First goal for Al-Qaasimy, first three points of season for Geylang

SINGAPORE- Geylang International defender Al-Qaasimy Rahman walked off the Bedok Stadium pitch on Saturday (4 Mar) evening beaming from ear to ear after his side, recorded a 2-0 victory over Balestier Khalsa in their Great Eastern-Hyundai S.League clash.

Besides the three points earned, it was a personal milestone that had left the full-back in high spirits.

After making his S.League debut with the Young Lions seven years ago, the former Singapore Under-23 captain finally notched his first goal in the league to open the scoring.

Speaking to TODAY after the match, he said: “Of course, this is a really happy moment and it feels even better because we have the three points.”

“I do my job as a defender and I believe everyone wants to go above and beyond to help the team so scoring from full-back is me doing just that.”

Released down the left flank by Shahfiq Ghani, Al-Qaasimy produced a fine cross for Victor Coto who seemed certain to score.

The Costa Rican forward, however fluffed his lines in front of goal but his miscued shot found its way to Al-Qaasimy who gladly thumped the ball in after a goalmouth scramble before wheeling away in sheer delight.

The Eagles then doubled their lead in the 58th minute after Balestier failed to clear their lines yet again.

Shawal Anuar’s initial shot from a one-on-one situation was parried away by goalkeeper Zaiful Nizam but the forward was first to the rebound as he tucked it in for his first goal of the season, leaving Zaiful visibly frustrated with his defenders.

The home side could have added gloss to the score line when Shawal found himself through on goal but the sprightly forward shot wide when it seemed easier to net.

Geylang coach Hasrin Jailani praised his side’s efforts on the day but warned that his side needs to be more clinical in the future.

He said: “Against Hougang (United) in the last game, we were wasteful when we had five good chances to score from, so I am happy that we took our chances today.”

“But having said that, we were still guilty of missing simple chances at 2-0 and on another day, we could have paid for it.”

Tigers coach Marko Kraljevic was crestfallen after seeing his side slumping to their second successive defeat and he lamented the way the goals were conceded.

“Both of the goals were very sloppy and we need to do better defensively and at the other end, we had chances but didn’t take them,” he said.

“We are going to face this problem the whole season because we don’t have a natural striker. This is going to be a problem (for us).

Geylang will look to kick-on from this victory as they aim to better a fifth-placed finish last year. That proved costly as they missed out on AFC Cup qualification due to goal difference. Meanwhile Kraljevic must rally his players and get points on board soon if his side are to avoid last year’s miserable second-last finish.