Having said that the artificial turf at Jalan Besar Stadium could be of Tampines Rovers’ advantage, it was the other way round last evening instead. The team from HongKong was clearing enjoying the fast pitch which complimented their quick counter attacking.
Tampines Rovers started strongly however once South China got their feet warmed up, the Champion of the HongKong Premier League showed what they were capable of.
South China drew the first blood in the 20th minute when Andrew Barisic (no-27) tapped in from close range! Tampines came close in getting an equalizer 3 minutes later when Norihiro Kawakami saw his point blank header cleared off the line. To make the evening worst for Tampines, Midfielder Imran Sahib (no-11) was sent off after receiving his second yellow in the 33rd minute.
As the HongKong Champion is currently active in their mid-season, Tampines was finding it hard to cope with the game tempo. South China’s quick counter-attacks and wingers were giving the Tampines’ new coach, Salim Moin plenty of headaches.
Knowing what was at stake for this game, Coach Salim wasted no time in bringing in Jamil Ali (no-17) and Closa Gonzales (21) for the second half to beef up his team.
South China’s Chan Siu Ki (no-7) had a lively game up front with compatriot, Sasa Kajkut (no-11). Chan nearly extended South China’s lead when his long-range effort just went over the crossbar in the 59th minute!
In the 64th minute, the effort from Tampines finally paid off. Miljan Mrdakovic (no-10) leveled the score by connecting well with Shaiful Esah (no-7)’s low cross to head home the well-deserved equalizer! Confidence grew in Tampines’ camp, the hero of the moment, Miljan nearly scored his second of the night. But South China’s custodian, Yapp Hung Fai (no-1) was quick to get off the line to deny Miljan’s second.
The score remained level at the end of the normal 90 minutes and immediately the game went into extra time. As fatigue kicked in, players from both teams appeared to be suffering from cramps. That was not a good news for Tampines. And to make their misery worse, Miljan Mrdakovic was sent off later in the second half after similarly received his second bookable offense of the evening. The extra time saw an even more competitive game exchanged between Tampines and South China.
Barisic took his opportunity well and rocked the upright with his overhead kick attempt in the 101st minute. The very next minute, Kajkut took on the defender and sent in a low grounder which found Barisic with some space. He made no mistake to score his second of the night to give South China a 2-1 lead in the 102nd minute!
Unarguably, Man-of-the-Match, Tampines’ custodian Hyrulnizam Juma’at (no-1) did extremely well in between the goal to keep Tampines’ goal at bay throughout the game. Substitute Lee Hong Lim (no-17) nearly sealed the game for the visitor but Hyrulnizam was quick to go down and parried it away to safety!
The Japanese referee blew the final whistle for full time after 30 minutes of action-packed extra time. Final score reads Tampines Rovers 1 South China 2. Tampines crashed out of the competition and perhaps its time to concentrate on the S.League starting at the end of this month soon.
To view more photos of the game, Click Here.
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