Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Saturday, January 26, 2008
Match #6 (26 Jan 08): 4-1 win over Messilon
as the song by boney m goes....by the sidelines of st wilfrid.....on arriving today at the ground, we saw the babylonians and some thought 'oh, them again!' st wilfrid, their spiritual homeground? there was half of them when the match started and the main team were actually from messier services. nevertheless, it was one we had to win.
in the hot 3pm sun, things started slowly and we managed to string the first 10 passes together, a good sign. babylon had lefty and a older guy upfront, so we didn't had much trouble as we know what to do. mandarin-speaking malay boy was pulling the strings in the middle, but we make sure there's defensive cover. we pressed well in their third and were 1 up after such an endeavor. we forced a corner and fr wah's delivery, their defender sliced the ball for st to complete the simple task of flicking a header beyond keeper's reach. messilon got a little demoralised and we dominated a bit. off a good springy attack, we stretch them and wah played a superb ball fr the left to the middle. fr way out, mark thumped a first timer on the top of his boots. the trajectory of the shot was like an unerring arrow fr robin hood, right on the mark!
unfortunately our achilles heel was to be exposed again. with 5 defenders marking players against their corner, lefty was allowed to power a free header to reduce the deficit. then it was our turn to profit fr a corner. messilon didn't clear properly and chye smashed home the loose ball in the melee.
half-time was welcomed relief but messylon became messier as the babylonians left. we were hoping to knock in a couple of goals and then reshuffle the positions as part of our new training scheme (to appreciate the roles played by team-mates). unfortunately, we seemed to suffer fr the old problem of playing poorly against weaker oppositions. chances went begging. it was not until late on when wah had some space on the left to knock in a cross which sailed delightfully passed the stranded keeper and found the inside netting. 4-1 final score.
2 weeks ago, after a dreadful start to the season, we called for a committed response. 8 goals scored and 3 conceded, ah...a good rebound. just like the stock market!
in the hot 3pm sun, things started slowly and we managed to string the first 10 passes together, a good sign. babylon had lefty and a older guy upfront, so we didn't had much trouble as we know what to do. mandarin-speaking malay boy was pulling the strings in the middle, but we make sure there's defensive cover. we pressed well in their third and were 1 up after such an endeavor. we forced a corner and fr wah's delivery, their defender sliced the ball for st to complete the simple task of flicking a header beyond keeper's reach. messilon got a little demoralised and we dominated a bit. off a good springy attack, we stretch them and wah played a superb ball fr the left to the middle. fr way out, mark thumped a first timer on the top of his boots. the trajectory of the shot was like an unerring arrow fr robin hood, right on the mark!
unfortunately our achilles heel was to be exposed again. with 5 defenders marking players against their corner, lefty was allowed to power a free header to reduce the deficit. then it was our turn to profit fr a corner. messilon didn't clear properly and chye smashed home the loose ball in the melee.
half-time was welcomed relief but messylon became messier as the babylonians left. we were hoping to knock in a couple of goals and then reshuffle the positions as part of our new training scheme (to appreciate the roles played by team-mates). unfortunately, we seemed to suffer fr the old problem of playing poorly against weaker oppositions. chances went begging. it was not until late on when wah had some space on the left to knock in a cross which sailed delightfully passed the stranded keeper and found the inside netting. 4-1 final score.
2 weeks ago, after a dreadful start to the season, we called for a committed response. 8 goals scored and 3 conceded, ah...a good rebound. just like the stock market!
Match #5 (20 Jan 08): 4-2 win over CoolJoes
Sometimes, things confound me! CoolJoes had home ground advantage, some youngsters that could run us ragged and we had trouble filling the first 11 right until friday. and we do not hv some of our top players of 2007, looks like the slide's gonna continue along with the dow. and so it seemed. CoolJoes punted a ball into the penalty, their striker turned our last man and cracked one home. that's just 7 minutes of play. nevertheless, we held our nerve, rode our luck and fr a corner, CoolJoes cleared the ball as far as ng who shinned a stiff grounder for our equalizer. still more heartache was to come as despite some assured play from us, CoolJoes took the lead. A high ball punted from right to left found our guys ball-watching but even then, the bullet that the striker unleashed was too hot to handle for any keeper we've met. 2-1 at half time.
We came out believing we can win. st controlled a ball in the middle of the park and as they closed in, he lobbed a ball into space. CoolJoes had pressed forward, leaving Leo to nip in and nicked the ball past the keeper and walked it into the net. Game on and now with lak in the middle holding well, we had more of attacking play. chiang playing in left mid ran on to a through ball fr lak and harassed the defender and keeper, stuck his foot out and left the 2 bemused. wah had the easiest of task to tap it home. then as we weathered some attacks, we found space on the right with some lovely short passes. Chye strode towards goal and let fly one heading for the back of the net. keeper got a hand to it but mike was at the far corner to nod it home. 4-2, a grinding come-from-behind win. and the manner in which it was won was what pleases!
We came out believing we can win. st controlled a ball in the middle of the park and as they closed in, he lobbed a ball into space. CoolJoes had pressed forward, leaving Leo to nip in and nicked the ball past the keeper and walked it into the net. Game on and now with lak in the middle holding well, we had more of attacking play. chiang playing in left mid ran on to a through ball fr lak and harassed the defender and keeper, stuck his foot out and left the 2 bemused. wah had the easiest of task to tap it home. then as we weathered some attacks, we found space on the right with some lovely short passes. Chye strode towards goal and let fly one heading for the back of the net. keeper got a hand to it but mike was at the far corner to nod it home. 4-2, a grinding come-from-behind win. and the manner in which it was won was what pleases!
Match #4 (12 Jan 08): 2-3 defeat to SOFA
what a yr or rather a fortnight can do to a team! 4 matches, 3 losses 1 win, 11 goals conceded, 11 scored. spurs/magpies in the making? then again, this match we have to rely on 3 players from opposing team (luckily, its lakesh's other team) when our own who responded to come decided to stay comfy at home due to the rain. needs more than a red carpet perhaps. we're in control in the first half as SOFA with personnel enough to field 2 teams, played a weaker eleven. we kept the ball well, spread it around and pressed as a team. then 2 miskicks creates 1 goal. chiang had first bite outside the box and it went sideways to st who did similar but with better direction. ball was rolling to keeper and all would have thought the danger's over. keeper then reenact a massimo taibi to perfection and the mizuno turf boots open accounts. our second goal came from a superb cross whipped in front lakesh on the right. 4 of our players made the same mistake of dashing too far into the box past the trajectory of the cross. it hit a player and the ball bounce into space where our guest player siddish slammed it home.
second half turned out disastrously similar to last week where we could not get the ball into the final third. perhaps that 5 of our players played for nuss the prev night was telling. whatever the reasons, the new look SOFA team came in with pace and urgency and did their job. strange that previously, we were stronger in the second half. these days, we've let slipped leads where previously we would have built upon.
time for a committed response!
second half turned out disastrously similar to last week where we could not get the ball into the final third. perhaps that 5 of our players played for nuss the prev night was telling. whatever the reasons, the new look SOFA team came in with pace and urgency and did their job. strange that previously, we were stronger in the second half. these days, we've let slipped leads where previously we would have built upon.
time for a committed response!
4 comments:
Match #3 (5 Jan 08): 1-2 defeat to Galacticos
Are we the victims of our own success? match coordinators seem hell-bent on giving us the toughest of matches! these days there are a new breed of challengers the likes of babylon and galacticos. young at mid twenties, all full of attitude and confidence, and play good football, hardly a weak link in those teams. we, a bunch of 40 overs which such teams would love dearly to humiliate. no chance, we lost today but scored all the goals. first half was evenly played, we had our share of possession playing a neat passing game. mel soldiered on bravely with his thorougly ravaged feet, kept a clean sheet at half time. we also took the lead through a well placed free kick from wah (chye giving way to brotherly love). 1 nil at half time and the lousiest player no. 16 of galacticos was starting to feel pissed and made silly noises.
mel's ankle was now making noises of a different type. bravery must be tempered by sensibility. gan took to goal in the provocative no.69 keeper jersey. chye was somewhat right we didn't cross our half in the second period. galacticos brought in their no.29, who previous led their comeback in their 3-4 loss to us in nov at st wilfrid. we're under sieged most of the time but held well until late on. they had a corner kick and even their keeper went up for it. and it was he, formerly a singapore youth team defender that leapt the highest and nodded the ball towards goal. kwan was having it covered but it took a deflection from hleong and they equalised. more pressure followed as we couldn't string passes together and they had a break down their left. a low cross into the danger area and as ng tried to cover, he did better than hleong with an attempt that bear more conviction that the earlier one. gan stood no chance.
so that's a good night's sleep for galacticos. if they had lost, they'd be walking zombies tmr. and no.16 would be heard all over pasir ris.
mel's ankle was now making noises of a different type. bravery must be tempered by sensibility. gan took to goal in the provocative no.69 keeper jersey. chye was somewhat right we didn't cross our half in the second period. galacticos brought in their no.29, who previous led their comeback in their 3-4 loss to us in nov at st wilfrid. we're under sieged most of the time but held well until late on. they had a corner kick and even their keeper went up for it. and it was he, formerly a singapore youth team defender that leapt the highest and nodded the ball towards goal. kwan was having it covered but it took a deflection from hleong and they equalised. more pressure followed as we couldn't string passes together and they had a break down their left. a low cross into the danger area and as ng tried to cover, he did better than hleong with an attempt that bear more conviction that the earlier one. gan stood no chance.
so that's a good night's sleep for galacticos. if they had lost, they'd be walking zombies tmr. and no.16 would be heard all over pasir ris.
the taste of the pudding ........
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
after 2 match post and tinkering with the site, its time for the test. this site is build under my own id, but if the design concept makes sense, it can be done for marinesunday (with its own address, title, pics, color scheme, etc etc). the idea of a blog for marinesunday is founded on the basis of a home for the team, not just for information access, but to partake in the content (match reports) and make it a one-stop shop for all matters relating to the team, i.e. next match notification, attendance update, etc.
The 2 content matters of weekly reports (via initiating postings and comments) and attendance update (via the google sheet link) are in place. there are other things that can be done. i've inserted the poll as an exple of fun things which individuals can set up. i also like the blinking notice of next match.
so, feel free to explore, update the sheet, vote and comment! we'll discuss on sat.
The 2 content matters of weekly reports (via initiating postings and comments) and attendance update (via the google sheet link) are in place. there are other things that can be done. i've inserted the poll as an exple of fun things which individuals can set up. i also like the blinking notice of next match.
so, feel free to explore, update the sheet, vote and comment! we'll discuss on sat.
4 comments:
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yes this is good
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This is good, but I wonder how many of us will update the turnout here on time.
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I just posted my comments on the first 2 games of the new season. Being my virgin try posting on blog. Need to get more to join in.
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We may be over 40s but we must move with technology. I believe this is a better way of getting responses for games and feedback, etc. The easiest way is to put this home page as our default. So this will be the first page whenever we open up our explorer. Let's try both ways and see the result.
nb: this post first appeared in my own experimental site. despite the positive comments herein, there remains reservations whether the entire team would take to it effectively. and this is what the taste of the pudding really is. everyone has to do their part to make it work.
leng's comments sums it up well. that's why, this site is set up and i'm porting everything over from the experimental site. nevertheless, this site remains experimental in the sense that call-ups and reports continue to be disseminated in the traditional email way. i'll still continue to build from here. for those who embraces new tech new ideas new ways of doing things, this is their haven!
leng's comments sums it up well. that's why, this site is set up and i'm porting everything over from the experimental site. nevertheless, this site remains experimental in the sense that call-ups and reports continue to be disseminated in the traditional email way. i'll still continue to build from here. for those who embraces new tech new ideas new ways of doing things, this is their haven!
Match #2 (31 Dec 07): 6-3 win over mosque team
the start of a new run? after a tumultuous nov/dec, this win is welcomed relieve. the scoreline and the manner of which makes it reassuring. we overcome them, 3pm heat and a malay team with the 'gelek' with an average age younger than us. it started evenly but once their defence took an early nap. 2 nil up and we thought we were crusing. then 1-2, then 3-1 and 3-2 at half time. we knew we needed to keep our lead better. so second half went 4-2, 4-3, 5-3 and 6-3. some very good goals and hleong has his view of the goal of the year (for the time being).
some comments from the scorers and team to spice up this post.
3 comments:
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For the second consecutive game, we conceded 3 goals. It was probably down to bad luck as I think we played relatively well. As age caught up with us, MS is susceptible to counterattacks when we lose possession. Luckily in this game, we score more. It took some great holding skill from Gan & a fantastic thru ball from him that set me up for goal no. 3. Learning from the previous game, I decided to go round the keeper this time & slot in from a tight angle. It was a relief after all the misses in the last game. But then the misses came haunting me in the second half & I start missing one on one again. Was it the new boots?? I really hope not.... guess it's just me, losing sharpness & confidence...
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Think we gave their midfielders too much space, few attempts at goal and they scored 3 goals. Think we have to start playing team of our age, see the amount of time we need to control a ball. By the time we got the ball controlled, opponents are already at our back or already got away with the ball. Also, some of us when frustrated started shouting at our own teammates(including mysleg) which I think will happen more often in future games if we continue to play against such opponents (fast and young). Maybe some of us should start to play in other position that may be more suitable due to fitness, age etc.......
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I arrived only in time for the 2nd half, but maybe I should do that more often, for I scored one goal...it has been a long time coming. Here's a short account of the goal...
YC made a through pass from midfield. Leng did a parallel run before runing forward beating the offside trap...referee did well to wave play on....leng continue with his run..coming one-ono-one with the goalie..with the angle narrowing...and with his team mates expecting him to shoot straight at the goalie or shoot wide..leng managed to score with the outside of his right foot, the ball curling round the keeper and inside the near post...what a relief...
Match #1 (29 Dec 07): 2-3 loss to babylon
this is considered the first match of season 2008 since we cut off early for today's 'agm'. thanks mike sim, you gave us babylon when we were having a dreadful run following what had been a fantastic yr. still, it could have turned in our favor, if not for a moment's loss of discipline. 1 nil up thanks to mike lim's cool finish, babylon came at us with greater urgency and benefitted from a stiff grounder from out of the box which seah spilled. Despite seah's brave dive, the lurking striker promptly tucked in the rebound, injuring seah in the process. then from a diagonal pass that eluded our defence, babylon scored their second. in the second half, we didn't panicked and played steadily, slowly taking control of the game. we had our chances and when lakesh drilled in a superb cross fr the right, wah calmly slotted it home. 2-2 and wind on our sails. babylon felt shaken and stirred. but ladyluck shone on them. with 5 minutes to go, fr a corner, our guy allowed lefty to break free and slam a shot home. marinesunday pressed till the end but final result 2-3.
bottomline: they took the few chances that came their way, we didn't take enough of those we created.
bottomline: they took the few chances that came their way, we didn't take enough of those we created.
3 Comments - Show Original Post Collapse comments
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st said... damn, if only i had finished well the 2 chances i've got. the first timer was whizzed across goal when there was time to control it. was too careful with the second, choosing to curl lob (went over because lacks curl, ha ha), no confidence to slam it hard!
- YC 10 said...
Think we played relatively well on the whole. ST summed it up well. They took the few chances they have while we were wasteful. We have so many chances to win this game especially in the 2nd half. I could have had a hat trick, if only I had been sharper. Still feeling sore for missing 2 one on one chances. One from intercepting a wayard pass from their panicky right back. We have to play them again.....
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Tang said... Overall we played well in this game, holding them well when they attack. Considering our age, I think we should be proud of ourselves. I played for derrick's team playing against them on 1 Jan 08, Derrick's team was trashed 8-1 by them. Guess who scored the only goal, me lah....... (how can I can't score for marine sunday huh???).
first post - the problem that started it all!
well, there's gotta be a first time (eh, let's not get carried away yet, not that first time), isn't it. it's taken a long long long time to take this first step.....not that i have any urge to share my deepest feelings with the whole wide web (hey, isn't this the main objective?). neither do i think this is going to be some long term affair (he! he!), just hv too much on my hands most of the time. but we'll never know.
rather, i'm using this as an experiment for something interesting for my football team (ah..that's very interesting!). u see, i've been writing most of my team's weekly match reports since good old mel broke his ankle. for wordsmith mel, its a piece of cake, creative writing being his biz. his reports never fail to raise a laugh. moi? u can't expect much clever report writing fr one who churns out numbers much better than twisting words :(
so for every problem, there's a lazy man's solution ;) why write when everyone can hv an open forum to blast off anything or anyone (now, that'll be xplosive & fun) abt each match? a hotch pot of facts, opinions, ideas, musings & the occasional profanities simmering in a nice blend of english, mandarin and dialect terms! sounds yummy? blogspot may just solve my problem. no more responsibility on my part, he! he! and all the guys can now hv a piece of the action!
now, doesn't this smacks of the corporate world we poor souls try so hard to survive in???
nb: this post appeared originally in late dec '07 under an experimental site.
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Sorry guys. I injured myself early week and could not make it to the game but I did inform ST early. Thought I was still young and did some foolish exercise injuring my thigh muscles. May be out for a few games. Hope to get back soon.
Must say... have got rather tired of losing game this way.
Don't get me wrong. Losing is fine with a well-played game knowing that all have worked hard & done their bit in getting or at least tried getting their act right.. of course, not denying the fact that all of us are struggling with worn-out 40-plus year-old bodies of fitness that is questionable. Still, that has never been a problem last year with the way we played observing discipline in maintaining our shape in defence, midfield stringing supply passes & strikers coming back to assist in midfield positions.
Well, correct me if I'm wrong... I have observed that since the Hari Raya game last year, as a team, we are all guilty of not being disciplined...getting over-zealous in scoring(note: in premier league, some players only scored 1 or 2 goals in the entire season) not forgeting the fact that motm(eh? puzzled why no more nomination nowadays) is not necessary the scorer but rather someone who is instrumental in the team's good performance..
Another observation is that our team is very much under-strength - 26 email addresses, effectively 20 players, only 13 regularly playing players. The number speaks for itself amplified by the fact of last min absentees & demoralising late-comers.. I was extremely envious & worried of opponent team with such a huge turn-out that allowed them to field a entirely new 11 for the second-half..
One last observation.....week after week, games made possible by the tireless effort of some players arranging them should be very least reciprocated with responsible commitments. (except for unforseen domestic recall which we do understand...)
Last but no least, with every game played, we should conclude it with a debrief so that all our yelling on the field can be minimized. As in the past year games, rallying each other, noting good performances & complimenting spectacular finishing should be our style of running this team which can definitely bring out the best in all of us.
Since no one, except KH, is willing to take leadership on these matters...reckon this style should be fitting at the moment.
no, not referring to you leng. your absence was expected given the gym thing. next time, get a proper gym coach if u want those thighs like kh. he he!
I do not want to have those things like kh...too much work. I just wanted to get some work out to build my my cardio, flexibility and stamina so that I may enjoy my weekend game more. After going to the gym the first time, found that I am really out of shape. Will have to do more gym work when I recover if I want to continue enjoying football till a ripe old age.....