Written by: Muhammad Yazid

Geylang International maintained grip on eighth place in the Great Eastern Yeo’s S.League table after clinching a narrow  2-1 win over Woodlands Wellington at the Jalan Besar Stadium.

The Eagles’ top scorer Leonel Felice opened the accounts before Fabian Kwok added a second to put his team in the driving seat at half-time. Woodlands managed to pull one goal back through Fadhil Noh in the second half.

Geylang started the match on a brighter note as they forced returning Woodlands goalkeeper Yazid Yasin into three point-blank saves in the opening ten minutes.

After months out with an injury, Yazid made a flying return and start to the game as he denied Geylang defender Kento Fukuda twice from close range.

The custodian was again involved in the 12th minute, when he made another brave block on Hafiz Nor’s close-range effort, but there was nothing Yazid could do but look on helplessly as Felice reacted the fastest to tap home the rebound.

The Rams struggled to settle down in the game and despite the efforts of South Korean strike-partners Moon Soon Ho and Chang Jo Yoon, the Geylang defence remained resolute.

The Rams had their first chance of the game soon, but even then it was easy for Geylang goalkeeper Siddiq Durimi as he gathered Chang’s free-kick.

The lack of chances and composure also saw the Rams attempting some rather ambitious efforts, as Moon failed spectacularly when he tried to lob Siddiq from 50 yards out after spotting the goalkeeper off his line.

Just as when Woodlands tried to maintain possession and find a way back into the game, Kwok hit them with another blow to double his side’s lead.

After having been involved in the set-up for the first goal for his side, the midfielder turned scorer as he finished off from close range after Woodlands failed to deal with Joaquin Lopez’s cross.

The Rams could have pulled one goal back at the brink of half-time to reduce the deficit, but Chang’s snapshot was parried away by Siddiq.

Salim Moin made some tactical changes at half-time to drag his team back into contention and it eventually paid off in the 68th minute.

First-half substitute Fadhil clinically headed Stefan Milojevic’s curling free-kick into the back of the net after his initial header early in the second half was cleared off the line by Yuki Ichikawa.

Woodlands fought desperately for the remaining 20 minutes to grab an equaliser, as they started throwing bodies forward.

However, all they had to show for was a shot by Andy Ahmad which whizzed past the post, as Geylang claimed all three points to consolidate its position in eighth place.