We wanted to end the calendar year 2008 with a grand slam but we were instead slammed hard against Brickwork Boys, a team comprising several ex-national players in the moulds of Tan Kim Leng, Tan Sio Beng, Lim Soon Seng, who was reportedly part of 1998 Tiger Cup winning team. The rest of the team was no lightweight, easily must have paraded their skills in S-League or the NFL at one point in time of their footballing life. On the contrary, nobody would believe by any stretch of imagination that our Melvin used to play for Police SA in the old NFL in the 90s. And out 2nd noteworthy war story is a former varsity player in the shape of Teck Chye. As for me, I turned up for trial in primary school and I recalled Cikgu barking at me “If you are any good in football to represent any school, I’ll eat pork!” I went on to represent my primary school in mixed netball team but that didn’t count.
The difference in the quality between both sides is not Malacca Straits, not Persian Gulf, not South China Sea but an Indian Ocean apart. If there were any positive takeaways from the match, it must be the fact that the match organizer thought rather highly of us to pit us against BB. Take it as a compliment then.
I can’t help but to, again, draw comparisons against the Newcastle-Liverpool match on 28 Dec. Except that this time round, we were like Newcastle United, totally dominated by the opponent. Another similarity is that Shay Given was the Man of the Match in that match; Brickwork Boys would not argue that our Brandon stood up to the onslaught. However, much as we were hardly in possession of the ball, we managed to keep the loss to a mere 2 – 0.
For what we come up short, real short, in techniques, skills and fitness, we valiantly made up for the shortcomings with a lion-hearted spirit and steadfastness. We knew what we were up against but we didn’t start out to be defensive and park a bus in front of the goal. Naturally, and not surprisingly, we were simply pinned back against the wall. Half the time, we defended in desperation, throwing bodies and limbs to block the shots. The other 50% of the time, we simply defended stoutly, especially if you had looked at the facial lines of Mark, the overstretched hamstrings of Tim, the injured thigh of Weng Kwan, the huff-and-puff of our full backs in Joe, Leo and Chwee Leng. Not forgetting the over-worked midfielders who had to drop deep to cut down space. Of course, we had our Brandon who, time and again, bailed us out.
BB must have been equally frustrated that given their embarrassingly near total domination, they could only muster 2 goals, each a class act in itself. A through ball, one of the many throughout the match, evaded the last-ditch outstretched leg of our left fullback, Joe, and allowed BB’s lanky forward cut into the box. Seeing a string of white lilies lined up across the penalty box, this forward unleashed a shot out of the blue from the outside of his right foot that Brandon, slightly out of position, must have thought the lightning just flashed across the evening sky. 1 – 0 to BB.
Our only shot at goal in the 1st half came unexpectedly from a rebound off Weng Khong’s shin when Kian Hwa harassed the BB defender to clear the ball but defender was a tad over confident, choosing to pass out instead of clearance. The ball came off Weng Khong but landed harmlessly at the feet of BB keeper.
2nd half was more of the same for BB – domination and control, spraying passes and switching the ball from flank to flank effortlessly. Whilst it was painful for us to chase after the ball, it was pleasing to the eyes of the neutral to see how Brandon executed a few vital saves. Whilst his handling of the ball still leaves much to be desired, the saves and his coming-off-the-line to narrow the angle deserved huge plaudits. 2 balls bound for the top corner of the goal were parried away, 2 came off his body after he alertly charged out and bravely put himself in the firing line.
But we eventually conceded the 2nd goal. Superb close control of the ball enabled BB to breach our defence. Brandon again came off the line to narrow the angle but their forward rounded our No 1 with ease. Anticipating him to shoot at the open goal, Mark and Kian Hwa threw themselves at his flight path, only for him to intelligently cut the ball back across the penalty box for a simple tap-in by the same lanky forward who scored the 1st goal. 2 – 0.
Much to the credit of both sides, BB did not step off the pedal and they continued to pound at our goal; and we did not give up. In fact, we had a couple of half chances – See Chiang won a high ball in their box but his header went wide; then Gan did brilliantly to out muscle 2 defenders on the left but Teck Chye’s effort to meet Gan’s cross was smothered by their left fullback.
2 – 0 was the final score, and a respectable one.
And yes, there was a 2nd positive takeaway from the match, or rather, mismatch. Having played such quality opponent and held our own admirably, without meaning to sound cocky, we should have no fear for other opponents.
Man of The Match: Brandon
Given such a lop-sided match and our defence constantly under the spotlight, it wasn’t surprising that from which department the MoTM came. In fact, there were only 2 nominees – Brandon and Mark. And Brandon walked away with the MoTM, with miles to spare.
Out of a total 14 votes, including guest player Tim but excluding the other guest player Joe, Brandon had a lion share of 11 votes! There you go:
- “MOM for SAFRA game - Brandon for his good saves”
- “Brandon. Multiple saves and kept us in the game”
- “MoM between Brandon n mark. Think vote Brandon for keeping our score down.”
- “Brandon. Superb goalkeeping and some excellent saves”
- “My MoTM goes to Brandon. This had to be one of his best games. Good teamwork overall and I would also like to mention that there are some real hardworking players tonite that spur us on.”
- “Brandon for an inspirational performance”
- “MoM Brandon. His saves kept us in the game and withstood the range of long shots, one on ones, corners, goalmouth melees etc.”
- “Significant moments of the match? Those stops from Brandon, especially a couple of times coming out of his line to unsettle opponents. That’s motm!”
- “MotM = Brandon. Outstanding & confident goal keeping. We don’t seem to miss Seah… J”
- “MoM – Brandon. Countless saves”
- “The saves didn’t go unnoticed but I believe most will state the obvious. My choice of Brandon as MoTM is simply for the vast improvement and immense confidence he has shown. But please brush up the ball handling and distribution!”
And for Mark:
- “Mark MoM – marshaled def, only beaten once in 60 mins” [Nominator, why 60 mins?]
- “MotM Mark. Commanding presence against tough opponents”
- “MoM: mark for holding the defence very well”
Keep it up, Marine Sunday!
The difference in the quality between both sides is not Malacca Straits, not Persian Gulf, not South China Sea but an Indian Ocean apart. If there were any positive takeaways from the match, it must be the fact that the match organizer thought rather highly of us to pit us against BB. Take it as a compliment then.
I can’t help but to, again, draw comparisons against the Newcastle-Liverpool match on 28 Dec. Except that this time round, we were like Newcastle United, totally dominated by the opponent. Another similarity is that Shay Given was the Man of the Match in that match; Brickwork Boys would not argue that our Brandon stood up to the onslaught. However, much as we were hardly in possession of the ball, we managed to keep the loss to a mere 2 – 0.
For what we come up short, real short, in techniques, skills and fitness, we valiantly made up for the shortcomings with a lion-hearted spirit and steadfastness. We knew what we were up against but we didn’t start out to be defensive and park a bus in front of the goal. Naturally, and not surprisingly, we were simply pinned back against the wall. Half the time, we defended in desperation, throwing bodies and limbs to block the shots. The other 50% of the time, we simply defended stoutly, especially if you had looked at the facial lines of Mark, the overstretched hamstrings of Tim, the injured thigh of Weng Kwan, the huff-and-puff of our full backs in Joe, Leo and Chwee Leng. Not forgetting the over-worked midfielders who had to drop deep to cut down space. Of course, we had our Brandon who, time and again, bailed us out.
BB must have been equally frustrated that given their embarrassingly near total domination, they could only muster 2 goals, each a class act in itself. A through ball, one of the many throughout the match, evaded the last-ditch outstretched leg of our left fullback, Joe, and allowed BB’s lanky forward cut into the box. Seeing a string of white lilies lined up across the penalty box, this forward unleashed a shot out of the blue from the outside of his right foot that Brandon, slightly out of position, must have thought the lightning just flashed across the evening sky. 1 – 0 to BB.
Our only shot at goal in the 1st half came unexpectedly from a rebound off Weng Khong’s shin when Kian Hwa harassed the BB defender to clear the ball but defender was a tad over confident, choosing to pass out instead of clearance. The ball came off Weng Khong but landed harmlessly at the feet of BB keeper.
2nd half was more of the same for BB – domination and control, spraying passes and switching the ball from flank to flank effortlessly. Whilst it was painful for us to chase after the ball, it was pleasing to the eyes of the neutral to see how Brandon executed a few vital saves. Whilst his handling of the ball still leaves much to be desired, the saves and his coming-off-the-line to narrow the angle deserved huge plaudits. 2 balls bound for the top corner of the goal were parried away, 2 came off his body after he alertly charged out and bravely put himself in the firing line.
But we eventually conceded the 2nd goal. Superb close control of the ball enabled BB to breach our defence. Brandon again came off the line to narrow the angle but their forward rounded our No 1 with ease. Anticipating him to shoot at the open goal, Mark and Kian Hwa threw themselves at his flight path, only for him to intelligently cut the ball back across the penalty box for a simple tap-in by the same lanky forward who scored the 1st goal. 2 – 0.
Much to the credit of both sides, BB did not step off the pedal and they continued to pound at our goal; and we did not give up. In fact, we had a couple of half chances – See Chiang won a high ball in their box but his header went wide; then Gan did brilliantly to out muscle 2 defenders on the left but Teck Chye’s effort to meet Gan’s cross was smothered by their left fullback.
2 – 0 was the final score, and a respectable one.
And yes, there was a 2nd positive takeaway from the match, or rather, mismatch. Having played such quality opponent and held our own admirably, without meaning to sound cocky, we should have no fear for other opponents.
Man of The Match: Brandon
Given such a lop-sided match and our defence constantly under the spotlight, it wasn’t surprising that from which department the MoTM came. In fact, there were only 2 nominees – Brandon and Mark. And Brandon walked away with the MoTM, with miles to spare.
Out of a total 14 votes, including guest player Tim but excluding the other guest player Joe, Brandon had a lion share of 11 votes! There you go:
- “MOM for SAFRA game - Brandon for his good saves”
- “Brandon. Multiple saves and kept us in the game”
- “MoM between Brandon n mark. Think vote Brandon for keeping our score down.”
- “Brandon. Superb goalkeeping and some excellent saves”
- “My MoTM goes to Brandon. This had to be one of his best games. Good teamwork overall and I would also like to mention that there are some real hardworking players tonite that spur us on.”
- “Brandon for an inspirational performance”
- “MoM Brandon. His saves kept us in the game and withstood the range of long shots, one on ones, corners, goalmouth melees etc.”
- “Significant moments of the match? Those stops from Brandon, especially a couple of times coming out of his line to unsettle opponents. That’s motm!”
- “MotM = Brandon. Outstanding & confident goal keeping. We don’t seem to miss Seah… J”
- “MoM – Brandon. Countless saves”
- “The saves didn’t go unnoticed but I believe most will state the obvious. My choice of Brandon as MoTM is simply for the vast improvement and immense confidence he has shown. But please brush up the ball handling and distribution!”
And for Mark:
- “Mark MoM – marshaled def, only beaten once in 60 mins” [Nominator, why 60 mins?]
- “MotM Mark. Commanding presence against tough opponents”
- “MoM: mark for holding the defence very well”
Keep it up, Marine Sunday!
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