Eagles fall to home defeat by Tigers

Geylang International went down 1-0 to Balestier Khalsa for their third defeat this season after having two penalty calls turned down at Our Tampines Hub on Sunday.

Shuhei Hoshino’s goal in the 61st minute was all it took for the Tigers to claim all the three points to mark their first win in three matches against Geylang.

Despite having their key trios – Fadli Kamis, Abdil Qaiyyim, and Huzaifah Abdul Aziz substituted with about 20 minutes remaining, the Eagles soldiered on as they continued their relentless pursuit for an equaliser.

The home side could have levelled had the refereeing decision gone their way in the closing stretch of the match.

Geylang International was denied what could have been a strong penalty claim in the 77th minute when Balestier defender Delwinder Singh appeared to have handed the ball in the penalty area.

A second call came barely three minutes later. This time, Ensar Bruncevic was left unpunished for having his arms on the back of Sime Zuzul before pulling him to the ground.

Nevertheless, it was still a creditable performance from Noor Ali’s side, who had dominated

a larger part of the game, particularly in the first half.

The Tigers made an early move when Hoshino’s thunderbolt in the first minute forced Zaiful Nizam into action.

But Geylang responded superbly by dictating the game, and they almost opened the scoring through Takahiro Tezuka, but his superb effort from outside the box flew just over the crossbar.

Two minutes later, it was Hazzuwan Halim’s turn to have a try at the goal when he lashed a shot straight to Rudy Khairullah after beating his marker.

Vincent Bezecourt had arguably the best chance of the opening half, but his header had missed the target on the right side of the post after following up a cross from Huzaifah. Zuzul, too was denied of his superb header from close range three minutes into the second half by Rudy.

Following the defeat, the Eagles slipped one rung to seventh in the league standings with five points from six matches.

Noor Ali said: “It was not the result we were hoping for. We were unlucky, but we pressed on. Unfortunately, we just couldn’t find the goal to salvage the game.”