The Lion City Sailors Women made it two wins on the trot in the 2023 Deloitte Women’s Premier League (WPL) as they recorded another 3-0 victory, this time against Still Aerion Women at Choa Chu Kang Stadium on Saturday (25 March) night. 

The victory came with the same scoreline Yeong Sheau Shyan’s women managed in their WPL opener against Police SA last week (19 March), and in the same vein – the start of a bit of a trend that brought a smile to the Sailors’ Head Coach. 

”We look like we have a clearer picture in mind of how we want to play now,” she said. “I’m happy with the way we start matches and that we are scoring first early on in the game, which is different from last year where we only start scoring in the second-half when our opponents begin to tire out.” 

The Sailors raced to a two-goal lead in what was a dominant first-half display. The Invincibles of 2022 got their noses in front through Khairunnisa Khairol Anwar’s sublime effort on 18 minutes, this after being set free on the right wing by a brilliant Madison Telmer pass. 

Right-back Nur Syazwani would double the lead just three minutes later, slamming home after the Aerion defence failed to clear their lines from a corner. 

Substitute Fatin Aqillah then rounded off the scoring five minutes after the interval with a powerful close-range finish to ensure the Sailors extend their unbeaten run in the WPL to 14 games, a run that stretches all the way back to the start of the 2022 season. 

While she was pleased with the early establishment of domination and the spread of goalscorers, Sheau Shyan acknowledged that there was still much room for improvement. 

“There might be three different scorers, but we were also guilty of wasting many opportunities tonight,” she noted, of a first half performance that could have brought six goals. “We were waiting for the perfect chance to come to us and it’s something we need to work on. 

“Despite being sloppy in terms of defending in the second-half, we managed to keep a clean sheet but we need to learn how to be patient after scoring.”

Midfielder Ho Hui Xin, who slotted into the Sailors’ engine room as a second-half substitute spotted similar issues out on the pitch.

She said: “We tend to play to the speed of our opponents and it slows things down a lot when that happens. We know we are capable of commanding the pace (of the game) and that would in turn give us more goals.” 

But Hui Xin still left Choa Chu Kang with a smile on her face. 

“It’s always a nice feeling to get the three points, and the goals we scored were pretty good as well,” said Hui Xin. “The fact that it came from three different players goes to show the amount of depth we have in the squad.”

The Sailors Women will return to WPL action after the international break and will face the Tampines Rovers Women on Sunday, 21 May.