The forward struck in injury time as his team came back twice to hold the Eagles

Ikhsan scored his eighth goal of the season.

SINGAPORE, 22 SEP 2018 – Ikhsan Fandi’s last-gasp equaliser gave Young Lions a share of the points with Geylang International FC after a 2-2 draw at Bedok Stadium on Saturday evening.

Yeo Hai Ngee had given the Eagles the lead twice, but R. Aaravin equalised the first time before Ikhsan combined with his brother Irfan Fandi to salvage a point in the dying minutes of the game.

The first piece of action came in the 13th minute, with Fairoz Hasan latching onto Darren Teh’s pass but he was denied from close range by an onrushing Hairul Syirhan.

Geylang custodian Zainol Gulam was tested next, with Syahrul Sazali hitting a well-struck free-kick but the goalkeeper was equal to the task.

The Eagles were then given a reprieve in the 33rd minute after Afiq Yunos gave the ball away to Ikhsan and the striker’s drilled effort was parried away by Zainol.

Fairoz Hasan was unlucky not to open the scoring four minutes from half-time, as his venomous volley from outside the box was pushed away by Hairul.

The opener would come right after the restart, with Yeo tucking away the ball after Hairul could only parry Cameron Ayrton Bell’s shot into his path.

In the 55th minute, Fumiya Kogure went for an audacious attempt and curled a free-kick from the left byline towards the far post but Hairul was able to punch it away.

Just a minute later, the Young Lions managed to draw level. Syahrul’s free-kick was allowed to bobble its way towards goal and Zainol failed to clear his lines, leading to a mad scramble that ended with Aaravin slamming the ball home for his first ever professional goal.

But parity only lasted a minute. Yeo once again found the mark, rising the highest to meet Darren Teh’s cross with a bullet header.

The away side kept hustling though and Joshua Pereira was unlucky to see his header bounce wide in the 69th minute, while Saifullah Akbar will wonder how he failed to find the mark from close range following Irfan’s cut-back in the 77th minute.

Irfan himself will rue his miss in the 83rd minute, heading a free-kick from Ikhsan straight at Basil Chan, who had come on for the injured Zainol.

The elusive goal finally came towards the end of full time, with Irfan knocking down the ball for Ikhsan to drill in his eighth goal of the season.

WHAT THEY SAID
Geylang midfieler Yeo: “It was too bad we couldn’t get the maximum points. Our concentration towards the end wasn’t too good and we didn’t get another goal, obviously we will have to work on that. We have a job to do, they have a tough game in Brunei so we must do our job and get three points and not give up (in the race to overtake the Young Lions).”

Young Lions striker Ikhsan: “It feels great (to score) but I am still not satisfied. One of my target is win the Young Player of the Year award, the other is to score at least double digits but I didn’t get to do it today. I wanted to score a hat-trick but now I have eight goals this season, so I have to work harder for next season.

“Definitely, the last 15, 20 minutes we needed someone big in front because they had two big centre-backs and I was alone. Irfan is a big guy and he can take them on, when he knocked it back to me and it was just there for me to tap it in. I didn’t really have to think much, it was just my instinct as a striker.”

Geylang: Zainol Gulam (GK) (Basil Chan 81’), Jufri Taha (C), Zulfadli Zainal Abidin, Ryan Syaffiq (Danish Irfan 82’), Fumiya Kogure, Yeo Hai Ngee, Afiq Yunos, Cameron Ayrton Bell, Fairoz Hasan (Ahmad Zaki 90’+5), Yuki Ichikawa.
Unused subs: Sadiq Rahim, Ryson Yap, Noor Ariff.

Young Lions: Hairul Syirhan (GK), Joshua Pereira (C), Ikhsan Fandi, Zulqarnaen Suzliman, Syahrul Sazali, Irfan Fandi, Hami Syahin (Saifullah Akbar 79’), R. Aaravin, Rusyaidi Salime, Jacob Mahler, Ifwat Ismail (Haiqal Pashia 46’).
Unused subs: Adib Hakim (GK), Nazhiim Harman, Danial Syafiq, Syed Firdaus Hassan, Amirul Hakim.