Tampines had to make an early alteration to their gameplan when defender Milos Zlatkovic was forced off with an injury after 18 minutes with Irfan Najeeb replacing him.

Lee Man were looking to break on the counter and almost succeeded in the 27th minute when Everton Camargo was released behind Tampines’ defence but his shot was easily fielded by Syazwan Buhari.

A similar move four minutes before half-time saw Everton feeding Samuel Rosa through but once again Syazwan did well, coming off his line quickly to close down Rosa and clear the danger.

Tampines had to wait a long time before being able to force Chan Ka Ho into action, Seia Kunori’s first-time drive from just outside the box in first half added time was tipped over by the Lee Man custodian.

The visitors stepped up their intensity in the second half and nearly took the lead in the 54th minute when Kunori surged down the right with his subsequent cross finding Faris Ramli in the centre but Dudu was on hand to make a goal line clearance.

Tampines spurned another opportunity in the 74th minute after good work from Taufik Suparno on the left found Boris Kopitovic with the Montenegrin turning Dudu only to fire his shot high over the bar as both sides had to be satisfied with a point each.