For what Lady Luck had shortchanged us in the match against VS Staff, she had adequately made up for it in our last Sunday's match against Queensland. We benefitted from an own goal and a miscued shot that luckily ended up where it mattered most - the net. It was a closely-matched encounter in terms of the number of scoring opportunities both sides had and the 3 – 2 scoreline could not be more reflective. But Queensland enjoyed a much better share of the possession, they were fitter and hungrier and like us, had enough chances to kill off the game. Perhaps they came up a wee bit short in the luck department. Notwithstanding, that should not take away the gloss from our win. Apart from considering the number of chances we squandered, including a missed penalty, we were up against younger and fitter players, and played under the 3pm sun.
Queensland had the upperhand in the opening proceeding and played direct Route One football to get the ball to their strikers. Their No 18 was a constant thorn in our flesh throughout the match. He intercepted a mishit clearance by Kian Hwa and raced towards our goal, leaving Leo and the guilty Kian Hwa in his trail. Brandon spared the blushes of Kian Hwa with a good right-foot block to deny No 18’s stiff shot. Brandon then produced a stupendous tip-over save to divert a dipping shot over the bar. Nothing could deny No 18 much longer as he got in between Weng Kwan and Leo, and ahead of the covering Brandon to hit the first goal of the match. Weng Kwan allowed a cross to bounce in front of him and that extra second was a luxury for No 18 to pounce and punish us. 0 – 1. He threatened to extend his goal tally later when his left winger, with his trickery to twist and turn in the box, put in a nice cross for him but his header could have done better. We produced a handful of half chances but nothing really threatened their keeper, whose positioning and calls provided much assurance to Queensland’s backline. We had Lady Luck to thank for against such disciplined defence and capable keeper. Teck Chye turned his marker well in the box and his left-foot cross was unfortunately diverted into goal by Queensland’s last man. 1 – 1. Given the narrow pitch, the game plan was to avoid conceding throw-ins in our one-third and we turned our tactical aversion into our advantage in our next 2 goals. Mark’s throw-in aimed at Teck Chye at the near post and the latter’s back-header came off a defender’s body on the line. Kian Hwa followed up on the loose ball inside the six-yard box. His miscued shot almost caused everyone to miss two heartbeats but the ball ended up in the lower left-hand corner of the goal. 2- 1. Whilst Queensland’s defence was effective in clearing our balls, they were guilty of lax marking. Teck Wah’s quick throw-in caught their entire defence napping and Teck Chye was left totally unmarked to turn and lob the ball over Queensland’s hapless keeper. 3 – 1 and that was how it stood at half-time!
We almost extended the gap early in 2nd half when Kian Hwa followed through to capitalise on a miscommunication between their keeper and defender outside the box. KH nipped in between them to steal the ball but his square ball into the box for Teck Wah was cleared by Queensland’s fullback for a corner. The resultant corner almost resulted in a goal, had it not been for their keeper’s fingers that managed to tip the ball away. Kian Hwa hardly dribbles with the ball but his rare attempt in the box earned a late tackle from Queensland’ stopper. For all the well intention to present Chung Wen with his first goal and a rare one for that, he squandered the resultant penalty. Teck Chye then released Kian Hwa on the right and the latter’s cross into the box gave rise to a goalmouth melee from a series of goal attempts by Leo, Weng Khong, Teck Chye and Kian Hwa but each failed to find the net.
At the other end, Queensland peppered at our goal from both flanks, leaving both Chung Wen and Ng severely stretched. But our stand-in central pairing of Weng Kwan and See Chiang repelled almost everything thrown at them. Our defence admirably stood up to the challenge and See Chiang, in particular, gave a steely performance that was not inferior to any regular stoppers. Queensland did come close on 3 attempts and they eventually found the net. A cross from the left took a bounce in the box that fooled Brandon. No 18 ghosted in and headed past Brandon to narrow the deficit. 3 – 2. Queensland were inspired by the late goal and continued to threaten but we managed to hold them out till the final whistle for a hard-earned win.
Man of The Team: Brandon (5 votes, out of 14)
Both Brandon and See Chiang came in with 5 votes each. Whereas his previous week’s errors put him under the microscope, his saves in this match placed him in favourable spotlight. This edged him marginally ahead of See Chiang to win the MoTM.
- “Brandon: Brandon had indeed made some remarkable saves to bill us out from the game especially when he has to deal with a one on one situation which he did a gallant close up cum a fantastic block with the opponent.”
- “MOM: Brandon-what a performance..he could hardly be blamed for the goals but full credit for stopping at least 4 clear chances.”
- “My MOM is Brandon for the few great saves he made to keep the game in our favour. He did well in a couple of one on one situations as well.”
- “motm to brandon getting us back on winning ways. there isn't anyone who could have done better between the sticks today. it must also be said that everyone work their socks off….
- “Team played well. Chung Wen played his heart out. But brandon really made the difference. My vote goes to him. What a return!”
- “MOTM -See chiang- hardwork, constantly marking opponent strikers/good job”
- “MOTM: It gets boring voting Mark all the time but he played with that sense of calm like Chye, YC's GPS pitch positioning and Simon's endurance. Sian lah don't vote for Mark since he only played 1 half. See Chiang similarly delivered on all fronts the entire game so See Chiang has my vote this week.”
- “Motm - See Chiang......steady, dependable, defends well and support attack well. He played like a 20 year old.”
- “MOTM - See Chiang. Stepped in well as a solid stopper and was everywhere in defence. While our attacks at times were futile, stopper See Chiang did manage to run at their defence and was impressive with one such run that almost bear result. Praise must also go to Teck Chye for his third goal and well created header for Kian Hwa's equaliser.” [Teck Chye himself scored the equaliser, not Kian Hwa]
- “See Chiang’s versatility put in an all-action performance as stopper – defended well, broke up attacks, robbed balls off their feet, advanced to attack.”
- “motm: old man Ng for risking his limps and head going up for several headers against the much taller number 18 and pretty much containing the much speedy winger and most dangerous player. Special mention that See Chaing also had a good game. He seem to have improved in leaps and bounds on his ball control and distribution. how many times he ran with the ball past the opponents and the ball seemed to stick to his feet...maybe he have a new pair of boots we don't know about?”
Kian Hwa? Since he does not get nominated week in week out, another “loss” makes no difference J
- “Motm was Mark. Even for just one half, he was absolutely superb in midfield. We won 3-1 first half but lost 0-1 in the second. He was one of the main reason.”
- “kh. both see chiang and kh play like 18 years old, vote go to kh cos he score a goal and a penalty” [KH won the penalty but he didn’t take it. Who missed it, remember? J]
- “MoTM to teck Chye. Scored one and had a hand in the other two. Besides taking on defenders with some nice touches and skillful turns was robust in midfield and broke up many of their attacks even before they can use their speed to run down at us.”
Lastly, a special tribute to all....almost.
........it must also be said that everyone work their socks off, and special mention to:
wen - who anticipated every ball and got onto them.kwan - for keeping a cool head and an even calmer voice.
chiang - for a typical energetic display of power defending.
ng - for chasing down their best players time and again.
mark - who gave his all in his only half; battling through everything that falls in the middle of the park.
mel - for giving up only after his damaged groin threatens to ruin his other more (i had to assume for political correctness) important pastime for good, and then coming back in for more!
mike - who found lots of joy getting stuck in with the challenges and making great efforts to challenge opponents.
chye - being involved in all 3 goals, without those magical touches, can't imagine what might have been.
wah - always lurking, picking up balls and advance our moves.
and to all the rest who had put on such a fabulous performance i have nothing specific to add. also, for putting u through such a torturous read, there's a need to maintain anonymity :)
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