Ko Pohui
info@sleague.com

They say good things come to those who wait - and that adage proved trusty for Singapore at the Jalan Besar Stadium on Wednesday night as late goals from Indra Sahdan and Khairul Amri secured a psychologically crucial win over India.

Their reward for patiently chipping away at an eager India side that proved a clear and present threat with their swift counter-attacks? Three points that took them off the bottom of Group 3 in the World Cup qualifiers, although both Singapore and India are out of the running for progression to the next round.

Subdued despite the bulk of possession in the first half, Singapore’s wait for goals was made worthwhile by their quality when they did come.

Indra was at the spear-tip of a deft passing move with the kind of finish that he has built his name upon, while 19-year-old Khairul took his first ever international goal by teasing his way across the Indian defence before firing past keeper Sandip Nandy.

While Indra and Khairul made their mark on the scoresheet, the Lions also had keeper Hassan Sunny to thank as the 20-year-old enhanced his growing reputation with a superb save in the 53^rd minute.

Indian striker Ravi Prakash was inexplicably left unmarked in the box to meet a cross from the left with a bicycle kick that looked a goal from the minute it left his boot. Cue the brilliant intervention from Hassan, who stuck out a flailing hand in a mid-air dive to divert the ball away.

That save knocked the stuffing out of the Indians, who were growing bolder with each pacy counter-attack. "That save was the turning point of the game," said India coach Stephen Constatine. "It was a brilliant, world class save. I don’t know how the keeper got to that one and I don’t think he knows either.

"To be honest I didn’t see us losing this game. We were more in control and our keeper didn’t have a save to make until the 73^rd minute. But Singapore took their chances and we didn’t."

While the Englishman might have felt aggrieved by the loss, a Singapore goal was very much on the cards as the second half wore on. Indeed, while Constatine might not have seen it, his keeper Sandip had to make saves at the feet of Itimi Dickson and Indra midway through the half, while Masrezwan Masturi and Shahril Ishak saw efforts scrape the post.

Khairul’s infectious enthusiasm and penchant for stringing the Indian defenders along on mazy runs after coming on at half-time for the ineffectual Ridhuan Muhammad was the catalyst that sparked Singapore into life.

Forming a lively triumvirate with Indra and Masrezwan that the Indian defence found hard to deal with, he helped set-up the first goal in the 73^rd minute when his surging run into the box saw the ball deflected into Shahril’s path.

The 20-year-old playmaker threaded his pass through a mass of defenders for Indra to thump home his finish past Nandy.

Three minutes later, it was 2-0 as Khairul led Deepak Mondal, Mahesh Gawli and Debabrata Roy a merry dance before slicing past them to curl his shot past the despairing reach of keeper Nandy.

Singapore coach Radojko Avramovic pronounced himself satisfied with his team’s work on the night. "It’s good to win and I think the team fully deserved this one. India did create some problems for us but our defence dealt with them on good terms tonight.

"Khairul did very well when he came on, he showed a good feel for cooperation. But all the players today worked very hard and there’s a good atmosphere in the team. With the players I have now, I can see more possibilities for Singapore than in the past."

Singapore 2 India 0 - Match stats here.