By Song Sung Hai

It was a gloomy and wet evening to play football and it was on such a night that the Jaguars fell 2-1 to the visiting Eagles side.

Both sides came into the game on the backs of a win each and it was clear to see the Jaguars were keen to extend that run. The Geylang Eagles however, remain very much Patrick Vallée’s bogey team in the league.

In the last match, the Jaguars coped well without Monsef Zerka and Kamel Ramdani but this time, the two were sorely missed.

The wet pitch from an earlier downpour however made things difficult and it took only four minutes for the Eagles to score.

A free-kick swung in by Mustaqim Manzur was met by Leonel Felice’s head and the ball dipped into the far left corner of goal, just beyond the fingertips of Aurelien Herisson.

As expected, much of the game was soon mired down in the centre of the pitch with the slippery conditions ensuring that the passing of the ball were to be inaccurate for both sides.

The Jaguars pressed even harder in the second half and were rewarded in the 58th minute when Firdaus Idros brought down superbly a Sebastien Etiemble’s cross to poke the ball past a stranded Joey Sim. It was also Firdaus’ first goal in the S.League for the Jaguars.

The Eagles however needed only two minutes to restore their lead. Once again it was Leonel Felice who got his second of the night with a low drive that squeezed in underneath the wall and under Aurelien’s palm.

Two minutes later, the Eagles almost got their third when Hafiz Nor’s first-timer off Ridhuan Muhammad’s cross rocked the crossbar.

The game was pretty much over for the Jaguars after that as the Eagles dug in and were content to keep things busy in the middle.

Head coach Patrick Vallée expressed disappointment at the defeat especially after a brilliant showing last week against the Stags.

He added, “We would have liked to continue that form against Geylang but we could not play very well in the first half, maybe due to the pitch being very heavy from the rain.”

He was however heartened to see his lads come back strongly in the second half and grab the equaliser though it did not last long.

“My team tried their best. They fight and never give up. We will prepare and try to get a result in our next game against DPMM,” he continued. “It may be disappointing to lose and I think we deserved a draw at minimum but that is football. You win and you lose.”

Till next time!