SINGAPORE, 17 MARCH 2025 – The Singapore Cup continues to deliver with BG Tampines Rovers sweeping Young Lions aside in Group A, while Hougang United thrashed Brunei DPMM to boost their qualification hopes. In Group B, Lion City Sailors’ victory over Balestier Khalsa meant BG Pathum United are the first side to seal a semi-final spot while Tanjong Pagar United kept their faint hopes alive with a shock win over Geylang International. We recap all the action here...

Cheetahs run riot

DPMM 1-5 Hougang | Jalan Besar | 15 March

Dāvis Ikaunieks 53' | Daniel Henrique 20’, Shodai Yokoyama 38’, Shahdan Sulaiman 71', Dejan Račić 79', Stjepan Plazonja 90+5'

Henrique bundled in Zulfahmi Arifin’s inswinging corner, before Yokoyama benefitted from some poor defending to double Hougang’s lead. While Ikaunieks pulled one back from a tight angle, the Cheetahs then restored their two-goal lead through Shahdan’s tap-in. Račić and Plazonja then got onto the act to complete a convincing victory. 

Facts

• Hougang defeated DPMM for the first time in four meetings across all competitions. 

• Račić has scored 21 goals in 24 appearances for Hougang across all competitions. 

• Ikauniek has scored four goals in as many Singapore Cup appearances so far. 

DPMM: Kristijan Naumovski (GK), Nazry Aiman (Hariz Danial Khallidden 77’), Nurikhwan Othman, Damir Muminović, Najib Tarif (Yura Indera Putera 77’), Abdul Hariz Herman (Faturrahman Embran 90’+1), Azwan Ali Rahman (C), Miguel Oliveira, Nazirrudin Ismail (Hanif Farhan 90’+1), Gabriel Gama, Dāvis Ikaunieks. 

Unused subs: Haimie Nyaring (GK), Syafiq Safiuddin, Farshad Noor, Hanif Hamir, Wafi Aminuddin.

Hougang: Kenji Rusydi (GK), Nazrul Nazari (C), Tajeli Salamat, Daniel Henrique, Jordan Vestering, Zulfahmi Arifin, Shahdan Sulaiman (Danish Irfan 84’), Ismail Salihović, Shodai Yokoyama (Farhan Zulkifli 64’), Stjepan Plazonja, Dejan Račić (Anders Aplin 84’).

Unused subs: Isaac Jonathan (GK), Hazzuwan Halim, Nazhiim Harman, Gabriel Quak, Tan-Vaissierre Louka, Ratthathammanun Deeying. 

Jaguars find their bite

Tanjong Pagar 1-0 Geylang | Jurong East | 15 March

Faizal Roslan pen. 83’

A tight game was decided by a late penalty, with Faizal putting Hairul Syirhan the wrong way after substitute Salif Cissé was fell in the area to revive the Jaguars’ qualification hopes. 

Facts

• Tanjong Pagar ended a run of five straight defeats in all competitions. 

• Tanjong Pagar defeated Geylang for the first time in five meetings across all competitions. 

• Geylang are already out of the running for qualification for the semi-finals. 

Tanjong Pagar: Matthew Silva (GK) (C), Syed Akmal, Timur Talipov, Faizal Roslan, Azim Akbar (Salif Cissé 73’), Rezza Rezky (Izrafil Yusof 60’), Raihan Rahman (Hariysh Krishnakumar 90’+5), Thorsten Takashi Cross, Tomoki Wada, Zenivio Mota, Syahadat Masnawi (Sahil Suhaimi 46’).

Unused subs: Riki Kimura (GK), Farid Jafiri, Umar Akhbar, Saiful Azhar, Marcus Mosses. 

Geylang: Hairul Syirhan (GK), Akmal Azman (Huzaifah Aziz 46’), Rio Sakuma (C), Keito Hariya, Shakir Hamzah, Takahiro Tezuka, Vincent Bezecourt, Naqiuddin Eunos (Naufal Azman 82’), Ryoya Taniguchi, Iqbal Hussain (Saifullah Akbar 68’), Tomoyuki Doi. 

Unused subs: Rudy Khairullah (GK), Faisal Shahril, Ahmad Syahir, Zikos Chua, Hud Ismail, Nur Ikhsanuddin. 

Stags in full flow

BG Tampines 4-1 Young Lions | Jalan Besar | 16 March 

Itsuki Enomoto 20', 32', Shah Shahiran 23', Joel Chew 50' | Jun Kobayashi 66'

Two quick-fire goals put BG Tampines in the ascendancy, with Enomoto diverting home from close range before Shah curled one in from outside the area. Enomoto then pounced on a rebound for his second, before Joel punished some lax Young Lions defending to make it 4-0. Kobayashi did pull one back through a header, but it proved to be too little too late for the Young Lions. 

Facts

• BG Tampines scored four goals for a second consecutive game in all competitions. 

• Enomoto has netted four goals in seven games for BG Tampines since joining in the mid-season transfer window. 

BG Tampines: Syazwan Buhari (GK) (C), Amirul Adli (Kegan Phang 87’), Shuya Yamashita, Dylan Fox, Miloš Zlatković, Shah Shahiran, Kyoga Nakamura, Glenn Kweh (Faris Ramli 63’), Joel Chew (Taufik Suparno 63’), Seia Kunori (Arya Igami Tarhani 87’), Itsuki Enomoto (Yasir Hanapi 79’).

Unused subs: Ridhuan Barudin (GK), Irfan Najeeb, Rae Peh, Kieran Tan. 

Young Lions: Umayr Sujuandy (GK), Fairuz Fazli, Bill Mamadou, Aqil Yazid (Ikram Mikhail 65’), Raoul Suhaimi (C), Jun Kobayashi, Kaisei Ogawa (Fathullah Rahmat 82’), Kan Kobayashi, Andrew Aw (Iryan Fandi 75’), Danish Qayyum (Ethan Pinto 65’), Amir Syafiz (Ryu Hardy 82’).

Unused subs: Rauf Erwan (GK), Syafi Nur Hilman, Ryan Vishal, Danial Crichton. 

Sailors put one foot into semis

Sailors 4-1 Balestier | Bishan | 16 March

Song Uiyoung 8’, Bart Ramselaar 25', 88', 90+3' | Kodai Tanaka 52’

Song swept the Sailors ahead with a crisp first-time finish, before Ramselaar doubled the lead with a brilliant effort from a tight angle. Tanaka pounced on a rebound to pull one back for Balestier, but Ramselaar restored the home side’s two-goal lead late on with another wonderful solo effort. The Dutchman then rounded off the night with a stunning free-kick to take home the match ball. 

Facts

• The Sailors have won 12 out of 16 matches across all competitions in 2025. 

• Ramselaar scored just his second-ever career hat-trick – his first came in October 2021 in the Dutch Eredivisie with FC Utrecht. 

• Ramselaar is now the tournament’s joint-highest scorer on five goals, along with Geylang’s Tomoyuki Doi. 

Sailors: Zharfan Rohaizad (GK), Christopher van Huizen (Akram Azman 89’), Lionel Tan, Bailey Wright (C), Toni Datković, Diogo Costa, Song Uiyoung (Nathan Mao 89’), Rui Pires (Hariss Harun 89’), Bart Ramselaar, Shawal Anuar (Abdul Rasaq Akeem 78’), Lennart Thy (Hami Syahin 65’). 

Unused subs: Izwan Mahbud (GK), Anumanthan Kumar, Hafiz Nor, Haiqal Pashia. 

Balestier: Hafiz Ahmad (GK), Fudhil I’yadh, Abdil Qaiyyim (Sheikh Faris 90’+4), Madhu Mohana (C), Cher Garang (Ignatius Ang 78’), Harith Kanadi, Darren Teh, Jared Gallagher, Riku Fukashiro, Masahiro Sugita, Kodai Tanaka. 

Unused subs: Martyn Mun (GK), Emmeric Ong, Elijah Lim, N Sakthivelchezhian, Reycredo Bukit, Lin Ze Hao, Merrick Tan.