Fine strike from Quak as Sailors move up

The 2021 Singapore Premier League (SPL) is shaping up to be a record year for Lion City Sailors forward Gabriel Quak, who is aiming to build on his success from last season, when he won the league's Player of The Year award.

The 30-year-old continued his fine start to his campaign with his seventh goal of the season as he inspired the Lion City Sailors to a 4-1 victory over Balestier Khalsa at the Jalan Besar Stadium last night.

Quak, who had five goals and seven assists last season, is already on course to break his career-best tally in the league, a nine-goal haul he notched in 2019 with Warriors FC.

And he delivered his best strike of the season yesterday in the sixth minute, striking a first-time volley from almost 20 yards out off a cross from Naqiuddin Eunos to put the ball into the top corner and out of goalkeeper Zaiful Nizam's reach.

The Sailors, who also handed debuts to two 18-year-olds, Aniq Raushan and Glenn Ong, doubled their lead in the 18th minute through Shahdan Sulaiman's free kick. The Tigers' Kristijan Krajcek halved the deficit before second-half strikes by Stipe Plazibat and Saifullah Akbar sealed the win.

Quak said: "When you win something like this (player of the year), it can go both ways. You can let it get to your head but I told myself, to stay grounded and try to improve. I know that eyes will be on me and people will be wondering, 'where does he go from here'."

Balestier head coach Marko Kraljevic said their rivals were the "better team", adding: "When we lost possession, the transition from attack to defence was too slow from us. Overall, I thought the boys did okay but their first two goals were fantastic and it's very difficult to defend that."

With yesterday's win, the Sailors are now second in the league with 14 points, just three behind table toppers Albirex Niigata.