SINGAPORE - Indonesia bought under-pressure coach Peter Withe some breathing space Saturday by overpowering Laos 3-1 to ensure a winning start to their Asean Football Championships campaign.

The former Aston Villa and England striker was given an ultimatum by the Indonesian Football Association -- win the Asean championships or face the sack after a string of poor results.

But it wasn't all plain sailing.

A youthful Laotian side shocked Indonesia when Sounthalay Saysongkham fired them in front in the 13th minute and the score stayed that way till half time when a Withe pep talk seemed to do the job.

The Indonesians, beaten finalists at the last tournament in 2004, formerly known as the Tiger Cup, came out firing on all cylinders.

Midfielder Atep drew the scores level six minutes after the break and substitute Saktiawan Sinaga put them in front in the 67th minute.

It was all Indonesia from there on and Atep made sure of the victory with another strike 15 minutes from time.

Indonesia now sit atop the group after highly-fancied Vietnam were held to a goalless draw by hosts and defending champions Singapore later Saturday.

Laos are stuck at the bottom of the table, with two tough fixtures to home.

The Laotians emerged from a five-team qualification tournament in November and are the group's weak link.

The championships are being played in Bangkok and Singapore over the next three weeks.

The top two teams from the two groups of four progress to the home and away semi-finals on January 23-24 and January 27-28.