Tampines stunned by Bangladeshi club
SHEIKH JAMAL DHANMONDI CLUB 3
(Landing Darboe 17, 81, Lemeka Onouha 55-pen)
TAMPINES ROVERS 2
(Mustafic Fahrudin 44, Billy Mehmet 69)
Over the past week, S-League giants Tampines Rovers have been making headlines off the pitch, with new club chairman Krishna Ramachandra admitting the Stags were facing cash-flow issues.
Last night, Tampines suffered on the field when abject defending by the visitors saw them go down to a shock 3-2 defeat by Bangladesh side Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club in an AFC Cup Group E encounter at the Bangabandhu National Stadium in Dhaka.
The two teams had met in February in their opening group game and V Sundramoorthy's men had strolled to a 4-0 triumph at the Jalan Besar Stadium.
Sheikh Jamal entered the penultimate game of the group with zero points, but inspired by their talented foreign trio of Landing Darboe (Gambia), Emeka Onouha (Nigeria) and Wedson Anselme (Haiti), they stunned the Stags, who now face a must-win final game against Selangor at the National Stadium on May 10.
Darboe bagged a brace for the home side, scoring the opener in the 17th minute and also stroking in the winner in the 81st minute.
The Stags equalised twice, first through Mustafic Fahrudin (right, 44th minute) and then Billy Mehmet (69th minute), after Wedson had made it 2-1 in the 55th minute, but they could not muster a third goal.
After Selangor's 0-0 draw with Philippine outfit Ceres-La Salle, the Malaysian giants need only a point against Tampines in the final group match to advance to the last 16.
The Stags will look to make it a double over the Malaysian club, after posting a 1-0 win in an earlier group encounter in Selayang.
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