Indra leads Sengkang fightback

Cheryl Lim
info@sleague.com

Birthday boy Indra Sahdan Daud scored two goals to help Sengkang Punggol come back from a 0-2 deficit to draw Geylang United 2-2 on Thursday evening.

The national striker, who turns 30, scored a penalty in the 70th minute and added another two minutes from time to earn a point for the Dolphins.

Geylang started the game brightly, earning their first corner at the third minute, from which 19-year-old midfielder Yasir Hanapi tapped in to give the Eagles an early 1-0 lead.

Sengkang tried to reply four minutes later but Murphy Wiredu’s close-ranged attempt was pushed away by Yazid Yasin.

A low free kick taken by Rastislav Belicak was met by the Sengkang wall, and the ball bounced into the path of Canadian forward Rickey Harris but the latter could only see him attempt reflecting off the post, denying Geylang from claiming another goal within ten minutes of the game.

Geylang continued to dominate the first half, being able to keep possession of the ball and pushing their attack to pressure their opponent’s defense. However, the shot attempts were either too easy for Joey Sim to collect, or they did not manage to be formulated at all.

One example happened at the 16th minute when Yasir dispossessed Lau Meng Meng and Noh Rahman to drive a low shot in from the right which Sim came out to receive comfortably. Shortly later, Belicak sent in a monster lob from behind the halfway line, but it fell too far away for Harris to connect.

It was finally Sengkang’s turn to have something to show upfront at the 29th minute as Wiredu chested and executed a volley, but Yazid acrobatically too jumped to save.

The resulting goal kick eventually landed at the feet of Harris, whom, from a tight angle, managed to shot past Sim, but the ball spectacularly bounced off the left post and rolled on the line before it was hastily cleared by the Sengkang defense.

Sengkang earned a free kick outside the box at the 37th minute which Wiredu sent past the wall but it glanced past the left post.

This miss was soon to be rued as barely a minute later, Noor Ali’s corner found Ashrin Shariff’s head and flew into the back of the net to give Geylang a two-nil lead.

Geylang spent the last five minutes of the half trying to further their lead, but Harris found his shot deflected away and Ashrin too did not have any better luck when he saw his last touch rolling out.

Sengkang was determined to turn the tide around after the break by taking off midfielder Farizal Basri for forward Anthony Bahadur.

It was Indra, however, who made the first Dolphins attack of the second half by trying an audacious backward chip which went off target.

Indra was in action again at the 52nd minute, this time sending a cross to Wiredu who tried to score from the right, but Yazid was in the appropriate position to deny him.

Signs of Sengkang making a comeback were written on the wall, as first Abdoulaye Diallo hit the side netting with a free kick at the 58th minute, and he then turned provider with a pass slicing through the Geylang defense for an unmarked Wiredu who sent out a wide off target shot for probably the best chance in second half so far.

The Dolphin defenders worked hard too, seeing Lau colliding with Harris to prevent the latter’s shot at goal at the 65th minute by sending it high up into the sky.

The turning point of the game came four minutes later, when amid a goalmouth scramble, which saw Indra’s shot blocked and Diallo attempting the rebound, Geylang centreback Walid Lounis was judged to have handled Diallo’s close-ranged shot and was shown the red card immediately.

Referee Abdul Malik Bashir awarded Sengkang a penalty as a result, and Indra converted from the spot into the left of the goal.

The stress was now on Geylang to defend their reduced lead and Sengkang to find the equalizer, as the game began to hype the 2,083-strong crowd up when Bahadur kept the ball for Wiredu to claim and curled for Indra to pick up, but the national captain kicked over the bar with the space he had.

Noor Ali sent a glancing ball past the left post, while Ashrin shot out of the playing area, as Geylang began to feel the pressure from Sengkang pushing forward.

The home crowd was sent crazy at the 88th minute when the rain started to drizzle, after a defensive scramble resulting from Bahadur’s cross saw Indra tapping in from close distance. The ball bounced and was judged to have crossed the line before the Geylang defense struggled to put it out.

2-2 it was at the end of regulation time, as more drama unfolded when Geylang’s Slovakian forward Miroslav Latiak made a surge in stoppage time, but his run was stopped by former teammate Noh, before the referee blew the final whistle to send the Hougang faithful wild.

Sengkang head coach Jorg Steinebrunner was pleased at how his boys fought a comeback.

“The players need to do something when being 0-2 down. We did not take our chances in the first half. We need more shots on target and put the ball into the net.

“In the second half, we had at least seven or eight shots besides the two goals. I am more than happy with this performance,” he concluded.

Geylang coach Lim Tong Hai would have to address his side's failure to maintain their lead and kill the game off.

He said, “We lost two points after throwing away our first half lead, but we saved one point in the second half as Sengkang came back to pile the pressure on us and capitalize their opportunities.”