Match #15 (21 March 09): An Uninspiring 6 – 1 Win; Just Good For Goal Tally

For second successive week at this beautiful ground, opponents were tardy and short in numbers and we had to make emergency player loans to them in order to get the match going. Similar to last week, it was another high-scoring match but we thoroughly deserved to be on the right side of the score. Alas, the match ended 10-minutes prematurely when egos and words prevailed between players of both sides, and that resulted in nearly a free-for-all before the incompetent referee abandoned the match. Just as well, it was a poor quality match to begin with, and watching from the sideline was agonising. Perhaps it was destined that the match ended early.

When Liverpool mauled Aston Villa 5 – 0 at home on Sunday, it was surprising to find Torres not among the scorers. Similarly, with such a 6 – 1 score line we registered on Saturday, our hotshot Teck Wah was not among the durian pickers though he must be credited for a couple of assists.

Despite getting 2 players from us, NWKWSLSISL1 still came up a player short. That doused our enthusiasm somewhat. NWKWSLSISL is an all-Indians team until our 2 players joined them to dilute the colour. They turned out to be just half decent to what we usually expect an all-Indians team to be. We had plenty of possession but lacked the final conversion to make those penetrations count. On the contrary, NWKWSLSISL hardly made use of the 2 on-loan players, chose to shoot from distance but whenever they got near our box, they created close shaves for us. Brandon had to be superbly alert to get down fast to save a cross-shot from the right. At the other end, their makeshift keeper miraculously produced a triple saves to deny us the opening goal.

The cracks in the dam were obvious, it was a matter of time that the floodgate opened up. It took Gan to celebrate the birth of his twin daughters with an eventual hat-trick to crown a Man-of-The-Match performance. His 1st goal came just before the break when he was put through. Instead of moving into the box to beat the keeper, he moved the ball 2 steps to his right outside the box before unleashing a grounder that caught the keeper wrong-footed. It was only 1-nil at half-time but the opening 15 minutes of the 2nd half was a completely different story.
We took nearly 40 minutes to get our 1st goal but found the net 4 times when the match resumed for less than 15 minutes. And all these goals came from beating their high defence line and their lack of desire to chase back when we breached their defence. Gan was the first one to benefit when the watch hardly registered 2 minutes into the 2nd half. A through ball that beat the line, he raced it into the box before planting the ball at the far right-hand side of the goal beyond the reach of the keeper. Teck Wah provided the assists to the next 2 goals. Again, a through ball left him free and his left-footed shot from outside the box came off the right post. No one was in the box except Weng Khong who diligently followed through and tapped in the rebound for 3 – 0. Gan got his hat-trick with the easiest of goal when the keeper fumbled a cross from Teck Wah from the left. Gan thought he was blessed enough to have 2 healthy girls and he couldn’t believe his luck when he saw the durian dropping at his feet. He had nothing to do except packing the durian home. His hat-trick goal and 4 – 0 to us!

Simon then came up with a brace, sandwiching their consolation goal coming from our player loaned to them, Mike. Simon first benefitted from the static defence and had a clear home run to place the ball past the hapless keeper for our 5th goal. He then put up a terrible return 1-2 pass but luck was again on our side when NWKWSLSISL gifted the ball back to him. Simon atoned for that terrible pass with a curler from outside the box to beat their keeper. That was half-a-dozen to our good! Mike got in front of Hock Leong to meet a cross and plant a header past Brandon for their consolation goal.

Round 2 of verbal exchanges ensued, the first one being in the 1st half when 1 of NWKWSLSISL players claimed to be a former S-League player and that his late tackles were perfectly alright in S-League then. He switched to guarding goal in the 2nd half and another war of words with our Teck Wah resulted in fracas between both sets of players. Apart from the beautiful pitch, it was a forgettable match of the poorest quality – opponents were poor, referee was inept, our performance and passing were scrappy and to round it up, ill-discipline among our players, just as guilty as them.

*NWKWSLSISL stands for Now We Know Why S-League Standard Is So Low. Their player had the gall to claim to have been a S-League player. We could only shake our heads in disbelief. And our S-League will always remain a poor cousin of the regional leagues with such players plying the trade. What a waste of our talents not to have played for Singapore!

Man of The Match: Gan (7 votes)
1 MoTM award; 2 daughters; 3 goals – what a week for him!
“motm: Gan for his hat-trick which included 2 cool finishes.”
“Motm-gan for his 3 goals since no other stand out”
“MOTM – Gan – 2 well taken goals and 1 durian. Getting his scoring form back”
“Mom Gan, not for his goals but for his textbook link up play. More like the vintage gan I know. Congratulations and wish u many loving sleepless nites to come with your 2 newborns. Hope your wife still lets u play!”
“Not a satisfactory match except Gan who seems an inspired father. Great breakthrough goals and hard work being an outlet to ping our attacks. Deserving hattrick & motm.”
“It was a scrappy match with no clear mom for me. I would nominate gan for good hold up play and the goals he scored.”
“Gan for a measured 1st goal and an eventual hat-trick”

Simon weighed in with 4 votes:
“Today Motm goes to Simon for his dominating presence in the midfield but his passes could have been better in some instances.”
“Motm goes to simon. His influence in midfield is undeniable and once again did very well today with 2 great goals.”
“Vote goes to simon. He was the creative playmaker. Almost everything goes through him.”
“My choice is either Gan or Simon. But Simon stands out for his ability in holding the midfield well and creating various chances.”

And a consolatory vote for our man leading the attack, in whatever sense :)
“Teck Wah. He played the attacking role well with numerous assists and creations. He also perform a superb drive like those rugby tackle at a opponent during a scrumb.”

Match #14 (14 Mar 09): Strong finish (part 2) or Awful start

match report contributed by st

What the title should be is a matter of individual perception. To cut to the chase (which we didn't do for much of the first half hr, and were trying for much of the match), we had 13 against Terk's Law Society of 9-10 young turks. First half we loaned Wen (last to arrive before start of match), second, Mike (to reunite with his student).

We started with a high line with Kok Hock as last man and were beaten by LawSoc's power in the air, pace and movement. Despite starting 11 against 10, we were down 1-0 within minutes as we messed about in our last third, allowing their playmaker to intercept a loose ball, ran on to slot in a coolly taken goal. Huffing and puffing, we created a few good chances but our frontliners seemed to suffer from a confidence crisis (besides the F one). we were good for our equalizer when Leo turned in Leng's drilled ball from the right. After that it was practically all downhill. The rate of deterioration went by in a blink and soon we were 1-4 behind. I could only remember a 'Terk's special' when he got behind our defence and upon a small contact, went down smartly. The resultant penalty was well drilled low to the corner. We played one good move before the break that gave us a glimmer of hope. Gan received the ball back towards goal, laid it back to Chye and moved into space. Chye gave it back to him and with a moment's space, placed a defence splitting ball to find Chiang's well-timed run down the left. Chiang's emphatic toe-poked finish was reminiscent of Ronaldo's (the fat one) world cup winner in 2002. Half time 2-4 down, plenty of re-strategizing to do.

Chiang moved into center defence partnering Hock Leong in a bid to counter Terk's dominance. Kok Hock & Chye moved up one level each to midfield & attack respectively, adding bite in attack. We dominated aggressively at the restart and were taking the necessary risks. Unfortunately instead of reward, we were punished against the run of play when 2 of our defenders sandwiched their attacker when challenging for a counter-attack cross. Ref was quick to point to the spot, not for the first time or the last. Again, another spot on conversion and we were 2-5 down.

Taking a calculated gamble, Chiang was asked to maraud down the left again as Terk had taken over the keeper's jerseys. We now have a lighter weight stopper in Leo to partner Hock Leong but good readers of the game to repel attacks. Soon we began our strong finish. This time LawSoc messed about in the same area we conceded our first. Chiang pressed, Chye retrieved and Gan hit a curler from outside the box to beat the stranded keeper. 3-5, game on. Next Chye was shoved in the box and Ref did his favorite point, whistle and break into his only runs of the day routine. Chye deciding to give everyone a handicap in the goalscoring stakes, declined. St stepped up and smashed the penalty high and right away from the keeper's reach. More possession in their half continued. St then curled a corner to Chiang at the near post whose scream for the ball surprised all. Missing the ball altogether, the rest followed him as if he was the Hamelin pipe-piper, leaving Gan with the simplest of diving header goal. 5-5 and despite our urgency, the winner just wouldn't be conjured.

A strange strange match, where at times we looked destined to lose, and at others, good for cooking up an unlikely win. Strong finish, just not strong enough.

MOTM

Simon (4)
MOTM goes to simon. Dominant in the midfield and stringing passess effectively between defend & attack.
Motm to Simon. Good link up play for defenders and strikers. Commanding in midfield, especially in 2nd half, went in for some full blooded tackles and was the main playmaker for marine Sunday.
MOM is simon for all round play in controlling the game from midfield . hardworking and broke up a lot of attack from opponents and also supported the defence well.
Simon is voted for his hard work in using his brain for tactical deployment. He knows when to strengthen the defense and when to strengthen the attack at appropriate timing.

Teck Chye (3)

Teck Chye for a good ands composed game.
hard to think of one who did really well - MOTM to chye

[one without comments, aiyah y u so like tat!]

Wen (2)

MOM choice goes to Chung Wen for his steady display playing for and against us. Looks like he is injury free and fit again.

Chung Wen - good defensive work and simple, effective distribution from the back.

Chiang (2)
I rate Chiang as MOTM for his high workrate both in defence and during wing play. He scored the important 2nd goal before half time.
See Chiang, wonderful goal and as usual running non-stop throughout the game supporting defence and attack.

Gan (2)

Motm was Gan. Superb finishing to grab two goals.

Gan - for scoring the 2 goals...seems like his confidence is coming back.

Match #13 (8 March 09): Strong Finish - Ode to KH

match reporting by mel the pal!

Even in his absence, KH's omnipresence was to cast a long shadow on Marine Sunday's come-from-behind win on Sunday against Bishan Tigers. It is fortunate that we are blessed with a Venerable Leader like Kim Jong Il. Sorry I meant KH. Our dear leader's foreskin, sorry, foresight helped us carve a good victory on a massively hot day.

It was his awareness that if we are understrength, we will be motivated to perform. I had the good fortune of playing for Iraq under Uday Hussein, Saddam Hussein's son. Oh how he motivated us with beatings and electric shock treatment. And so it was that we had 12 on a blistering hot day. Make it 11 since Melvin's souffe ankle is prone to collapsing.

The match started with MS proving to be more energetic. But passes in the last third were lacking. It was clear we miss KH's energetic runs and his pinpoint crosses. So we had to make do with Teck Wah and gang. Crosses flew in from right and left but the last touch was sadly lacking. As always, this is how we get punished.

First, a tackle on Melvin had him go down faster than a trannie at Changi Village (I don't know from experience. Ng told me). His painful scream could be heard in Malaysia. Weng Khong came in and it looked like Melvin's game. The disruption proved painful as a BT attack had their forward facing Brandon in a one on one challenge. The chap was so happy to see the ball roll in he screamed in delight, and it woke Malaysia again.

Oh how we miss KH's put down. Clear the ball, he would scream. Instead we chose to pass around and paid the price for playing simple passing football. Thankfully half-time came but not before Melvin was dragged back into the game.

The second half proved to be just as painful. Without KH running all over the pitch like a dog in heat looking for a bitch, See Chiang and Ng had little choice but to step up. They huffed and puffed. Ng deserves praise for playing in just about every position. He was left, then right back. He was the defensive midfielder and also played on the left side. He finished the game as centre forward. Once again, we have to thank our dear leader for having the foresight to leave us short so Ng could show us that he knows all the positions in the karma sutra. See Chiang formed a forminable partnership with the ever cool Mark and is proving to be as good a header of ball as Yong Chua. Up front, Teck Wah ran for every loose ball hoping to catch one that would leave him with a shot.

Just when it looked like we would suffer a loss, the effervescent Chye pulled left and sent in a pin-point cross for Wah who was surrounded by two defenders and the keeper. Wah headed it into the open goal for our equaliser. 1-1.

With Weng Khong and Simon's energetic running, BT's resolve looked to be fast fading. Weng Khong then sent a Hoddle like diagonal pass to Wah who pulled the ball down with one touch and then coolly rolled the ball past the onrushing keeper. 1-2.

BT sent in their reserves and pushed hard for the equaliser. Oh how we needed KH to keep us on our toes. Instead we had Melvin whose passes were pinpoint in picking out the opponents. The weather was taking its toll on MS with regular changes, so regular that each player had about a two minute break before being dragged into the fray.

That was when Ng picked up the baton and showed he is evergreen. Wah played a clever ball wide on the right for Ng who took it in one touch, turned and send in a low cross which fooled the defenders and keeper. It rolled perfectly for Wah to finish his hat-trick. Absolutely brilliant! 1-3

More changes were made and BT had one shot which came off the post. When the ref blew the whistle, MS players fell to their knees and looked to the heavens, crying: "Dear leader, thank you! Thank you for making us suffer dear leader"

Man of The Match: See Chiang (8 votes)
A seriously depleted team of 12 managed to conjure a come-from-behind win – the most hard fought so far! But unusual circumstances produced the unlikely hero!
“Many played above themselves but Chiang climbed heads & shoulders above all (literal & figurative) to the extend that tabulating MOTM would be easy.”
“My MOTM goes to See Chiang: Fantastic work rate from See Chiang for his tremendous effort in doubling the roles as stopper and midfielder at times, winning a lot of possessions and covering a lot of ground...”
“Unanimous decision. MOTM to See Chiang – when everyone wilted in the hot sun he was still chasing all the balls”
“See Chiang. Provide solid defence in stopper position and also help cover midfield area well.”
“See Chiang, dominated the midfield in his stopper role. Broke up most of the opponents attacks with his tackles and tireless running. His link up play with our midfield was also instrumental in initiating most of our attacks.”
“See Chiang. Though he didn’t score nor make the killer pass, he was all over the pitch and never stopped running. It was his grit which inspired the team”
“Motm: See Chiang. 2nd half play in the stopper/defensive mid position was exceptional.Cut out all the play in the middle n good relaying of passes n runs upfield.”
“Motm - See Chiang. No words can describe his performance”

Btw, have you seen Ng playing attacking midfield??? Bet you never.... because of his one shrewd pass across the penalty box, Teck Wah had the easiest job to tap in our 3rd goal which effectively killed off the game.....Our Mr Hairy Chest got 3 votes for his evergreen performance:
“MOM to Ng for showing that pure determination = frozen margherita. At what seemed like a very hot day at the construction site for Marine Sunday, it transformed into an inspiring beach outing with Ng upping the tempo when most of our tanks were dry. The vodka we needed that led up to everything else.” “Ng for one assist and some timely interception in the hot sun”
“Mom is ng for his never say die attitude, most importantly for his crucial role on the set up of the last 2 goals.”

Chung Wen had 1 nomination:
“Chung Wen. He practically headed every floated balls in the air and this made our defense a solid rock”

Match #12 (28 Feb 09): Marine Sunday Diluted Orange Fluid!

Anyone remembering the likes of John Fashanu, Tony Cascarino, Brian Deane and Mick Harford would recall how football was tailored made by their respective clubs for them – long ball to them. So, when our opponent, ironically named Fluid in bright orange kit, paraded a tall ang mo who packs some dynamite in his shots, we braced ourselves up for some hard time. They sure did deploy what are now aptly referred to as Wimbledon tactics with a lot of long and direct balls targeting at their ang mo front man. Surprisingly, despite our lack of height in all our defenders, our rearguards’ fine reading of the game nullified all the high balls with relative ease. Notwithstanding the convincing 4 – 1 score line, it was the solid defending at the back that laid the foundation for the win.

And we could possibly have hit a double-digits score. Last week, the woodwork denied us four times. This week, Fluid’s custodian made at least half-a-dozen point blank saves to defy us. Factor in the half-chances, crosses that didn’t reach the intended targets and shots that went astray, we could have had the plot scripted the very way we wanted. We threatened to score early into the game but Gan, needing injections of confidence, failed to get past the keeper with his tame shot after being put through. That was the first of the many saves that Fluid’s keeper put in to avoid a potential huge embarrassment. As usual, we needed to be awakened by conceding an early goal before got our acts together. We failed to clear the ball cleanly and their striker pounced onto the loose ball to put it past Brandon. The one-of-those-days feeling dawned on us but we knew we had plenty of time to play for. We equalized not long afterwards. A clumsy challenge on Simon’s back in the box required no further thoughts from the referee, who not only pointed to the spot decisively but even took time to explain to Fluid’s defenders why the offence warranted the 12-yards spot kick, which Simon duly converted. 1 – 1 now and we moved into our top gears from then on.

Plenty of crosses and advances into Fluid’s box raised their alarms but counted nothing for us until a freak goal finally broke down their resistance. Gan did well to win back the ball and laid it to the left for Teck Wah, whose overhit cross (or rather the pitch was too narrow) evaded everyone in the box. Mike recovered the stray ball and put it back into the 6-yards box again, putting pressure on Fluid’s defender to produce a first-time clearance that hit Gan on the line, resulting in the ball diverted into goal. Gan was just too glad to claim credit for that!
We continued to push forward and further increased their misery just before the break. Yong Chua received a cross from the right at the near post and was given time to turn and lay the ball across the box. Kian Hwa came in from the left to tuck the ball into the net, wrong-footing the Fluid’s keeper in the process. 3 – 1 at the break.

2nd half was more of the same for us. The number of failed conversions began to embarrass us instead. Conversely, Fluid’s custodian stood out like a beacon guiding the lost vessels with his top drawer save after save to frustrate us. Whatever ball Fluid could get to, they launched it far and high into our half but Mark and Hock Leong were simply superb to deal with the direct balls. The odd forays down the flanks were attended to capably by Chung Wen, Ng and Weng Kwan, rotating in the full back positions. They did come close to score but even then, Brandon was on top of his game with a double-saves to maintain the 2-goals margin.

We deserved more goals but only 1 came, courtesy of Chwee Leng’s swinging left-footed shot after he brought down an outward-swerving cross from the left by Kian Hwa. As the ball sailed past their keeper to the far post, Chwee Leng raised his arms in jubilation for his first goal of the season. 4 – 1 now and we were still hunting for more but it was not to be. Fluid was saved from further margin erosion with the final whistle going off at 4 – 1 the final score.

Next come the drum-roll moment. Before coming to that, put it as my ego talking, I’m increasingly feeling vindicated that the MoTM scheme is worth implementing and it does instill the appreciation of our fellow teammates in us. This week’s highly skewed proportion of nominations, 13 out of 15 valid votes, demonstrated that we do appreciate the guys at the back. More often than not, their performance goes unmentioned and unnoticed but not this time. Despite the convincing win, our defensive colleagues were in the limelight, and for the right reason.

This was by far the keenest round of voting this season. The eventual MoTM winner literally won by just a hairline, 7 votes to 6! Trust me, I had never felt so exhilarated in tallying the nominations. Enjoy reading their nominations, they are superb stuff. Now, the MoTM. He is one of the handful few with the better footballing brain among us. Always cool on the ball and hates to rush, he prefers to look up and spread the ball. If you noticed, his performance was really not his usual style of play. Not when, just before the kick-off, he was placed under “restrain order” by Mr Ultimate Ultra Big Ego to just play simple football, i.e. just clear the balls first time. Well, it was like a seasoned warrant officer being told by an inexperienced young punk officer how to fight a battle. In this case, it was a technically sound player being told by a two-left-feet how to play football, you know how it feels. But great credit to this footballer, he put any displeasure aside and played for the team. There was hardly any of his usual hold-and-look-up-and-pass but simple and timely clearances throughout the match. The performance may not be pleasing to the eyes but the huge impact of such simple play did not go unnoticed. The MoTM was Mark!

Man of The Match: Mark (7 votes)
“Mom: Mark - sealed up the back line”
“Vote goes to Mark. Read the game very well at the back, giving procession back to us on numerous occasions.”
“Motm: mark. Swept up all the loose balls n was everywhere in defence line.”
“Motm goes to mark. Rock solid and unbeatable at the back.”
“Mark motm for gd defence against their Wimbledon strategy”
“Mark, played the offside trap well n make impt clearance”
“MOTM – Mark marshal the defence well to limit the opponent’s attack”

Hock Leong came in very close with 6 votes. Together, our central defensive pair was the cornerstone of our win!
“Opponents game plan looked simple... feed ball to ang moh, ang moh score. Hock Leong spoilt their party by diffusing all through balls to them limiting opponent strikers to only 2 shots on goal. Hock Leong MOM.” [Editor: No lah, ang mo didn’t score, the local Chinese guy did! You were so near to the action, yet you still got this wrong!]
“My MOTM goes to Hock Leong for his simple and effective play. Excellent readings of the game. Well timed tackles and calling out his teammates when necessary.”
“Motm to hock leong. Was a rock in defence. Cleared most of the long lobs and passes from opponents in the small pitch. Broke up many of their attacks and limiting them to very few shots on goal.”
“MOM to hock leong. Our solid rock in the middle of the defence together with mark, heading away most high balls with ease, intercepting opponents’ passes with confidence. Their ang mo was hardly in the game.”
“Motm to hock leong, the human ball repelling machine!”
“A 1.9m ang mo outjumped by a less-than-1.7m stocky defender – how much better could we get? Commanding in the air, sure-footed on the ground, the opponent realised that despite our lack of height in the backline, we were not to be bullied by their high balls mainly because of this chap who must have had some springs implanted in his heels! Great credit to Hock Leong! He is the MoTM!”

The against-the-grain votes went to Simon and Kian Hwa, 1 apiece:
“MOTM goes to Simon who solidly controlled the midfield & stringed passes together both for offensive & defensive moves.”

“kh – one of the most hardworking player and score a 50-50 goal” [Editor: I doubly confirmed. Kok Hock was absent, so the “kh” shouldn’t refer to him :)]