It was another match not too different from the set back against EastWest two weeks ago at the same venue. again, could we have won? in the first 10 minutes, we were all over them, passing with confidence and moving around very well. in short, we were more mobile as a team. then their intents were clear, a fast counter attacking move gave away to what was their comfortable mode of play. they needed mistakes on our part to give them the space to do their thing. we're a different breed with our short slick passes and interchanging movements. we carved out a few chances that could have sealed the match in the first half and changed the complexion of the match. the misses were forgiveable. first the quickthinking wah passed a free kick to st as everyone else was trying to organise in the box. st instinctively stabbed the ball towards the messy goal mouth only for a defender to clumsily deflect it goalwards. the keeper managed to paw at it at the goalline. then gan saw a through ball coming from his right. his dummy and turn was top class and had everyone holding their breath for the eventual kill, just like last week. but it was not to be as the shot went fractionally off the far post. Stewart Engineering (SE) lived to capitalise on a moment of our defensive disarray.
our attack was broken down and SE played a tentative ball wide right. chiang saw an opportunity to intercept and went at it. SE's player was just as tough and strong. He beat chiang to the ball and marauded down the flank. our defence and covering midfield had to be mindful of the threat coming from down the middle. this gave him time to place a pass into the box for their striker. chye came bravely off his line and dived at the feet on the striker, who persisted well and nudged the ball off chye's hand (which had lacked match practice). Fortunately for SE, their striker managed to steer the ball into goal, albeit with a hint of miskick.
we continued our attacking forays with confidence and it paid off. a steady move between middle and right saw us passing the ball back to chiang who chipped in an early cross into the box. leng was at the right place, right time and with the right control, tamed the bouncing ball in-between his tummy and groin. outch! it was not for leng but for SE. leng swivelled and let fly a venomous half volley that skidded surely into the far corner!
but our good work was to be undone again as another counter attack from SE punished us. we did not clear the ball in our danger area properly and it fell to SE's striker. His first attempt was block and hleong seems to have him covered, closing on him. instead, the striker's awkward turn and shot screwed the ball totally off the expected angle. It bypassed hleong and chye into the far corner. three unbelievable phenomena caused the striker to tumble over in delight.
first half ended 1-2. the second half had us changing keeper to gan as planned. kh flew in as well and we wished for a flying restart. it was not meant to be. despite us chasing the game and at times, leaving our defence exposed, both sides did not possess enough of an imposing threat in their respective final thirds to finish off the moves. off a freekick, chye ran into the box and when we thought he had gotten into a position which in the past he would have made the most of, an uncharacteristic fumbling for control simply meant that he would need to and surely can rediscover the familiar touch of the past. then good interchange of passes between chye, kh, and yc helped to conjure an opening but the final shot went wide. for an entertainining memory of the game, we had a vintage goal correctly disallowed. a free kick was floated in and three connected headers eventually resulted in chye nodding it into goal. but he was already offside. in the end, their stubborn defence held out.
this is one of those matches we stretched ourselves in every possible way.
our attack was broken down and SE played a tentative ball wide right. chiang saw an opportunity to intercept and went at it. SE's player was just as tough and strong. He beat chiang to the ball and marauded down the flank. our defence and covering midfield had to be mindful of the threat coming from down the middle. this gave him time to place a pass into the box for their striker. chye came bravely off his line and dived at the feet on the striker, who persisted well and nudged the ball off chye's hand (which had lacked match practice). Fortunately for SE, their striker managed to steer the ball into goal, albeit with a hint of miskick.
we continued our attacking forays with confidence and it paid off. a steady move between middle and right saw us passing the ball back to chiang who chipped in an early cross into the box. leng was at the right place, right time and with the right control, tamed the bouncing ball in-between his tummy and groin. outch! it was not for leng but for SE. leng swivelled and let fly a venomous half volley that skidded surely into the far corner!
but our good work was to be undone again as another counter attack from SE punished us. we did not clear the ball in our danger area properly and it fell to SE's striker. His first attempt was block and hleong seems to have him covered, closing on him. instead, the striker's awkward turn and shot screwed the ball totally off the expected angle. It bypassed hleong and chye into the far corner. three unbelievable phenomena caused the striker to tumble over in delight.
first half ended 1-2. the second half had us changing keeper to gan as planned. kh flew in as well and we wished for a flying restart. it was not meant to be. despite us chasing the game and at times, leaving our defence exposed, both sides did not possess enough of an imposing threat in their respective final thirds to finish off the moves. off a freekick, chye ran into the box and when we thought he had gotten into a position which in the past he would have made the most of, an uncharacteristic fumbling for control simply meant that he would need to and surely can rediscover the familiar touch of the past. then good interchange of passes between chye, kh, and yc helped to conjure an opening but the final shot went wide. for an entertainining memory of the game, we had a vintage goal correctly disallowed. a free kick was floated in and three connected headers eventually resulted in chye nodding it into goal. but he was already offside. in the end, their stubborn defence held out.
this is one of those matches we stretched ourselves in every possible way.
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