Philippines booked their place in the semi-finals of the Under-15 Girls’ Championship in style when they whipped Cambodia 3-0 as Singapore fought their way back into contention with a 2-1 win over Indonesia.
With just four teams in Group B, the fight for a place in the next round is now down to between Singapore and Cambodia who have each picked up three points while Indonesia are realistically out after two losses in a row.
The final game in the group in two days will determine who will make the cut to the next round to join the Philippines with Singapore having the tougher tie of having to take on the group leaders.
Cambodia will complete their group fixtures against Indonesia.
In the game this evening, the top of the table clash saw a confident Philippines side taking to the field against a Cambodian side which seems a little fatigued for the task ahead.
And this affected their game as the more physically superior Philippines side made full use of their advantage to contain the Cambodians to much in their own half.
Midfielder Alexander Yap, who was a handful in their first game, continued to terrorise the Cambodians defence. And in the 14th minute, she delivered the first goal for the Philippines with an exquisite freekick to beat Cambodian keeper Kory Muoykanha.
Cambodia tried to put some semblance of a fightback and the best that they could muster throughout the evening was a 34th minute effort from Chhorn Sreynit, who while managed to shirk her marker, just could not find the finishing touch for the goal.
That failure to draw level prodded the Philippines into further action and just before the break, a nice build up from the right saw Lazo Diaz scoring from close range.
With Cambodia hardly putting up a fight as they continued to defend in numbers into the second, the Philippines took more control of the game as they attacked from either flanks to put the pressure on their opponents
Several chances went begging for a fine finish although Anya Fuentes finally found the third goal for the Philippines in the 65th minute for the final score.
On the other hand, Singapore came back from a goal down to beat Indonesia 2-1 in a tie which they need to win for them to have a fighting chance for a place in the semi-finals.
And while they were taking the game to Indonesia, it was the latter who went ahead in the 27th minute when they won a penalty following a foul on Anisa Febiana by Singapore defender Nasriah Ibrahim.
Striker Carla Pattinasarany blasted the ball to the left of Singapore keeper Azura Azlan for the lead.
But Singapore did not give up and while the score maybe 1-0 to Indonesia’s advantage at the end of the first half, the break would prove pivotal.
Singapore came back stronger and in the 51st minute they finally found the equaliser through midfielder Putri Nur Sazali, who picked up the pass from deep before evading her markers to shoot past Indonesian keeper Rabiah Khodijah.
With Indonesia not able to give support to midfielder Sheiva Furyzcha and Carla running out of steam, Singapore grabbed the chance to slot in the winner with Putri once again on target in the 55th minute, making good on the cross from Nur Atikah Salleh.
The win allowed Singapore to get back into contention where now they have to plan the proper strategy to beat the Philippines in two days.
RESULTS
GROUP B – 11 May 2017
Indonesia 1 Singapore 2
Cambodia 3 Philippines 0
FIXTURES
GROUP A – 12 May 2017
1600: Malaysia vs Thailand
1830: Myanmar vs Vietnam
Current Standings
| Group A | P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | PTS |
| Thailand | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 6 |
| Laos | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 3 |
| Myanmar | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | -1 | 3 |
| Vietnam | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | -1 | 0 |
| Malaysia | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 5 | -3 | 0 |
| Group B | P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | PTS |
| Philippines | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 6 |
| Singapore | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| Cambodia | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 | -2 | 3 |
| Indonesia | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 4 | -3 | 0 |
