Singapore Edge Seven Goal Thriller
Myanmar 3 (Soe Myat Min 34, 90, Min Thu 36) Singapore 4 (Daniel Bennett 20, Agu Casmir 38, Noh Alam Shah 63, Shahril Ishak 81) HT: 2-2
Semi-final first leg - Cheras Stadium, Kuala Lumpur
Kuala Lumpur - Singapore took a step closer to the Tiger Cup final after edging a rollercoaster of a semi-final first leg clash against a combative Myanmar 4-3.
Myanmar had the first real chance of the match when lone striker Yan Paing laid the ball into the path of Soe Myat Min, skipper in the surprise absence of veteran forward Myo Hlaing Win, but his swerving third minute drive was blocked by Singapore custodian Lionel Lewis.
As the game ebbed and flowed from one end of the pitch to the other, Lewis was again called into action after 19 minutes, as Myanmar embarked on one of their rapid counter-attacks.
Aung Kyaw Moe received the ball on the right and the midfielder whipped in an inviting cross for his Finance and Revenue teammate Yan Paing but his bullet header was superbly palmed over the bar by the 1.88m Lewis.
Singapore took the lead in barely a minute later when a poor clearance went straight to Daniel Bennett and as the England-born defender returned it with interest from 35-yards out the ball ricocheted off a luckless Myanmar defender, wrong-footing keeper Aung Aung Oo on its way into the net.
Three goals in the space of four minutes saw the sides go into the break locked at 2-2 after a frenetic opening half.
Soe Myat Min headed his third of the tournament after 34 minutes when he ghosted in behind the ball-watching Bennett to nod home Yan Paing inch perfect cross to bring Myanmar back on level terms.
Myanmar, appearing in the semi-final stage of the Tiger Cup for the first time in their history, took the lead in spectacular fashion when Min Thu announced his candidature for goal of the tournament.
A needless free-kick was given away by Itimi Dickson out on the left wing and with Lewis expecting the ball to be whipped into the box, Min Thu thundered the ball over the flailing hand of the Singapore keeper and into the top corner.
But the scoring didn't end there and Singapore's leveler came when their Nigeria-born contingent combined to exploit some slack Myanmar defending.
A fluffed clearance spun into the path of Dickson who was able to chip the ball to the unmarked Agu Casmir, who scored with the simplest of headers.
Myanmar coach Ivan Kolev brought on Myo Hlaing Win for the ineffectual Bo Bo Aung five minutes after the restart, hoping that the 31-year-old, who is his country's top scorer in the Tiger Cup with eight goals, will lend vast experience to a contest that was simmering and threatening to boil over with neither side holding back in their challenges.
However, it was the lions that roared into the lead, when some impressive work from Casmir allowed Noh Alam Shah, in for the suspended Indra Sahdan Daud, to slot home Singapore's third in the 63rd minute.
Singapore extended their advantage with ten minutes remaining as Myanmar start to lose both their shape and discipline.
Kyaw khing Win fouled Alam Shah and quit how the Myanmar 20-year-old defender remained on the pitch for a vicious stamp on the Singapore forward only Thai referee Rungklay Mongkol will know. But Singapore were rewarded when Shahril Ishak swung in the resulting free-kick with Casmir distracting the Myanmar keeper.
Remarkably the scoring didn't end their as Myanmar's inspirational skipper Soe Myat Min took advantage of some complacency to pull one back in the first of five minutes of injury time.
The return fixture takes place in Singapore on January 2, 2005 and after numerous flashpoints in an incident-packed first leg their might be few happy New Year wishes between both sets of players when rivalries are renewed.
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