Gombak hero Hafiz revels in cup triumph
Hafiz Rahim was delighted to play a key role as Gombak United advanced to the semi-finals of the RHB Singapore Cup with a 3-2 aggregate win over Hougang United.
By Gabriel Tan
The Bulls headed into the weekend's second leg at the Hougang Stadium trailing 2-1 on aggregate, after the Cheetahs had came from behind to win in last Tuesday's earlier encounter.
Following an evenly-contested first half in which neither side was able to find the breakthrough, Gombak went ahead on the night in the 66th minute when Julien Durand nodded home a cross from Mustaqim Manzur, and looked set to have forced the tie into extra-time.
However, Hafiz, who was replaced by teenager Iqbal Hussain in the starting XI, had other ideas and having only been on the pitch for five minutes, proceeded to score with a delicately-struck freekick a minute from time to send his side through.
The Singapore international, who moved to the Jurong West Stadium at the start of the season from Geylang United, believes a place in the last four of the cup was no less than the Bulls deserved, especially considering their hard work this year has failed to reap dividends so far in the Great Eastern-YEO's S.League.
"I'm very happy that we're through to the semi-finals," Hafiz told ESPNSTAR.com exclusively.
"The team have been working very hard and we fully deserved the result."
And while he admitted he felt the pressure before he stepped up and scored what proved to be the winner last Saturday, Hafiz insisted he was always believed in his own ability.
"I was very confident despite the pressure of the situation," he added. "And I'm very happy that it went in in the end."
Furthermore, the 28-year-old is hopeful their run in the cup can spur K. Balagumaran's young side on to do better in the league, where they are currently just three points above basement clubs Woodlands Wellington and Geylang United.
"We're pretty confident we can achieve a lot with the bunch of players we have," Hafiz revealed.
"We work very hard and as we play more games together, we'll gel as a team and increase in confidence."
Gombak will meet four-time champions SAFFC in the semi-finals of the competition, although they are next in action on Thursday when they take on Balestier Khalsa in the league.