Written By: Kenneth Ho

Courts Young Lions and Harimau Muda both played out a 1-1 draw on Tuesday evening at the Jalan Besar Stadium.

Irfan Fandi was his side’s saviour as he came off the bench to score a late equaliser for the Young Lions.

However, the draw left the Singapore Under-23 side three points adrift of seventh-placed Harimau, with only three games left.

Harimau enjoyed a flying start to the game and found themselves ahead after just a minute of play.

From a long throw in, the Young Lions failed to clear their lines and the ball fell nicely for Syahrul Azwari, who lashed a superb first-time effort into goal from 18 yards out.

Despite the early setback, the Young Lions immediately regrouped and began to dictate play.

They were also helped by a Harimau side which seemed more keen in defending its slender lead rather than going forward for a second goal.

Taufik Suparno had an opportunity to peg the visitors back in the 10th minute after he cut in from the right flank and made his way towards goal but his shot flashed past the post.

Undeterred, the hosts plugged away and could have been rewarded for their endeavour had it not been for an alert Ilham Amirullah, who scrambled off his line on several occasions to clear dangerous through balls.

After the break, it seemed Harimau were instructed to sit even deeper and press harder in order to restrict the Young Lions’ scoring chances.

The tactic certainly worked as the Young Lions continued struggling to get a shot on target and it prompted Young Lions coach Juergen Raab to send on Irfan Fandi and Amy Recha in an attempt to inject some life into his side’s attack.

Harimau will then rue Annas Rahmat’s miss in the 79th minute, as the unmarked defender headed Akhir Bahari’s corner over and wasted the opportunity to seal the win.

Irfan made sure that miss haunted them, as he stabbed home a pass from Fadli Kamis after Taufik found him in the box with a cross in the 88th minute.

Despite there being five minutes of added time, neither side could find another goal and it meant that the spoils of the game had to be shared.

Courts Young Lions: Syazwan Buhari (GK) (C), Fadli Kamis, Amirul Adli, M.Anumanthan, Safirul Sulaiman, Shahfiq Ghani (Irfan Fandi 59′), Jordan Webb, Taufik Suparno, Sheikh Abdul Hadi, Sherif El-Masri, Afiq Noor (Amy Recha 67′)

Harimau Muda: Ilham Amirullah (GK), Ariff Farhan, Irfan Zakaria, Adam Nor (C), Kumaahran Sathasivam, Azrul Nizam Muhammad (Ashmawi Yakin 86′), Faizat Ghazali, Syahrul Azwari (Arif Anwar 67′), Akhir Bahari, Annas Rahmat, Kenny Pallrah