Match #10 (14 Feb 09): Another Flattering Scoreline Despite a Scrappy Performance!

Except for Leo who remains our only Mr Romantic, we had almost a full turnout who forsook our domestic love for the love of the beautiful game last Saturday at Safra Ten-penis against Modello.

Despite the apparent quality and abundance of experience in the starting line-up, we had an uncharacteristic shaky start that defied any logic. Within the first 60 seconds, we almost gifted them a goal when sloppy passing involving Weng Kwan, Ng and Chor Guan caught Brandon out of position but our custodian recovered in time to block a certain goal on the line. Despite the close shave, we continued to play with laden legs as if everyone had rounds of humping before turning up for the match. Modello duly punished us when an innocuous pass evaded our back four and allowed their striker to slip through with ease and planted a left-footed shot past Brandon for their opening goal. 0 – 1 down!

Modello faded rather quickly after a bright start. Our quantity, for once, mattered. After introducing fresh pairs of legs, we began to run rings around them. A cross from Weng Khong on the right reached Teck Wah at the far side in the box. Not surprisingly, Teck Wah produced the equalizer. It was not just his perfect execution of the half-volley that produced the beauty but the goal was a timely tonic to calm down our nerves and set the rhythm for us. 1 – 1! And we began to run riot in the remaining 1st half. Kian Hwa then produced 3 crosses from the left in quick succession. The first presented a sitter for Gan but his lack of sharpness and confidence was too glaring for anyone to ignore, he screwed the golden opportunity to increase his tally; the other two put the Modello’s defence in sixes and sevens but without any damage to them.
Gan revealed that he was discerning and simply being selective on whose cross he wished to convert. Later, receiving a similar square pass from the left, Gan put the ball into the net but not after a near miss as the ball seemed to veer away from goal before hitting the right post into goal. 2 – 1 now. Yong Chua and Simon increasingly stamped their authority in midfield. Modello aggravated their misery with their cumbersome movement at the back. A hurried clearance went as far as Simon in the middle of the park and he nodded the high ball onto the path of Teck Chye, who was allowed to advance into the box unchallenged. With the entire defence still rooted onto the ground and mesmerized by Teck Chye’s grace, Teck Chye walloped a left foot cracker that the hopelessly-out-of-position goalkeeper could only grasp for air. 3 – 1!

Teck Chye then helped himself to a brace when he was brought down just outside the box. Confidently waving Simon away and taking over the resultant freekick, Teck Chye sent the ball to the top right-hand corner of the goal beyond the keeper’s desperate reach. 4 – 1 and we were in total command. The Tang brothers demonstrated that Valentine’s Day is not simply restricted to lovers. The brotherly love prevailed on the pitch again when Teck Chye squared another grounder from the left and Teck Wah had the simplest of tasks to tap the ball into the net. 5 – 1. We seemed to do no wrong, but we flattered to deceive. Brandon saved us from conceding another goal as his wonderful positioning blocked an one-on-one effort from Modello in the box. They persisted and punished us for another piece of sloppiness at our back. Mark needlessly gifted possession away and the giveaway proved costly as we produced all sorts of comic acts at the back except to clear the ball cleanly. Modello capitalized on our indiscretion and reduced the deficit to 5 – 2! Needless to say, our backline heard the thunder roaring across the sky….from the gallery! Mike then answered the critics with a perfect pass down the left flank that forced Gan to turn on his motor and race for the ball. Another simple pass into the box and Teck Chye popped up to grab his hat trick with glee! 6 – 2 and the timing could not be any better for Teck Chye to remind everyone that he is still the one to reckon with despite his younger sibling’s sparkling form.

No further damage was done to either side and we ended the match with a 6 – 2 win.

Man of The Match: Teck Chye (10 out of 19 votes)
“My MOTM goes to T Chye. Having not played a full match and to score a hat-trick and provide at least 1 assist, you cannot deny him of the MOTM award - fantastic game he had!”
“Motm: teck chye: excellent freekick, unselfish pass to his brother for a goal, hatrick, u name it, u have it.”
“Mom is teck chye for hat trick”
“Chye – for the hattrick”
“MOM to chye. Happy to see him back to scoring form. Took his chances well. Could have more. One assist as well.”
“Motm go to teck chye. Constant threat on the field. 3 well taken goals, inclusive of a outstanding freekick”
“Vote goes to teck chye. Goals and assists killed the game as a contest for our opponents.”
“Teck Chye. Not the hattrick but rather, good finishing when it matters.”
“Motm goes to teck chye, for scoring the hat trick. Scored a beautiful free kick just outside the box.”
“Motm: teck chye. 3 well taken goals plus lots of good build up play. Special mention to chwee leng who had a solid game at right back.”
The younger Tang grabbed 4 votes. Do we have any siblings to dilute the Tang effect?
“My MOTM for today's game is Teck Wah for his first goal that breath confidence back into a shaky start.”
“I was going to nominate Kok Hock as MOM but i figured that is his usual high standard of play, holding and running with the ball and acute distribution. Teck Wah is my choice this match.... saw him everywhere - crossing from both flanks, stealing balls midfield and ultimately scoring the goal which burst the opponent's party balloon and momentum.”
“motm teck wah – score our 1st goal when we r 1 goal down…that build up our confident..”
“Most would go for Teck Chye. But I opted for his younger bro. His first goal, our equaliser instilled some belief in us and rectified the rubbish performance from us before that.”

Simon’s authority in midfield did not go unnoticed as 3 nominations went to him:
“Motm goes to simon. He controlled the midfield and made a few defence splitting passes.”
“Despite the incredible goals and defensive play my vote goes to simon. Wonderful passing that led to a few goals and disciplined defensive play. Weng Kwan comes a close second”
“Motm to simon tan. His defence splitting passes resulted in many goals. His best game so far.”
Brandon and Kian Hwa had 1 consolation vote each:

“Mom Brandon – solid perf”
“MOTM for Safra game - Kian Hwa. make a few good crosses in 1st half and challenge for balls well.”

[Editor: One can’t help but feel that whenever KH was nominated, it was out of sympathy as the vote usually came from the eventual MoTM himself. If each player could nominate himself, which is not disallowed anyway, KH might not even get any sympathy vote :)]