Tuesday, 27 July 2010 9:49 AM
The dates for the Quarter Finals of the RHB Singapore Cup have been confirmed, with South Melbourne FC due to play Bangkok Glass FC over two legs on Tuesday 5 October and Friday 8 October. Though both matches are to be played at the Jalan Besar Stadium, South Melbourne FC has been designated as the ‘home’ team for the first leg, with Bangkok Glass FC the ‘home’ side for the second leg.
Like South, Bangkok Glass are one of the foreign teams competing in the RHB Singapore Cup in 2010. Bangkok Glass FC is a professional Thailand football club that plays in the Thai Premier League. Despite only being barely four years old (the club was formed in 2006), Bangkok has enjoyed domestic Cup success by winning the Thai Super Cup in 2009 and the Queen’s Cup in 2010. Most worryingly for South, Bangkok were the runners-up in the RHB Singapore Cup last year, losing 1-0 to Geylang United FC, proving that they know what it takes to go the distance in this competition.
By beating Gombak United 2-1 in the preliminary round in May, South Melbourne FC proved to the rest of the clubs in the RHB Singapore Cup that the team is more than capable of performing in Asian competition. Whilst every round gets much tougher, South will take great comfort in the fact that the tie against Bangkok Glass will be played over two legs unlike the Gombak match which was a one-off. This will give the players plenty of time to acclimatise to the humid Singapore conditions as well as two opportunities to overcome their difficult opponents.
South Melbourne FC Football Director Ange Dallas noted that “whilst the matches against Bangkok Glass FC will be extremely difficult, we as a club have proven that we are capable of competing in the RHB Singapore Cup. We are looking at strengthening our squad even more for these important matches, so the onus is on our current playing list to finish the VPL season off strongly to prove to myself and the coaching staff that they deserve to be on the plane to Singapore in October.”
The second leg between South Melbourne FC and Bangkok Glass FC will also be beamed throughout South East Asia.
The winner between South Melbourne FC and Bangkok Glass FC will face the winner of the matches between Kitchee SC and Etoile FC.
RHB Singapore Cup Quarter Final Draw Dates
12 September – Young Lions v Albirex Niigata (Jalan Besar Stadium) – first leg
23 September – Albirex Niigata v Young Lions (Jurong East Stadium) – second leg
27 September – Tampines Rovers v Balestier Khalsa (Tampines Stadium) – first leg
30 September – Balestier Khalsa v Tampines Rovers (Toa Payoh Stadium) – second leg
28 September – Etoile FC v Kitchee SC (Queenstown Stadium) – first leg
01 October – Kitchee SC v Etoile FC (Jalan Besar Stadium) – second leg
05 October – South Melbourne FC v Bangkok Glass FC (Jalan Besar Stadium) – first leg
08 October – Bangkok Glass FC v South Melbourne FC (Jalan Besar Stadium) – second leg *MATCH TELECAST LIVE INTO SOUTH-EAST ASIA