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It was a match of two halves. We were sixes and sevens in the first half against Tebing FC, which, no disrespect to them, we should have done better in this half than to concede two soft goals. We were not even containing them, let alone controlling the match. Second half saw us in our menacing self, reversing a 1-2 deficit at the break to eventually carve out a rather flattering 8-3 win.
Short of all the recognised central defenders, except for Rock, it was a case of wrong deployment of players in the two central defending positions by fielding Rock and Teck Chye (and then later replaced by Kama) as sweeper and stopper respectively. It was not a question of their capabilities but a matter of regularity and familiarity of them in these roles. Neither plays regularly in the assigned role, as simple as that. Generally, were were disjointed and appalling in the first half, with hurried play and misplaced passes. A tactical switch made at the break paid off. Instead of making two players not totally comfortable in their roles, we switched Rock, a specialist stopper, to his usual role and dropped Simon to sweep the line. Now, at least we had one player totally comfortable in his central defending role and that seemed to work in the second half as we imposed ourselves right from when the match resumed after the break.
Tebing FC were a big suspect in their backline that appeared vulnerable to crosses and defending against dead ball. They were just as static to cut off through balls. Four of our goals came from corners, the other four resulted from through-balls which they failed to read the running of our front players.
Teck Wah (3), Mike (2), Kian Hwa (2) and Woon completed the rout. We conceded a late goal in the second half, a scant consolation to Tebing.
Last week, we were awesome against Eusoffianos, a team of players ranging 14-18 years younger than us. But we were awful against Essex Lasallians, a team of players ranging 8-10 years older than us, today. We came up short in every department, we were lethargic and lost the first ball about 80%-90% of the time. We had our chances though but their keeper was simply brilliant to deny us 4 certain goals. We were simply bossed around in the opening 30 minutes of the match and conceded our first goal during then. We came alive in the last 15 minutes of the first half. Chor Guan's effort produced a stupendous reflex save from their keeper and the resultant corner beat their keeper but Chor Guan missed it by a whisker. 1-0 at the break.
We were rampant in the opening 10 minutes of the 2nd half. Mike's close range effort from a square ball by KH was brilliantly blocked by their keeper at the far post and then the latter snuffed out KH's feeble attempt from a one-on-one situation. In between, Gan equalised for us from his solo effort into the box before producing a left-footed shot to beat their custodian. We then allowed them too much space and time in our half and their patient build up paid off with another goal. 2-1. A fantastic double-act from the Tang brothers down the left had Mike benefitted from Teck Chye's cross to put the ball into the net. 2-2. Teck Chye was then unbelievably denied by their keeper at the edge of the penalty box when he was put through. At this juncture, the ploy to push Chor Guan upfront to try seizing a win backfired as they found space at our rear to notch further 2 goals to finish us off at 4-2.
In the past four encounters with Eusoffianos since we first met in 2010, we won thrice and each was a close win. The only loss against them was a 3-7 whitewash on 26 Jun 2011. And today, we let them have a taste of the medicine as we exacted a handsome 5-1 scoreline over them, although our first 3 goals were rather fortuitous. But nobody could fault us with our robustness, commitment and top-class work rate to close them fast and deny them space. Considering that they are 14-18 years younger than us, and with a few of them fresh from uni 2 years ago, we have every reason to be proud of and immensely satisfied with this unexpected result.
We almost opened the account early in the match when Teck Chye's delightful chip caught Eusoffianos' keeper hopelessly stranded but the ball came off the horizontal. Then Teck Wah forced a one-handed save from him, with the ball again coming off the upright. Then their generosity presented two durians to us - first, their defender totally fluffed a very tame square ball from Gan and even Teck Wah, just standing behind the defender, was shocked to see the ball coming to him. Just a slight touch from him converted it into our opening goal. Then, a horrendous clearance of a harmless looking through ball by their keeper gifted Alex to do another simple tap-in for his first goal of the season for us! Eusoffianos' only notable efforts in the 1st half were two long-range efforts from their two playmakers but Brandon dealt with them easily. Apart from those efforts, our well-marshalled defence comprising the steady Chor Guan, brilliant Chwee Leng, enterprising Woon on the right and the tenacious Chung Wen on the left were stingy on the space and time for them. Melvin, coming in late in the 1st half to relieve the midfield of increasing pressure from Eusoffianos, produced a delicate chip just outside the box. The ball again came off the bar but it hit the keeper for a rebound into goal. The Dubious Goal Committee would have judged this an own goal by Eusoffianos' keeper but on repeated appeals and threats by Melvin, we overruled the DG Committee to credit the goal to him...also his 1st goal of the season. 3-0 at the break.
Eusoffianos almost broke the duck early in the 2nd half but a brilliant reflex save by Brandon denied their close-range effort resulted from a free-kick just outside the box, which came from KH's robust tackle on their winger. Things were then evenly matched and then another avalanche of goals came in the last 15 minutes of the match. They earned another free-kick just outside the box which their defender gave Brandon no chance. Deficit was reduced but the gap was shortly widened. Teck Chye profited from another miscued clearance in their box and dispatched a left-footed effort to beat the keeper at near post. 4-1. Another forgettable clearance by their custodian allowed us to seize the initiative again and Simon's grounder squirmed under the keeper's body for our 5th goal. We had another handful of efforts on targets and our numerous forays into their box proved threatening but no further goals ensued. Final score: 5-1!
It's not often that we get referred to as the younger team, us with the grey strands and dodgy knees. But our opponents bestowed upon us that honour by the end of a tortured match that was played under the hot sun.
Like young men on a Friday night at Downtown East looking for a fight, or Teck Wah on his honeymoon, we were rampaging bulls in the first half. Before the match, defence showed attack how to score and so it was with our first goal. Off a corner, our opponents cleared the ball to the edge of the box. Rock did well to control it, made a shimmy to the right and then sent in a rocket which zoomed past their keeper. 1-0.
The game continued in the same vein. Our opponents were skilled and fit but no match for the crisp passing orchestrated by our midfielders. A move down the right sent Teck Wah through. He stretched - loads of practice on the wedding night - and stopped the ball before steering it past the keeper. 2-0. Then Chye sent a delightful ball into the box which Mike did well to get to and shoot past their keeper. 3-0. we were coasting.
Our opponents clawed one back when a diagonal ball was met by their striker who headed it past Brandon. Gan who stood in as a keeper had little to do before that. 3-1. We were not done.
Mark came in, pulled to the right and sent in a cross to far post which Wah did well to head past the keeper. 4-1.
Our finishing rate however abandoned us in the second half. Shots went agonisingly wide or were saved by the keeper. Until Simon picked up yet another poor clearance off a corner to do a Rock by steering the ball past everyone. 5-1. But our opponents fought back valiantly. One hopeful punt on the left had Brandon back pedalling but he couldn't stop the ball from hitting the net. 5-2.
Then a free kick took a wicked deflection and the ball sailed over Brandon's despairing dive. 5-3. Smelling blood, our opponents threw everything into attack but MS held on until the final whistle. 5-3.
The median age for Marine Sunday dropped sharply with the introduction of three subs of which two were employed. Raj, 17, Nigel, 13, and Reef, 12, were roped in as MS struggled to field a decent 11 for the match. Fortunately we had 12 able bodied seniors and the juniors who did play put up a gritty display.
Against the much fancied ex-HCJC team, Rock devised or contain and counter approach to the game which worked well. Our opponents charged from the word go as if it was a condo launch at Jurong East. They stretched MS with their clever inter-passing and step-overs. But on a quick counter, a Kamar diagonal pass found Chye lurking. Our maestro ran unchallenged to stroke the ball home. 1-0.
Ex-HCJC came back strongly and peppered Brandon's goal with pot shots from outside the box. But they squeezed into the box once and their speedy winger sent a hopeful cross which curled towards goal. Brandon got a hand to it but it crossed the line. 1-1. Upfront Raj held play with confidence while Nigel marshalled the defence like his father, steady as a Rock.
Second half mirrored the first and again it was a move on the right which resulted in MS scoring a second. Woon sent in a defence splitting pass which Mike controlled with his first touch. Mike then stroked the ball home showing Chye he too could finish with confidence.
Again ex-HCJC attacked in numbers. They threw everything at our half but Rock stood firm and thwarted everything and when he was flat out, Nigel took over. Raj had a glorious chance to score but their keeper pushed the ball out for a corner.
Then at the very last minute, a free kick on the right was floated in. Their striker was first to react and he nudged the ball over the line. 2-2.
A hard fought draw with a rag-tag team but it sure felt like a win.
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