Written By: Kenneth Ho

Geylang International finally received their first points in the Great Eastern Yeo’s S.League 2014 campaign following a 1-0 victory over 10-man Courts Young Lions at Bedok Stadium on Thursday evening.

The Eagles were on a three-game losing streak since the start of the season, but were able to claim the victory courtesy of an own goal by Young Lions defender Sheikh Abdul Hadi in the fourth minute.

Hamqaamal Shah looped in a free kick from the left and an unfortunate Sheikh could only divert the ball into his own net.

The early goal did not shake the Young Lions though, as they went on the offensive against a Geylang side which seemed contented to sit back and defend their lead.

Young Lions winger Sherif El Masri saw a header fly straight into Geylang International goalkeeper Joey Sim’s arms before the Canadian forced a good save out of the keeper with his grounder from the edge of the box in the 17th minute.

There was another good opportunity for the visitors in the 20th minute when Jordan Webb tried to force a goal with a shot from a tight angle but Sim pushed his fierce drive away at the near post.

The best chance of the half then fell for Young Lions forward Iqbal Hussain as he ran past Geylang defender Kento Fukuda to find himself with only the keeper to beat but he failed to put the ball past Sim.

After the break, Leonel Felice nearly doubled his side’s advantage when he bulldozed his way through both Young Lions defender Delwinder Singh and Shiekh. But before the striker could pull the trigger, Young Lions goalkeeper Syazwan Buhari bravely threw himself at Felice’s feet to gather the ball.

In the 61st minute Syazwan again came to the Young Lions’ rescue when Felice ran down the right and got his shot away but the custodian managed to hang onto the ball.

At the other end, Webb lashed wide of the far post from distance before Iqbal followed suit as Young Lions became increasingly frustrated by their opponents’ defence.

Webb came close again in the 84th minute when he nicked the ball off a static Joaquin Lopez in the box but Kento Fukuda got back in time to make a hasty clearance.

As the game drew to a close, the Young Lions’ misery were further compounded with Webb picking up a red card for his challenge on Sim while trying to get to a cross in the 86th minute.

Suffering from a numerical disadvantage, the visitors struggled to register any more shots on goal as Geylang held on to bag their first win and points of the season.