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..........