SINGAPORE UPDATED. A first-half penalty was enough for Thailand to overcome the Young Lions and end their hopes of a first-ever Gold medal.
Praweenwat Boonyong's 23rd minute penalty proved to be enough to send Thailand through to the SEA Games final and keep the War Elephants in the hunt for a Gold medal, as they overcame Singapore 1-0.
The Young Lions started off the strongest with Hafiz Sujad passing on a very good opportunity in the third minute. Played through on goal by Zulfahmi Ariffin, with no one near to challenge, Hafiz dragged his shot wide despite having time and space.
Seven minutes later Afiq Yunos headed over from a corner-kick as he rose the highest and unmarked.
With Thailand still nowhere near to even challenge Singapore in the final third, a poor defensive lapse from Izwan Mahbud proved costly.
Safuwan Baharudin waited for Izwan to claim a loose ball in the penalty box but with the goalkeeper hesitating the ball broke free for Charyl Chappuis who was brought down by Madhu Mohana.
Praweenwat stood up and easily slotted home to make it 1-0 for Thailand.
Singapore started the second-half with no real sense of haste or panic, and opted for a slow possession game to bring themselves back into the game.
But the solitary goal proved to be game changer as the match tilted in favour of the Thais who had no difficulty keeping Singapore at bay for the remainder of the game.
Afiq Yunos and Sahil Suhaimi both came close in the second period of play but neither were able to really trouble Kawin Thamsatchanan in goal for Thailand.
The introduction of Izzdin Shahfiq to push Hariss Harun upfront in a more attacking role also failed to conjure up anything noteworthy. Iqbal Hussain and Gabriel Quak both were sent on as late substitutes in the dying minutes of the game and were also unable to make a dent in the game.
Singapore failed to trouble Thailand any further and Izwan Mahbud had only one easy gather from a long range effort to account for for the rest of the game, as the Thais too failed to trouble offensively.
But the penalty goal was more than enough to send the young side to the Gold medal match against Indonesia, whom they had trashed 4-0 in the group stages. Singapore meanwhile will contend for a Bronze medal against Malaysia.
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