Written by: Shawn Lim

Geylang International coach Jorg Steinebrunner rued a wasted opportunity to pick up his side’s third consecutive win after they threw away a two-goal lead to draw 2-2 with Courts Young Lions.

The Eagles looked set for victory with goals from Bruno Castanheira and Shawal Anuar, until the Young Lions mounted a comeback through substitute Irfan Fandi and an own goal by Huzaifah Aziz.

Steinebrunner was pleased with how his side dominated the game, but he shared his disappointment at not going home with three points in the bag.

“The boys from the start, we stick to the game plan..we look good going forward and scored two superb goals,” said the German.

“I honestly am going to say that I liked the speed, pace and accuracy for Bruno’s goal. The second one, where we attack the flanks and Hafiz (Nor) went down, put a great cross and Shawal finished it off.

“We dominated the game, we looked good..2-0.”

Steinebrunner also felt that the Young Lions were fortunate to score as he raised his suspicions that a player had handled the ball in the build-up for the first goal.

“Nevertheless, I felt it should have been a handball when the Young Lions player intercepted the ball in the lead up to the first goal,” he shared.

“There was a little bit of shift to the game after that, because you could see the Young Lions found the second spring in their legs and they pushed forward to look for the equaliser.

“It’s very disappointing that at the end of the day, we lost two points.“

In the meantime, Young Lions coach Juergen Raab was a very unhappy man despite avoiding a defeat in his side’s last home game of the season.

Raab was especially irked by how his side floundered in the first half, which made him haul off the underperforming Sherif El-Masri and Nur Na’iim Ishak with less than 10 minutes to go before the break.

Irfan Fandi and Amy Recha came on in their place, and Raab’s bold move paid dividends in the second half when the duo combined to pull a goal back for the hosts.

“I must react because I was totally not content with what was delivered until that point of time. I don’t know what happened in the locker room..what happened after the meeting,” said Raab.

“Maybe they drank the wrong drinks, but we played with fear. If you play with fear, you cannot perform.

“That was the reason why we were not aggressive… and they dominated us. It was only a matter of time before they got the second goal.

“With these two players, the last 10 minutes of the first half was better and we were more aggressive.”

A furious half-time team talk did occur, and Raab was satisfied that at the very least, it gave his team the kick they needed to play better.

“At half-time, I asked the team if they wanted to lose with fears or if they wanted to try to do all they can to deliver with confidence,” he said.

“I can lose, not a problem. but I want to see a performance and not lose by playing like how we did in the first 30 minutes of the game. That was what I demand from the team.”