Punters who are tipping a season of
transition for Geylang United might have to readjust their crystal
balls after the Eagles recorded their second win on the trot on
Tuesday.
The 3-2 win against Sengkang Punggol was another solid outing from
Lim Tong Hai's side after they spoilt Gombak United's first ever
S.League match at the new Jurong West Stadium with a 1-0 win.
National team captain Aide Iskandar was their star signing in
preseason, but Geylang were generally unheralded despite boasting
quiet quality in the likes of Noh Rahman, Razaleigh Khalik, Syed
Fadhil and Hassan Sunny.
Perhaps the sobering effect of finishing in the bottom three for
the last two seasons has lightened expectations of the two-time
former S.League champions.
The lessons of the past remain foremost in the mind of coach Lim,
who was quick to point out that there is still plenty of work to be
done after Tuesday's win.
"We must now look at how we can improve for the rest of the
season," he said, after watching his side concede a late goal to
set up a tight finish to the match.
"Overall I am happy with the performance with the team but we must
take the season one game at a time."
The Green Army appear to have rediscovered their scoring boots
after a woeful season in front of goal last year. Their total of
four goals in two matches is already a fifth of their total haul of
22 from 33 matches in 2006.
Syed Fadhil is the unlikely name currently leading the top scorers
chart but if the 26-year-old keeps up his box-to-box displays, the
former Young Lions man could well cement his growing reputation as
a genuine free-scoring midfielder.
Fadhil has said that his aim for the season was to reproduce his
old form which he has found difficult to maintain consistently
after returning to the Bedok Stadium in 2005.
On current form, there would be short odds on this master of the
long-range strikes being recalled for the national squad again
after his last call-up for the 2005 Tiger Beer Causeway Challenge
Series against Malaysia.
Meanwhile his namesake Syed Thaha has been setting the left wing
alight with two excellent displays against Gombak and
Sengkang.
His matchwinning strike against the Dolphins had a hint of good
fortune about it after taking a slight deflection off a Sengkang
player on the way to beating keeper Amos Boon.
"I was rather lucky because the ball had fallen nicely for me to
hit with my left foot," he said. "We stuck to the game plan and
personally the match had turned out pretty much as I had visualised
yesterday.
"We played very well against Sengkang but it wasn't easy because a
few of us got really tired near the end."
Another product of the seemingly never-ending Geylang youth
production line, Thaha returned to the Eagles lair after a
successful one-year stint with the Young Lions last season, scoring
three goals.
"I think this team will be able to do very well this season," he
said.
"Top six, top four is possible. When I signed for the club, I told
the management that I was going my very best for the team and that
I was confident that the team will do very well this season."
Whisper it, don't shout it from the rooftops of Bedok. But Geylang
may well be back amongst the S.League's frontrunners, if their
young talents find and hold their footing.