Woodlands Wellington vs Geylang International

(May 27, Tuesday, 7.30pm, Woodlands Stadium)

Written by: Phoon Jia Hui

Woodlands Wellington entertain Geylang International in the RHB Singapore Cup Preliminary Round at Woodlands Stadium on Tuesday evening.

Both sides will be looking for a win to salvage something from a less-than-ideal season thus far, and only two points separate them in the Great Eastern Yeo’s S.League table with Woodlands sitting in eighth on 15 points while Geylang are just one spot below on 13 points.

After finishing fifth under the tutelage of former coach Salim Moin in 2013, the Rams have blown hot and cold this season and have carved out a name for themselves as draw specialists with six draws from 13 games played.

Although they have managed to take points off the likes of reigning league champions Tampines Rovers and Albirex Niigata (S), they have failed to beat teams like the Courts Young Lions and Harimau Muda who prop the table.

Striker Moon Soon Ho has not hit the heights of last season where he finished as top-scorer with 15 goals and has only struck twice this term. That said, the Woodlands team and faithful alike will be hoping that he starts firing again.

Meanwhile, Geylang come into this after suffering consecutive losses to Albirex, Warriors and Home United in their last three matches.

Despite the poor run of form they are in at the moment, the Eagles are actually slowly finding their feet after the arrival of coach Jorg Steinebrunner who replaced predecessor V Kanan in the hotseat.

Steinebrunner has instilled a new style of football to the team which has reaped dividends as they went on a seven-match unbeaten run before they were brought crashing down to earth by the White Swans.

Leonel Felice will be expected to shoulder the goalscoring responsibilities once again having already scored six goals but Steinebrunner will also need the rest to step up and contribute.

The two teams met in the same stage of the competition last year and the Eagles came away with a 4-1 win as former skipper Jozef Kaplan scored an impressive hat-trick to sink Woodlands.

Woodlands Wellington – WDLLD

21/5/14    Balestier Khalsa 1-2 Woodlands Wellington

15/5/14    Woodlands Wellington 1-1 Hougang United

7/5/14      Harimau Muda 1-0 Woodlands Wellington

30/4/14    Woodlands Wellington 0-2 Brunei DPMM

26/4/14    Geylang International 1-1 Woodlands Wellington

Geylang International – LLLDD

22/5/14    Geylang International 1-4 Home United

16/5/14    Geylang International 0-1 Warriors FC

8/5/14      Albirex Niigata (S) 4-2 Geylang International

1/5/14      Geylang International 1-1 Tanjong Pagar United

26/4/14    Geylang International 1-1 Woodlands Wellington