A stirring second-half comeback from the Courts Young Lions saw them end a two-game win-less run in the Great Eastern Yeo's S.League, but they will rue not holding on for the victory against Hougang United on Thursday night.
Two goals within three minutes saw them overturn a half-time deficit, but Salim Moin's men hit back in the closing stages to deny their young opponents a sixth away victory in seven matches.
Astonishingly, it took just 15 seconds after kick-off for the deadlock to be broken.
The visiting defence were caught flatfooted by a through ball and Nurhilmi Jasni burst clear to take the ball past goalkeeper Syazwan Buhari, before easily slotting home to give the hosts the lead.
The jitters amongst the Young Lions defenders persisted as Vuk Sotirovic showed good strength to advance on goal on seven minutes, but lashed the ball just wide of the left post.
The Serbian got his second attempt on target in the 23rd minute after being played through, but Syazwan stood his ground to make a fine block.
That save would turn out to be a vital one, as the Young Lions completely turned things around after the break.
Juergen Raab's charges had looked largely toothless in the first 45 minutes, without a single shot on target, but they were transformed after emerging from the dressing room.
Within 50 seconds from the restart, Afiq Noor slammed in his first goal of the season after reacting quickest to a scuffed volley to draw his team level.
Remarkably, the visitors went ahead three minutes later. Jordan Webb danced his way down the right before cutting the ball back from the right byline to Shameer Aziq, who unhesitatingly smacked in his third goal in as many games from eight yards.
The Cheetahs were stunned, but they soon regained their composure and started pushing forward in search of the equaliser.
Diego Gama should have done better than to blaze over from 12 yards after Sotirovic cleverly backheeled the ball into his path on 68 minutes, with Syazwan stranded.
But the pressure paid off seven minutes later. Sotirovic did well to hold up the ball on the right flank before finding Carlos Delgado, who sent a perfect cross for Nurhilmi to head in his second goal of the night.
It could have been worse for the Young Lions when substitute Ruzaini Zainal looked set to latch on to a ball over the top, but Syazwan rushed off his line to make a great tackle and foil him.
Then at the other end, an alert Ridhuan Barudin denied Webb from a tight angle after the Canadian found his way into the box from the left.
Raab felt that the Young Lions should have held on to the lead, suggesting they had to learn to maintain their focus, although he was pleased with their response to conceding early.
"We should have finished the match as victors, it's (their second goal) too easy," he said. "The performance of how we played football was very good, the whole of the time we dominated the match and played with more precision.
"At the end [of the day] we want the result; I'm not happy with the result, I'm honest. I'm happy with the play, but not the result."
His counterpart Salim Moin felt that the result was a "very fair reflection" of the game, but was similarly disappointed they did not build on their lead.
"In the first half we had many chances and we didn't take them," he lamented.
"Collectively every player must have his responsibility; if the opportunity has been created and you have the chance to score, make sure you score."
Hougang United: Ridhuan Barudin, Faizal Amir, Kunihiro Yamashita, Delwinder Singh, Lau Meng Meng (Faiz Salleh 55'), Nurhilmi Jasni (C) (Ruzaini Zainal 82'), Carlos Delgado, Atsushi Shimono, Fazli Jaffar (Muhaymin Salim 70'), Diego Gama, Vuk Sotirovic
Courts Young Lions: Syazwan Buhari (C), Fadli Kamis, Amirul Adli, M. Anumanthan, Farhan Rahmat (Sherif El-Masri 76'), Ammirul Emmran, Afiq Mat Noor, Shameer Aziq (Suria Prakash 69'), Jordan Webb, Saifirul Sulaiman, Nur Na'iim Ishak (Shahfiq Ghani 67')