Season 2008 started on 29 Dec 2007 and ended on 20 Dec 2008. The timings are such as to enable the collation of statistics and its presentation for the 'AGM'. Of course it was a proper AGM with RSM back to lead business decisions. In any case, statistics are interesting things of what it purports to tell and more significantly, what it can't tell which we still, nevertheless try to foretell. Accountants and footballers should love the 2008 Review consisting of 6 sheets of easily laid out information. It's found nestled in the right side bar 'Records and More Reports'. Enjoy!
Sunday, December 28, 2008
Thursday, December 25, 2008
Match #52 (20 Dec 08): Desperately Seeking Simon ........
the title was meant to intrigue (and borrowed from a madonna's movie), and certainly the events leading to and the outcome itself was quite extraordinary. we manage to conjure up a team made up of 12 players of which 4 were guests (benny, daniel and yan song and joe playing for us the first time, oh what fabulous contributions from them!). then under such circumstances to break the almost 2-month winless streak (since 26 Oct), ah that's quite unexpected. how we did, there can be no empirical evidence on any kind of formula for the future. the possibilities are endless. just read on and enjoy Wordsmith's entertaining piece below.
match report by mel
Change, we can. Change, we must. That was Marine Sunday's war-cry as the team trooped out to meet their opponents after a winless streak that stretched longer than a camel's phallus. Perhaps Obama could heal us, we lamented and so the team formed a circle for a pre-match pow-wow. What does being Obama mean? So we broke it down:
1. O-B-A-M-A: Old Balls Are Mindless Accessories. We agreed it sounded right but enough about what our wives own.
2. Our Best Act Means Aggression. ...Yes, we must be aggressive and combat that deadly virus that has plagued us, the infamous KH69 virus which has killed a number of chickens (as in the Geylang variety), and some poultry too.
WHO had given us our shots and for a short while at least, we were free of the KH 69 virus and so MS attacked with wild abandonement, like VS boys when they see SAC girls on service 148. Teck Wah grabbed four goals, Mark had an easy tap in and Chua finished with immaculate class. Just to prove a point, Wah also intentionally hit the bar four times but missed the vertical on two other occassions. Can't blame him lah, the post is thin compared to the goal.
The game: MS was slow to settle down and our opponents seized the chance to steal a goal. 1-0. Oh, we could feel KH 69 deadly breath on our necks. But MS fought back brilliantly with neat passing game. So neat, our opponents relaxed so they could catch the action. One after another MS pounded our opponent's goal. Wah, with time on his hands, aimed for the horizontal after dancing his way around the defenders. Still, the goals flowed. Two quick goals from Wah put us back in the lead. The second was a well-plcaed header which sailed into the top corner. 1-2.
Then after neat interpassing on the left, Leng played a neat pass to Mark who had the easiest of tap ins. 1-3. Just before half-time, Wah grabbed his hat-trick. 1-4.
At half-tim MS decided to take it easy. Big mistake. It allowed our opponents back into the game, especially Mohd Ronaldo, the number 7 who did so many crossovers with his skinny legs, he began to resemble one of those dancers at Crazy Horse cabaret. But his trickery led to a second goal for our opponents. 2-4. Any hope of a recovery faded when Wah headed his fourth pass the keeper and then Chua finished with a well-placed shot which left the keeper rooted. 2-6.
Now we may have broken the winless streak thanks to WHO's antidote but I think it was the return of Kwan, the shot in the arm doctors prescribed. He defended stoutly and is as fit as ever. Or it could be Melvin, who marked his second game but marking the ref out of the game. Mel set a new record for standing still at a single spot but that strategy proved useful as three defenders thought he had opened a sarabat stall and stood around him waiting for teh tarik.
On to the next game and don forget your KH 69 shots. Unfortunately, the shots can only be administered in the rump so get ready to bend over guys. Merry X'mas!
1. O-B-A-M-A: Old Balls Are Mindless Accessories. We agreed it sounded right but enough about what our wives own.
2. Our Best Act Means Aggression. ...Yes, we must be aggressive and combat that deadly virus that has plagued us, the infamous KH69 virus which has killed a number of chickens (as in the Geylang variety), and some poultry too.
WHO had given us our shots and for a short while at least, we were free of the KH 69 virus and so MS attacked with wild abandonement, like VS boys when they see SAC girls on service 148. Teck Wah grabbed four goals, Mark had an easy tap in and Chua finished with immaculate class. Just to prove a point, Wah also intentionally hit the bar four times but missed the vertical on two other occassions. Can't blame him lah, the post is thin compared to the goal.
The game: MS was slow to settle down and our opponents seized the chance to steal a goal. 1-0. Oh, we could feel KH 69 deadly breath on our necks. But MS fought back brilliantly with neat passing game. So neat, our opponents relaxed so they could catch the action. One after another MS pounded our opponent's goal. Wah, with time on his hands, aimed for the horizontal after dancing his way around the defenders. Still, the goals flowed. Two quick goals from Wah put us back in the lead. The second was a well-plcaed header which sailed into the top corner. 1-2.
Then after neat interpassing on the left, Leng played a neat pass to Mark who had the easiest of tap ins. 1-3. Just before half-time, Wah grabbed his hat-trick. 1-4.
At half-tim MS decided to take it easy. Big mistake. It allowed our opponents back into the game, especially Mohd Ronaldo, the number 7 who did so many crossovers with his skinny legs, he began to resemble one of those dancers at Crazy Horse cabaret. But his trickery led to a second goal for our opponents. 2-4. Any hope of a recovery faded when Wah headed his fourth pass the keeper and then Chua finished with a well-placed shot which left the keeper rooted. 2-6.
Now we may have broken the winless streak thanks to WHO's antidote but I think it was the return of Kwan, the shot in the arm doctors prescribed. He defended stoutly and is as fit as ever. Or it could be Melvin, who marked his second game but marking the ref out of the game. Mel set a new record for standing still at a single spot but that strategy proved useful as three defenders thought he had opened a sarabat stall and stood around him waiting for teh tarik.
On to the next game and don forget your KH 69 shots. Unfortunately, the shots can only be administered in the rump so get ready to bend over guys. Merry X'mas!
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Match #51 (13 Dec 08): Marine Sunday Decides Not to End Winless Streak
match report by kh
There are a few options to start this report.
I could have drawn parallel with Liverpool's result against Hull on same day.
Liverpool should have won but drew. Like us.
They came from behind to snatch a draw. Like us.
That matched ended 2 - 2. Like us.
Their skipper, Gerrard, scored both goals. Like us.
But such report will draw flaks form you readers, especially from a certain Chwee Leng, whose ego has been bruised incessantly by this reporter-cum-editor.
The other option is to continue highlighting our winless streak. Against last Saturday's opponent, AC Milan Version N, we could and should have won but we threw the game away. Perhaps, we have forgotten what it is like to win. Perhaps, we have lost the winning feeling. Perhaps, we are no longer thrilled to win. So, we might as well continue the winless run. But this theme is wearing thin on the pitiful few readers.
A third option is to keep zooming our radar on the form of one fellow. Putting the result aside, what had us worried was the continuing bluntness of our only remaining predator. Why only remaining? How about KH? Forget him, a pale shadow of his old self. Chwee Leng? Not even a shadow! Gan? Considering that he has scored well in bedroom (he's gearing up for fatherhood, mind you), his lack of pace, slow-mo action on the pitch is forgiveable. But Teck Wah?
At the rate TW is going, we will soon have no more strikers. For the second successive match, he missed the goal from his trademark lob. Based on this empirical evidence, the Council of Highest Order, made up entirely of Elders > 40 years of age, deduced that his off-pitch new-found whatever might have blunted his on-pitch conversion, although we reluctantly (and gleefully) agreed that if we had the same "firing field" like he has, we would probably be spending our time "charging the mountains, engaging in bush warfare and doing a lot of river crossing"! But not everything is bleak. We are at least encouraged that his intensive "commando" training has enhanced his mental sharpness and brightness, given how his quick-mindedness created our first goal.
We had to again sign two players on-loan for this match - Benny and Kok Hock, only for the attendance to be further boosted by last-minute responses from Mark, Melvin (yes, that round one from Down Under) and Hock Leong. From hardly able to assemble 13, including 2 on-loan players, to suddenly 16 players created some selection headache.
1st half was largely an even affair. Both sides created a couple of scoring opportunities but none really threated each other's goal. The big pitch further stretched the physical constraints of our players as we were too cautious not to be caught out by committing ourselves in too advanced positions. The half was coming to an end when a fantastic piece of play starting from the defence broke the deadlock. Brandon, tenative when he first came into play, was brilliant in robbing the ball from ACMVX's left winger and quickly passed the ball to Melvin on the right. From the mid line, Melvin attempted to rekindle his college intimate link with Yong Chua on football field when he sent in a long ball to the latter just outside the box. ACMVX's keeper was quick off the line to pluck the high ball from the air before YC could do any damage but his right foot landed just outside the penalty box, resulting in an indirect freekick for us. Teck Wah's awareness prompted him to take a quick free kick and rolled the ball back to Kian Hwa, whose left-footed shot floated the ball over the bewildered ACMVX's players and sailed into the unguarded goal. They had no complaints against our goal as it was legitimately executed to perfection. Superb work from the defender (Brandon) to midfielder (Melvin) to forward (Teck Wah)! 1 - 0 to our advantage at half-time.
We were caught out by 2 sloppy defending in the 2nd half, allowing them to reverse the deficit. But we could have extended the lead beyond any issue before that. Yet, we missed 2 glorious scoring opportunities. First was TW's miss. After being put through, he executed his perfect lob over the advancing keeper, only to see the ball bouncing agonisingly 2 cm wide off the left upright! Then, it was Gan who emulated TW's earlier miss. Similarly put through to face the keeper, Gan chose to shoot instead of lobbing the keeper, and the keeper parried the stiff shot away for a corner, but not before the ball hitting the post.
ACMVX duly punished us. Their first real attack of the half resulted in the equaliser. Ng and Mark failed to clear the ball cleanly and that moment of hesitation allowed their forward to nip in and squared the ball across the box for a tap-in. Then, a speculative shot from the right caught our defence by surprise and Seah could do nothing to prevent the goal, despite his outstretched arm in the air. From 1 - 0 up to 1 - 2 down!
All looked too familiar again until KH re-entered into play and beat the offside line to receive Weng Khong's brilliant reverse pass that fooled ACMVX rearguard. KH did not choose to lob the keeper or shoot at goal but rounded the keeper instead before placing the ball in the net for the last-grasp equaliser. A point gained but it looked more like 2 points lost for Marine Sunday, as we continued to sing our winless blues.
I could have drawn parallel with Liverpool's result against Hull on same day.
Liverpool should have won but drew. Like us.
They came from behind to snatch a draw. Like us.
That matched ended 2 - 2. Like us.
Their skipper, Gerrard, scored both goals. Like us.
But such report will draw flaks form you readers, especially from a certain Chwee Leng, whose ego has been bruised incessantly by this reporter-cum-editor.
The other option is to continue highlighting our winless streak. Against last Saturday's opponent, AC Milan Version N, we could and should have won but we threw the game away. Perhaps, we have forgotten what it is like to win. Perhaps, we have lost the winning feeling. Perhaps, we are no longer thrilled to win. So, we might as well continue the winless run. But this theme is wearing thin on the pitiful few readers.
A third option is to keep zooming our radar on the form of one fellow. Putting the result aside, what had us worried was the continuing bluntness of our only remaining predator. Why only remaining? How about KH? Forget him, a pale shadow of his old self. Chwee Leng? Not even a shadow! Gan? Considering that he has scored well in bedroom (he's gearing up for fatherhood, mind you), his lack of pace, slow-mo action on the pitch is forgiveable. But Teck Wah?
At the rate TW is going, we will soon have no more strikers. For the second successive match, he missed the goal from his trademark lob. Based on this empirical evidence, the Council of Highest Order, made up entirely of Elders > 40 years of age, deduced that his off-pitch new-found whatever might have blunted his on-pitch conversion, although we reluctantly (and gleefully) agreed that if we had the same "firing field" like he has, we would probably be spending our time "charging the mountains, engaging in bush warfare and doing a lot of river crossing"! But not everything is bleak. We are at least encouraged that his intensive "commando" training has enhanced his mental sharpness and brightness, given how his quick-mindedness created our first goal.
We had to again sign two players on-loan for this match - Benny and Kok Hock, only for the attendance to be further boosted by last-minute responses from Mark, Melvin (yes, that round one from Down Under) and Hock Leong. From hardly able to assemble 13, including 2 on-loan players, to suddenly 16 players created some selection headache.
1st half was largely an even affair. Both sides created a couple of scoring opportunities but none really threated each other's goal. The big pitch further stretched the physical constraints of our players as we were too cautious not to be caught out by committing ourselves in too advanced positions. The half was coming to an end when a fantastic piece of play starting from the defence broke the deadlock. Brandon, tenative when he first came into play, was brilliant in robbing the ball from ACMVX's left winger and quickly passed the ball to Melvin on the right. From the mid line, Melvin attempted to rekindle his college intimate link with Yong Chua on football field when he sent in a long ball to the latter just outside the box. ACMVX's keeper was quick off the line to pluck the high ball from the air before YC could do any damage but his right foot landed just outside the penalty box, resulting in an indirect freekick for us. Teck Wah's awareness prompted him to take a quick free kick and rolled the ball back to Kian Hwa, whose left-footed shot floated the ball over the bewildered ACMVX's players and sailed into the unguarded goal. They had no complaints against our goal as it was legitimately executed to perfection. Superb work from the defender (Brandon) to midfielder (Melvin) to forward (Teck Wah)! 1 - 0 to our advantage at half-time.
We were caught out by 2 sloppy defending in the 2nd half, allowing them to reverse the deficit. But we could have extended the lead beyond any issue before that. Yet, we missed 2 glorious scoring opportunities. First was TW's miss. After being put through, he executed his perfect lob over the advancing keeper, only to see the ball bouncing agonisingly 2 cm wide off the left upright! Then, it was Gan who emulated TW's earlier miss. Similarly put through to face the keeper, Gan chose to shoot instead of lobbing the keeper, and the keeper parried the stiff shot away for a corner, but not before the ball hitting the post.
ACMVX duly punished us. Their first real attack of the half resulted in the equaliser. Ng and Mark failed to clear the ball cleanly and that moment of hesitation allowed their forward to nip in and squared the ball across the box for a tap-in. Then, a speculative shot from the right caught our defence by surprise and Seah could do nothing to prevent the goal, despite his outstretched arm in the air. From 1 - 0 up to 1 - 2 down!
All looked too familiar again until KH re-entered into play and beat the offside line to receive Weng Khong's brilliant reverse pass that fooled ACMVX rearguard. KH did not choose to lob the keeper or shoot at goal but rounded the keeper instead before placing the ball in the net for the last-grasp equaliser. A point gained but it looked more like 2 points lost for Marine Sunday, as we continued to sing our winless blues.
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Match #50 (8 Dec 08): Winless Streak Continues
match report by kh
Old ties rekindled but there was no love lost shown by Dons. Where our past encounters were always tight and edgy, nobody by any streak of imagination would have expected a shocking 0 - 4 scoreline against them. The scoreline was quite flattering to them, nobody would argue with us that the loss was certainly not reflective of our capability. We were far from dismal overall but admittedly, our final one-third was two notches below satisfactory and the defence could certainly do better, notwithstanding an encouraging performance from Chwee Leng as emergency full-back.
With both sides robbed of their regulars, guest players made up the numbers. Dons called up three Malay players, who would to be the match winners for them. But our guest players were not without their pedigree - Lak, Terk, Kok Hock and Yap were not lightweights in their own rights. But those three Malay folks, perhaps inspired by Haji prayers in the morning, were lively and mobile throughout the match, calling the shots and ever willing to receive the ball and dictate the play. Perhaps, we were more subdued in this aspect.
We had the majority of the possession in 1st half, with numerous forays down the left flank by the lively KH. We did carve out a handful of chances but each went begging. Gan was put through on a one-on-one his lack of pace failed to capitalise on this opening. He later picked up a square pass in the box from the left but his subsequent effort was a balloon over the bar instead of troubling the keeper. Earlier before that, Simon also fetched another low cross from the left and did trouble the keeper with his half-volley but the keeper held firm to the ball. In the 2nd half, Simon had two more efforts - a goal bound header was cleared and later a thunderbolt shot that cannoned off the bar. But the dubious honour of the miss of the match went to Teck Wah. Picked out perfectly by Lak's diagonal pass, Teck Wah raced clear of the pack to face the onrushing keeper. He produced his trademark lob, no doubt. We were holding our breath for a goal but the ball bounced wide. Many thoughts went though our minds how he could have missed this, given his clinical conversion rate. Our queries were answered in the post-match debrief. Well, all we could say is that we better adjust our expectation of Teck Wah's on-pitch performance downward for the 2009 season. Expect his knees to go soft.....In the words of stock analyst, expect underperform market....on the pitch, I mean.
Dons opened the account against the run of play with a swift counter-attack, a dummy that fooled Yap and a quick flick by their ever-dangerous Segar to their Gelek King that beat Chor Guan. Gelek King went on to plant the ball beyond Brandon. The half ended 0 - 1 in their favour.
We were again in control for the first 10 minutes of the 2nd half until the 3 Malay Kawans and Segar came back into play again. The four of them shredded us apart with their off-the-ball running and short passes. Mid-way through 2nd half, Dons sent us another of goals for souvenirs and extend the lead to 3 nil.
With nothing to lose, Chor Guan was pushed up and we were duly punished for exposing the gap behind. Yap was beaten on pace by their Kawan Kawan, who was very much in-tune with Chinese preference for even number, his goal made it 2 pairs....or if you are mathematically challenged, that was 4 nil!
And our miserable, winless streak continues..........
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