Football
Gabriel Tan 7y

Khairul Amri stoppage time winner for Tampines vs. Young Lions in S. League

Khairul Amri turned late match winner off the bench for Tampines Rovers for the second consecutive game as coach Jurgen Raab praised the fitness of his never-say-die team in a 1-0 S.League victory over Garena Young Lions on Sunday night.

Amri popped up with a 94th-minute goal for the 2016 runners up after his midweek heroics in the AFC Cup where he scored twice in the second-half in a 3-1 away win against Felda United.

The 32-year-old was then sent off after receiving a second yellow card for removing his shirt in wild celebration.

The victory at Jurong West Stadium takes the Stags up to third position on the table, although fourth-placed Home United have a game in hand.

"I was convinced that we could score in the last minute and the developments of the match showed that we were the stronger team and that we had the better fitness," Raab told The New Paper.

"Sometimes you can be very lucky, but we worked for this luck."

Without a point in the S.League this year, Young Lions put a brave fight against the star-studded home side.

And they should have taken the lead in the 33rd minute when Muhaimin Suhaimi latched onto a free kick, but Taufik Suparno failed to find the target against national goalkeeper Izwan Mahbud.

After the break, Tampines took a grip on the game, but struggled to find the breakthough.

The closest they came was in the 73rd minute when a sharp header from captain Mustafic Fahrudin was batted away by Young Lions goalkeeper Zharfan Rohaizad.

Amri entered the match just before the hour mark, coming on for Fazli Ayob. He showed his clinical ability to finish from short range past Zharfan after Shakir Hamzah's pass from the left-hand side.

Young Lions' coach V. Selvaraj praised his team's first-half performance, but admitted they lacked intensity as the match wore on.

"We spent a lot of energy in the first half with our high-pressing game and went to sleep in the first 10 minutes of the second half," he said.

"I thought in the last 10 minutes, it was still anyone's game... but it comes with the job, we have to adapt and move on."

Tampines are next in action on Friday when they travel to Brunei to face DPMM while Young Lions have a May 13 home date with the same opposition, under former Premier League boss Steve Kean.

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