Match #46 (4 Dec 10): Galactic Win

What was expected to be a tough game turned out to be a platform for MS to rise to the occasion. Perhaps we were spurred by Barca's thrashing of the Galacticos on Monday that we registered the same total score.

We got off to a flying start as within minutes, our slick yet simple passing and fluid movements caused havoc in the final third. YC headed us in front and Chye then added a second with an unstoppable freekick. Further smart interchanges eventually found Teck Wah with time and space to curl a sweet one over the keeper from outside the box. 3-0 at half-time & we prepared to avoid an arsenalesque crumble.

Galacticos came out pressing us hard in the second half and scored after some relentless pressure. st killed any hopes of a comeback with a long-range freekick, all accuracy absolutely no power. Final result 4-1, thoroughly deserved!

Match # 45 (27 Nov 10): A (possibly) Season-End Harvest

Chwee Leng was so kind to plant a tree of low hanging fruits for us to harvest but in the opening 10 minutes, we didn't look like we were even getting the seeds. The heroics of Chor Guan and Gan in goal shut Another Team of Man Utd Fans in White (ATMUFW) out. We were still in slumberland in the opening period and ATMUFW should have capitalised on it.

Our reluctant striker, Teck Chye, opened the floodgate for us. Thereafter, our Route One football took over and the accidental striker, Chor Guan, notched a hat-trick from taking advantage of their static and high line. KH made it 5, scoring directly from a corner. In the 2H, Teck Wah grabbed a brace, Gan was "ass-isted" by Simon to find the net, Weng Khong nodded in a cross from KH and to top it off, Chor Guan literally found a durian dropped onto his feet - a spill by ATMUFW's custodian had the ball dropped onto Guan's shoulder and diverted into the net. Talk about durian-picking?

But the goal of the match was ironically ATMUFW's consolation goal. The playmaker's brilliant piece of solo effort saw him weaving past our Rock and Kok Hock before sliding the ball past Teck Chye, our 2H keeper, then wheeling away with delighted screams of 'KPI achieved! KPI achieved!'. You can't help but be pleased that we didn't try too hard to keep a clean sheet :)

10 - 1...a morale booster, though unreal.

Match #44 (17 Nov 10): Our Spirit Was No Match Against Spirits United

We have been on roller coaster ride in past few matches, alternating between adrenalin-high win and frustrating loss. After last Saturday's satisfying win, we suffered a 2-0 loss against Spirits United. For the first time in two months, we failed to score a goal. Despite our gallant effort, we were outplayed throughout the match. I suppose there weren't any complaints.

Match #43 (13 Nov 10): Hardfought But Satisfying Win Over Dell

We threw a 3-0 lead away the last time we met at Temasek Sec. We thought history was going to repeat itself when we squandered the 1-0 lead. The fiasco between their keeper and last man allowed Teck Wah to win the ball and set up for Mike to tuck it into the open net but we allowed them to equalise before the break. Gan and Teck Wah settled the issue in the somewhat nervy 2nd half. When you looked at Ng putting in that kind of tenacious tackle against their ang mo winger, Teck Chye gamely commanding in between the posts in 2H.....we ain't gonna let lightning strike twice.

A hugely satisfying 3 - 1 win. And as YC observed it, all our strikers scored...that can only be a good sign.

Match #42 (7 Nov 10): Fightback Came Up Short; Hype Was Punctured

After the much vaunted hype from last weekend's thumping win, we were punctured by an agonising 2-3 loss against Orange Company. Yes, one of those encounters which we shouldn't have lost but we just came up short in every department though our fightback in last 20 minutes from 0-3 down couldn't be faulted. With a bit of luck, we might have overturned the deficit. KH hit the post, Gan and Teck Wah couldn't connect with KH's flick-on, KH was a step too early to connect with OC's keeper's fumbling of Teck Chye's cross....we were just so close. Gan coolly converted from the penalty spot and Teck Wah benefited from YC's square pass brought us from 0-3 down to a respectable 2-3 loss.

Despite the lack in fitness, tactical awareness and footballing brain...we still packed spirit aplenty!

Match #41: (30 Oct 10): We Stopped The Rot With A Thumping 6 - 1 Win

We were simply merciless in ending our 6-match winless streak with a resounding win over one of our closest arch rivals - Seafoodies. Our fear of our usual weakness - collapsing in the 2nd half - happened to them instead. Nobody would have imagined the outcome given that our past encounters have been keenly-contested and close affairs, and especially with the 1st half ended at 1 apiece. At the break, we trooped off the pitch thinking it was one of those days where luck deserts us. Gan hit the goal frame twice, KH fluffed a sitter in front of open goal, YC had an effort cleared off the line.

Teck Wah ended his nearly 3 months of goal drought with a hat-trick, and YC, KH and Weng Khong found the net as well. We could have scored more but it was almost the same story in the 2nd half - Teck Wah's turn to miss the open goal, Seafoodies' left-back bravely cleared Weng Khong's left-foot effort off the line, Gan failed to beat the out-of-position keeper.

Whilst we were rampant upfront, our defenders were tight at the back, and Brandon was not really tested. The win restored the smile on our faces. Overdue indeed.

Match #40 (24 Oct 10): The Streak Continues.......

We had only ourselves to blame for another loss - 2 - 3 against Man Utd Admirers (all decked in white Man Utd away jerseys). Simon put us 1 up with a sweetly struck effort from outside the box and Chye took full advantage of a gifted slide rule pass from MUA's defender to secure a 2-0 margin at half time.  Inexplicably, with a quarter of the match to go, we simply capitulated for no apparent reasons. The referee played a small part by ignoring a blatant push on Gan in the penalty box and later awarding MUA a penalty for an innocuous challenge by Chor Guan on their forward. Then again, there was no reason for us throwing the match away. Perhaps, we lost the fun in playing.

Match #39 (17 Oct 10): Losing Streak Broken .....

It was a very winnable match vs British Council. MS virtually camped in their half for the first 20 mins as BC was literally in 6s & 7s. For a while, we look like the team of our jersey, lots of possession but failing to put it in the net. A good cross from Chye found Simon after YC had occupied the attention of the central defenders. Simon finished well with his left foot. Unfortunately BC bounced back quickly as their forward cut in from the left and drilled a shot past our keeper.

The second half was surprising hard for us. A route one approach enabled BC to score against the run of play. Chye restored parity with a thumping freekick after Simon had caused the keeper to handle outside the box. Then we fell behind again. YC then shrugged off 2 challenges before burying a grounder to bring the contest to a climax. Both teams went all out for the elusive winner. It ended a thrilling 3-3.

The streak is broken but we still do not know the 'missing' link for the losses or to regain winning :)

Match #38 (9 Oct 10): Losing Streak Continues Against Pandan Valley

Our miserable form continued with 1-2 loss against Pandan Valley, who could have whitewashed us in the 2nd half but some inspirational goalkeeping by Gan kept them at bay. Apart from Gan's top form in between the posts, the other positive takeaway was Leo's notching his first goal of the season. Other than these two facts, the rest was largely forgettable.

Match #37 (3 Oct 10): 3 Losses in a Row, 2 - 4 against Yellow Fellows

We lost the last 2 matches, so happened Weng Khong and Leo were absent. They were present today, made no difference...except Leo deflected in an own goal :)

Against such opponent, our inferior fitness will worsen our downfall. Our both goals were quality - Mike nodded home a cross from some good football down the left involving Teck Chye and Kian Hwa, and Gan scored from an exquisite chip. But apart from those, we didn't really threaten much. We have to start turning things around....

Match #36 (26 Sep 10): A Match of Mud-Ball, 1-3 Loss

2nd successive loss in 2 weeks on an awful pitch. Spiritus, our holy opponents, didn't seem to be unduly affected by the pitch. Young legs and lungs have the advantages. All goals came in the 2nd half with Gan notching our consolation goal from the spot.



Match #35 (18 Sep 10): No Complaint of The 2-0 Loss Against Such Quality Opposition

Our first loss in more than 3 months was no shame. Sure, SCFC had the lion share of possession but we put up a gallant performance, had our chances to even overturn the result. The lack in quantity and more critically, quality, eventually were the telling difference between both sides.

Match #34 (12 Sep 10): MS More Than Took The Sting Out Of Venom

With a team formed by some ex-Commandos, in their 20s, a Scorpion logo on the chest and ferociously named Venom, we braced ourselves up for some hard time. Nobody would have bet a cent that we could lead at the break, let alone a commanding 4-0 lead. That we did, but after a couple of close shaves. 1st, Chung Wen produced the unthinkable come-from-behind goal line clearance after a communication breakdown between Brandon and our centre defenders allowed their 2 forwards to walk the ball into the net. When it seemed all too easy, Chung Wen denied them that glory with a determined rush-back to boot the ball away. Then Brandon recovered from a wrong-footed position to dive and palm away a certain own goal from Chor Guan. 

After surviving these early scares, we took control. Our break came courtesy from an own goal by Venom's right back, who headed a harmless cross past his keeper. Audi Goh posted a near-post glancing header from Mike's perfect cross from the right to bring us into a 2-0 lead. Mike then headed a long-punt from Brandon onto the path of KH, who then crossed in for Audi to nod in his 2nd of his 3 goals. Mike deservedly got his goal after some good work from Teck Chye, who robbed the ball and set Mike free. Mike skilfully placed the ball past Venom's keeper into the far post. 4-0 at the break. 

We could have gone 5-0 up early in the 2nd half but after beating the offside and set himself free, KH squandered the easy one-on-one, when Teck Chye was a much better option to convert the opportunity. Venom too had their lack of luck to curse for. They came close on numerous occasions but somehow missed the goal mouth by mere inches. Quick successive injuries to our dependable sweeper, Chor Guan and his stand-in, Mark, presented Venom with a flicker of hope. With both out of action, Venom stole 2 quick goals back to bring them into contention. But Audi put the issue beyond doubt when a nice one-two with KH presented him with a perfect opportunity to plant a firm shot past their keeper to top off his glorious week. 5 - 2!

Match report #33 (5 Sep 10): Strange to comeback frantically against OVA

How often do we get to play teams older than us and what's the probability that they have to play with 10 for much of the match? If that was amazing, what's more astonishing was the way we contrived to go 1-3 behind after drawing 1-1 at half time. Doubtless OVA had their imposing striker to thank for his 1-man 5-star contribution plus luck on their side when the ref awarded a soft penalty for them to go 2-1 up. We were punished for a tentative display that lacked ideas in attack against a deep-seating defence or was guilty of trying to play elaborate passes when simple ones will do - which explains how our goals came about. Chye's penalty and straight-from-corner goals sandwiched Kok Hock's header off Chye's corner delivery. All from dead ball situations that sum up a rather static, unsatisfying 3-3 draw.

Match #32 (28 Aug 10): Narrow 4-3 Win over Dons

The scoreline truly reflected a keenly-contested encounter between 2 "arch rivals" that know each other just too well. We recoverd from 2 goals down to lead 3-2 before gifting Dons an equaliser. But we squeezed out the last ounce of energy to nip in the winning goal late in the game. Without doubt, the 4 goal-scorers, namely Gan, Kian Hwa, Simon and Chor Guan, and the key assist-provider, Teck Wah (3 out of 4 goals came from his assists), enjoyed the limelight. However, one player played a significant role in our fightback goal and the winning goal - our left fullback, See Chiang. On each occasion, he not only broke up Dons' attack down their right flank but won the ball cleanly to turn it into our offensive moves.

Match #31 (22 Aug 10): Another narrow win over Old SJI

Rarely do we get opponents older than us and when we had today, we failed to capitalise sufficiently. Perhaps we find the field a tad larger than the usual SSC ones and hence lacked some cohesion. Nevertheless, we went 1 up in the first half, a clinical finish from Gan. Stretched the lead early in the second half with Chye's assured penalty. Thereafter, Old SJI with nothing to lose, kept the ball well and scored with a thumping effort from just outside the box. We held on for a 2-1 win, the third time in a row we had to hang in there.

Match #30 (15 Aug 10): Marine Sunday Held On To A Narrow 1-0 Win

Whilst it was uncharacteristic of us to throw away a 3-0 lead last week, it was unusual of us this week that we were able to hold on to an early goal for a narrow 1-0 win over Shades of Blue. Credit to our defenders - Chung Wen, Leo, Ng, Kok Hock and anchored by the Rock - for repelling SoB, which clearly enjoyed the majority of possession. Brandon saved us on a couple of occasions and SoB's poor finishing was their biggest culprit in not winning this match. Teck Wah notched the early within 5 minutes of the match. And that was it for us.

Match #29 (7 Aug 10): Marine Sunday Given Hell by Dell

The guys must be glad that it was timely that KH relinquished or, depending on which version of the story you choose to believe, had been relived of the on-pitch captaincy. Throwing away a healthy half-time 3-0 lead to barely survive the match with a 3-3 draw, one needs no imagination to anticipate what would have come out from KH's acidic tongue. But the team is now blessed with a cool head in the mould of The Rock, who calmly claimed that having assumed the armband after a long period of absence, he thought he was skipper only for the 1st Half. Now, that was the utlimate art of leadership :)

The scoreline served to reiterate the importance of midfielders to track back to defend. We scored our goals through our left-sided players - KH (2) and his replacement, Teck Wah in the 1st half. Each time, Dell's right midfielder failed to track back to cover KH or Teck Wah. Though Kok Hock had a large part to account for Dell's equalising goal after he lost possession at the mid-line, it might have been different if KH had tracked back to block Dell's scorer as the latter pulled wide right to receive the through ball before shooting from a tight angle to beat Brandon. Instead, KH was guilty of ball-watching.

Scintillating football in the first 40 minutes of the match. Thereafter, complacency set in and we were duly punished by the fervent effort of Dell. Within 5 minutes after the break, Dell notched a couple of goals, courtesy of our players in the midst of their late afternoon siesta. They thoroughly deserved to win the match but Brandon's brilliant reflex save at the dying seconds of the match kept the score respectable for us.

Match #28 (31 July 10): A Futsal 7 - 4 Scoreline!

Whenever we conceded 4 goals this season, we lost. It was thus rare indeed that we conceded 4 this time but walked away winning. However, if we had played for another 10 minutes, Mainland Chinese might have reversed the score.  It was quite a team effort. I meant getting the players. With only 9 players including a guest 2 days before the match, the team chipped in. Brandon offered to do his Ashley Cole/Glen Johnson acts, Mike unearthed Samuel as keeper and Bernard, who used to guest-play for us many years ago, Teck Chye brought in Eddie from Galacticos, and Rock recalled Kwok Khuen out of retirement. In the end, we had 14.

1H was durian-harvesting season, largely due to Mainland Chinese's atrocious goalkeeping. A miscued cross from KH dropped into the net with the keeper hopelessly out of position. That opening goal said so much of our luck. Mike then got ahead of the static keeper to nod in the ball at near post, courtesy of the in-swinging corner from KH. Weng Khong brilliantly ran onto a through ball to beat the keeper for goal No 3 and Teck Chye scored his 3rd goal in 3 successive matches, a delicate chip over the stranded keeper. Guest player Bernard walloped in our 5th goal. Mainland Chinese's 1st goal owed it to the sympathetic referee who refused to rule an obvious offside. 5-1 at Half-time.

We thought it would be a breeze in the 2H, especially when Simon capitalised on their horrendous defending to put the ball into the open goal from long range for No 6. Mainland Chinese reduced the deficit to 6-2 but Simon quickly restored the 5-goals margin when he converted a square pass from KH. 7-2. Mike, for all his good work, was however remembered for the miss of the season by a margin....just imagine, you all know there is a high fence behind the goal post. KH's square pass beat the keeper and reached Mike. 6 yards from open goal and yet, Mike scooped the ball not just over the goal post but over the fence behind the goal post. Now, you can imagine how wide the margin is :)

Mainland Chinese finished strongly towards the end, scoring 2 goals and piling pressure onto us with their stepped-up effort. It was too late for them though. A seemingly comfortable winning margin, the last 10 minutes were, however, not exactly comfortable to us.

Match #27 (24 July 10): A Dour 1-1 Draw With Purple Stars

Given the cool weather and astroturf pitch, we uncharacteristically (or maybe, unsurprisingly?) put up a lethargic performance and settled for a 1-1 draw with Purple Stars, formed by a few players from Pinkie United. Our only bright moment of the match came in the beginning of 2nd half when a sweeping move involving Simon & Gan set Teck Chye free and his cultured left-foot lob over the keeper came off the underside of the bar for the opening goal, which the match badly needed.

But we were caught napping at the back when their striker beat the offside line to trap down a freekick beautifully before beating Brandon with ease for their equalising goal. Apart from these 2 brilliant moments, the match was largely forgettable.

Match #26 (17 Jul 10): We Took Part in Water-Polo and Won 5-2

For 2nd successive week, post-match scruffle marred what otherwise would have been an enjoyable weekend kickabout.  If there was any saving grace, on both incidents, one of the Tang brothers was not around :D.  Perhaps, unknowingly, we might have been labelled as "bunch of thugs" by others. Then again, every such incident takes 2 hands to clap. We ain't Saints, but we are certainly no Devils as well.  Anyway, on a very water-logged pitch, we laboured to the extent of snapping every muscle to win 5-2 over SWAT. Teck Wah, Mike, Weng Khong and Gan (2) got us the goals.

Match #25 (11 Jul 10): Teck Chye Silenced IBM (Idiotic Big Mouth) in 1-1 Draw!

It was pure poetic justice that Teck Chye snatched the equalising goal at the dying moments of the match to silence the IBM of Gombak Rangers. Well, we thought we silence him but obviously, it was too much for him to take it. And we thought Techwood was bad, this IBM was worse. He not only brought shame to Gombak Rangers and we are more seriously concerned that our defence force has such Colonel in the ranks. Shame on him! Well done, Teck Chye! Well done, Marine Sunday!

Match #24 (27 June 10): 2 - 1 win over Eusoffianos

1-nil down at half-time due to some tentative defending and Eusoffianos continued piling more pressure on us in the 2nd half, coming close to extend their lead on a few occasions. Chor Guan equalised for us when he scooped the ball with his left foot into the net, after KH beat their right fullback on the left with his last ounce of energy. Gan sealed the winning goal when he planted a firm header into the net from a well-placed corner by Teck Wah.

Match #23 (19 June 10): Hard fought 4-3 win over Cabin Crew

Just 11 players on the roster, including 2 guest players and Mike, whose form and fitness is always in suspect especially after having missed the last 6 matches, and with a quality opponent in CCFC, we probably had chewed more than what we could swallow. But Mike had other ideas and he certainly made KH eat some humble pie with a hat-trick of goals to boot for. We exchanged lead with CCFC throughout the match. Though they had a couple of substitutes on the sideline, the morning heat had sapped them just as much. We were aided by Shah, the star midfielder of Babylon, to play for us in the final 20 minutes after Weng Kwan had to leave early. Shah certainly had played his part in helping us to overturn 2 - 3 score then. Teck Wah notched our winning goal, literally walking the ball into the net.

Match #22 (12 June 10): Toppling Top Ten

A severely under-strength Marine Sunday, but bolstered by 3 young blood in Chi Ping, Yi Xian and Meya, turned the tide around against TopTen, whom we lost 3-4 on 24 Apr. Despite playing the last quarter of the match with 1 man less, YC was sent off for an early rest for an "act of violence" after he stepped in to fend off the aggression of Top Ten's No 15 on KH, we plouged through the match with composure. A brace from Kian Hwa, including an unbelievable header which all the other players would have simply chested, and another from Gan sealed a 3 - 1 win. Our top scorer, Teck Wah, turned provider for all the 3 goals. I would let Brandon report on how we conceded the goal :)

Match #21 (5 June 10): Leng scored the winning goal ...!

Match report contributed by YC

These days, it's probably easier to strike 4D than to find any opponent older than MS. So it was hardly surprising as we geared up this morning for yet another battle of seasoned worn out limbs vs youthful flourishing exuberance.....reminded me of the sakura I saw in Hokkaido last week. These young boys or rather young men had just completed OCS and were commissioned as officers in Feb. They are at the prime fitness age of around 20 yrs old, not even half the age of most of us. As Leo revealed later that had he not been careful during his Sheares Hall days, he could well be the father of one of these boys....oops...I mean men..( Or Ci fer ....no longer boys).

As if facing such young opponent was not tough enough, MS decided to shower some fatherly love by gifting them the opening goal within 5 mins of the start. Young Officers (YO) sent in a freekick, Brandon tried punching it out but ball bounced off Kwan and landed right in the path of one YO player, who slammed into the open goal. 1-0. YO was full of running & covering every inch of the pitch speedily. They had better possession as MS struggled to keep the ball early on. So it was not surprising that YO increased their lead soon. They passed & dribbled their way, combining well to score a good 2nd goal.

Was MS going to face a massacre? Of course not. We may be oldies but we had fought back even from 1-5 down before so 2-0 was no big deal. On one of those rare attacks, Wah tried dribbling into the penalty box, but lost possesion & tripped. The ball bounced off a few YO players and landed back near Wah, who was still on the ground. Somehow he managed to squeeze out the extra bit to hit the ball towards goal while half standing. Think keeper was caught by surprise. 2-1. MS was fired up! Our defenders Guan, Kwan, Leng, Leo & Ng read their moves well & closed down their players quickly with Chye & Simon helping out in the middle and Khong & Wah trying to send useful balls in. Gan was the lonely striker with YC & Kok Hock supporting the attacks whenever possible. We knew we couldn't match them for speed & fitness. So off a freekick in our own half, Kok Hock decided to aim for YC who was positioned with the YO stopper just outside the penalty box. YC used whatever body strength from his skinny frame to hold YO stopper off & let the ball bounced. He turned and gently tap the bouncing ball away from the last man. As YC was ready to shoot, Wah came from the side & placed the ball beyond the keeper. This was a classic case of reaping the fruit that someone else sow. Luckily he scored. So 2-2. Game on!

During half time, we discussed our strategy for 2nd half. Simon suggested changing our formation to 4-3-1-2. We thought their defence was vulnerable to high balls and having another striker would put more pressure on them. True enough, Kok Hock, by now earning himself a reputation of sending in useful high crosses over their defence, chipped another beauty for Wah to lob over the keeper. For the first time, Old Birds were leading, what a surprise!

We played a compact game and were able to hold them off pretty well. But YO moved up a gear & equalised with another well taken goal to make the score 3-3. The game was pretty even but unfortunately for MS, YO took the lead when a square ball sent in by YO speedy & skilful right winger was sidestepped into goal by Leng like a true striker in the box, albeit wrong end of the field. But MS was not going to take that lying down. We attacked in search of the eaqualiser. We thought we had done it when Wah produced another lob but it hit the bar. On another occasion, Guan did an overhead kick but the ball went over. On the other end, we were vulnerable to their counterattacks but defence played superly. Brandon also saved MS on a number of occasions when they broke thru the defence.

So we narrowly lost the game 4-3. We thought we deserved a draw but we were satisfied that we gave them a good fight. Note than in addition to the huge age & fitness gap, YO had more players than MS's 13. So well done, everyone !

Match #20 (29 May 10): Lost 2-0 against Young Guns

Another bunch of young turks who are not even half our age, throw in the hot afternoon at 3pm, there you had it - we were up against nimble limbs, robust lungs and the element. We were crappy in the 1st half. They could have buried us there and then but had only 1 goal to show for, courtesy of some sloppy defending from us, allowing their skilful left winger to turn Chwee Leng, side-step Hock Leong and then blast past Brandon. The closest we came to scoring was Teck Wah's effort kissing the horizontal. 2nd Half saw a better performance from us. In Leo's words, KH had their right-back for lunch but his crosses were either overhit or well intercepted by their sweeper. Teck Chye missed a sitter when he had only the keeper to beat. Teck Wah's blasting shot from a free-kick rocked the left upright. But Young Guns rued their misses as well - a close-range effort that came off the foot of the post and a penalty saved by Brandon. As we were pressing for the equaliser, Young Guns launched a swift counter-attack that fully exploited the gap we left behind and our lack of pace. Their forward beat Brandon with a cannon ball. 2-0 loss was the outcome.

Match #19 (22 May 10): Whitewashing day

We played one of our best games in a long while against Mixes of White. We set out to contain their playmaker, No 8, and then to deploy Chor Guan to play behind our striker in the 2nd half to help shore up our midfield in the absence of Teck Chye and YC. We couldn't ask for a better outcome, with Chor Guan almost grabbing a hat-trick. Their No 8 was no doubt a class act and true enough, he gave us a couple of moments of fright early in the game, came close to score on two occasions and was their only threat to us throughout the match. But we did well to contain him and frustrate him to the extent that he called it quit mid way through the 2nd half.

I would not have described the result as a durian harvest season, despite the whitewash scoreline. We thoroughly deserved this win. Sure, Mixes of White had their chances, all except one came from their No 8. Whereas, several of us came close to add on to our tally. Of course, they brought out 2 stupendous saves from Seah in the 2nd half - a tip-over of a ball that was destined for the top right-hand corner and a point-blank save from a header. But we had Teck Wah hitting the frame early in the game, Gan's close-range header met a reflex save from their keeper, Kian Hwa's half-volley found the side netting and later saw his left-footed effort rattle the upright after a flowing move of football. Chor Guan completely missed a sitter that could have notched his hat-trick.

As commented by YC, all our goals were scored by our Young Guns. It was a match where the Young Guns were the Princesses and the Old Cocks played the Bridesmaids. The first 3 goals scored by Gan, Chor Guan and Teck Wah in that order were set up by Kian Hwa, Meng Hock and Weng Khong respectively. Then the Princesses decided they could do it without the Bridesmaids. Teck Wah picked up an overhit cross from KH and crossed in from the opposite flank for Chor Guan to head in his 2nd goal and our 4th. Teck Wah upped the ante and elevated his Princess status to a Queen with THE goal of the match - a brilliant solo effort to break the static defence line and beat their keeper with ease to complete his brace.

Match #18 (15 May 10): Won 6 - 2 against SingTel Kaki

Now, we know why Teck Wah lined up this opponent for us. Besides being a morale booster for us, it was also to help him boost his goal tally. Well, he helped himself to a hat-trick and was a constant threat down the right flank. Yong Chua contributed a brace, including the best goal of the match. Kok Hock opened his goal account with his 1st goal of the season, a coolly-taken shot from outside the box, after being set up by Teck Chye.

Match #17 (8 May 10): Drew 2 - 2 with Seafoodies

Again we melted in the morning sun at St Wilfrid, where we have been struggling at for quite a while. We should have won this match. We scored 2 good goals but also conceded 2 through lapses in concentration. But Seafoodies had to scramble to produce 2 goaline clearances to deny us the win. We were rather compact, restricting them to either shoot from distance or pass down the middle that posed no real threat to us. The heat sapped us and twice we lost our concentration and they capitalised on them to equalise.

Teck Wah got us our opening goal after a string of passes, particularly the final defence-splitting pass from Kok Hock, set him free to shoot the ball past the onrushing keeper. Before that, he lobbed the ball over the keeper from a tight angle but Seafoodies' last man got back in time to prevent the ball from settling into the net. Seafoodies equalised at the dying moments of the 1st half when their playmaker No 8 connected from a corner. That caught everyone flatfooted and their striker nodded the ball past the rooted Seah. 1-1 at half-time.

Yong Chua almost restored the lead for us but his goalbound header was scrambled away for a corner. But YC's next header from another corner helped set up our 2nd goal. Seafoodies' keeper couldn't hold on to YC's header and dropped the ball on the line. Weng Khong was at the right place to whack the ball in. Our joy was shortlived. The heat got the better of us, their right winger wriggled a free route towards our goal and unleashed a shot that cannoned off the bar. We failed to clear the rebound and their striker pounced onto the loose ball for their 2nd equaliser. 2-2.

Match #16 (2 May 10): A Labored Win over Pink

As usual, we arrived early. What's unusual was referee was early too. Some were asking where's the boss? He was in Taipei for whatever reasons....he he! Without the boss around, we were probably still half asleep when Pink opponent opened the scoring within minutes of the start. Think some of us had not even touched the ball. One could almost feel the wrath of the boss's roar from Taipei. We began to take control of the game thereafter. It did not take long for our goal to come. Gan took advantage of a defensive mix up to put us back into the game. Opponent was younger and full of running. Their only Malay player, a very young chap, was always a threat. Then a moment of genius from Chye put us 2-1 up. We were waiting but Chye decided to send his corner kick directly into goal instead.

Not long into the 2nd half, opp equalized with a deflected shot that flew over Seah into goal. Both teams then went in search of the winner. Off a freekick by Wah, both Mike & Chye went for the same ball. Instead of seeing them bundling the ball over the goal line, we saw two men in the net. YC was in the right place to first time the loose high ball back towards goal. Keeper was probably still distracted by Mike & Chye's little 'tete a tete' on the floor. He had a touch with his foot but it was not enough to keep the ball out. Pink went all out for the equaliser but we held on to grind out a deserving 3-2 victory.

Match #15 (24 Apr 10): Lost 3-4 against Top Ten

Our scrappy performance persisted throughout April, strange month indeed. Today, everyone seemed to have stepped into wrong-sized boots, including our usually dependable midfielders who kept giving the ball away. It was a very disjointed performance in the 1st half to say the least. We seized the lead through Teck Wah against the run of play, capitalising on their high line. Then they equalised through a direct free-kick. Gan pounced on another breakaway to put us 2-1 up before a poor giveaway allowed their star man to advance unchecked and let fly a stiff shot to beat Brandon. Another poor pass allowed the same star man to charge down the flank before setting up his striker to tap the ball in. 2 - 3 at the break. We kept the ball much better in the 2nd half. Gan squared the ball to Simon for our equaliser, or so we thought. Then, Top Ten made use of their height to nod in their winning goal from a corner. The scoreline could have been much worse had it not for Brandon who pulled off 2 fantastic saves and another 2 tip-overs to save us the embarassment.

Match #14 (17 Apr 10): Won 1-0 against Neighbourhood Kawan

Second successive week where we faced up against opponent comprising youngsters who are not even half our age. And this opponent was even more 'stylo' than our last week's opponent, with a few players turning up in full compression suit. But our grit and tactical discipline triumphed over individualism and showmanship. Yong Chua once again showed that joints and ligaments may be wearing out, agility may be eroding away, but class stays. His goal stamped class - after evading a tackle and seemingly losing his balance in the box, he steadied himself to place the ball beyond the well-positioned keeper for our only goal. But his goal would not have happened without that gritty tackle and superb interception from Chung Wen at the back. We converted that clearance into the winning goal in such fashion that even the football purists might have drooled. Against such team possessing youth and fitness, skill and techniques, we dug in and our defence line comprising Chor Guan, Rock, Weng Kwan, Chung Wen, Ng and Chwee Leng, with Mark providing the shield deserved our applause. 1-0 win but 10-nil satisfaction!

Match #13 (10 Apr 10): Lost 2 - 4 against Quality Young Boys

Our dismal performance continued. Not even YC's auspicious day could save us from our 2nd successive defeat. This young team, with all of them not even half our age, beat us 5-3 in our last encounter in Nov 2009. This time round, we did better in terms of twice seizing the lead before eventually caving in to their superior fitness and technical ability. Teck Wah got a brace, both coming from the left to set him up. But we came up short in fitness and holding on to the ball and those cost us the 4 goals conceded.

Match #12 (3 Apr 10): 2 - 3 loss against Cabin Crew FC

It was one of our worst games - disjointed, no fluency in passing, silly mistakes leading to the goals. Against a team which has never played in morning and could only garner just 11 players for this match, we surprisingly came up short. Individually, their players are no doubt much better than us but in terms of playing as a team, we could have done much better. We exchanged lead throughout the match - CCFC took the lead, courtesy of poor clearance by Brandon and poor marking by Kian Hwa, but Teck Wah and Simon reversed the initiative in our favour to put in a 2 - 1 lead at half-time. We capitulated in the 2nd half and gave away 2 further goals. CCFC could have extended the margin in the dying seconds but Brandon saved the penalty to deny them the luxury.

Match #11 (27 March 10): 4-3 comeback win against Morgan Stanley

Match of 2 MS. Of course, the real MS won ......

After being rained out for 2 weeks, our first taste of football was at a crappy pitch - narrow, bumpy and uneven. Morgan Stanley took to the atrocious pitch condition better than us. Marine Sunday had been pampered with the manicured astroturf pitch for far too long. Individually, they were a tad faster than us to the ball and were more robust in challenging for the ball. It wasn't surprising that we struggled a little throughout the match, trying to adapt to the pitch, controlling the ball and squaring up to them. Morgan Stanley peppered at our goal early in the match but against the run of play, we stole the lead through Mike. After being put through, Mike calmly rounded the advancing keeper and finished off smartly. But we didn't manage to hold on to the unexpected lead for too long. Their pace troubled our backline. Instead of clearing the ball, Ng was a step slower than their left winger in reaching the ball and tripped the winger instead. Morgan Stanley's cocky No 6 equalised from the resultant direct free-kick outside the box. 1st half ended 1 apiece.

If we had started our 1st half badly, the 2nd half was even more appalling. The defence was clearly devoid of any coordination and cohesion. Chwee Leng and Teck Wah gave the ball away cheaply on the right and this allowed their speedy left winger to rob the ball and send it into the box, which caused a mayhem among Brandon and our defensive quartet. We did everything except clear the ball out of the box and the pinball ended up at the feet of their striker in front of the open goal. Despite clearly in the offside position, the referee allowed his simple tap-in to stand. The referee seemed to atone for this bad decision when he awarded us a contentious penalty for a handball, when he was clearly not in good position to have judged it. Poor positional sense, both sides agreed. But Simon didn't capitalise on the good fortune as he shot straight at the keeper from the spot. It got worse for us as Brandon's lack of concentration spilled a simple tame shot from Morgan Stanley's No 6. Again, their speedy winger benefited from Brandon's moment of indiscretion to tap the ball into the open net. 3 - 1.

Situation looked bleak with less than 20 minutes to go but Marine Sunday are made of sterner stuff. The moment of truth came from an unexpected header from Kian Hwa to narrow the deficit to 3 - 2. This half saw more of our usual play from the flank and turnaround came from both flanks. Teck Wah's ball into the box eluded everyone except Kian Hwa who arrived at the far post to put the ball beyond the keeper. Parity restored, the extra shot of adrenaline put more spring in our steps and Morgan Stanley suddenly possessed the look of disbelief. More bewilderment was piled onto them. Kian Hwa exchanged a one-two with Weng Khong down the left before squaring a low cross into the box. Their clearance came off the shin of Mike and it was our turn to pick up the durian. Morgan Stanley came at us strongly in the closing stages but we managed to fend them off to complete another remarkable and memorable comeback. 4 - 3! A scrappy performance but a hugely satisfying win.

Match #10 (6 March 10): A Rocket to SWAT the Enemy

In the hot, sweltering heat and quite thin in resources, we managed to grind out a hard-fought 1-0 win against SWAT, who must have cursed at their luck, or lack of, at the loss. It was evenly balanced with either side deserving to win the match. But with Simon specialising in his long-range rockets, another beauty of such proved to be the match winner. Whilst Simon got us the winning goal, Brandon saved us the match with his heroics in the 2nd half, including his trademark penalty save to deny SWAT a certain equaliser.

Match #9 (28 Feb 2010): 8-0 against Old Men Orange

In See Chiang's words, we had a durian-harvesting season. And durians literally dropped at the feet of Mike and Gan to put in how-can-I-not-score goals. Even Chor Guan joined in the joy of the harvesting by notching our 8th goal. And another step signalling his comeback, Yong Chua also put himself in the scoresheet. For the record, Mike and Gan striked a brace each. Simon, Teck Wah, YC and Chor Guan completed the rout of OMO.

It was a shame that The Rock missed the moment of rarity - KH actually crossed in a decent ball for Gan to head in our 5th goal!

Match #8 (20 Feb 2010): 0-3 reverse to VS

Match #7 (13 Feb 2010): Won 2 - 0 against arch rivals Dons

It was the most satisfying win and complete, disciplined performance to date. With due respect to Dons, I still think the score line flattered them. Chor Guan missed a penalty, Gan placed a sitter onto the left upright instead of the open goal after Weng Khong sent in a perfectly measured cross, Teck Wah was denied by the horizontal in the 1st half and a contentious offside decision after a flowing, eye-pleasing move of football. Gan missed 2 more golden chances when put through to face the keeper. You just count for yourself. At the other end, we made sure we didn't miss The Rock, given the accomplished performance by Weng Kwan, who closed down on their forwards timely. Brandon, filling in for Seah, was hardly troubled throughout the match and that spoke volume of the sound defensive display by our backline led by Chor Guan. The greatest compliment must be that we forced their playmaker, No 22, and their Black Panther, Segar to play from deep instead of their usual more advanced positions as we denied them the space and time. And their left-winger had to switch from left flank to the opposite side out of frustration, and this demonstrated just how tight we played in our half.

For the record, Teck Wah and Kian Hwa got us the goals. Teck Wah nipped in just ahead of Dons' keeper to tuck in a goal after Chwee Leng and Teck Chye combined well on the left for the latter to set up his younger sibling for our opening goal. Kian Hwa beat Dons' offside line to latch onto Weng Khong's pass and rounded Dons' keeper for our Goal No 2. We had more than a bagful of chances to increase our lead but 2 goals were what we could manage.

And the most satisfying moment of the win? Yong Chua made his long-waited comeback with a 10-minutes runout. It was only 10 minutes but in his own words, "those 10 minutes meant a lot to him".

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YC's comments:

yes, it really meant a lot to me.....I mean it. I was hoping Chor Guan scored the penalty to make it 3-0 so I won't be too nervous when i came in. I didn't want to be blamed for them to launch a comeback or for us to concede any goal... haha. luckily the defence stood well. Well done.

Match #6 (7 Feb 2010): Won 2 - 1 against Team BBG

Mike kept up with goal-scoring form by heading us a lead but Team BBG equalised through a deflected goal that caught Brandon wrong-footed. 1st half ended 1 - 1 though we came close on a number of occasions. We continued pressing them in the 2nd half. Weng Khong combined well with Teck Wah to set up a delightful ball down the middle for Gan to lob over the onrushing keeper for our winning goal. Team BBG almost equalised in the dying seconds of the match when their playmaker whipped in a shot from the the left flank but Brandon denied them the parity with a superb tip-over.

Match #5 (30 Jan 2010): Won 4 - 2 against Mixes of White

We could have buried them early, and they also had enough clear-cut chances to win the match. They could have taken a comfortable lead in the opening 5 minutes but instead, we raced to a 4 - 0 lead by the 60th minute before disintegration set in, especially after the departure of our tenacious Teck Chye. We conceded 2 goals as they came back strongly at us. They left cursing their star player for his lack of conviction to put those gilt-edged scoring opportunities away. Surprisingly, who got us the goals? The one with the 2 left feet, KH and the one with 2 right feet, Mike. Each notched a brace. KH, who, ironically as a left wide man, couldn't put in a decent cross with his left foot, surprisingly, unbelievably, ironically as well, scored both goals with his, well, left foot! And Mike, who couldn't make a simple pass with his right foot, nevertheless stood heads and shoulders above most of us by scoring a goal each from a header and off his shoulder. Well, a goal is a goal!

Match #4 (23 Jan 2010): Consecutive clean sheet! 5-0 Trouncing of Air Force veteran red team

Too bad, I stopped the MoTM, it deprived Mike from a deserving MoTM. Then again, thank goodness, I stopped the MoTM, otherwise everyone would have been pulling his hair agonising over the choice between Mike and Gan. With only 11 players to start and lacking the usual regulars, both had to play out of their usual positions - Mike as the lone striker and Gan as the attacking midfielder. Boy, both stood up to be counted when it mattered. Gan was particularly menacing and at his striking best, notching an impressive hat-trick, 2 of which came from the assists of the hardworking Mike, who worked his socks off to pile tremendous pressure on their defenders. And he rounded up our scoreline with our 5th goal - he richly deserved that! Our opening goal came from our guest player, Woon. Given his lively play down the right flank, he would certainly give Teck Wah a run for the money. Impressive scoreline, impressive performance, and a clean sheet, thanks to Seah who produced a world-class mid-air dive to tip a ferocious shot over the bar in the opening 5 minutes of the match.

Match #3 (17 Jan 2010): Cleansheet! 2 - 0 against Shades of Blue

Thanks to some superb goalkeeping of Seah, who kept us in the game in the 1st half with 3 great saves, we managed to record the 1st clean sheet of the season, and our first in a long while. The big pitch and the morning sun were expected to be our biggest obstacles but the numbers, with a turnout of 16 players, helped. Teck Wah could have grabbed a hat-trick but had to settle for just 1. A fine move involving hard running of KH, a simple return pass from Simon, a screw-up cross from the overlapping KH, an intelligent dummy by Gan, and Teck Wah brilliantly finished it off with a first-time left-footed delicate shot that hoisted the ball over the keeper. Weng Khong then won the ball in the middle and laid it down the right for Teck Wah, whose first-time side-footed cross carried just enough weight to reach his brother across the penalty box. Teck Chye showed his left foot is just as lethal with a sublime chip over the keeper. 2 - 0.

Shades of Blue almost narrowed the deficit in the 2nd half when their right wing-back hit a Roberto Carlos-like freekick from the right flank but the ball cannoed off the foot of the right post. We dominated the game but we did no further than the 2 goals scored in the 1st half. 2 - 0.

Match #2 (9 Jan 2010): Won 3 - 2 Agst China All-Stars

A hard-fought win but not after some running rings by a bunch of young, energetic, skilful mainland Chinese. Chor Guan put us 1-0 up at half-time with a well-taken penalty. China All-Stars reversed the deficit into 2-1 lead with their incessant seige on our goal area in the 2nd half. But we made it count when it mattered, Teck Wah's header equalised for us after connecting a superb cross from Weng Khong from the right. Then Simon punished their communication breakdown in the defence and produced a delicate chip over their tentative goalkeeper for our winning goal.

It's confirmed that natural pitch is no longer suitable for us from the following observations:

1) Gan missed a glaring sitter in the 1st half

2) KH couldn't cross for nuts

3) Chwee Leng kept falling over himself in the 2nd half though he blamed it on his new boots

4) lastly, our Rock completely missed clearing a direct ball....

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Rock's comments:

Hahaha.... correspondingly

1. In football, even Drogba has missed such a sitter. With a little bit more of self-belief, the form & flow should come for Gan...

2. The pre-match talk was a motivational prep-talk which actually materialised into pretty good runs down the flank by KH with 'acceptable' crosses or clever passes back to Wah for more decent crosses & you see, that actually works!

3. You see, Leng is a sprinter & he needs flat ground to transport himself around.. hence the numerous stumbles :-)

4. Lastly, guess... KH meant that Rock did such a good 'dummy' it not only fooled our opponents but our own players as well... hahaha...

Match #1 (2 Jan 2010): 2 - 4 Loss against (who else but) Babylon

One-and-a-half months of no football clearly showed in everyone's play this morning. Rusty, poor touches, lack of fitness, poor positional play were all clearly in display in the 1st half, despite Babylon having only 8 players for some 1st 15 minutes. Yet we couldn't capitalise on the numerical advantage. Yet they still managed to snatch a lead with a fine individual effort. Then their striker outjumped our guest player, Tim to end the 1st-half 2-0.

Mike reduced the defict through a goal-mouth scramble but they quickly restored their 2-goals advantage with another individual effort. Weng Khong, Teck Wah and Kian Hwa conjured up our 2nd goal to make it 3-2. Despite running on half tanks, having played their 3rd match in 3 days, they are still far superior in fitness. A 3rd piece of individual skills produced their 4th goal and the match ended 4-2.

Still, it was a good effort from us. We remain hard to beat for them!