The title hopes of defending champions Warriors FC took a further hit when they were held to a 1-1 draw following a last-minute Great Eastern Yeo's S.League equaliser by Geylang International's Jozef Kaplan at the Choa Chu Kang Stadium on Saturday.
The Warriors have had a poor run over the last fortnight losing four consecutive matches across all competitions. With Balestier Khalsa defeating Brunei DPMM 2-1 in Saturday's other game, Alex Weaver's side slipped from third to fourth spot in the standings.
Unlucky Geylang looked destined for defeat until Kaplan salvaged a point with his last-minute goal, although it was not enough to lift the Eagles from bottom of the standings. However, Jorg Steinebrunner's side will take heart from having halted their six-match losing streak.
It was arguably a deserved result for Geylang who dominated the exchanges throughout the 90 minutes at the home of the defending champions.
The visitors came closest to breaking the deadlock against the sluggish Warriors midway through the first half, hitting the woodwork two times in a matter of few seconds.
From out of nowhere, Kaplan swivelled to hit a fantastic volley from 20 yards that crashed off the bar as a hapless Warriors custodian Shahul Rayyan looked on.
Shahul appeared too stunned to react when Shawal Anuar hit the rebound back towards goal, but fortunately for the goalkeeper the ball hit the post.
The Warriors' best opportunity fell to Fazrul Nawaz in the 25th minute, but the striker got his header all wrong and sent Hafiz Rahim's cross over from six yards despite being unmarked.
Another great chance fell for the Eagles seven minutes into the second half when Shawal rounded Shahul after being played through. But Marcus Wheeler got back just in time to clear the shot off the line.
Warriors then went ahead against the run of play as the game approached the hour mark. A cross from Kevin McCann was not cleared properly and the ball fell kindly for Hafiz to poke home from close range.
It appeared as if Geylang simply could not catch a break and that was further reinforced when, remarkably, they struck the post again in the 71st minute.
Shah Hirul's cracking drive from 35 yards had Shahul well beaten, but the ball hit the right-hand post before going behind.
Bruno Castanheira and Kaplan were joined up front by substitutes Tatsuro Inui and then Shafeeq Faruk as Geylang chased a result.
10 minutes after coming on, 19-year-old Shafeeq outpaced Irwan Shah to get to a flick-on and sent in a low cross for Kaplan, who tapped in his 10th goal of the season from two yards.
Geylang goalkeeper Yazid Yasin had to pull off a fine block to deny Miroslav Pejic from stealing all three points for the Warriors in injury time, a result which would have been unfair according to the Eagles boss Steinebrunner.
"Our equaliser was more than deserved," he said. "I am going to be very bold and come out and say the only team that should have won today was us."
"Looking at the clear cut chances we had in both the halves, we actually lost three points to be honest. I think that's an honest assessment and no one can complain about that."
The German was also keen for his team -- who are yet to win in their eight previous league games -- to stay grounded.
"Definitely, we didn't play like a team who have not had success for quite a number of games. The players were confident and worked hard," he said.
"There's nothing to get carried away though. It's a good performance and a good point, but we need to keep working hard."
Warriors FC: Shahul Rayyan, Marcus Wheeler (Azlan Abdul Razak 79'), Daniel Bennett (C), Marin Vidosevic, Irwan Shah, Kevin McCann, Emmeric Ong, Miroslav Pejic, Hafiz Rahim, Karlo Ivancic, Fazrul Nawaz (Hazim Faiz 90'+2).
Geylang International: Yazid Yasin, Khairulnizam Jumahat (Tatsuro Inui 73'), Nor Azli Yusoff, Hafiz Osman, Syed Thaha (Shafeeq Faruk 80'), Shah Hirul, Mustaqim Manzur, Hafiz Nor, Jozef Kaplan (C), Shawal Anuar (Huzaifah Aziz 83'), Bruno Castanheira.