Written By: Kenneth Ho

Geylang International finally climbed off the bottom of the Great Eastern Yeo’s S.League table after upsetting Home United 2-1.

The Eagles came from behind after going down to Ambroise Begue’s 41st-minute opener, with Kento Fukuda initiating the turnaround with a header in the 63rd minute.

A red card to Hyrulnizam Juma’at then saw Home placed under pressure, and Bruno Castanheira took advantage to score a late winner to down the Protectors.

Home can feel slightly aggrieved at the result, after dominating large periods of the game.

In the first half, Geylang only had one clear-cut opportunity in the 27th minute when Anaz Hadee blazed over from five yards out.

On the other hand, Home enjoyed the bulk of the scoring chances and were unlucky to only have Begue’s goal to show for their effort.

They could have opened the scoring after eight minutes, but Geylang goalkeeper Yazid Yasin did well to push away Ken Ilso’s free-kick.

Azhar Sairudin came close next in the 16th minute, but from close range the midfielder contrived to put his shot wide instead.

A great save by Yazid then denied the Protectors once again, as he kept out  Begue’s effort after Ilso played him through.

The opener finally came just before the break, as Begue tucked away a rebound after Yazid had parried Azhar’s drive towards him.

It could have been 2-0 minutes later when Ilso found himself with only Yazid to beat but the goalkeeper managed to keep out his effort.

Home continued to dominate proceedings after the game, and Ilso missed another chance in the 55th minute when his flick on beat Yazid but rolled wide of the post.

An exquisite effort by Stanely Ng then cannoned off the bar on the hour mark, as Home continued their pursuit for a second goal.

Their failure to do so came back to haunt them three minutes later, as Geylang found the equaliser against the run of play.

It was Fukuda who came to his side’s rescue, as he headed Inui’s corner past Hyrulnizam to level matters.

The response from Home was immediate, but Ilso was unlucky to see his scorcher from 25 yards hit the post instead.

Yazid then arguably made the best save of the game, as he went at full stretch to claw away Azhar’s header in the 69th minute.

The tide of the game turned towards Geylang’s favour in the 83rd minute, after Hyrulnizam was sent off for bringing down Shawal Anuar just outside the box.

Having used up all their substitutes earlier, defender Abdil Qaiyyim was asked to stand in goal for the Protectors.

This gave Geylang the initiative to pour forward, and it saw Home being placed under heavy pressure.

The Protectors finally caved in to the pressure, and Castanheira grabbed the winner after stabbing home Jozef Kaplan’s cross.

Geylang International: Yazid Yasin (GK), Yuki Ichikawa, Kento Fukuda, Anaz Hadee (Shawal Anuar 46′), Syed Thaha (Huzaifah Aziz 70′), Tatsuro Inui, Hafiz Nor (Shah Hirul 90′), Hafiz Osman, Jozef Kaplan (C), Bruno Castanheira, Nor Azli

Home United: Hyrulnizam Juma’at (GK), Juma’at Jantan (Ang Zhi Wei 77′), Noh Rahman (C), Abdil Qaiyyim, Azhar Sairudin (Sufianto Salleh 81′), Ken Ilso, Yasir Hanapi, Sirina Camara, Stanely Ng (Imrab Sahib 72′), Ambroise Begue, Kamel Ramdani