Coach Noh Rahman urges BG Tampines Rovers to learn lesson despite reaching ACL2 round of 16

SINGAPORE – Even before a ball was kicked at the Bishan Stadium on Nov 27, BG Tampines Rovers had clinched their place in the round of 16 of the Asian Football Confederation’s (AFC) Champions League Two.

South Korean side Pohang Steelers’ 2-0 win over Thailand’s BG Pathum United earlier in the day meant that the Singapore outfit had secured their ticket to the knockout stages with a game to spare.

The result at the Pohang Steelyard meant that the Thai side, who are third in Group H on six points, could no longer overtake Tampines (10 points) and Pohang (10 points) to finish in the top two.

For good measure, however, the Stags registered a 5-3 win over Philippine side Kaya-Iloilo to clinch top spot on 13 points.

Even if they lose their final group game against Pathum in Thailand on Dec 11 and Pohang defeat bottom team Kaya-Iloilo, the Stags cannot be overtaken due to their superior head-to-head record over the South Korean side.

Stags coach Noh Rahman said: “Some of the players were keeping track of the game on the other side.

“But we go into this game knowing that we control what we can control.

“Yes, the game on the other end has some consequences, but for us, we go into this game to try to win.”

It took the Stags just seven minutes to open the scoring in front of a 1,069-strong crowd.

A short back pass by Kaya-Iloilo defender Kaishu Yamazaki was intercepted by Trent Buhagiar and the Malta international forward unselfishly passed the ball to Hide Higashikawa, who slotted it into an empty net.

Kaya-Iloilo’s best chance to equalise came 20 minutes later, as a free kick from midfielder Mike Ott deflected off the head of Higashikawa onto the bar.

But Takeshi Yoshimoto calmed the nerves as he doubled the Stags’ lead in the 37th minute. After a pass from Koya Kazama on the edge of the box, he shimmied past two defenders and slotted the ball past Kaya-Iloilo goalkeeper Alfredo Cortez.

Tampines made it 3-0 two minutes after the restart, as Kazama’s long ball found Higashikawa. While the latter’s heavy first touch allowed Cortez to push the ball away, the rebound fell kindly to Buhagiar, who promptly smashed the ball into an empty net.

Higashikawa headed home a fourth in the 56th minute after he was found unmarked at the back post by Kazama.

The Stags had to endure a nervy finale, however, as the visitors scored three goals in 20 minutes.

First, Ott headed home from a corner in the 66th minute. Substitute Paolo Bugas then smashed the ball into an empty net (74th) after Ott’s shot was parried by Stags custodian Syazwan Buhari, prompting their supporters to cheer with raised decibels.

The Philippine side narrowed the deficit to 4-3 as Amirul Adli’s own goal in the 85th minute sent the Kaya-Iloilo supporters wild.

But any hopes of a comeback were extinguished just seconds later as substitute Faris Ramli added a fifth for the Stags, who advanced to the round of 16 along with Pohang.

A solemn Kaya-Iloilo coach Yu Hoshide, whose side are bottom of the group with zero points, expressed disappointment, saying: “Our second half was better than the first as we had a slow start today, and we have to fix this problem for the next game.”

This is the Stags’ first appearance in the knockout stages of a continental competition since 2016, when they reached the AFC Cup quarter-finals.

The second-tier Asian club tournament is now known as the ACL2, following its revamp in 2024.

But Noh, who felt his side had “taken their foot off the pedal” after scoring four goals, has warned his men not to be complacent in future.

The 45-year-old said: “We had a comfortable lead, but we gave away the goals and that gave them hope to try to come back in the game... a lesson for us to learn, especially in this competition, we cannot take things for granted.”

The draw for the knockout stages will be held on Dec 16, with the round-of-16 matches played in February.