THE Singapore Under-15 boys' team, despite playing nearly half the match a man down, held on to beat Chinese Taipei 3-1 in the Asian Football Confederation Under-16 Championship qualifiers in Hong Kong on Wednesday afternoon.

Still, after their opening 4-1 thrashing by the hosts last Saturday, they are unlikely to make it out of Group G to next year's 16-team Finals, as they still need to face group leaders Australia, who have thumped Macau 14-1 and Chinese Taipei 7-0 so far, on Sunday.

The Cubs first play cellar-dwellers Macau, who have lost their three matches with a goal difference of -23, on Friday and are expected to win easily.