By Song Sung Hai

Three weeks of break from competitive football showed its effects last night at Bedok Stadium where the Jaguars and the Geylang Eagles played out a lacklustre 1-1 draw. Yet, it was not a game bereft of drama though.

Four Jaguars were carded as the lads fought for mastery of midfield and Captain Ahmad Latiff was sent to the showers in the 85th minute for a second bookable offence. One good note though was the S.League debut of Prime Leaguer Afiq Tan, who came on in the 60th minute for Ruzaini Zainal and gave a good account for himself. He displayed maturity and composure which belied his age.

It is near apparent now that perhaps the Jaguars are cursed not to win ever at Bedok Stadium in the S.League with Geylang International always being able to cut the deficit one way or another.

On a night where real chances are far and few in between, it was the Jaguars who took the lead but it only took three minutes for the Eagles to cancel it out, which is almost becoming somewhat of a habit for the Geylang side.

Sebastien Etiemble came close in the 12th minute with a header off a cross but Siddiq Durimi did well to block the goal-bound ball. Sebastien Etiemble however was not to be denied in the 30th minute when his punt towards goal was fumbled by Siddiq who only managed to clear it after the ball had crossed the line.

There always lingered the feeling that Geylang International would once again score from a set-piece and so they did a mere three minutes later and once again, it was Leonel Felice doing the scoring.

Mustaqim Manzur’s curling free-kick was tracked well by Aurelien Herisson but the ball bounced off his chest and onto the onrushing Leonel who could not possibly miss from that distance. A simple tap in did the job.

Play then got mired down in the middle as both teams went all out to deny one another any breathing space in creativity. Sazali Salleh and the Eagles’ Fabian Kwok were both at their defensive best in the middle and the two got into more than just a single scrape with each other.

Aurelien Herisson also did well to palm away a 63rd minute long range effort by Franco Chivilo and ensured the game ended as it was.

Head Coach Patrick Vallee had no complaints with the result, citing that “it was a good result” for the team.

“A number of players missed tonigh’s game due to injury and stuff but I like how they handled the game because they respected the game plan. I told the lads to be careful especially in the first half, to take care of the long balls and not to give the opponents space to play,” he continued.

Patrick also added that he instructed his charges to put the pressure on the opponents in the second half and that was just what they did.

“It is good how the players fought very well in the second half and we managed to create some chances to score in the second half,” he continued. “Now we must continue like that and it is good for some of our young players who will be able to play soon in this team.”

Our next game will be against the Young Lions at home in two weeks’ time and it will be another opportunity to bag all three points. The players will have sufficient rest to prepare and concentrate on finishing the season with a bang.

Till next time!