Dogged Tampines take their time to 'wear out' Hougang

Patience proved to be key for BG Tampines Rovers on March 29, as the Stags chipped away at the Hougang United defence to eventually rout their rivals 5-1 in their Singapore Cup group-stage clash at the Jalan Besar Stadium.

- Melvyn Teoh

Tampines' victory put them top of Group A on 10 points, with Brunei DPMM (seven) also qualifying for the semi-finals — the Cheetahs were eliminated from the competition after placing fourth on six points.

Stags' coach Gavin Lee said: "We've experienced this kind of situation many times (before), where teams are waiting for us and are close to their goal. All we have to do is just to be patient and most of the time they will probably wear out.

"For us, it doesn't really matter who we play (next). Ultimately, we just want to arrive at Game 7 (final) to have a chance at the cup. But that's still quite far away, we've got quite a few league games in between."

Tampines had the lion's share of possession from the get-go, while Hougang were happy to sit deep and play on the counter.