9-man Loyola Sparks miss Singapore Cup semifinals

SINGAPORE—A valiant effort by the Philippines’ Loyola Meralco ended in heartbreak Saturday night in the quarterfinals of the Singapore Cup here.

The nine-man Sparks were booted out by S-League side Tanjong Pagar United, 5-4, on aggregate after a thrilling 3-3 draw in the second leg of their duel marred by controversial officiating at Jalan Besar Stadium.

In a bizarre turn of events, the Sparks took the early lead only to see goal scorers Park Min-ho and Jang Jo-woon sent off, dooming their chances of making the semifinals for the second straight year.

Clearly a much-improved side than the one that lost, 1-2, in the first leg Wednesday night, the Sparks showed tremendous fight, scoring with only 10 men—thanks to Jang—and later with nine players, courtesy of Chad Gould.

The Philippines will still have a semifinalist in the prestigious tournament in Global, which will seek payback for Loyola’s defeat in the last four against Tanjong Pagar in October.

Global overcame DPMM Brunei, 5-4, on aggregate in the quarterfinals. A victory by Loyola could have ensured one Filipino team in the finals of the tournament for the first time.

“This is the best loss we’ve had in a while because the players fought until the end and they played with a lot of heart,” said Loyola Meralco vice president Randy Roxas. “There were just some unfortunate calls.”

The Sparks were rewarded for their enterprising play in the 37th minute when Park stroked the ball home from a tight angle.

The Jaguars equalized through French striker Ismael Behnamed in the 44th minute but it was the call a minute later that turned the tide against the Sparks.

Park lunged in for late tackle on Monsef Zerka and Singaporean referee Sukhbir Singh was quick to draw out another yellow for the Korean, who was also booked in the 24th minute.

Hafiz Nor made it 4-2 on aggregate for Tanjong Pagar in the 59th, but the Sparks were given a glimmer of hope after Jang scored off a pass from James Younghusband in the 69th.

Kamel Ramdani restored the lead with a header off a corner three minutes later, and the Sparks were left with a mountain to climb when Jang was given a red card for a lunge on Hanafi Salleh four minutes from time.

Still the Sparks managed to nick in a goal through Gould, who directed a fine free kick by Younghusband to make it 3-3 in the final minute of stoppage time.