Match #22 (24 May 08): 2-1 triumph over Galacticos

Our form can at best be considered indifferent this year, so far, that is. we were not good at all last week against mediocre opposition. yet yesterday, we were magnificent throughout. Galacticos may not fathom how they could not break us down. we had learned the lesson of the previous defeat against them at mjc. to counter the towering threat of dennis at corners, we had guan marking him in a switch with hleong who played the free man on those occasions. youth vs the experience of an old commando, tough job for the latter, but mission accomplished. our defence held firm and maintained the cool and discipline not to concede any penalties against the fleet-footed skillful galacticos. ng came to support us despite his toothache, and happily sat out the match ;) mark parked himself in the middle of our half and shielded the defence, the wingers providing good cover. st played link-up man, always near mark to enable us to move out of defence better. wah, gan, leng and terk worked their socks off to harass from the front and hold up play. it seems to me we played with more composure individually when each had the ball, and played simple passed (did everyone really read and apply the principles of basic football from the article?). we also organised ourselves more compactly, as hleong often reminded, as a team in defending and moving the ball around. more importantly, like good old pros, we chose to focus on the football and block out the noises (metaphorically as well) that goes about. at times like these, age does matter, cause you can't do more than to just keep your thoughts and actions purely on the match. let's keep it that way!

great start 1-0 (chiang): we kicked off and played assuredly, not letting galacticos' reputation affect us. what's there to lose? surprising, galacticos got off to a slower start than expected and we capitalised. we won possession in the middle of the park and sensing galacticos pressing, st put a hopeful high ball into space between 2 defenders in the penalty area, with wah and chiang exerting concerted pressure. chiang got the ball and powered his skinny frame through the melee and finished with aplomb.

breathing space 2-0 (terk): after an evenly matched first half, things got a little hotter in the second as galacticos started to put in high balls to trouble our defence. we stuck to our guts and tried to play the ball out of defence skillfully. mark battled against 2-3 galacticos and released the ball to st in the middle. terk was in sight and st sent a through ball which was fortuitously deflected by a defender. the ball ran into a better position for terk than intended. terk beat off the attentions of 2 defenders and slotted a grounder from the edge of the box. the near post shot caught the keeper by surprise and gave us extra breathing space.

lifeline 2-1: the high balls that galacticos played delivered results. off one of them, wilson, our trialist keeper could only palmed it into the middle of the box, leaving himself stranded. a quick thinking galactico first-timed it cooly into the net. game on! galacticos started to fly. another lovely move, a one-two followed by a clever back-heel opened out our defence. guan stepped in to block but the attacker still let fly a powerful shot directly toward wilson. wilson reacted instinctively to the piledriver with a superb tipover. that was probably the save that stopped the fightback. ms held on for a well-deserved win.