Reaction:Geylang vs Woodlands Wellington

After a disappointing draw at Bedok Stadium, Woodlands' fans will no doubt feel hard done by Sukhbir Singh's questionable decisions but in truth, the referee was handing out dubious decisions against the Eagles as well. Sukhbir called for an offside decision against Geylang's Michael King, who did not seem to be offside before putting the ball in the back of the net.

When the spot kick was given against Woodlands, ostensibly for a handball in the box by the returning Neil Vanu, Jozef Kaplán's successful penalty conversion further perpetuated the Rams' record of win-less games to 12 matches.

Jozef Kaplán breaks the Black Sheep's hearts.
Photo Credit: Andrew Him (The Black Sheep)

Try as they might, the Rams found it hard to replicate the 3 -1 victory at Woodlands Stadium in February. Moon Soon-Ho came closest to scoring the match winner but his cheeky flick in the Geylang penalty box could only hit the frame of the goal as Geylang custodian Yazid Yasin was left stranded. This was the third time that a Woodlands player had crashed a shot against the post in as many weeks, following Daniel Hammond and Aloysius Yap's efforts against Tanjong Pagar and the Courts Young Lions respectively.

The stalemate at Bedok was also our third draw in the competition, the other two coming from our matches against Gombak United and SAFFC.

Duncan Elias had a solid game, protecting our left flank well.
Photo Credit: Andrew Him (The Black Sheep)

Geylang's new signing, Stefan Milojevic, was a handful with his height and frame, but the French-Serbian met his match in the twin towers of Daniel Hammond and Fabien Lewis. Armanizam Dolah was also fielded as the midfield enforcer of the day as Han Yiguang had to sit out this match after getting a red card in the last round's match against the Young Lions.

Armanizam did a good job, protecting the back four and keeping Michael King quiet for the most part of the game, as well as pushing the ball forward for Moon and Akil.

Neil Vanu made his first start immediately after returning from his one year stint with the Young Lions, and the forward added plenty of pace and trickery to the Woodlands attack.

Hussein Akil and Michael King in an aerial duel.
Photo Credit: Andrew Him (The Black Sheep)

It wasn't hard to imagine who would score the first goal when we have one of the best strike partnerships playing in the S.League for us when Hussein Akil latched on to a Moon Soon-Ho assist to slot home his third goal of the season.

Playing for a team languishing in the bottom, the pair certainly have an amazing record of 10 goals and 3 assists between them. Even S.League.com's writer, Gary Koh, was impressed with what he saw:

"The foreign strike pair of Moon Soon Ho and Akil were constantly putting the white shirts on the back foot as they dictated the pace of the game in the first half.

They showed fluency in their passing and movement going forward, while Geylang were content to punt hopeful long balls that were often received by grateful blue shirts." (source)

Hussein celebrates with Neil after he slots home his third goal of the season.
Photo Credit: Andrew Him (The Black Sheep)

Well, as we lick our wounds and look forward to the next match against Albirex, the Rams must retain their tenacious mentality which they displayed in the matches against Tanjong Pagar, Courts Young Lions and Geylang. The season ain't over till its over.

Come On You Rams! Never Surrender!

For more photos of the match, please check out Andrew's album here.