Update by Kenneth Tan/Red Sports

Tampines Stadium, Thursday, July 8, 2010 — After league leaders Etoile FC fell to a surprise defeat against Albirex Niigata (Singapore) two days ago, Tampines Rovers grabbed the opportunity to close the gap at the top of the S.League table to two points after a 3-0 win over strugglers Sengkang Punggol.

Two goals in the first 45 minutes ensure Tampines cruised to victory. An Akihiro Nakamura blistering drive from 30 metres gave Sengkang goalkeeper Fadhil Salim no chance at all on 31 minutes. Then national team forward Qiu Li headed home a Zahid Ahmad left-wing cross into the left corner of the goal on 44 minutes.

Sengkang improved in the second half with Korean midfielder An Jae Cheul pulling the strings from midfield. New signing Mojtaba Tehranizadeh fired straight at the goalkeeper on 51 minutes while Mamadou Diallo fired wide a minute later. An Jae Cheul had an one-on-one opportunity on 61 minutes after being released by Diallo but he was closed down well by Tampines goalkeeper Hassan Sunny.

However it was Tampines who added the icing on the cake five minutes before the end when substitute Khairul Amri capitalised on Fadhil Salim’s flap to head home a Qiu Li corner from the left.

Tampines coach Vorawan Chitavanich said the title race is “an open game” from now with 12 more games of the season to go. He thought his team struggled in the first 30 minutes but the first goal settled their nerves and ensured they played their usual football.

Sengkang coach Aide Iskandar lamented his team’s poor performance in the first half in terms of going forward but thought they performed much better in the second.

Tampines now lie second in the table with 41 points from 21 matches, behind leaders Etoile who have 43 points from the same number of games. Meanwhile Sengkang remained a point adrift of 11th-placed Woodlands Wellington with 13 points to stay rooted to the bottom.

Final Result
Tampines 3
Akihiro Nakamura 31′
Qiu Li 44′
Khairul Amri 85′
Sengkang 0