Roberts nets brace as Global Cebu earns draw vs Hougang United

Daryl Roberts scored twice as Philippines Football League side Global Cebu earned a 2-2 draw against Hougang United in the first leg of the RHB Singapore Cup semifinals on Wednesday night at Jalan Besar Stadium in Singapore.

Looking to become the first Filipino club to reach the finals of the tournament, Global took a 2-1 lead in the 68th minute when Roberts, a former Trinidad and Tobago international, grabbed his second from close range.

But Global conceded five minutes from time as Fabian Kwok beat Patrick Deyto with a well-struck shot from just outside the box, leaving it all to play for heading into the second leg on Saturday at Hougang Stadium.

“I’m not happy with the result,” said Global coach Akbar Nawas, who missed injured stars Misagh Bahadoran and Amani Aguinaldo.

“We had the chances to bring a better lead into the second leg, but we didn’t. We only had 13 players available, but I didn’t want to make excuses.”

The S-League side took the lead in the 28th minute when Delwinder Singh headed home a corner at the far post.

But Global hit back five minutes later with Roberts latching onto a through ball from Paolo Salenga before firing home at Khairulhin Khalid’s near post.

Global spurned the last chance of the match when Dennis Villanueva fired off target after a fine ball from Paul Mulders in stoppage time.