Contributed by Isaac Christian

Maldives, Saturday, August 14, 2010 — The Singapore Under-23 football team ended their training tour in Male on a high after defeating their Maldives counterparts 2-0 at the Male National stadium yesterday evening.

A low cross by captain Hafiz Abu Sujad deflected off Maldives defender Ahmed Abdullah in the 35th minute to give Singapore a well-deserved lead heading into the break.

Having narrowly lost their first encounter to the same opposition last Thursday evening, Singapore were determined to get the win and were duly rewarded with a second goal courtesy of a fine effort by Fazli Ayob six minutes into the second half.

Coach V. Sundram Moorthy signaled his delight after the win and gave credit to his boys for their gutsy performance.

“I’m very happy with the way the boys played. They showed more desire and hunger to get the result tonight. I felt that the boys played more collectively as a team and showed more spirit than their opponents. Overall, there are many positives to take from this tour,” said Sundram.

Match Result

Maldives Under-23 – 0

Singapore Under-23 – 2
Ahmed Abdullah 35′ OG
Fazli Ayob 51′

Singapore Under-23: Syazwan Buhari (Siddiq Durimi 46’), Shakir Hamzah, Eddie Affendy Chang, Shahir Hamzah, Madhu Mohana, Gabriel Quak (Syafiq Zainal 46’), Hafiz Abu Sujad (C) (Faritz Abdul Hameed 95’), Yasir Hanapi (Khairul Nizam 87’), Eugene Luo, (Fadhil Noh 76’), Fazli Ayob (Fazly Hasan 69’) , Khalili D’Cruz (Rizawan Abdullah 65’)