Loyola Meralco Sparks FC VS Tanjong Pagar United
28 July 2013
Jalan Besar Stadium

By Ong Jiing Yih

The task for Tanjong Pagar United in the RHB Singapore Cup this coming Sunday is simple: play to their strengths and maintain focus.

90 minutes of regulation time and the orange-and-black wall in the shape of Loyola Meralco Sparks stand in between the team and a semi-final spot.

Ahead of the crucial match French tactician Patrick Vallee refuses to give anything away, preferring to share his insights on the quarter final second leg tie.

“I prefer to focus on my team and shall have no plans for any Loyola players. To think of the goal advantage would be a mistake…

“We’ll make a plan for the second leg and play our own style – we shall see on Sunday.”

Meanwhile, with the tie delicately balanced Vincent Santos remains upbeat and confident his Loyola side can overturn the 2-1 deficit from the first leg.

James Younghusband notched up his side’s only goal midway through the first half.

“We started very positively. We were unlucky to concede the first goal and that caused a drop in our morale and confidence. We might have been a little cautious in the second half but that wasn’t part of the game plan.

“It’d be good to review the tape for the lads to see what has happened with a full 90 minutes ahead. Jalan Besar can be considered lucky for us and we fancy our chances; we’ll work on our next match during the next few days.”

Little wonder, judging from his words as his side made light work of Harimau Muda B duing the preliminaries.

That 3-0 thumping at the aforementioned Jalan Besar Stadium has a similar surface to where they train back home in Manila.

They were expected to ease that form into the first leg encounter only to be found out by the compact pitch at Queenstown.

However, Tanjong Pagar are definitely no mugs when it comes to the venue right on the edge of the city – fours wins and a draw from five games in all competitions prove their adaptability on the artificial surface.

The Jaguars’ cause can be greatly enhanced if the likes of Monsef Zerka and Ismael Benahmed continue from where they left off from Thursday.

Kickoff is at 8 pm.