Looking at the composition of the opponent and how they kitted themselves, we thought it could be a stroll in the park or in our reference, durian picking. They, hereafter referred to as Blue & Green Thunderbolts, proved to be a much tougher nut, or rather durian, to crack. The eventual score line suggested a durian picking session, but that must be after trekking through thick forest to get to the durian trees. They are a bunch of young and energtic, and we suspect, ex-rugby players naturally full of fitness and possessing a decent level of skill but are lacking only in team cohesion and understanding among the players. After a few games in the bag, BGT will be a team to reckon with.
It was a record turnout of 19 players, with a couple of injured players sportingly joined in the pre-match team shot to capture probably our last turnout in the all-white kit.
We started confidently but the final passes didn’t do justice to the build-up. Our early possession of the play was not converted into goals and we needed a fumble by their keeper to gift us our 1st goal. BGT’s keeper somehow spilled Teck Chye’s feeble shot from outside the box and the predatory Teck Wah pounced on the loose ball to tap it home. 1 – 0.
We produced a few nice moves that were just pleasing to the eyes but yielded no result and BGT made us pay for our bluntness upfront and slack marking at the back. A corner from the right found their bespectacled last man to lose Simon’s marking and head the ball in for the equaliser before Brandon could get his fingers to the ball. 1 – 1.
The equalising goal boosted BGT’s confidence considerably and they began to gain the upperhand of the play. But a lack of understanding among their back four conceded their 2nd goal to us. Melvin swang in a quick free-kick from the right. The ball evaded everyone in the box but See Chiang at the far post. He stooped low to head the ball into goal to regain a 2 – 1 lead. And that was how it stood at the break.
Realising that we simply looked organised but were far from imposing, BGT began the 2nd half with a new found fluency in their movement and passing. The slack defending alternated between both sides and it was our turn next. We left their left winger plenty of space and time to swing in a difficult cross for Brandon to deal with and BGT’s bald eagle nipped in front of the out-of-position Brandon to poke the ball into the open goal to restore parity for the 2nd time. 2 – 2
Mike, back after a considerable layoff, was clearly short of fitness but he positioned himself well a few times to pose threat on the right flank. Gan nodded a high ball down into the path of Mike on the right and the latter’s square pass across the box required only a simple tap-in from Teck Wah, who looked suspiciously offside, for his 2nd goal and our 3rd. 3 – 2. Mike even had a later effort denied by the bar when he climbed well at the far post to meet a beautifully floated free-kick from Teck Wah. Before that, Teck Wah was denied of a goal when the keeper brilliantly dived to his left to push away a direct free-kick effort from him against the post.
We were then given a torrid 10-minutes spell by BGT, during which they reigned supreme and could have turned the game around with unbelievably 4 scoring opportunities. They squandered all and missed converting the gilt-edged opportunities into goals, which might have been pivotal to the outcome of the match. A series of swift passing put through their forward but with only Brandon to beat, he shot straight at Brandon instead. Another goal-scoring opportunity came a short moment later. Again, their mobility exposed our defence and they found themselves another go at our goal. We had Brandon to thank for, as he quickly advanced off his line to cut down space and parry the shot away. Then, twice, BGT’s forwards scooped the ball over the bar when they could have simply tapped in but the nerves must have gotten the better of them. We were simply thankful they were formerly rugby players!
Being so close to get their 3rd equaliser, they were visibly disappointed and were somehow affected by the misses. They then lost their cool and the plot, and things began to fall apart. They were further made to rue their misses with the introduction of Chor Guan and Kian Hwa to replace Teck Wah and an overworked Gan. After failing to find the net when he was presented with a couple of season-opening chances in the box, the jury was still out on whether Chor Guan could make it as a striker. But he proved his doubters wrong with a brace. The first came from an intelligent run in between the advancing keeper and the back-pedaling last man to meet an inch-perfect ball from Melvin on the right. Chor Guan chested the ball past the two and made no mistake with his right-footed effort that saw the ball trickling into the open goal, with our reserves on the sideline providing the rapturous cheers for his beautifully taken goal. He was then presented the simplest of task of another tap-in goal after Kian Hwa ran behind BGT’s left fullback to meet a defence-splitting pass from Yong Chua. With the keeper out to close down space, Kian Hwa unselfishly squared the ball to his strike partner for the latter’s 2nd goal. Before these 2 goals, the CG-KH partnership proved promising as a quick one-two between both released Kian Hwa into the box. KH’s miscued shot landed into the net nevertheless.
All of a sudden, BGT found themselves facing a 3 – 6 score line when they could have earlier grabbed the lead, if not of all those misses. More misery was to follow as we still had business to finish off. It was See Chiang’s turn to be the lucky recipient of another tap-in goal. He had Teck Chye to thank for after Chye overlapped from his right-back position to burst into the box, again drawing the keeper out of his position before passing the ball to his left for See Chiang to pick up another durian. 7 – 3!
We were on a roll and gunning for a durian harvest but the referee decided that the harvesting should stop. Final score stood at the score line that only told half the story.
Man of The Match: Chor Guan
With such a big turnout, it was quite a task for everyone to pick out his choice of MoTM but it also spurred us to think hard and recollect the proceeding of the match. Unfortunately, quite a number still got several facts wrong that this reporter-cum-editor had a busier time than before to straighten out the nominations. Furthermore, looking at the number of players nominated and the number of ties to break, I should have engaged an intern to run the statistics for me.
Out of 18 votes,
- Chor Guan had 4
- 5 players had 2 votes each – Yong Chua, Brandon, Teck Chye, Melvin and Kian Hwa (really, I didn’t manipulate!) – Now you know I had had a mammoth task at hand to break the tie!
- See Chiang, Weng Khong, Leo and Hock Leong garnered 1 nomination each.
Chor Guan (4 votes)
- “Again a number of players to choose from. My choice is chor guan. Good in defence, effective in attack. He looked fresh, can defend, can score, can assist. Maybe his only weakness is he can’t be a goalkeeper.”
- “MoM chor guan – steady at the back, lethal upfront”
- “MOM: Guan: showed his prowess both back and front”
- “…it is Chor Guan for me…” But no reason why so?
Yong Chua (2)
- “Yong Chua for MOM. Open up the play.”
- “MOTM – Yong Chua for slotting thru’ 2 beautiful passes, one to Kian Hwa which he redeemly crossed in for See Chiang to score & the other thru’ to Teck Chye which he directed a cross into the penalty box, again converted by the thankful durian picker, See Chiang J” Again, I had to correct the error…I fed the ball to Chor Guan not See Chiang. Nevertheless, this doesn’t take away the fact that See Chiang is confirmed a durian picker!
Melvin (2)
- “Melvin : no player really stood out in the game today. Giving the MOTM accolade to Melvin for trying hard despite a lack of match fitness, and rallying the others to stay calm when there were a few potential heated moments (a change isn't it since Melvin is usually the aggressor). And for the free kick which contributed to one of the goals.” For once, I didn’t need to correct any errors. Melvin is indeed usually the aggressor! J
- “MoTM. Melvin. Still far from getting match fitness but slowly regaining his touches. 2 assists. One from a quick-thinking free-kick and another was a pinpoint, intelligent ball in between the keeper and the defender that created confusion between them, allowing Chor Guan to sneak in.”
Brandon (2)
- “MotM is brendon for the few point blank saves.” Hello, Brandon, not Brendon!
- “MotM is Brandon for a vital save, otherwise they would have equalized and confidence boosted”
Teck Chye (2)
- “In the first half that i saw, MoTM goes to Tech Chye, for linking up play, helping in defence and spearheading some of the attacks”
- “…my nomination for teck chye. Made 3 goals and was a constant threat throughout”
Kian Hwa (2)
- “motm to you! hard work, created havoc for opponents, especially those you tripped, shoved and unmentionable (something to do with going in from behind!). not only that, created opportunities for team mates with incessant running and some very effective dummies in the box. deserve the goal too!” No doubt that the nominator was referring to this hard-at-work reporter-cum-editor J
- “[KW]. A pretty rough team and his muscling them down has helped Marine Sunday as opponent has lost their cool to play wisely.” This reporter-cum-editor had to verify with the nominator to confirm his choice. After some thorough questioning, he reluctantly admitted he meant KH….I supposed he wanted to acknowledge my feat but grudgingly. So he tried to confuse everyone with a smoke bomb, KW instead of KH J
I had to break the tie…..2nd to Yong Chua and 3rd to Melvin.
1 each for See Chiang, Weng Khong, Leo and Hock Leong
- “My motm=see chiang. Good overlapping work down the left flank and scored 1 goal. (Not sure 1 or 2 goals)” After being pointed out by this reporter-cum-editor that See Chiang scored 2 goals, here’s the follow-up “OK gd…goal poacher instinct. Right place at the right time.” I supposed this nominator meant SC is a good durian picker! J
- “MoM is weng kong. For a great performance dancing in the middle and spraying the passes to spark the attacks” Very disappointed with this nominator. Having played in the team for so long, he still cannot differentiate Weng Kong from Weng Khong.
- “MOM - Leo for his all round solid game.” All round, he meant.
- “Motm - Hock Leong, was running all over the field to cover the midfield, supporting the strikers and still played well in defence making important tackles.”
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