Defeat leaves Loyola Sparks mountain to climb

SINGAPORE—The task of advancing to the semifinals of the Singapore Cup just got tougher for the Loyola Meralco Sparks. Conceding twice in a five-minute spell in the second half, the shorthanded Sparks fell to defending champion Home United, 0-2, in the first leg of their quarterfinal tie Monday night at Bishan Stadium here.

The deficit leaves the Sparks with a mountain to climb in the second leg on Thursday at Jalan Besar Stadium, where a larger Filipino crowd is expected.

A costly error by Ghanaian goalkeeper Baba Sampana at the hour mark gifted Li Qiu with the opening goal, before a stunning volley from Yasir Hanapi doubled the advantage four minutes later.

“Up until we conceded that goal, I thought we stayed disciplined,” said Loyola coach Vince Santos. “Conceding that goal so softly after working so hard and to give it up on our own error was difficult. I don’t think we were able to refocus after conceding the first goal.”

The Sparks weren’t at full strength with midfielder Park Bo-bae sidelined by injury and leading scorer Phil Younghusband only fit for a 25-minute appearance in the second half against a team that featured former South Korean international Lee Kwan-woo.

Younghusband was cleared to play only three days ago after suffering a concussion in a recent exhibition match. Still, his presence wasn’t enough to haul the Sparks back into the game.

The Sparks actually took the game to Home United early on with Graham Caygill and Joaco Canas spurning a couple of good chances in the first half.

Pouncing on a weak back pass, Caygill couldn’t steer the ball past Shahril Jantan in the eighth minute, while Canas sent a volley over after a scramble inside the area.

The best chance of the match fell to James Younghusband, whose diving header forced an equally impressive stop from Jantan in the 46th minute.

“If we could have been sharper on some chances, it would have been the other way around,” said Santos.