Ouch! Winless in November

November was a wet wretched winless month! 2 losses which was caused mainly by poor turnouts and i admit it, arising from operational difficulties and lapses (like giving guest players wrong timing!). the bright spots were the spirited fightbacks against a very strong opponent (XSRCNFLTR) and impossible circumstances (fr 1-5 down to Gombak Rangers). As the match reports indicated, there were things to laughed abt as well.

the year is coming to an end, so one last spurt everyone to avoid the worst ever record in MS history! and don't forget to make yourself available for our annual year end get-together!

Match #49 (29 Nov 08): To call or not to call.....

To call or not to call, that is the question. the turnout numbers was fluctuating the whole week right up to the morning of the match. with chye took our team name too seriously this week, khong remaining trapped in the warm hospitality of bangcock and mike suffering an inexplicable bout of food poisoning, we have only 9 players for the day (which includes guests yap and benny)! our opponents were a good mix of malays, indians and chinese youngsters, with what looks like a few coaching staff by the sidelines. yet for one looking like a seriously drilled outfit, they didn't have a team name. in any case, it was going to be a long day.

we started with 2 more guest players for MIC Red Team. Ref blew for kick-off assisted by 1 linesman. MRT was all over us at the beginning but the difficult field reduced their fine approach play to end tamely for goal kicks. they had to pepper shots from outside which posed no problem for seah. however, there endeavor was rewarded as a powerful cross deflected off st's shins and their midfielder thumped in the loose ball. the ref was one of those fresh young trainee types who went by the book all too literally. a punted through ball was received by a clearly-offside player, and he ran through to score. in response to our protest, the ref said the linesman didn't flag. of course, he didn't....he was still walking around the perimeter of the field to get to his position! to call or not to call.....

second half was a lot better as we defended the bumpier side of the pitch. we knew it would be difficult to size up shots so we concentrate on our shape. with mark providing industrious work to shield the defence of benny, yap, ng and brandon, we staved off many dangerous moves. even then, MRT tried to get into the mud-caked box a number of times and seah produced superb stops to deny them. we had a few chances but it wasn't for us to score. Wah got a deserved straight red for telling the ref and linesman what he thought abt the size of their brains and appendages. his view was truely vindicated as he returned to the pitch after 12 minutes in an act of defiance which the ref and linesman had no answer to (the ref has piontedly refused to grant my request when i politely asked for wah to be allowed back to play after 10 minutes of cooling off has passed). in the last 5 minutes, we went all out to get a goal and was richly rewarded. a clever through ball from st forced the keeper to fumble outside his box when challenged by our guest player from MRT, who duly rounded him to slot into goal.

final score 1-2. doesn't feel at all like a MS match. so to call or not to call......

Match #48 (23 Nov 08): Another draw, another comedy

match report by the comedic kh

The winless streak continues. But the comical index remains high.

Perhaps, life is never dull with KH in goal. One thing for certain, he is never quiet. You can either find him commanding in the box or from the body language of Weng Khong, irritating. Secondly, he never keeps clean sheet - he has let in 10 goals in the 3 matches he kept goal. He has conceded more goals than he scored throughout the season. Thirdly, and more memorably in whatever sense you choose to, he lets in a silly goal in every match. But this time round, he added a huge dosage of self-directed, and self-inflicted drama to the silliness. And that silly goal allowed Orange United to snatch a hard-earned 3-3 draw in the dying moments of the match, when they should been staring at an embarassing defeat.

Orange United must have found us a worthy opponent. They are younger, technically better and more organised on the pitch than us. Yet they had to come back 3 times to equalise. That spoke volume of our resilience, if there is anything noteworthy of us. (Oh, for that matter, they needed a silly goal conceded by us, or rather by KH, to avoid a defeat. That spoke volume of our ahem.....man in goal.)

Orange United stamped their intent from the opening whistle and in less than 10 touches of the ball, they created the first offensive foray with a through ball when our defense was holding a high line. Credit to this shameless reporter, he was alert to rush off the line to meet the through ball before their striker did. It was hardly surprising thereafter that they dominated the proceedings but our defensive quartet, especially the 2 old warhorses in Ng and Leo, kept them at bay.

Against the run of play, we stole the lead in a rather hotly-contested situation. Chor Guan was allegedly infringing with his high foot to win the ball in the box but the man in the middle ignored the opponent's cries for an offence. CG left the rooted Orange United defence fuming as he coolly slotted the ball past their keeper.

Then the sky opened up and the heavy downpour turned the match into a water polo match with both sides struggling to get the ball going on the water-logged pitch. The rain stopped in time as the whistle went for half-time with us holding a slender 1-0 lead.

When the match resumed, the superb pitch drainage restored the playing surface to its glittering best. And that suited Orange United with their blend of slick passing and technical skills. And they didn't take long to equalise. Their nippy striker (short, a bit plump but trust me, fast and skillful) eluded the attention of both Hock Leong and Chor Guan and nipped in between them to meet a delicate chip with a perfect header to place the ball into the lower left-hand corner of the goal, beyond the desperate reach of KH's under-length hands.

We regained the lead through who else but Teck Wah. Where he and Gan were very much restricted in the open play, Teck Wah proved he was just as clinical with dead ball situations. From a free kick outside the box, he whacked a low ball through the wall that took a wicked deflection. Much as the Orange United custodian tried, his dive was an inch short to reach the ball. 2-1.

Nippy striker again punished us when he capitalised on the miscommunication, or rather lack of communication, between our central defensive duo to zoom in from nowhere to meet a free kick. His faintest connection with ball was enough to divert the ball past the stranded KH.

Parity restored but Orange United must have marvelled at our third goal, undoubtedly the goal of the match. Teck Wah raced to the left flank to recover an overweight cross from the right. His subsequent cross into the box was converted superbly by See Chiang's hardly reliable left foot and the first-time volley left everybody in awe. 3-2.

Then KH discovered his talent in comedy with his first comical act - he unceremoniously slipped and fell onto the drain grille when recovering a ball. The second comical act was played out in the final moments, with him in the thick of action from beginning to the end, writing the script, producing the act and directing the play. Firstly, a poorly executed goal kick by him sent the ball directly to their forward on the one-third line. Seeing KH out of position, Orange United forward hit a high ball towards goal. Every Marine Sunday player stood rooted on the ground as the goal-bound effort looked destined to embarass KH's lack of height. Surprisingly, KH recovered in time to palm the ball away but it came off the right vertical. Marine Sunday still remained motionless and failed to react to the rebound as they couldn't believe KH could reach out to the ball. As KH came to his senses and desperately recovered to cover the loose ball, another Orange United forward followed up with no one in tow, evaded the hopeless stretch of KH's arms, and tucked the ball into the open goal. Ng's laughter went off, just like he did in the last match.

So, it was supposed to be an overdue win we were looking at but it ended up with another draw, one that was conceded by our eccentric clown, henceforth referred to as BG.....Bruce Grobbelar....or Ga-bra?

Match #47 (15 Nov 08): We were cushioned by SOFA!

match report by kh

After two splendid successive matches of come-from-behind draws, we were certainly up for any opponents on 15 Nov. But before a ball was even kicked, what could go wrong went wrong for us, leaving us with a molehill, which would later turn into a mountain, to climb before squaring up with SOFA.

Non-availability of many first-choice players left us depleted, rendering us to call up a record five guest players. One pulled out on the 11th hour, one was erroneously informed of the kick-off time and thus missed the match. Two could not find the way to the pitch and arrived late, and we started the match short of two men and conceded an early goal before these two guest players, Terk and Kok Hock, arrived to make up 11. And the ultimate straw of bad luck was cast upon us mid way through first half. Leo, rumoured to be on the bookies' payroll, raised further suspicion when he took our custodian, Brandon, out by stamping onto the latter's wrist. So KH had to fill in between the posts on an emergency basis and swapped with Brandon, who had to later resume play as an outfield player to make up the number. Then Weng Khong had to withdraw from the 2nd half due to a romantic rekindling with ex-flame, leaving us short in quantity again, when we were already deficient in the quality department. So, there you had it, somebody must have encountered a black cat the night before.

Let's be honest. We don't think much of Brandon as an outfield player. Then again, Kian Hwa was worse as a goalkeeper. Shortly after we gained the lead, he conceded one of those goalkeeping howlers that could potentially wreck a goalkeeper's career - he let a tame, innocuous-looking shot from outside the box slip under his body for SOFA's equaliser. If Seah or Brandon had conceded this goal, you would have first heard KH yelling from the other end of the pitch. Yet, the defence line comprising Weng Kwan, Kok Hock, Ng and Leo kept the frustration to themselves. But when KH conceded his 5th and our 6th goal - a typical looping ball exposing his deficiency in height, Ng couldn't help laughing!

Well, if there was any consolation, Tottenham Hotspurs' Gomes came up even worse in how he conceded the first goal against Fulham later in the evening. Moreover, even though KH conceded five out of our six goals, he also pulled off five saves in the 2nd half. One of which was a typical Peter Schmichael quick-off-the-line to block a shot in the 6-yards box. And not forgetting his drop kicks posed quite a fair bit of threat to the opposing keeper. So, KH's damage was mitigated, there is still a bit of hope for him to retain a place in the team :)

OK, enough of shameless self-praise. For the record, Terk equalised for us at 1-1, then we gained the lead through Mike after SOFA could not clear our corner. Then the rest, refer to preceding paragraphs.

Terk led the front line well, most of the time on his own and chasing after the long punting ball from KH's drop kick. He even created an opportunity in the 2nd half for Kok Hock, who smacked the ball against the horizontal. The other 2 guest players, Alex and Kok Hock, gamely shouldered on a lost cause for us. Brandon gave his best, though obviously not comfortable in an outfield position. Weng Khong was regaining his form with his work rate. Yong Chua led by example and played through the pain barrier due to his swollen toe. Mike, despite the rustiness, gave what his sore back could afford. And the defensive trio of Weng Kwan, Leo and Ng, their indomitable spirit despite facing endless onslaughts from SOFA was simply admirable. And you only need to listen to Ng's laughter when we conceded goal No 6 that well, all is still OK....notwithstanding the 2-6 score line!

Match #46 (9 Nov 08): Mother of All Comebacks!

an excellently written match report by KH - must read!

For whatever he had inflicted onto his people and the world order, which could not be condoned in the eyes of many, I must at least thank Saddam Hussein for coining the term Mother of All Wars. Since then "Mother of Whatever" has become to signify the ultimate, the pinnacle, the never-before, the greatest ever kind of thing. Lest I unknowingly caused grief to the those who suffered, I must reiterate that I am no fan of SH ("for I AM KH": ed).

Really, if anyone had witnessed any team fighting back from 5-1 down with less than 15 minutes left to snatch a draw, he would thank himself for having a strong heart and no asthma. Arsenal-Tottenham Hotspurs 4-4 thrilling draw and Marine Sunday's twice-from-2-goals-down unbelievable 3-3 draw last week against XSRCNFLTR paled in comparison to this match against Gombak Rangers, although many felt that last week's comeback was more satisfying than this latest comeback.

Without any disrespect to Gombak Rangers, we should not have put ourselves in such precarious position in the first place - an immobile frontline, an overrun midfield, a porous defence, and of course the usual few static players, all presented GR with a flattering 5-1 lead with less than 15 minutes to go. Even Rafa Benitez, with his now famous half-time dressing room pep talk in the 2005 Champions League Final against AC Milan, would have struggled to summon any positive words to urge us on. But huge credits to Hock Leong and Leo, they did. And I analysed post-match where they gathered that last ounce of mental strength and strong belief. I found out the possible reason. One is in insurance line, one is in MLM business and people in these 2 fields are huge (also read, blind) fans of Anthony Robbins - they believe they could walk on fire!

In about 10 crazy minutes, we left Gombak Rangers shell shocked as they left the pitch wondering what hit them. Call it football tsunami, we hit real hard, and the outcome was devastating, to state the least. Nobody should be denied of the immense satisfaction of snatching a result against all odds. Similarly, we should pull up our socks, tighten up and shape up ourselves. How we let them overrun us with such ease, to the extent that it was embarassing, needs to be addressed with immediate priority. GR was far inferior compared to XSRCNFLTR, but Marine Sunday on 9 Nov was 10 times worse than Marine Sunday on 1 Nov!

For the record, Chor Guan levelled the game at 1-1 after we conceded a sloppy opening goal. CG raced through to pick up Teck Chye's high through ball and lobbed over the keeper for the equaliser. Thereafter, more sloppiness ensued and fast forward, we were 5-1 down and all looked hopeless.

Hock Leong and Leo stepped up and uttered what could possibly become even more famous than Rafa Benitez's words. Leo's simple "C'mon, Marine Sunday, we can do it!", Hock Leong's war cry "Guys, just get 1 more goal!" did the tricks. After GR's keeper pulled a splendid top-drawer tip-over save to deny Teck Chye's point-blank header, his heroic counted for nothing as the resultant corner produced our goal No 2. Teck Chye couldn't connect with the corner but his brother did, with his trademark half volley.

So, 1 more goal, we did. But we are lousy mathematicians, I suppose. Either that, we are plain greedy. 1 became 4. We didn't know when to stop. And we reckoned losing 2-5 or 2-7 would have made no difference. We boldly played 3 at the back - Weng Kwan, Hock Leong and Ng, and pushed Chor Guan up to add more bite in attacks. And in the process, we wrote a new chapter of history for Marine Sunday.

Another corner from KH, another goal. GR's clearance looked destined for an own goal until their defender intervened on the line to head the ball out. As we were crying for a goal, as the ball had seemingly crossed the line, Chor Guan followed up with a thumping header to put away any doubt. 3-5!

Gan, we suspect he was a Military Policeman in his NS days as he could really stood still without moving much in the match, decided to desert his stiffness and produced a delicate chip from the left flank that exposed GR keeper's deficiency in dealing with high balls. Suddenly, a shocking result looked not too far away with 4-5!

Teck Chye was then put through, he rounded 2 defenders but his final shot was too straight at the keeper. KH then missed the Mother of All Sitters as his header in front of the gaping goal was, well, Mother of All Misses! This was after Leo put in some fine work on the left to whip in a measured left-footed cross.

Fittingly, for all his encouragement and earlier fine work on the flank, Leo deservedly gained the limelight as he beat the offside trap to receive Teck Chye's through ball. Seeing the keeping rushing out to narrow the angle, Leo lobbed the keeper and the ball took a bounce, then hit the underside of the horizontal before crossing over the line. Amazing 5-5 now.

And there was still enough time for more drama as GR mustered enough strenghth and sanity to launch one final attack. Brandon blocked the initial shot in the box but the follow-up to the loose ball was just 2 inches wide off the left upright. If that had gone in, it surely would have been such a dampener! But we left the fun at that, 5-5 draw!

For the record, this was not the first time we recovered from a huge deficit. Those among us who have played with Marine Sunday long enough, the last time we fought back from a forlorn lost cause to snatch a, coincidentally, 5-5 draw was on 2 May 2005 at St Wilfred. I suppose we are Veterans of All Comebacks!

Match #45 (1 Nov 08): Spurred!

match report contributed by kh.

For those who couldn't wake up to watch the pulsating north-London derby on Thursday morning that ended in an incredible 4-4 draw, today's match against XSRCNFLTR was just as adrenalin pumping. The match ended in parity but not before Marine Sunday recovered twice from 2 goals down to force the last minute equaliser to 3-3.

Despite starting the match with 2 men short, XSRCNFLTR kept possession and stroked the ball around the pitch patiently. They were clearly in an opportunistic mode, not pressing too hard forward but looking for breakthrough. The opening 5 minutes were an yawning affair until they striked. A momentarily lapse in concentration by Mike failed to track their nippy left winger, who ghosted in from the blank and beat Weng Kwan to the ball before unleashing a half volley from outside the box. Stand-in keeper, Kian Hwa got his finger tips to the ball but the feeble touch was only enough to divert the ball onto the right upright and into goal. It certainly wasn't an auspicious start for KH, who has not stand in between posts for years and his first real action was to pick the ball from the net.

Marine Sunday was stung into action but found XSRCNFLTR an even tougher nut to crack as their late arrivals made up the number. We carved up a few half chances but didn't really cause a bead of sweat to their custodian. Neither did we give them much space in our half as well, as See Chiang, Mark and Simon worked their socks off to break up their play, and Mike and Ng exerted influence in their fullback roles to add robustness in our defence. Clearly superior in techniques and movement, XSRCNFLTR threatened to breach our defence on several occasions but our defence held them at bay. However, we didn't manage to hold out before the half-time. A poorly cleared free-kick allowed their midfielder to whack in another half-volley that sailed across the box and fooled KH along the way. Just as his first piece action of the match was to pick up the ball from the net, KH's last piece of action before the 1st half ended was just as similar and miserable. 2-nil down at half-time.

Marine Sunday showed enhanced urgency as the match resumed. Brandon came in for the rusty KH. We gained upperhand in the early moments. Working to plan, we pulled a goal back. As much as he is a lazy player, Teck Wah time and again bail us out with his predatory and clinical strikes. It wasn't at all surprising that he added to his tally. A through ball found him on the right and he slotted the ball low to the keeper's left side to reduce the deficit.

The goal added spring to our strides. We countered their fluency in movements and passing with our robustness and spirit. XSRCNFLTR being what they are, they punctured our new found confidence with their 3rd goal. A ball deep into our box wasn't fully cleared by Weng Khong and their right winger pounced onto the loose ball to square to his fellow striker to tap it home.

Again we were 2 goals down but we didn't let our heads down. Ng added bite to the attack and his right-footed shot from outside the box, after cutting in from the left, saw the keeper fumbling with the ball. Our seemingly lazy-looking Teck Wah was at his most alert mode and he was the quickest to follow up to the loose ball with his left-footed volley, beating the keeper comprehensively. Again, we were just 1 goal away to force a tie.

Teck Wah almost snatched his hat trick as he beat the offside trap to receive another through ball but his intended lob over the keeper failed to materialise.

Despite having our influential Yong Chua and Mark out of play in the closing stages, Simon and Teck Chye stepped up to orchestrate our midfield with Weng Khong and Mike on the flank and Chwee Leng sportingly offered to drop back into right full back.

Teck Wah, clearly enjoying himself upfront than playing as a wide man, made space for himself on the right to receive a through pass. He had all the time in the world to tee up a cross to the far post. Simon's header forced a superb reflex save from the keeper. Just as we held our heads in disbelief by the reflex save, our anguish extinguished immediately and was replaced by ecstacy as the ball dropped into goal. The equalising goal proved to hit their raw nerves as it caused an internal strife between two XSRCNFLTR players. Whereas, Marine Sunday players were jubilant and not to be bothered by their embarassing internal scuffle. We couldn't wait for the referee to restart the game as we were clearly having the tail wind with us and riding on the crest. Sensing more volatilty in XSRCNFLTR, the referee sensibly blew for the final whistle.

3-3...a fantastic match not for the faint hearted...and certainly not the weak-spirited like XSRCNFLTR.

By the way, XSRCNFLTR stands for Ex-SRC NFL Team....Rejects. Even then, they are still much superior than us in techniques, movement, fitness but I can't say much on the teamwork and spirit aspects. Well done, Marine Sunday! Despite the half-time heated exchange among us, we carried ourselves superbly on the pitch to snatch the game away from under their nose!