The beauty of the Cup competition lives on in the RHB Singapore Cup as the "Final Four" - Etoile FC, Home United, Albirex Niigata (Singapore), and Hougang United fought till the very end to see the emerging of the Protectors and the White Swans for the 19th November date at JBS.
Some may fault the lack of media coverage, although better marketing would have been done by organizers to hype up the series.
After all, those at the four games were hardly disappointed with what they had seen.
 |
| Fred Mendy (pictured above right) scored against his old team to send HUFC to the final |
Both first-leg fixtures of the "Final Four" saw both the Stars and White Swans agonizingly forgo their lead in the dying moments of those matches to see their respective opponents - Home United and Hougang United crawl back to level terms to square off the encounter.
Nonetheless, "Liga Singapura" offered a different perspective when they tweeted: "It is definitely far from a boring game if you look at it from a tactical point of view. See this going 0-0 all the way and then PKs."
Things, however, did not go according to the script as suggested by the leading local football platform when last season's leading top scorer Frederic Mendy stabbed home the only goal in the 55th minute to send Lee Lim Saeng's men to their first bid for the Cup in 6 years.
Despite not being on the ground, I could still feel my heart pounding as I follow the update on Twitter to keep track of the scores of the other tie between Hougang and Albirex.
What a game it was with Albirex beating the Cheetahs 5-4 on aggregate to head to their second Cup finals in weeks.
At one point, such a fightback was thought impossible, until the dying moments of the match highlighted the differences between a knockout cup tie and a round-robin fixture.
Mendy propelled HU at expense of old bosses
Yet, it wasn't really a nail-bitter when both Etoile and Home Utd met for their recurring fixture at Queenstown Stadium two days later with one tweet suggesting it was a "boring" first half at Stirling Road.Nonetheless, "Liga Singapura" offered a different perspective when they tweeted: "It is definitely far from a boring game if you look at it from a tactical point of view. See this going 0-0 all the way and then PKs."
Things, however, did not go according to the script as suggested by the leading local football platform when last season's leading top scorer Frederic Mendy stabbed home the only goal in the 55th minute to send Lee Lim Saeng's men to their first bid for the Cup in 6 years.
I should have QUIT to be at Hougang
I would not mind giving 24-hour notice to tender my quit notice in order to be at Hougang Stadium the following night.Despite not being on the ground, I could still feel my heart pounding as I follow the update on Twitter to keep track of the scores of the other tie between Hougang and Albirex.
What a game it was with Albirex beating the Cheetahs 5-4 on aggregate to head to their second Cup finals in weeks.
 |
| Hougang United coach Aide Iskandar (file) |
Better marketing reckon in spite of F1
Sad to note that the timing of the semi-final matches collided with the Singapore Grand Prix that those keenly-contested battles were fought in front of disappointing crowds (hardly a pretty sight when these games were live-telecasted on cable).Some may fault the lack of media coverage, although better marketing would have been done by organizers to hype up the series.
After all, those at the four games were hardly disappointed with what they had seen.
I agree that both matches are entertaining as I've managed to watched a few minutes of both games. I'm really impressed by what Albirex and Hougang have achieved this year. However the lure of F1 is definitely bigger.
ReplyDeleteThe FAS and S-League will always have to fight for a bigger piece of the pie (local sports fans) against the international sporting events.