Match #22 (24 May 08): 2-1 triumph over Galacticos

Our form can at best be considered indifferent this year, so far, that is. we were not good at all last week against mediocre opposition. yet yesterday, we were magnificent throughout. Galacticos may not fathom how they could not break us down. we had learned the lesson of the previous defeat against them at mjc. to counter the towering threat of dennis at corners, we had guan marking him in a switch with hleong who played the free man on those occasions. youth vs the experience of an old commando, tough job for the latter, but mission accomplished. our defence held firm and maintained the cool and discipline not to concede any penalties against the fleet-footed skillful galacticos. ng came to support us despite his toothache, and happily sat out the match ;) mark parked himself in the middle of our half and shielded the defence, the wingers providing good cover. st played link-up man, always near mark to enable us to move out of defence better. wah, gan, leng and terk worked their socks off to harass from the front and hold up play. it seems to me we played with more composure individually when each had the ball, and played simple passed (did everyone really read and apply the principles of basic football from the article?). we also organised ourselves more compactly, as hleong often reminded, as a team in defending and moving the ball around. more importantly, like good old pros, we chose to focus on the football and block out the noises (metaphorically as well) that goes about. at times like these, age does matter, cause you can't do more than to just keep your thoughts and actions purely on the match. let's keep it that way!

great start 1-0 (chiang): we kicked off and played assuredly, not letting galacticos' reputation affect us. what's there to lose? surprising, galacticos got off to a slower start than expected and we capitalised. we won possession in the middle of the park and sensing galacticos pressing, st put a hopeful high ball into space between 2 defenders in the penalty area, with wah and chiang exerting concerted pressure. chiang got the ball and powered his skinny frame through the melee and finished with aplomb.

breathing space 2-0 (terk): after an evenly matched first half, things got a little hotter in the second as galacticos started to put in high balls to trouble our defence. we stuck to our guts and tried to play the ball out of defence skillfully. mark battled against 2-3 galacticos and released the ball to st in the middle. terk was in sight and st sent a through ball which was fortuitously deflected by a defender. the ball ran into a better position for terk than intended. terk beat off the attentions of 2 defenders and slotted a grounder from the edge of the box. the near post shot caught the keeper by surprise and gave us extra breathing space.

lifeline 2-1: the high balls that galacticos played delivered results. off one of them, wilson, our trialist keeper could only palmed it into the middle of the box, leaving himself stranded. a quick thinking galactico first-timed it cooly into the net. game on! galacticos started to fly. another lovely move, a one-two followed by a clever back-heel opened out our defence. guan stepped in to block but the attacker still let fly a powerful shot directly toward wilson. wilson reacted instinctively to the piledriver with a superb tipover. that was probably the save that stopped the fightback. ms held on for a well-deserved win.

Match #21 (18 May 08): 4-1 non-event over Blue Social Incompletence

sunday morning matches typically has a slow and predictable feel about them. not, withstanding we'll have less than our usual numbers (thanks to the god-fearing ones), its almost a certainty that we'll win and usually, rather 'durainly' too (were the g-f ones praying for us whilst we're having fun). we will have opponents that stroll in btw 9.15 - 9.30, like a casual morning walk with the dog. then you see them making calls for back-up in a most relax manner, no different from the way a dog lifts its leg to pee! match starts and the dog starts its energetic pursuits which inevitably results in it lying down pitifully after a few beatings. then, there goes the meaning of the match. to borrow from dale cargenie, "there's no use beating a dead dog". it's a purely rhetorical argument as at the end of the day, sunday morning matches are an essential aspect of timing rotation to ensure we play a good mix of opponents. and when the team is in a rut, like having been hammered 1-7 a week before, he he....what can we say?

last sunday however should be considered a non-event. Blue Social Incompletence played with 10, 9 and 8 players at various times of the match (hence the title), we had 11 throughout. they gave up midway into the second half after the 4th goal and requested to call a halt to the match. frankly, it was out of pity, given the dead dog scenario that we just let it go. there's absolutely no point in persisting at that stage. so, the scoreline indicates nothing and didn't matter. what really mattered was that BSI scored an equaliser when they had 9 against 11. now that's quite a feat and to call the match a non-event is quite honestly a discredit to BSI. there's still plenty for marinesunday to do.

Start: BSI started with 10 players and kicked off with some degree of assurance. they attempted to keep the ball and even did some dribbling which was to haunt them later in the match. they also played a high line (dangerous tactic for a long field) which cost them the first goal.

Goal #1: we harassed to recover possession on the right. chiang passed the ball to mike wide out. mike played the ball to st who came in from centre to support. seeing chiang making a typical surge forward, st instinctively first-timed a through ball forward into space. chiang's acceleration took him one on one with the keeper who saved the former's first shot. the rebound richochet off chiang's trusty old knee powerfully into goal.

First Half: 1-0.
Despite being superior in numbers, marinesunday has trouble finding the next breakthrough. Here are some observations:
1. strikers didn't take their chances well enough or with conviction (including the writer's own 2 clear-cut ones).

2. too many players (including defenders) trying to collect durains. players rushing in to score and not spreading out making space. players clashing with each other over the same ball.
suggestion: stick to your position and adjust area of coverage along with team's movement but don't get into the same space that a team-mate has already occupied. midfielders should not be too hasty to move into the final third unless the defence has left an opening and our own player can easily put a ball there.
3. midfielders have trouble finding players (see 2.) and yet trying to put in hopeful through balls.
suggestion: attackers should be prepared to face the midfield to receive the ball on the feet. midfielders to play a direct ball to the striker's feet, allowing strikers to have possession near/in the box, spelling trouble for the defence. other options include playing wall passes or taking shots when the defence plays a game of containment and retreat.
4. wingers crossing spectacularly but lacking in product when a simple short pass to a supporting team mate is available.
suggestion: by all means make crosses, but use an easier option if available.

2nd Half: BSI started with 9 after one of their players were injured at the end of first half.

Goal! Unbelievable equaliser for 9-men BSI: Our attack broke down and BSI punted a long hopeful ball up to their lone striker. He started down our left unmolested and managed to crack a shot which we deflected to our right side of the field. another of their players somehow managed to leave our right midfielder and defender trailing and recovered the loose ball. he let fly what seemed like a shot which was firmly tucked in for a deserving equaliser. a good reminder of observations 1. and 2. above. the goal served as a wake up call to ms.

Goal #2: BSI was sitting back pretty and inviting us to come forward. again from the right, st found chiang with a through ball down the right for a cross. despite BSI's protests for offside, chiang stabbed a low one which wah trapped with back towards goal before recovering his balance and backheeling it cheekily to salvage some pride.

BSI reduced to 8. One of the players had the hang-dog look and his team-mates chided him and told him to take a breather. they forgot they had earlier expended some energies in unnecessary dribbling.

Goal #3: BSI continued to pack their defence and chye punished them good with a curler from out of nothing outside the box. see observation/suggestion 3. no chance for the keeper against such class!

BSI back to 9. hang-dog returns innocuously.

Goal #4: A through ball down the left found chye who steadily brought it closer to goal before releasing the ball into the danger zone for mark's simple tap-in.

BSI players telepathically signals to each other a need to rest and someone request a halt to trading ... erm i mean, bashing, senseless bashing.

ps - the part that takes the longest (and hardest) to write was the observation/suggestion section. not meant to pinpoint blame, i only hope it can help to improve the team game.

Match #20 (11 May 08): Thrashed by Jurong West

there's one thing good abt a thrashing, an eloquent report. first half 2 goals, second 5. period.

Match #19 (3 May 08): MS falls again to MOE

report contributed by kh

Marine Sunday is in a crisis! It’s one that the elders, seniors and founders of the team took seriously and decided to take drastic action to address it. Come to think of it, it was not by pure coincidence that The Straits Times featured a 6-pages Men & Sexuality article last Saturday, the same day we were overrun by a veteran team, was it? OK, we are referring to our Old Warhorse, the venerable Ng. He isn’t a spring chicken anymore. We doubt he needs the little blue pill as well. But looking at the way he hecked down the men in the box and consequently conceded 2 penalties, we reckon that he is in a dire need of “Reliever of His Internal Fire”! Has he stopped visiting Sichuan? We decided that enough was enough and denied him of the dubious honour of being the 1st player in the entire football history to ever give away 3 penalties in a match, and so we took him off.

Whilst we came up short in terms of possession but we were certainly not overrun as the 4-1 score line suggested. We were not slick in our passing and movements but we were more penetrating in the box. However, we were not clinical, and that was our killer! We were not sharp and brutal in converting those gilt-edged chances.

We conceded the 4 goals – first two due to hesitation and ball watching by our defence line and the last two by our Butcher Ng, although it was not entirely his fault. Position and coverage wise, he is top class. He is just too eager to stick out his leg to trip players, just as he is too eager to stick out his other leg to trap err….you know lah, no need to state too obvious, right?

We conceded a soft goal through nothing but hesitation and ball-watching in the box. A cross-field high ball into our box reached nobody but yet, we allowed their winger plenty of time to recover the loose ball. He had the world at his feet to pick out his mate unmarked in the box, who then tap in beyond Seah’s reach for the opening goal.

Our equalizing goal resulted from patient build-up, followed by a typical well-timed run into the box by KH to receive a defence-piercing pass by Simon, then a well-drilled square pass to the far post for a typical finishing by Teck Wah. The movement looked pleasing to the eyes. And we thought we had the game back when we finished the 1st half at one a piece.

3 glorious goal-scoring opportunities were created but we fluffed them. First, Teck Wah brought down a high ball with his exquisite first touch and turned his marker flat dead. He faced the keeper in the 6-yards box. Mind you, it was in the 6-yards box and you could imagine how close. But he blasted the ball over the bar.

Next Simon was left unmarked outside the box to receive the ball. With no one closing him down, he let fly with a right-footer that the keeper palmed it away. And he recovered in time to save KH’s follow-up with his feet.

Teck Chye then wriggled his way into the box, rounded the keeper but his shot was blocked by a defender. KH followed up with a stiff grounder that came off the keeper before another defender deflected Teck Wah’s weak left-footed attempted for a corner.

And we paid dearly for those misses as MOE Veterans buried 3 goals past us. A slick back-heel left our defenders flat-footed and their striker slammed the through ball past Seah. Next, the 2 penalties and each one was converted with superb confidence, leaving Seah no chance to pull off any heroics we had been accustomed to.

We could have done better, we knew that. Despite the mauling, we were overall quite positive in terms of team spirit and how we handled this outcome, compared to the other huge loss, 4-0, against the Holy Prayer United 2 weeks ago. Keep it up!