Football
Teo Teng Kiat 9y

S.League: Gritty Tampines fight back to hold visitors DPMM

Mateo Roskam's sixth goal of the Great Eastern Yeo's S.League season salvaged a point for Tampines Rovers on Saturday night as they battled to a 1-1 draw against Brunei DPMM at the Jurong West Stadium.

The visitors would have gone top of the table with a win, but failed to build on an early lead and have now surrendered a lead for three matches running -- making it four draws in a row.

It was pretty much a dream start for DPMM though, as their goal came just five minutes after kick-off.

Rafael Ramazotti bravely won an aerial challenge with Fahrudin Mustafic near the right touchline to send Paulo Sergio surging away down the centre.

The Portuguese attacker marked his return from suspension with a slide-rule pass to his right, leaving Shahrazen Said clear to drill a cool finish into the bottom left corner.

Mustafic's night got worse barely five minutes later when he stepped up to take the penalty after Aminuddin Zakwan had needlessly nudged Firdaus Idros over in the box.

However, Wardun Yussof pulled off a fantastic save to deny the Tampines skipper, going to his left to push the powerful penalty away.

The rest of the half then descended into a scrappy affair, with both teams appearing more interested in committing petty fouls and getting into verbal scuffles.

Shahrazen could have notched a second on 43 minutes, but his floated effort from a tight angle off Azwan Ali's clever lob dropped just wide of the left post.

The second half saw a more aggressive approach from V. Sundramoorthy's charges, who seemed to realise they had a game to chase.

The equaliser though, when it came, was largely all down to one man.

Having lost the ball near the halfway line on the right, Ridhuan Muhamad showed remarkable tenacity to win it back before accelerating away down the flank.

The winger blitzed past another opponent and ended his sensational run with a low cross, which Roskam tapped in from two yards for his fifth goal in four games.

With the wind in their sails, the Stags poured forward with more purpose but were twice stopped by some brilliant defending from Brian McLean.

After Rodrigo Tosi was found by Ridhuan in the box, the Brazilian's ball across goal was diverted over the bar from close range by the towering defender as a yellow shirt lurked behind.

The Scottish centre-back then made a crucial block on Roskam, denying the Croatian from slotting Roberto Alviz's cut-back into an empty goal after Wardun was beaten.

In the meantime, Tampines were nearly caught out by a swift counter-attack and had goalkeeper Rodrigo Pacheco to thank for blocking Shahrazen's effort in a one-on-one situation.

Shahrazen, a veritable threat upfront throughout, was denied again five minutes from time by a smart stop from Pacheco at his near post.

Tosi could have snatched three points in the final minute of regulation time, but his header from a very tight angle nicked the outside of the post and went behind to leave both sides sharing the spoils.

Sundramoorthy was adamant that his team should have gone home with all three points though, stating that their opponents had been "there for the taking".

"For me, I think we should have beaten them," he asserted. "But I'm proud of the boys' fighting spirit and the willingness to work hard and try to win the game."

The result did extend their unbeaten streak to four matches, moving them up to fourth and four points behind league leaders Warriors FC.

With Tampines due to play them next, Sundramoorthy declared that his team were well up to mount a title challenge as the season moves into its second half.

"My team is ready for the battle and that's the most important thing," he declared.

Tampines Rovers: Rodrigo Pacheco, Ismail Yunos (Jufri Taha 17'), Fahrudic Mustafic (C), Predrag Pocuca, Ismadi Mukhtar, Ridhuan Muhamad, Isa Halim, Roberto Alviz (Fabian Kwok 75'), Firdaus Idros (Jamil Ali 83'), Rodrigo Tosi, Mateo Roskam

Brunei DPMM: Wardun Yussof, Aminuddin Zakwan, Boris Raspudic, Brian McLean, Sairol Sahari, Rosmin Kamis (C), Hendra Azam (Yura Indera Putera 62'), Paulo Sergio, Azwan Ali, Shahrazen Said, Rafael Ramazotti

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