Geylang give grieving coach Noor Ali some cheer with dramatic Singapore Cup tie

SINGAPORE – Long before he became a coach, Noor Ali made his name in local football as a gritty winger for clubs such as Woodlands Wellington, Hougang United, Singapore Armed Forces FC and Geylang United (now Geylang International), as well as the national team.

Remembered mostly for his relentless, never-say-die spirit on the flanks, this was a trait he inherited from his mother, Normabi H.S. Mohd Noor, who died on Nov 26 at the age of 78.

And in a week which Noor described as one of the toughest of his life, his Geylang side displayed that same unyielding resolve, as they clawed back from two goals down with 10 men to draw 3-3 with Balestier Khalsa in the Singapore Cup round-robin stage at Our Tampines Hub on Nov 30.

Noor, who missed the team’s training sessions in the lead-up to the tie against the Tigers, said: “My mum is a fighter and I grew up always admiring how she overcame what she needed to and brought up my three siblings and I.

“I was never the biggest player on the pitch, and I won’t say that I am the best coach in the league, but at the end of the day, I will always fight till the end and that character was instilled in me by my mother.

“When things don’t go your way, you keep on fighting and being positive – I will always have that from my mother.”

Noor added that his mother would always ring him to find out details of when his team were playing, and it has been an “extremely difficult” week following her death.

On Nov 30, Geylang were similarly up against it from the start.

In the 14th minute, Bogdan Mandic set up Tin Matic with a clever reverse pass to give Balestier the lead.

And six minutes later, matters got worse when Geylang debutant Nizwan Izzairie was sent off after a second yellow card for a crunching tackle on Harith Kanadi.

The Tigers wasted no time in making the most of the numerical advantage as Matic drilled in his second goal from just outside the box in the 22nd minute.

Geylang, helped by goalkeeper Rudy Khairullah, stayed in the game and fought back in the 83rd minute, when Riku Fukashiro fired a loose ball beyond the reach of goalkeeper Mario Mustapic.

The Eagles made it 2-2 four minutes later through Vincent Bezecourt, but the Tigers looked to have had the last laugh when Lazar Vujanic curled in a peach of an effort in the second minute of stoppage time to send the Balestier bench into a frenzy.

But the Eagles refused to give up and found another equaliser three minutes later when Ryoya Taniguchi pounced to make it 3-3.

Geylang’s French midfielder Bezecourt paid tribute to Noor’s late mother after the match.

Bezecourt said: “We all know how big of a figure coach Noor is at Geylang so obviously, when we heard the news, it affected everyone at the club including the players. Today we took pride in at least trying to get a result for him. And to do it after playing with 10 men for 75 per cent of the game, while it’s not a win, it’s a big achievement and I’m glad that coach can go home with some positive feeling today.”

Balestier now face a do-or-die clash with Hougang at Bishan Stadium on Dec 7 in the bid for their first Singapore Cup semi-final berth since 2022.

Balestier who are currently third out of five teams, must beat second-placed Hougang to join leaders Albirex Niigata (10 points) in the last four.

Singapore Premier League champions and Cup winners the Lion City Sailors and runners-up BG Tampines Rovers received byes into the semi-finals.

The Tigers have collected four points from three matches and are three points adrift of Hougang. A one-goal victory for Balestier will mean both teams are level on points and goal difference and hence the number of goals scored will be the decider.

Balestier have scored one more goal than Hougang in the Cup.

Meanwhile, fourth-placed Geylang, already eliminated from the tournament heading into this match, will face bottom-side Tanjong Pagar on Dec 6 in the teams’ final game of the group stage.

Tigers coach Marko Kraljevic was visibly annoyed at the final whistle. He said: “It is really frustrating. I am very disappointed we didn’t manage the game. We gave too much space, we lost our shape and in this professional (match), this is not acceptable.

“It is simple – we need to win our next game if we want to go to the semi-final.”