Football: Tampines Rovers beat Hougang United 3-0 to win Community Shield

SINGAPORE - Three months after lifting the Singapore Cup, Tampines Rovers added another piece of silverware to their collection as they beat Hougang United 3-0 in the Community Shield at Jalan Besar Stadium on Saturday (Feb 22).

Hougang were filling in for last season's Singapore Premier League (SPL) champions Brunei DPMM, who skipped the game due to precautionary travel restrictions because of the coronavirus situation.

But fears over the coronavirus outbreak, which has infected 86 people in Singapore, did not stop 1,925 vociferous fans from showing up to support their teams.

After a slow start, Tampines came to life in the 25th minute as Joel Chew's lobbed ball found Boris Kopitovic who looked through on goal, but his effort was palmed away by Hougang goalkeeper Khairulhin Khalid.

Barely a minute later, Khairulhin made another crucial intervention, saving Jordan Webb's attempt with his feet.

But Tampines' persistence paid off when they finally broke the deadlock in the 56th minute after Irwan Shah struck the ball into the bottom left corner after a neat exchange with Yasir Hanapi.

The Stags doubled their lead eight minutes later when Kopitovic, who had several chances, latched on to Irwan's cross and smashed the ball into the roof of the net.

It did not take long for Tampines to add another goal. In the 70th minute, Yasir laid off the ball for the lively Webb, who rifled his shot into the back of the net.

Hougang, who rested striker Stipe Plazibat, the two-goal hero in the team's 3-1 win over Lao Toyota in the AFC Cup on Feb 11, could not conjure many chances.

Substitute Sahil Suhaimi saw his shot in the dying minutes of the game saved by Syazwan Buhari.

With their AFC Cup fixture against Ho Chi Minh City on Tuesday, Hougang, who finished third in the SPL last season, were also without right-back Nazrul Nazari.