October 4, 2004

He had stressed before the game that for his team to do well, they must keep 11 men on the pitch. For him, Home United had too many sending offs this season & it has cost them matches.

Darby said his team has got 8 red cards so far & they were not a dirty team.

Dirty or not, his word came true as Home United got another red when A.Sivakumar got his marching order for 2 yellows & needless to say Home United lost the match & Singapore Cup to Tampines Rovers. Up to the sending off Home United appeared to be holding the upper hand & it was no wonder Sivakumar was not delighted with the decision as it felt it was totally unfair.

The Protectors defenser said he did not know what the first yellow was for as all he did was to go in for a tackle & when play stopped the referee flashed the card at him. He even thought he was the one fouled.

Protectors captain S Subramanai agreed saying they were unfortunate to end up with 10 men again. They even gave up though & could have won it with through Emgar if the ex-Singapore international scored with the golden chance given to him.

Still such things happen in football & it was just one of those days for them.

For Indra, the scorer of Protectors sole goal he said they just have to keep their heads up & concentrate on the AFC Cup.