SINGAPORE – Despite slipping to their 10th straight defeat in the Singapore Premier League after falling 2-1 to Geylang International on April 19, Tanjong Pagar United coach Noh Alam Shah felt there was “great improvement” in their performance.

Following a spirited display at Our Tampines Hub, where they led before the Eagles sealed a comeback win, the former Singapore international’s reaction was in stark contrast to the tongue-lashing that he had given his players after losing 1-0 to the Young Lions on April 10.

“The intensity was good and this was the demand throughout training, days prior to this game. The high press was good and we scored the goal out of it,” he said.

“The players have gone through these last 10 matches, half of it without our five or six first-team foreigners.”

The imports’ absence was largely due to injuries, with Alam Shah saying he takes “full responsibility for the recruitment process”.

“It’s lesson learnt for everybody in this club... going forward, we will be much more serious in who we are recruiting from overseas,” he added.

With four games left, the Jaguars sit rock bottom of the eight-team SPL on four points, four below the seventh-placed Young Lions.

The match had kicked off after nearly an hour-long delay due to the activation of the lightning warning system.

The first chance of the game came in the 16th minute for Geylang.

A long ball from Kaisei Ogawa sent Riku Fukashiro through on goal, but the latter saw his effort cleared off the line by Jaguars defender Syed Akmal.

But it was Tanjong Pagar who drew first blood in the 27th minute.

A mazy run from Vabio Canavaro found Zenivio Mota, whose effort was parried by Eagles custodian Rudy Khairullah. But the ball fell kindly to Junior Djile and the Italian made no mistake, slotting the ball into the bottom corner.