30
13 Jurong-- 18 02 03 13 18-38 09 -20
14 KoreanSR 04 01 00 03 02-10 03 -08
15 Sengkang 16 00 03 15 15-55 03 -40
16 Afrique- 04 00 02 02 03-07 02 -04
17 Albirex- 04 00 02 04 06-15 02 -09
18 Liaoning 01 00 00 01 01-02 00 -01
19 P.Lebar- 02 00 00 02 00-06 00 -06

Statistical Summary Up To 2007, as at 9-Aug:
Matches Played: 313
Home Win------: 137
Draw----------: 69
Away Win------: 107
Goals---------: 1079
Home Goals----: 592
Away Goals----: 497
Most Frequent Scores: 1-1 (29 times), 2-1 (26 times)

Home United is now just 1 win away from matching SAFFC's points total in the All Time SLVC Mini-League!

Should it score against Belestier on 14-Aug, it will also become the only 2nd team to have scored 200 goals in SLVC matches!!

SLVC - All Matches Played in 2007 as at 9-Aug

299 2007-03-08 Gombak---- Geylang--- 0 1
300 2007-03-13 Geylang--- Sengkang-- 3 2
301 2007-03-18 Geylang--- Super Reds 0 1
302 2007-03-29 Super Reds Balestier- 0 2
303 2007-04-02 Balestier- Tampines-- 1 3
304 2007-04-15 Tampines-- Super Reds 5 1
305 2007-04-20 Sing. AF-- Tampines-- 1 2
306 2007-04-28 Home------ Tampines-- 3 1
307 2007-05-10 Balestier- Home------ 1 3
308 2007-05-18 Home------ Sing. AF-- 2 0
309 2007-05-23 Geylang--- Home------ 0 3
310 2007-05-27 Super Reds Home------ 0 3
311 2007-06-10 Home------ Liaoning-- 2 1
312 2007-06-15 Home------ Gombak---- 1 1
313 2007-07-06 Albirex--- Home------ 1 2
314 2007-07-12 Home------ Sengkang-- 0 0
315 2007-07-16 Home------ Woodlands- 4 2
316 2007-08-04 YoungLions Home------ 2 4
317 2007-08-14 Home------ Balestier- ? ?

Consolidated Table for 2007 as at 9-Aug:
1 Home------ 11 9 2 0 27-9 29 +18
2 Tampines--- 4 3 0 1 11-6 9 +5
3 Geylang---- 4 2 0 2 04-6 6 -2
4 Balestier-- 3 1 0 2 04-6 3 -2
5 Super Reds- 4 1 0 3 2-10 3 -8
6 Sengkang--- 2 0 1 1 02-3 1 -1
7 Gombak----- 2 0 1 1 01-2 1 -1
8 Albirex---- 1 0 0 1 01-2 0 -1
9 lioaning--- 1 0 0 1 01-2 0 -1
10 Woodlands- 1 0 0 1 02-4 0 -2
11 YoungLions 1 0 0 1 02-4 0 -2
12 SAFFC----- 1 0 0 2 01-4 0 -3

Statistical Summary for 2007 as at 9-Aug:
Matches Played: 18
Home Win------: 6
Draw----------: 2
Away Win------: 10
Goals---------: 58
Home Goals----: 26
Away Goals----: 32
Most Frequent Scores: 1-2, 1-3, 0-1, 0-3 (2 times each)

An interesting point to note is that the top-3 teams in 2006 are now all stuck at the bottom-3 of the 2007 mini-league, how the tide has turned!!

S.League Milestone Games - Alternate Version

Earlier in the day I've posted The list of S.League Milestone Games since 1996.

Having gave it more considerations, I thought it would be interesting to also publish an alternate list which excluded the title playoff game between SAFFC & Geylang United in 1996, as it is not a "regular-season game" per se, although the general convention of this blog has always been to include that game, :-)

In the alternate list, the 100th game remained the same, while the rest shifted by one game, hence the 1700th (in fact the 1701th) S.League game would be on 7-Aug-2007 between Liaoning & Gombak...

S.League Milestone Games (Alternate Version):
#--- Date------ Home Team- Away Team Score
0100 1996-09-21 Tampines-- Sing. AF-- 1 2
0201 1998-04-25 Geylang--- Gombak---- 2 0
0301 1999-04-02 Tampines-- Tan. Pagar 1 2
0401 1999-09-17 Woodlands- Tampines-- 3 0
0501 2000-06-15 Tan. Pagar Woodlands- 2 2
0601 2001-04-28 Tampines-- Home------ 1 2
0701 2001-08-24 Woodlands- Sembawang- 4 2
0801 2002-04-11 Sembawang- Sengkang-- 1 0
0901 2002-08-03 Sing. AF-- Sengkang-- 4 1
1001 2003-04-25 Tampines-- Sing. AF-- 1 2
1101 2003-08-28 Sembawang- Tan. Pagar 2 0
1201 2004-05-13 Home------ Sinchi---- 5 1
1301 2005-03-18 Sing. AF-- Woodlands- 5 1
1401 2005-09-23 YoungLions Woodlands- 3 1
1501 2006-07-06 Afrique--- YoungLions 0 3
1601 2007-03-18 Geylang--- Super Reds 0 1
1701 2007-08-07 Liaoning-- Gombak---- 1 0

This is also posted on KallangRoar.Com: S.League Milestone Games - Alternate Version.

S.League Milestone Games & Happy National Day!!

Earlier in the week I've posted that KSR vs Sengkang on 6 Aug 2007 was the 1700th S.League Match.

A question that naturally arose was: when were the 100th, 200th, etc S.League games being played?

The quick answers are now listed below, for the keen readers of this blog, just take it as the present for the upcoming SG National Day, :-)

More analysis will be done on these matches after the holiday, stay tuned...

S.League Milestone Games since 1996:
#--- Date------ Home Team- Away Team Score
0100 1996-09-21 Tampines-- Sing. AF-- 1 2
0200 1998-04-21 Tampines-- Woodlands- 1 1
0300 1999-04-02 Gombak---- Geylang--- 2 1
0400 1999-09-17 Clementi-- Jurong---- 0 1
0500 2000-06-15 Gombak---- Tampines-- 3 1
0600 2001-04-28 Clementi-- Sing. AF-- 2 4
0700 2001-08-24 Balestier- Sing. AF-- 2 4
0800 2002-04-11 Clementi-- Tampines-- 1 4
0900 2002-08-03 Clementi-- Jurong---- 0 2
1000 2003-04-25 Home------ Sembawang- 3 1
1100 2003-08-28 Balestier- Jurong---- 1 1
1200 2004-05-12 Balestier- YoungLions 1 2
1300 2005-03-17 Albirex--- YoungLions 1 3
1400 2005-09-22 Paya Lebar Sing. AF-- 2 4
1500 2006-07-05 Geylang--- Tampines-- 0 2
1600 2007-03-17 Tampines-- YoungLions 1 0
1700 2007-08-06 Super Reds Sengkang-- 2 1

This also posted on KallangRoar.Com: S.League Milestone Games.

Liaoning 1-0 Gombak: Rise of the Foreign Contigent?

Mind you, the 2 new foreign teams have really strengthen quite a bit after the mid-season transfer window, as confirmed by Liaoning's dramatic 1-0 win over Gombak tonight (more info from S.League match preview, report, details, ChannelNewsAsia, & 早报体育).

Korean SR hasn't tasted defeats in the past 3 games (won 1 drew 2), while Liaoning has now gone unbeaten in the last 4 (won 3 drew 1), without conceding a goal some more!

Coupled with Albirex's 2-1 away win over Gombak on 3-Aug, the foregin teams have now won 3 matches in a row. More impressively, Albirex's 0-1 home loss against Young Lions on 15-July was the last time a foregin team have been beaten-up.

Foreign Team's performance since 15-July (thanks to SoccerDB):
16 2007-07-15 Albirex ---- Young Lions 0 - 1
17 2007-07-17 Super Reds - Tampines--- 1 - 1
17 2007-07-20 Balestier -- Liaoning--- 0 - 1
18 2007-08-01 Liaoning --- Super Reds- 0 - 0
18 2007-08-03 Gombak ----- Albirex---- 1 - 2
19 2007-08-06 Super Reds - Sengkang--- 2 - 1
19 2007-08-07 Liaoning --- Gombak----- 1 - 0

Am I just reading too much into this on-going trend? How long will it last? What do you think?

This is also posted on KallangRoar.Com: Liaoning 1-0 Gombak: Rise of the Foreign Teams?

KSR vs Sengkang on 6 Aug 2007 is the 1700th S.League Match!

Korean Super Reds has just beaten Sengkang Punggol 2-1 on the eve of 6 Aug 2007 to register their 1st ever home win & just the 2nd victory of the season!!

As usual, the Preview, Report & Details of the game can be found on the Official S.League Site, as well as Channel News Asia & 早报网.

With this win, the Korean side has more than doubled their miserable tally of just 4 points from the first half of the season (1-1-13 in 15 games), having collected 5 out of the last 4 games (1-2-1).

However, I would bet that not many of you are aware that this is also the 1700th S.League macth since 1996...

Some all-time stats on the S.League so far:
Matches Played: 1700
Home Wins-----: 741 (43.6%)
Draws---------: 365 (21.5%)
Away Wins-----: 594 (34.0%)
Goals Scored--: 5733 (3.37)
Home Goals----: 3058 (1.80)
Away Goals----: 2675 (1.57)
Most Frequent Scores: 1-1 (165 times), 2-1 (134), 1-0 (126)

Time flies, isn't it?

This is also posted on KallangRoar.Com: KSR vs Sengkang on 6 Aug 2007 is the 1700th S.League Match!!

SLVC - Home kept title again after another 4-2 win!!

After its previous 4-2 win over Woodlands on 16-July, Home United has extended its hold on the SLVC title to 11 games with another 4-2 win against the Young Lions on on 4-Aug.

S.League Match Details:
http://www.sleague.com/ina0201.asp?id=1689&penMsg=none
S.League Match Report:
http://www.sleague.com/ina0202.asp?id=1688&matchID=1689&penMsg=none
Channel News Asia Report:
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/sportsnews/view/292299/1/.html
LianHeZaoBao Report (早报体育 踢垮幼狮 内政重登榜首):
http://www.zaobao.com/ty/ty070805_513.html

Young Lions has added another loss to its dismal SLVC record against Home, just 1 win & 4 lossess in 5 meetings...

Meanwhile, Home United's record as the current SLVC holder is now 9 wins & 2 draws, their next match is against Balestier Khalsa on Aug-14th.

As usual, a preview post shall be put up soon for this next match-up... Stay tuned!!

This is also posted on KallangRoar.Com: S.League Virtual Championship.

TodayOnline.Com: Wounded Young Lions eager to bite back

Weekend • August 4, 2007
NTUC Income-Yeo's S-League 2007
Young Lions v Home United
Jalan Besar Stadium, Saturday 7.30pm

HOME United have a great opportunity to go top on Saturday.SAFFC are the current leaders in the S-League, but the Protectors are just one point behind and, crucially, have two games in hand over the Warriors.

A win over the Young Lions in Saturday's NTUC-Income Yeo's S-League 2007 match at Jalan Besar Stadium will see Home go top, but the home side are hardly pushovers.

The Young Lions are currently fourth and are itching to get back on track, after they were routed 5-2 by SAFFC recently.

...

Full article available at: http://www.todayonline.com/pda/203954ag.htm

S.League.Com: Match Preview - Young Lions vs Home United FC, 4 August 2007

Saturday night’s game at Jalan Besar Stadium takes on added significance with the contest on Thursday night finishing 2-0 in favour of home team Tampines Rovers over leaders Singapore Armed Forces FC.

Main challengers and long-time title favourites, Home United, have two games in hand and are only a point adrift of SAFFC going into the match on Saturday against Young Lions.

They will be keen to claim maximum points against a team that always offers stiff resistance.

...

Full article available at: http://www.sleague.com/ina0701.asp?id=1689

S.League & Major League Soccer - Similarities & Differences

Having followed Major League Soccer (MLS) regularly for the past 2 seasons, more so after David Beckham announced his signing with Los Angeles Galaxy in January 2007, I can't help but noticed many similarities between the two leagues in Singapore & USA:

1. Both leagues began play since 1996.
2. Both leagues do not have a system of promotion / relegation.
3. Both leagues allowed the participation of foreign teams.
4. Both leagues have the same team strength of about 10-12 teams for the past few seasons.
5. Both leagues experienced teams expansion / contraction at different stages of their lifespans.
6. Both leagues saw some teams sat out for a few seasons before returning to the fold later.

On the other hand, there're some differences between them as well:

1. S.League Champion is determined from the league table only, unlike MLS' playoffs.
2. S.League do not have Geographical Conferences, unlike MLS' Eastern/Western Confs.
3. S.League's Schedule is balanced, i.e. each team meet one another equally often in a season.

Are there any other aspects that you may think of?

SLVC Preview - Yong Lions vs Home United, 4-Aug-2007

Home United's next SLVC opponents, the Young Lions, has won the virtual championship 3 times, currently ranked joint-7th all-time with Balestier (3), behind
SAFFC------- (12),
Home-------- (11),
Geylang----- (10),
Woodlands---- (8),
Tampines----- (8) &
Tanjong Pagar (4).

Young Lions' all-time record in the SLVC is also the 7th best, having played 23 macthes, won 11, drew 2 & lost 9, allowing them to amass 35 points in the overall standings, behind
SAFFC-------- (58-23-18, 197),
Home--------- (57-20-19, 191),
Geylang------ (32-17-22, 113),
Woodlands---- (27-18-24, 99),
Tampines----- (27-12-21, 93) &
Tanjong Pagar (15-11-16, 56).

It is also worth noting that they have been constantly improving in the SLVC standings for the past 4 seasons since joining the league, having ranked:
12th in 2003,
5th in 2004,
3rd in 2005,
2nd in 2006.

However, Young Lions' SLVC record against Home United were not so good, having lost 3 times, & won once in 4 meetings so far, although Young Lions' only win against Home was also their very first SLVC title.

The following are Young Lionss' 3 previous SLVC title winning matches:
224 2004-05-28 Home------ YoungLions 1 2
262 2005-09-23 YoungLions Woodlands- 3 1
274 2006-04-26 YoungLions Sing. AF-- 2 0

Who do you think will win on 4th-Aug?

All Time S.League Records - Revised with PKs, Points Deductions & 2007 First Half Records

I have previously made a post on All Time S.League Records (Home & Away Breakdown), covering all matches up to the end of 2006 season.

However, it came to me later on that the table was not be entirely accurate, given that bonus points from PKs in 2003 & points deductions for Sinchi FC in 2005 were left out.

I've since updated the all-time table with the above fixes, and included all matches up to the first half of 2007 season (as at 23-July). Concurrently, the corresponding table on Wikipedia was updated as well.

Unlike last time, there're no Home/Away tables this time round. As even the Official Site didn't provide such breakdown, it would be quite tedious for me to DIY match-by-match. So this may probably be done some time later, when I have more time to split them up, :-)

All Time S.League Table Combined (1996 to 2007-07-23):
#- Club Seasons GP- W *PK D- L-- F-- A-- GD- *Pts PPG #PPG
01 SAFFC--- 12 *309 202 2 56 049 757 375 +382 666 2.155 01
02 Home----- 12 308 168 2 56 082 648 428 +220 564 1.831 02
03 Geylang- 12 *310 143 3 64 100 541 403 +138 499 1.610 03
04 Tampines- 12 308 141 3 63 101 596 457 +139 492 1.597 04
05 Woodlands 12 308 121 4 67 116 537 512 +025 438 1.422 08
06 Tj.Pagar-- 9 234 100 2 46 086 399 385 +014 350 1.496 05
07 Balestier 12 308 090 2 68 148 460 623 -163 342 1.110 10
08 Jurong---- 7 179 070 7 29 073 261 274 -013 253 1.413 09
09 Sembawang- 8 207 053 5 47 102 256 409 -149 216 1.043 11
10 YoungLions 5 135 055 1 28 051 243 230 +013 195 1.444 07
11 Gombak---- 7 177 047 0 38 092 240 344 -104 179 1.011 12
12 Sengkang-- 8 210 042 8 34 126 244 469 -225 176 0.838 16
13 Albirex--- 4 101 041 0 28 032 176 147 +029 151 1.495 06
14 Clementi-- 4 110 022 0 29 059 150 261 -111 095 0.864 15
15 Sinchi---- 3 087 022 6 13 046 109 167 -058 *88 1.011 13
16 Afrique--- 1 030 005 0 09 026 036 059 -023 024 0.800 17
17 Liaoning-- 1 017 005 0 01 011 021 035 -014 016 0.941 14
18 Super Reds 1 017 001 0 02 014 009 054 -045 005 0.294 18
19 Paya Lebar 1 027 001 0 01 025 023 078 -055 004 0.148 19

Remarks:
* SAFFC & Geylang played an extra title game in 1996.
* Total Points of each team included PK wins in 2003.
* Sinchi FC was deducted 3 points at the end of 2005.

This is also posted on KallangRoar.Com: All Time S.League Records - Revised with PKs, Points Deductions & 2007 First Half Records