Match #12 (26 Mar 11): Poor MS Trounced Rich MS 8 - 0!

Exactly a year ago at Yio Chu Kang Sec Sch, where we first and last played against Morgan Stanley, it was a bruising come-from-behind narrow 4 - 3 win. We expected some stiff opposition but we managed to secure the first clean sheet of the season instead. 6 different scorers - Gan (2), Kian Hwa (2), Simon, Chwee Leng, Yong Chua and Leo got into the scoring act. They found our backline - Chor Guan, Weng Kwan, Rock, Leo and Ng - a bit too miserly to their liking.

Simon opened the scoring by with an adroit steal off the keeper's spill, followed by Leng notching one with his lefty on a rare (nowadays) promotion to frontline.  Gan tapped in a sitter off a wonderfully-executed layoff from the unselfish Kama and KH outsped everyone to score from a tight angle.  The scoring continued in the second half with Gan benefitting from Simon's challenge of the last man to score one on one with keeper, KH notching his second with another lung-bursting dash, YC slotting with typical composure off a route one kick from brandon and leo scuttling all the way up from right back to score a scientifically-measured and executed shot which ricocheted off the post and keeper.

Poor (relatively) but rich (figuratively) all the same :)

Match # 11 (19 Mar 11): Great Hearts, Fantastic Win!

Nobody would disagree with me that Teck Wah played a big part in this close encounter with Hearts, setting up the 1st goal for Simon and scoring a brace himself. Neither would anyone dispute with me the impressive contribution of Teck Chye in his out-of-the-world burst that beat Hearts' full-back flat and set up his younger sibling for the winning goal. But this win was actually made possible by the men of steel at the back - Chor Guan cutting out all the high balls, Rock throwing his body and limbs to block all shots, the trademark crunching tackles of Ng, the cool head of Leo and how Chwee Leng, as a right-back in the 2nd half, sprinted across the box to the left to nullify a breakaway counter-attack by Hearts.

The match was settled at half-time but we were literally on the backfoot throughout the 2nd half so great credit to our rearguard! Chung Wen, another man of valour, unfortunately pulled his hamstring in the 1st half and had to retire early. Fantastic 3-2 win!

Match #10 (13 Mar 11): A case of old wine is ......

The scorching 3pm sun would have melted everyone on the plastic pitch but our cohesiveness ruled the day after a difficult 1st half trying to get adjusted to the heat and contain Feca.FC, another bunch of young and energetic players. Feca registered their intent right from the start. Their playmaker, No 33, unleashed a scorching shot that Brandon managed to tip it onto the bar. Both sides made use of the narrow pitch to benefit from the throw-in to score their the 1st goal. Gan knocked down a throw-in onto the path of Simon, whose miscued shot travelled nicely to KH for him to head the ball past Feca's keeper. 1-0. Feca then produced a copycat when their throw-in put Brandon under tremendous pressure and he lost out in the tussle with Feca's striker who headed the ball into the net. Feca then won everything in the midfleld that had our resolute defence stretching to their limit. We also produced a handful of chances but apart from producing some scares for their keeper, nothing was on target. We managed to hold out 1-1 at half-time.
2nd half was a sheer case of our grit vs their guille. Whilst they have a few players comfortable to move with ball, we moved the ball around better. Strangely, they opted to play a high defence line when we proved in the 1st half we could breach it. They paid dearly for it. Teck Wah did everything right except finding the target - hitting the post, effort just over the bar, goal-bound effort cleared off the line. But he set up both Gan's goals. He first aimed his free-kick at the post for Gan to be perfectly positioned to receive the rebound. 2-1 up. He then beat their high defence line to receive a high ball and spray a cross-field pass that had Gan sliding the ball past the off-positioned keeper. In between Gan's goals, Simon breached their static high line to receive another through ball to register his goal. 4 - 1!

Match #9 (6 Mar 11): Marine Sunday in a non-event or is it?

Compared to the exciting vibes of Liverpool's 3-1 win over Man U, Marine Sunday's Sunday afternoon out was totally uneventful, more akin to Arsenal's goalless draw with Sunderland - hold it, that's not quite exactly the score!

Other than the referee sending off the opposition's niggling little CEO in the first half, we magnanimously allowing a replacement and the said CEO having the cheek to reappear on the pitch prior to the start of the second half (he had subsequently to eat humble pie and trotted back to have an early shower), there was hardly any action of note.... except that the ref magnanimously awarded a non-existent penalty to allow opponents to open the scoring, and then we magnanimously gifting 3 more goals before the ref again magnanimously awarding another penalty (soft) for opponents to complete the coup de grace.  The said ref then awarded us a penalty, not magnanimously but deservedly, which we magnanimously though not deservedly, failed to convert.  All in all, a sequence of unfortunate events in a strange strange weekend!

Let's look forward to the next match!

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