Geylang United start AFC Cup campaign with 1-1 draw against Wofoo Tai Po of Hong Kong

By REDintern Kenneth Tan. Photos by REDintern Tan Jon Han.

Jalan Besar Stadium, Wednesday, February 24, 2010 - Geylang United fought back from a goal down to gain a point against Hong Kong's Wofoo Tai Po in the first match of their AFC Cup campaign.

Geylang United are participating in this edition of the AFC Cup after a 6-year hiatus from the competition, while Tai Po are making their debut after winning the Hong Kong Cup last season.

The first real chance fell to Geylang United’s Itimi Dickson (GU #14) at the 15-minute mark when he connected with Fazly Hasan's (GU #8) free kick, but it was blocked by a Tai Po defender. His second attempt was straight at Tai Po's goalkeeper Li Hon Ho.

Captain Miroslav Latiak (GU #9) tried his best to assert his influence in the middle of the park as he put in a few crunching tackles and tried to set up a series of passes between himself and Itimi.

Tai Po gradually grew into the game and created a few chances including a penalty claim that was turned down in the 41st min. Midfielder Yang Xu (TP #30) set up winger Ken Sze (TP #11) down the right with an outside foot pass and his cross-shot in the box looked to have flicked off Syed Thaha's (GU #11) hand but his appeal for a penalty was turned away by the referee.

The resulting corner saw the most clear-cut chance of the half as captain So Loi Keung’s (#17) delivery from the right saw Cameroonian defender Nanmi (TP #5) connecting with his head that Geylang goalkeeper Yazid Yasin saved to his right. The ball fell to Yang Yu who, despite being unmarked, headed against the crossbar.

The start of the second half saw Geylang adopt a more attacking approach after a slow start to the first half.

Latiak started where he left off as he embarked on a great run through the middle, going past three Tai Po defenders and looked to be taken down by a Tai Po defender, but the referee waved play on.

Slovakian forward Peter Tomko (GU #10) tried his best to support his compatriot in the attacking third as he won a few challenges in the air. He also had a shot from outside the box blocked on 54 minutes after turning three defenders.

On 62 minutes, Tomko sent Itimi down the right flank. With Latiak lurking in the middle, Itimi sent a disappointing cross over the bar.

Just two minutes later, Tai Po had their second penalty appeal of the game turned down. Forward To Hon To's (TP #13) ambitious overhead kick saw the ball flick off Walid Lounis’ hand but the referee looked disinterested about giving a penalty decision.

On 69 minutes, the Hong Kong side finally broke the deadlock. Forward Christian Annan (TP #15), who had been impressive with his enterprising play and runs down the left all evening, finished off a great passing move by the team.

So Loi Keung's through ball down the middle reached Christian who was making a run into the Geylang box. He played a quick one-two with strike partner Hon To which befuddled the Geylang defence and proceeded to slot a calm left-footed finish into the bottom right corner of the goal.

However the lead would not last long for the visitors, as the home side equalised six minutes later.

After some good work down the right from Itimi, Latiak received a pass down the middle and produced a thumping shot outside the box which was tipped away superbly by Li Hon Ho.

From the resulting corner by Itimi, stout defender Ratislav Belicak (GU #3) was left unmarked and made a superb diving header into the bottom right corner which left Hon Ho no chance at all.

Latiak continued to work hard to rally his team in the last 15 minutes as he made a few threatening runs and shots but the team did not provide enough support for him to make significant contributions.

The last real chance of the match was created by Tai Po on 86 minutes. Geylang failed to clear their lines from a corner and the ball fell kindly to Christian Annan, but his close range shot was saved well by Yazid. With that, the matched ended all square, with Tai Po appearing the happier of the two sides.

During the press conference, Tai Po's coach Andy Cheung expressed his satisfaction at getting what he wanted - a point. However, he was not that pleased with the referee whom he felt that failed to award the two penalty appeals in his team's favour. Besides that, he felt the artificial pitch was a slight disadvantage to his team as it was different from what they had back in Hong Kong.

When posed with the question of whether he was surprised at Geylang's conservative approach in the first half, goal-scorer Christian Annan agreed with the statement and added: "First 10 to 20 minutes, we were not seeing any form of support and attacking from the Geylang players. This was what we did not expect."

"This was our first game of the AFC Cup campaign and we can't just go all out to attack," said Geylang United's coach Mike Wong when asked if his team was too cautious. "Honestly I do not know how strong the Tai Po team is. What I know is that they will sit back and wait for counter attacks."

On his thoughts about Tai Po's goal, he said: "We gave the ball away in the defending third, and you cannot do that at this level. We know No. 15 (Christian Annan) is a good player, and when you give him that amount of space, he will punish you."

When asked whether his team gave their utmost best in the game, Geylang skipper Miroslav Latiak replied: "We could do much more in our attacking. The AFC Cup is much different [as compared to the S-League]. We had a few players with no experience at this level especially Fazly [who just got promoted from the Prime League]. They can improve with more games."

"We did not win today, but we will still try to win a few games [in the AFC Cup]."

Scorers:
Geylang United – 1
Ratislav Belicak 75'
Tai Po - 1
Christian Annan 69'

Geylang United Starting Lineup
#19 Yazid Yasin (GK), #13 Jonathan Xu, #3 Ratislav Belicak, #5 Walid Lounis, #11 Syed Thaha, #8 Syed Fadhil, #12 Adrian Dhanaraj, #9 Miroslav Latiak (captain), #8 Fazly Hasan, #14 Itimi Dickson, #10 Peter Tomko.

Wofoo Tai Po Starting Lineup
#1 Li Hon Ho (GK), #3 Chan Sze Wing, #4 Chiu Chun Kit, #5 Nanmi, #14 Kwok Wing Sun, #11 Ken Sze, #17 So Loi Keung (captain), #23 Ye Jia, #30 Yang Xu, #13 To Hon To, #15 Christian Annan.