It was a bruiser of a match as Singapore overcame Cambodia 5-3 in the late game of the evening in Group A at the Thuwunna Stadium which saw the rain mercilessly pouring throughout the encounter.
With Malaysia having beaten Laos 4-1 and Thailand blanking Timor Leste 3-0, the pressure was on both Singapore and also Cambodia to show their quality.
And what a game it was with seven goals being scored in the first half alone which also saw a red card being shown in the midst of several flashes of yellow cards.
It was Cambodia who started the evening well with Sin Kakada nailing the lead after just three minutes but a determined Singapore side were not about to be undone when they scored twice – Muhammad Amirul Haikal Mohammad Hassim (11th minute) and Muhammad Danial Syafiq Mustaffa (17th) – to take a 2-1 lead inside of 20 minutes.
Cambodia then replied with two goals from Touch Kimchay (20th) and Sieng Chanthea (29th) for them to take a 3-2 lead.
But the lanky Danial completed his hat trick with two goals (35th and 45th) in quick succession for them to troop off 4-3 to their advantage.
As the rain showed no respite into the second half, Cambodia upped their tempo in search of the equaliser.
Several exchanges saw Indonesian referee Wicaksana Adi reaching for his pocket as both teams grew anxious to win the full points.
In the 63rd minute, Jacob Mahler put the game beyond Cambodia’s reach when he scored the fifth goal for Singapore with a screamer from 20metres.
Frustrated, some ugly incidents saw Cambodian captain Teat Kimheng being shown the red card just before the final whistle.
RESULTS – GROUP A
Thailand 3 Timor Leste 0
Malaysia 4 Laos 1
Singapore 5 Cambodia 3
FIXTURES – GROUP B
5 Sept 2017 – All matches at Thuwunna Stadium
1500: Philippines vs Brunei DS
1800: Indonesia vs Myanmar
