One side of the bizarre 8 – 4 score line suggested that we were a rampaging bull. The other side also suggested that we could be as listless as a castrated, domesticated bull, i.e. an ox to concede that many goals against Semangat United, a team made up of a bunch of abang-ade kawan kaki folks. Crazy football was certainly very much the order of the day! The uninitiated could not be blamed for thinking we played this match on a basketball court! Semangat United comprises players in a wide spectrum of age, ranging from a couple of wise guys in their late 40s / early 50s to a couple of teenagers, who are probably in the midst of their bull-like raging puberty and who would terrorise us with their speed. Further, they possess two national players lookalike – Indra Sahdan Daud and Noh Alam Shah and both were good for their money. However, as a team, it was clear they have not been playing regularly enough.
It was not entirely a satisfying match but a few positive takeaways provided some bright sparks. First, Melvin opened his account for the season with a sublime goal that brought back memories of Glenn Hoddle. Not only that, he lasted one half before switching to keep goal in the 2nd half. Next, Gan regained his scoring touch and more importantly, his confidence with a hat-trick in 2nd half, after guarding the posts in the 1st half. Not surprisingly, these two featured prominently in the MOTM nominations. Last but not least, Teck Wah showed his unselfish side with 5 assists and willingness to play for the team with his voluntary taking over the right-midfield position in the last 25 minutes of the match.
SU was guilty of playing a high line in the 1st half and were thoroughly punished by us. They would have conceded further ground if the referee had not been kind to them with his numerous whistle-happy offside calls against us. We did not take long to threaten when Teck Wah squared a grounder into the box for his strike partner, Kian Hwa. Instead of taking a crack at goal in that glorious position, the latter did not appear confident enough to do so when he should have. Instead he teed up Teck Chye whose feeble left-footed shot lacked direction. KH later squandered another golden chance when he and Teck Wah exchanged passes on the left before Teck Wah squared in another low cross into the box for Kian Hwa running into the box unmarked. KH trapped the ball well with his right foot and, with only the keeper to beat, followed up immediately with a left-footed snap shot that somehow found the foot of the keeper instead of the gaping goal. KH, cutting a distraught figure, was anything but sharp!
Melvin, getting back into better shape as the season progresses, showed glimpses of his glory days. And what a statement he made with that sublime goal to start the floodgate. Fetching the ball just outside the box, Melvin could have advanced further with the path opening up for him but he spotted the keeper to be slightly out of position. That was enough for him to chip the ball that curled away from the stranded keeper and dropped just below the bar for our 1 – 0 lead!
Strangely, SU persisted in playing a high line despite slower in recovery and with the referee bailing them on a few occasions. A few breakthroughs that we managed to beat the offside calls, we made them count. Our 2nd, 4th and 5th goals resulted from breaching their high defensive line with through balls. Simon’s through pass found Teck Wah beating the offside trap, who then advanced with Simon and Kian Hwa supporting on each side. With the keeper drawn out to the edge of the penalty box, Teck Wah passed the ball to his left for Simon to poke the ball into the open goal. 2 – 0! Yong Chua contributed to our 3rd goal with a brilliant piece of individual skill that could pit his goal against Melvin’s for the goal of the match. YC’s sudden turn left his marker grounded and went on to beat another defender before planting the ball past the advancing keeper into goal. 3 – 0! Kian Hwa then atoned for his earlier misses with a goal, courtesy of Teck Wah’s assist. Teck Wah released the ball onto the path of Kian Hwa running from deep, who then controlled the ball surprisingly well as he charged towards goal. Again, the keeper came off his line to expose the goal and KH’s left-footed swipe at the ball was enough to get it past the keeper. 4 – 0! Kian Hwa’s attempt to return Teck Wah the favour was smothered by the keeper. KH beat the defender well with pace on the right. Spotting Teck Wah at the far side unmarked, KH’s final square pass intended for Teck Wah was too weak and that allowed the keeper to cut the ball at the edge of the 6-yards box.
Just when SU looked down and beaten, they had other ideas. Typical of such team, relaxed in their attitude and turnout for the match, SU did not seem perturbed with the deficit and punctured our complacency with 2 goals, both capitalizing on our slackness and lack of communication at the back. Their 2nd goal saw their Indra Sadhan lookalike doing an Usain Bolt with a flashing sprint to get to the ball in between Kok Hock and Gan, who was surprisingly retreating back to goal instead of dealing with the ball. In between their 2 goals, Teck Wah broke through again with the SU defenders calling for offside in vain. Teck Wah rounded the keeper with ease to finish the half at an unbelievable 5 – 2.
SU resumed the 2nd half by plugging the gap at the back with their Noh Alam Shah lookalike anchoring the defence and unleashing 2 teenagers who caused some considerable damages to us. But they could not beat our revitalized Gan who swapped his gloves into his scoring boots to such devastating effect. Dusting the dust off his shoulders, Gan notched an impressive hat-trick to show that he is far from over the hill. The first was a screamer about 25-yards from goal. With the SU defenders crowding in front of him, Gan let fly a shot with minimal backlift on his foot that caught the keeper off-guard. The second came from outside of his right foot after Teck Wah found him in the box with a defence splitting pass. Gan beat both the recovering defender and the keeper closing down on him when he side-footed the ball into the far post. The 3rd goal came from a well-worked understanding among the front trio. Teck Wah got the ball to the byeline, spotted both Kian Hwa and Gan in the box and squared in another low ball. Kian Hwa ran towards the near post, drawing a defender to him but sold him a dummy instead. Gan was the grateful recipient of the ball and his crisp shot burst the net.
SU found enough space in our half and their Route One tactics aimed at getting the ball to their 2 teenagers at both flanks. This simple approach paid off handsomely with both flankers wreaking havoc at our back four and their Indra Sadhan lookalike notched another 2 goals in between our goals to complete his hat-trick as well. They hit the woodwork twice and Melvin did well with a couple of saves to keep them at bay. Otherwise, the match might have ended with a table-tennis score! Final score was an incredible 8 – 4 win for us.
Man of The Match: Melvin
Deservingly, Mel had his best game and notched 6 nominations out of 13.
“Motm is Melvin for his brilliant 1st goal and his first half performance, stringing good passes, giving instruction to players, play smartly.”
“Mel. Score 1 goal 1st half and make few good save in 2nd half when he stand in for keeper.”
Motm goes to Melvin. Good link-up play and passing despite lack of pace. Great opening goal.”
“Motm: Melvin wins it. Gan would have been automatic choice for his hat trick but overall contribution, Melvin tipped the scale. Lasted the whole match (notwithstanding one half as keeper), scored a brilliantly measured goal, had quite a few tricky dribbles in midfield n kept goal soundly with his creaking ankles”
“Vote goes to Melvin. Nice goal and good plays in 1st half. Was also good as keeper in 2nd”
“MOM to Melvin. Prob his best game so far. Scored a good goal, played thru the half. Was composed as keeper in the 2nd half, make a few saves.”
Gan was not far behind with 4 votes:
“Gan. He has defended well in the first half of the game and also attacking well in the second half especially when he attempted a direct shot outside the box with pinpoint accuracy resulting in a goal.”
“Gan for 3 well taken goals”
“Gan, kept goal well in 1st half and scored confidently in the second. A deserving hat trick and motm.”
“Close call between Melvin and Gan. Both scored goals that were good for their confidence. Both also kept goal well. I tossed the coin, it turned out in favour of Gan. No, that was not how I decided. Recently, he has been under a lot of fire for his misfiring, his hat-trick will prove the doubters and his critics wrong! So Gan is the MOTM”
“Gan. He has defended well in the first half of the game and also attacking well in the second half especially when he attempted a direct shot outside the box with pinpoint accuracy resulting in a goal.”
“Gan for 3 well taken goals”
“Gan, kept goal well in 1st half and scored confidently in the second. A deserving hat trick and motm.”
“Close call between Melvin and Gan. Both scored goals that were good for their confidence. Both also kept goal well. I tossed the coin, it turned out in favour of Gan. No, that was not how I decided. Recently, he has been under a lot of fire for his misfiring, his hat-trick will prove the doubters and his critics wrong! So Gan is the MOTM”
Simon’s hardwork in the midfield did not go unnoticed and he garnered 2 votes whilst Teck Wah was nominated once:
“My motm is Simon. He controlled the midfield well, created a few goals with his defence splitting passes”
“My vote goes to Simon. Was consistent throughout and supported every attack. The fact that he lasted the whole game was doubly impressive”
“My motm is Simon. He controlled the midfield well, created a few goals with his defence splitting passes”
“My vote goes to Simon. Was consistent throughout and supported every attack. The fact that he lasted the whole game was doubly impressive”
“Motm to teck wah for his one goal and five assists. He was also seen defending”
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