Heavy torrential rain wreak havoc on the fifth match day of the AFF BIDC Under-16 Championship today as half a game at the Army Stadium had to be postponed to tomorrow morning as matches at the National Olympic Stadium to be pushed back to an hour later.
Thailand’s hope of taking their second win in three matches was disrupted at the Army Stadium when the decision was made by Myanmar referee Than Zin Oo to call the game off after the first 45 minutes. The score up to that point was 0-0.
Heavy rain made the pitch at the Army Stadium unplayable when it became water-logged as the ball often got stuck midway through.
But to be fair, Thailand were lucky that the match was postponed as up to the end of the first half, it was Timor Leste who had the bigger share of possessions and were pushing hard on the Thai defence.
With the rain not letting up and the pitch not showing any sign of improving, the second half of the game will now be played tomorrow morning at the National Olympic Stadium at 10am.
The situation was slightly better across town at the National Olympic Stadium as the new pitch artificial pitch allowed for better drainage which saw the game between Malaysia and Brunei being pushed back to just an hour later.
And in the end, it was the unimpressive Malaysians who emerged victorious when they edged Brunei 1-0 with the only goal of the game coming in the 29th minute through Ariq Shaqirin Suhaimi.
However the game was marred by a bad and dangerous lunge in the 77th minute by Malaysian forward Abdul Hariz Herman on Brunei goalkeeper Firdaus Mohd Yusni.
For that serious four play, Abdul Hariz earned himself a direct red card by referee Clifford Daypuyat of the Philippines.
In the meantime, ten-man Laos remained unbeaten in Group A when they clawed back to hold Vietnam to a pulsating 2-2 draw in the final game of the evening.
Laos had beaten Thailand 1-0 in their first game of the group before bouncing back to beat Timor Leste 3-2 after trailing by two goals down in their second tie.
But this evening, it was Vietnam who showed that they mean business when Nguyen Khac Khiem headed them the lead after 22 minutes off a floater from Tran Van Dat before adding the second goal from a fabulous solo effort with two minutes to the break.
But Laos did not lose shape nor their determination as four minutes into the second half, a twist and a turn from Bounphachan Bounkong saw him getting by three defenders for a shot past Vietnam keeper Huynh Huu Tuan.
Laos continued their pressure but as the game wore on, tempers began to flare between both sets of players and it was a matter of time before it ended with Laos defender Khampanhgna Keodouangdet being punished with two yellow cards on a trot in the 71st and 72nd minute.
But despite being down to ten men, Laos still maintained their gameplan as Vietnam’s decision to play it defensive and protect their 2-1 advantage would come back to haunt them in the end.
Off a freekick from Chilada Louang Amath in the 85th minute, Vietnam keeper Huu Tuan managed to block the ball but the waiting Nalin just slammed in the rebound for Laos to draw the game 2-2 and pick up the valuable one point.
AFF BIDC U16 CHAMPIONSHIP
RESULTS
Malaysia 1 Brunei 0
Vietnam 2 Laos 2
FIXTURES
1 August 2015 – All matches at the National Olympic Stadium
1000 – Thailand vs Timor Lester
1530 – Myanmar vs Philippines
1830 – Australia vs Singapore
