Tampines Rovers FC kept their slim Great Eastern Yeo's S.League title hopes alive with a resounding 3-1 victory over the Courts Young Lions at Jalan Besar Stadium on Sunday night.
The result closed the gap between Tampines and leaders Brunei DPMM FC to seven points, with V. Sundramoorthy's team holding a game in hand.
It was the home team who took a shock lead through Shameer Aziq, before goals from Mateo Roskam, Roberto Alviz and Ridhuan Muhamad closed out a comfortable win for the visitors.
In what was an open game of football from the start, Tampines went on the attack and should have taken the lead on 15 minutes.
Shaiful Esah's cross fell into the path of a lurking Rodrigo Tosi, but the Brazilian blazed it over the bar.
Five minutes later, the Young Lions took an unexpected lead when Adam Swandi put the ball on a platter, to give Shameer a simple tap-in at the far-post.
The game was back on level terms in the 27th minute with Roskam providing the equaliser, after a superb cross by left-back Zulfadli Zainal.
Tampines took a 2-1 lead on 37 minutes, when Roberto Alviz took the Young Lions defence to school, with a mazy dribble that ended with him slotting the ball past Syazwan Buhari in goal.
Young Lions were clearly rattled by proceedings and Shaiful was destined to make it three with five minutes to the break, only for Syazwan to palm his effort to safety.
The Stags came out for the second period, determined not to let slip their lead, and were duly rewarded in the 53rd minute when Ridhuan smashed home Alviz's cross to sink the Young Lions to their knees.
Despite a two-goal deficit, the home team came back strong in the final quarter of the game, and should have pulled one back but Adam's shot was deflected out for a corner in the 75th minute.
Both teams had numerous chances to add to their tally, but could not find their range to give Tampines a ninth league win of the season.
Sundramoorthy was quick to praise his opponents after the game, but was pleased to have gotten the three points.
"When we went a goal down, it was always going to be tough because they started very brightly, keeping possession." said the wily tactician.
"I thought the equaliser turned the game around... and if you look at the possession stats and chances we had, we should have scored a few more."
As for his side's title chances, the former Singapore international was wry in his response, preferring to focus on his team's performance instead.
"It now depends on other teams and their results, but we should continue winning our own games and that will in turn put the pressure on the leaders at the top."
Young Lions will have a chance for redemption when they take on Hougang United on Wednesday, but the Stags must wait till next Sunday to continue their title charge with an away game against fellow title contenders Albirex Niigata (S).
Courts Young Lions: Syazwan Buhari (GK)(C), Farhan Rahmat (Nur Na'iim Ishak 57'), Amirul Adli, Faris Azienuddin (Suria Prakash 57'), Fadli Kamis, Safirul Sulaiman, M. Anumanthan, Afiq Noor, Shameer Aziq, Adam Swandi, Shahfiq Ghani,
Tampines Rovers: Rodrigo Pacheco (GK), Ismadi Mukhtar, Ismail Yunos, Jufri Taha, Zulfadli Zainal, Shaiful Esah (Jamil Ali 90'), Naeem Rahimi, Ridhuan Muhamad (Firdaus Idros 74'), Roberto Alviz, Rodrigo Tosi (Noh Alam Shah 87'), Mateo Roskam