The Lion City Sailors came roaring back from an early setback to sweep aside the Young Lions 6-1 at Jalan Besar Stadium on Sunday (11 October), as they secured their first win under Head Coach Mark Jackson in emphatic fashion.
Taking charge of his first Singapore Premier League (SPL) fixture, the Englishman watched his side record their first league victory of the 2026/27 season through a Matthias Phaëton brace and goals from Bart Ramselaar, Hugo Gomes, Bailey Wright and Ilhan Fandi.
“I’m really relieved and happy to get the first victory. It’s an important milestone for us as a team and for me as a new coach coming into the club. As with every match, we’ll look at the positives and work on where we can do better,” said Jackson after the match.
Jackson made seven changes to the side that started the midweek ASEAN Club Championship (ACC) Shopee Cup defeat to Công An Hà Nội (CAHN) FC, with Bart handed the captain’s armband for the first time in his Sailors career.
But it was the Young Lions who struck first in the 10th minute with Japanese midfielder Toi Kagami lofting a fine long-range effort over Ivan Sušak.
Despite the early setback, the Sailors needed just four minutes to respond, with Bart drilling a spectacular strike into the top corner from the edge of the box.
“I had full belief in the players that they would get a grip on the match at some point. I’m glad we did that quite soon with a fantastic strike from Bart,” expressed Jackson.
With the Sailors growing into the contest, Nur Adam Abdullah and Antonio Mance both tried their luck before Hugo put the hosts ahead in the 37th minute. The Brazilian centre-back rose to meet Giovanni Haag’s inviting corner with a well-placed header, opening his goalscoring account for the club.
The same route brought the Sailors’ third goal six minutes after the restart. This time, it was Bailey who got on the end of Giovanni’s corner to score his first goal since returning from injury.
Former Sailors captain Hafiz Nor, the first player to reach 100 appearances for the club, then came on for the Young Lions around the hour mark, while Jackson introduced Ilhan, Kyoga Nakamura and Glenn Kweh from the bench.
And Ilhan soon made his mark against a Young Lions side featuring his brother Iryan Fandi, as he scored his first SPL goal since October 2022 to make it 4-1 in the 69th minute.
Bart helped create the opening with a flicked pass into Matthias’s path, and the winger unselfishly squared the ball for Ilhan to finish.
“Of course, it’s not easy when you go behind after a goal like that, but it was a really good reaction and a great second half performance from us. The team finally clicked in the final third today,” said Bart.
Four minutes later, Ilhan returned the favour when he headed Bailey’s cross back across goal for Matthias, who thundered his effort in off the underside of the crossbar.
There was another welcome return in the closing stages as Nur Muhammad Asis (pictured below) came on for his first Sailors appearance since returning from his loan spells in Portugal. At the other end, an injury to Young Lions goalkeeper Izwan Mahbud saw 17-year-old Kenneth Ng take his place.
The Sailors completed the scoring on the night in the 83rd minute. Nur Adam’s good work down the left eventually led to the ball reaching Matthias, who claimed his second goal to cap a productive night that also yielded two assists.
The Guadeloupe international nearly completed his hat-trick deep into added time, only for Iryan to deny him with a goal-line clearance.
Having called for “another step forward in our collective understanding of how we want to play”, Jackson was encouraged by his side’s aggressive, committed display.
“I’m pleased with the collective result for the team and a lot of impressive individual performances. I also want to give credit to our opponents today because they worked hard right until the end.”
The Sailors’ emphatic victory was not the only result that gave Bart reason to celebrate that evening. Across the city at the Marina Bay Street Circuit, compatriot Max Verstappen claimed his first Formula 1 Singapore Grand Prix victory.
“Congratulations to Max, I’m happy for him! He used to regularly come to watch our matches at PSV. Sometimes he also came to the dressing room. He is a very nice and humble guy, and I’m very happy that he finally won in Singapore,” said Bart.
For the Sailors, attention now turns to Thursday’s (15 October) trip to Hong Kong to face Tai Po FC in the AFC Champions League (ACL) Two, where they will seek their first continental win of the season.
Tai Po head into the clash following a 1-1 draw with Kowloon City in the Hong Kong Premier League on Saturday, while Jackson will look to build on Sunday’s performance as the Sailors continue a busy month of fixtures.
“I rotated a lot of players today because we have to manage the workload with a lot of games coming up,” said Jackson.
“It’s important when you are competing on multiple fronts that you utilise your squad. We’ll now have to recover and get ready for the trip to Hong Kong.”
