Patient Pinoys
The Singaporean U-20 side suffered a slight setback when they were kept to a 1-1 draw by their plucky Filipino visitors. With torrential rainfall keeping the crowd at Fortress Tactics down, U-20 Singapore thouroughly dominated the match, with an average of 70% possession, but were unable to make it count.
Croatia-based Tay Wan Pin appeared to signal the start of a big home win when he thumped a half-volley past highly-rated Phillipines goalie Marcial Ga, who thereafter lived up to his billing by thwarting further attacks. WIngback Juan Pablo Olaya earned his country a share of the points with a clinical finish in the 37th minute.
Han Kok, who had an average outing on the left wing, was frustrated again by what might have been. "We absolutely hammered them in the last ten minutes, but the soaked grass didn't help at all," he complained. "On a dry pitch, we would have played our passing game much better."
Quah also felt for Chemistry's U-20 striker Leong Jian Tian, who bled heavily after an innocent-looking aerial challenge after 66 minutes. "He'll be out for the best part of a month I heard. On one hand it's a relief not to have to pin him down in the Cup quarterfinals, but he's a great character and it'll be hard for the U-20 team to replace him."
