Singapore are in the semi-finals of the Tiger Cup for the first time in six years after a 3-0 win over Cambodia at the Lach Tray Stadium in Haiphong.

The victory had a hint of the Pyrrhic about it after the Lions’ leading striker Indra Sahdan picked up his second yellow card of the tournament, which will rule him out of the first leg of the semi-finals.

The booking, a clattering challenge into Cambodia’s substitute keeper Ouk Mic that was more mistimed than malicious, elicited a furious response from Singapore coach Radojko Avramovic, who kicked a chair in disgust and gave Indra a earful after the final whistle.

“Indra was not thinking when he did that,” was the Serbo-Montenegrin’s assessment. The rueful striker’s take? “The keeper spilled the ball, it was a 50-50 challenge and maybe I was too rash in wanting to score.”

Despite that slight souring of the night, the Lions booked their expected progression into the semi-finals through goals from Itimi Dickson, Baihakki Khaizan and substitute Khairul Amri. The win meant that Singapore finished second in Group A, behind Indonesia but eliminating hosts and pre-tournament favourites Vietnam.

Avramovic’s Lions were less than convincing against Cambodia though, showing precious few moments of creativity against a side that had leaked x goals in their previous three matches.

The signs were promising from the third minute as striker Agu Casmir touched his shot off Cambodia keeper Hong Viskora’s post from Itimi’s pass.

But Singapore did not build on that and it took a comical goal from Itimi after 21 minutes to silence the Lach Tray crowd, vigourously cheering on the Cambodians in the hope of an unlikely upset.

Shahril Ishak’s cross from the right fooled both Viskora and defender Sun Sampratna, who sliced his clearance into the path of Itimi at the far post. The ball bounced in off the Nigerian-born forward’s face – a strange way to net your first international goal.

Four minutes later, Indra smashed his shot off Viskora’s post after a neat one-two exchange with Agu. The play was all Singapore with Cambodia’s attacking efforts limited to hopeful clearances upfront, but the Lions were clearly lacking a cutting edge.

A second gift of a goal would arrive just before the half-hour mark though. Daniel Bennett’s cross was met by Baihakki’s firm downward header, and Viskora fumbled this way and that to stop the effort before it eventually trickled into goal.

Cambodia's first attempt on goal arrived in the 40th minute when Suon Thuon's free kick rolled harmlessly past Lionel Lewis' right hand post.

Khairul Amri replaced the quiet Agu early in the second half and the 19-year-old made an immediate impact on the scoresheet, turning home Shahril’s cross after the midfielder exchanged a smart one-two with Itimi on the right.

Indra almost added a fourth on the hour as he neatly turned his marker Peas Sothy and unleashed a drive onto the post with Mic well beaten.

No further goals were to come though, and the Lions were left to contemplate their next opponents Myanmar in the semi-finals. A more demanding task surely, but for the time being at least, Singapore are not returning home from a tournament prematurely.

For that at least, coach Avramovic was hoping that Singaporeans would place more belief in his team.

"When we beat Myanmar 1-0 last month, people were saying that we were bad and Myanmar was bad. Now that we will meet in the semi-finals, people are saying that Myanmar is good. But we are still bad! I think we should trust more in this team and encourage them," said the Serbo-Montenegrin.

SINGAPORE 3 (Itimi Dickson 21, Baihakki Khaizan 27, Khairul Amri 53) CAMBODIA 0

SINGAPORE: Lionel Lewis, S Subramani, Baihakki Khaizan, Aide Iskandar (c), Daniel Bennett, Hasrin Jailani, Goh Tat Chuan (Ishak Zainol 62), Shahril Ishak, Itimi Dickson, Agu Casmir (Khairul Amri 52), Indra Sahdan (Muhammad Ridhuan 76)

CAMBODIA: Hong Viskora (Ouk Mic 37), Sun Sampratna (Poeu Samnang 63), Soueur Chanveasua, Tun Sovanrithy, Peas Sothy, Ling Kanyarith (c), Rith Dika, Hing Darith (Teab Vadhanak 78), Samel Nasa, Hong Sokunthee, Suan Thuon

Yellow cards SINGAPORE: Indra Sahdan (68) CAMBODIA: Soueur Chanveasua (72), Poeu Samnang (92)