UAE 1 Joey's 0

Report on Day Two of Lion City Cup below.

22nd Lion City Cup Championship – UAE and Thailand keep up perfect record as Singapore B bounce back with 5-1 romp

SINGAPORE, 12 March 2008: Singapore B bounced back from their opening day horror show to register a morale-boosting 5-1 win over Chinese Taipei this evening in the 22nd Lion City Cup at Jalan Besar Stadium.

The hosts scored through Safirul Sulaiman (2nd min), Shafiq Ghani (38th min), Muhd Muhaymin (41st min), Stanley Ng (64th min) and Muhd Firman (93rd min penalty) with Chinese Taipei's consolation coming in the 77th minute through Chen Hao Wei.

Said head coach Masanaga Kageyama, "I'm happy we won but Australia will represent a much tougher opposition tomorrow. That said, we are determined to go all out and aim for second spot in the table."

The earlier Group A clash had seen UAE edged out Australia 1-0 thanks to an 84th minute goal by left-back Belal Ibrahim to virtually assure themselves of a place in Saturday's showpiece event – the Cup Final. UAE need only a draw in their final group match tomorrow against Chinese Taipei to seal top spot in Group A and a chance to square off with the Group B winners for the coveted trophy.

Meanwhile, over at the Singapore Sports School, the Group B clash between Vietnam and Uzbekistan fell foul of the incessant heavy downpour and the match had to be called off. It will now be played on Friday 14 March at the Jalan Besar Stadium, kicking off at 8.00am.

The second Group B match went ahead as scheduled as Thailand eked out a narrow 1-0 win over a battling Singapore A for their second victory in as many matches.

A simple tap-in by Thai striker Thammachat Nakhaphan after 49 minutes following a defensive lapse was enough for all three points despite a gallant performance from Singapore A in the second half. Thai keeper Kitti Suriche was in inspired form as he frustrated the local side time and again as the hosts threw everything into attack.

Singapore A coach Salim Moin, while pleased with his charges' performances, urged them to learn from the experience.

"We played well today, in fact, much better than our first game against Vietnam. However, the boys have to learn that at international level, one mistake is all it takes for the game to be won or lost. They will learn from this I'm sure, and for that, they will become better players."

22nd Lion City Cup Championship

Match Day 2 (12 March 2008)

Group A (Jalan Besar Stadium)
UAE 1-0 Australia
Singapore B 5-1 Chinese Taipei

Group B (Singapore Sports School)
Vietnam vs Uzbekistan (postponed to Friday 14 March, 8.00am)
Thailand 1-0 Singapore A

Match Day 3 (13 March 2008)

Group A (Jalan Besar Stadium)

UAE vs Chinese Taipei (5.00pm)
Australia vs Singapore B (7.30pm)

Group B (Singapore Sports School)

Singapore A vs Uzbekistan (5.00pm)
Vietnam vs Thailand (7.00pm)

Group A (14 March 2008)
(Jalan Besar Stadium)

Vietnam vs Uzbekistan (8.00am)