Match #24 (27 May 09): Marine Sunday Emerged Triumph After Early Scare

Marine Sunday recovered from the initial horrendous opening period to turn the table around and plunder in the goals to notch a satisfying win over Riverlife Church. The 4 – 0 scoreline would not have remotely suggested that we had to withstand a torrid opening 25 minutes before we settled down, found our composure and set the rhythm. If RLC’s makeshift forwards had been a tad sharper, we would have found ourselves staring a 3-goals deficit instead of still maintaining a clean sheet. The depth of our squad eventually cut the winning edge over them with our number of substitutes enabling us to keep things fresh on the field. No doubt of the quality of RLC’s players but the non-availability of spare limbs on the sideline caused their downfall as they simply ran out of steam in the 2nd half.

For a variety of reasons, and most of them unknown to us, we came up 2nd best in every department and to every ball in the opening 25 minutes. Passes went astray or failed to find our players, gaps surfaced everywhere, RLC must have felt gross injustice that for all their rampaging domination and scoring opportunities in that period, they failed to score against us. It wasn’t until the 11th minute when Teck Wah carved out our first attempt at goal – his lob was denied by the last minute outstretched arm of RLC’s keeper. Introducing The Rock to replace Weng Kwan, who in turn took over the left fullback position from Chwee Leng, Mark to take over from the rusty Kok Hock and Weng Khong for the out-of-sort See Chiang, somehow produced a calming effect. Once Teck Chye opened the account with another one of his repertoire of audacious goals, there was no looking back for us. Against such well organised side, it required an effort of the highest quality to break them down and it came from the classy technique of Teck Chye, who after switching to the left flank, came to life. From 25 metres out, he produced a high lob that beat RLC’s flamboyant keeper convincingly for our opening goal. 1 – 0. And Teck Wah almost followed suit when he twice spotted their keeper way out of position but each of his two long-range efforts to catch the keeper cold failed to find the net. 1st half finished with us holding a slim 1 – 0 lead.

2nd half was a completely different landscape. We gained the upperhand, which the size of our squad played a good part. On the other hand, fatigue set in among the few key players of RLC and that led to shoddy defending at their back. The same players who ripped us apart in the 1st half retreated to the backline and uncharacteristically committed suicidal mistakes leading to our 3 goals in the 2nd half. Their left back attempted one trick too many but only ended up losing the ball to Teck Wah, who brought the ball close to the byeline before spotting RLC’s 2nd half keeper out of position. From outside the box, Teck Wah directed his shot targeting the near post. RLC’s keeper was late to cover the exposed angle and our 2nd goal was in no way inferior to our 1st goal! Gan then hit a low shot, from an indirect freekick, that came off the foot of the left upright. Kian Hwa’s misery at goal continued as his follow-up effort was first denied by the deflection off the foot of a RLC’s defender and then their keeper punched the deflected ball away to safety. Kian Hwa then twice went into good position in the box but his tentativeness allowed RLC’s defender to nullify the danger.

Whilst we continued surging forward to find the net, our defenders and midfielders maintained discipline to repel RLC’s forays into our half. Brandon showed his commanding self, Chor Guan and Hock Leong were authoritative in leading the defence. RLC’s wingers found our fullbacks – Chung Weng, Weng Kwan and Chwee Leng – a different story in the 2nd half. Our fullbacks offered not a single inch of space for them to threaten our goal. Nonchalant defending by RLC conceded 2 more goals. See Chiang slipped in a pass to Gan, who was allowed to turn his marker without much effort and hit a rather weak shot at goal, which caught RLC’s custodian by surprise. 3 – 0. Teck Chye wrapped up the match after he punished RLC’s failure to clear the ball in the box. His left-foot effort trickled into the lower left-hand corner of the goal. 4 – 0.

Marine Sunday went on a strolling pace to consume the remaining 10 minutes of the match. In the post-match exchange, RLC’s team manager remarked that we were the 1st team to beat them in 3 months. But we forgot to thank their forwards’ failure to find the net in the opening 25 minutes, otherwise, we would not have been able to secure our 1st clean sheet in more than 3 months.

Man of The Match: Teck Chye (5 votes)
Well, he deserved the plaudits. His 1st goal oozed so much class that it made anyone drool for more!
“Motm to teck chye. Was a bit misplaced and under utilized during the first 30 mins in right mid. But once to the left, created mayhem for opponents and was dominant in midfield. Most importantly, scored two important goals that silenced them and killed off any fight back.”
“My MOTM goes to Teck Chye for scoring the crucial 1st goal, which helped to stabilise our team thereafter and also the way he shouted at me for not passing the ball to him. Yes, I was upset but credit still goes to him for all his effort. The introduction of KH was effective as his off the ball runnings and harrassings on the defenders helped to break up their play. This allowed us to gain back our possession significantly. Our back four were superb tonite despite the initial pressures and their reliability earned us a clean sheet against a very experienced team.”
“MOTM: MOTM goes to Teck Chye. His spendid first half strike broke the deadlock and probably their heart as they were dominating the game till then. In the second half, he was running around harassing their defenders and it lead to one of the goals. “
“MOTM is Teck Chye for an audacious first goal : a lop over their keeper and an opportunistic 2nd goal, cashing in on bumbling defenders”
“My MOM to teck chye for his two well taken goals. His first stabilise the team and set the tone for the second half.”

Chung Wen and Mark tied at 3 votes each but Chung Wen will go 2nd for this match tally:
“Motm - Chung Wen - for doing a good job marking the 1st half striker playing on the left who is quite tough to mark. Chung Wen did not give him much space to even take a single shot.”
“My vote for MOTM is Chung Wen - no one gets past him twice.”
“Most of the time, it’s quite difficult to nominate the fullback because they are not in the glamorous positions. Ours don’t overap like the English counterparts, nothing fanciful. But for this match, I need to select Chung Wen for my vote, simply sticking to his job cleanly and giving no room away. Hard luck for opponent’s forwards to find CW in such uncompromising self.”

Mark put in another assuring performance to attract 3 nominations:
“Motm to mark for sticking to his task of protecting the back 4. Steady organisation & kept position well.”
“MOM is Mark- Covered lots of ground today for the team”
“It is almost a tie between Mark & Weng Kuan.... but my choice of MOTM goes to Mark who anchored the midfield very well when he came on & stabilised the game, eliminating the chaos that happened in the first 10mins of the game. From then on, we are game on. Impressive performance! Worthy to mention was Weng Kuan for his effective, hard & wall-like type of defensive play when playing on the right back. Not only that, he was energetic enough to charge up the right flank to add on fire-power to our offensive in the second half. Cool play, man!”

The remaining 4 votes went to Chor Guan (2), Chwee Leng and Teck Wah:
“MOTM goes to Chor Guan. Marshall the defend well and shutting out all the dangerous ball into the box. Credit to the whole defend who done extremely well to earn a clean sheet.”
“MOM for 27th May: Chor Guan. He has controlled the defense extremely well and we can see a lot of effort being displayed by the defense line. Chor Guan’s hard work is the only reason for Marine Sunday’s second clean sheet of the year.”
“motm: I would think most would go for Teck Chye for his two goals plus good work in midfield again but the defenders have to get the vote for repelling the first half onslaught and keeping the clean sheet. Chwee Leng gets my motm for numerous inteRLCeptions and good covering at left back. Not the fittest compared to the rest of the backline but definitely gave his all in this game.”
“MOM 27 May-Teck Wah - what a thunderbolt goal”

Match #23 (23 May 09): Marine Sunday Renewed Ties With Old Foes and Emerged as Kings!

Marine Sunday went on a rampage in the opening 30 minutes and we pretty much sealed the match during that period, capitalising on Kings of Dunearn’s weak goalkeeper with 3 goals that exposed his deficiency his ball handling in the air. Teck Wah set the tone with the 1st goal of the match from a freekick just outside the box. Simon followed up with another freekick, leaving the keeper again grasping for air. Teck Chye completed the keeper’s misery and embarrassment with another cross-shot from the right flank, off a short corner. We could have notched up a rugby scoreline but Mike failed to connect cleanly a cross from the left early in the match, Kian Hwa fluffed two shots just wide off the target and Teck Wah had another couple of efforts that were easily cleared by KoD’s recovering defenders. A change of keeper and match ball midway through the 1st half seemed to work wonder for KoD as they regained their composure and started to threaten us. A long shot that cannoned off the bar served as the ominous notice to us. We served a tit-for-tat as the short pitch almost made Brandon a scorer as his long drop kick left KoD’s last man and keeper fumbling but to their relief, the ball came off the upright. KoD reduced the deficit when their foreign import escaped the attention of Chung Wen and hit an angled shot into our net. 3 – 1.

Both sides found each other difficult to break down in the 2nd half. Our compact and disciplined backline did not offer them an inch to penetrate and KoD had to resort to pot shots from outside the box. On the other end, their keeper provided assurance at the back as he proved to be a safer pair of hands than the former custodian. Most of our through balls were timely mopped up by his fine reading of the game. We scored our 4th goal through a rather fortuitous decision by the referee not to judge an infringement by Teck Chye on their playmaker, James. Teck Chye laid the ball to See Chiang whose shot looked miscued and heading wide but it came off the inside of the right post to settle into the net. As KoD players continued to question the referee, See Chiang walked away a relieved and happy man.

Final score: 4 - 1

Man of The Match: Teck Chye (4 votes)
Not to be outdone by his younger sibling who scored the goal from outside the box, he put one better from a longer range and from an angle. Sibling rivalry seems to be edging him on!
“MOTM goes to Teck Chye for his good control of the midfield.”
“teck chye. he played very well in the midfield, especially tackle their playmarker in the 2nd half that allow see chiang smell and eat durian.”
“Teck Chye – A beautiful goal from a supposedly a cross which went into the top left corner of the pole.”
“motm: teck chye. was strong in holding the midfield n overall contribution to the game.”

Chor Guan put in another impressive performance to impose in defence!
“MOTM= chor guan. Rock solid at the heart of the defend and shut out many of their attacks”
“MOTM - Chor Guan” [Ed: this nominator’s attitude is a let-down, what a disappointment! Despite the reminder to substantiate his nomination, the plea went unanswered.]
“MoTM to chor guan. Cleared most of the opponents direct high balls into our box. Did not give their strikers much space and time.”

Simon had 2 votes to put him 3rd in the tally.
“MoTM is Simon. Instrumental in the center of midfield.”
“Simon – that freekick which led to our 2nd goal and when they threatened to overrun our midfield, Simon stamped his feet down to stablise the possession.”

The other 6 votes went to the following players:
“Today Rock was not the usual solid self. But we hv Sure-Footed in Kwan. Did everything cleanly without fuss.”
“Anyway, Leo played well to stop their speedy right winger in the first half.”
“MOTM- HL. Solid in defence.”
“MOM: Chiang-the only goal from open play-what a smasher”
“Motm: Ng has my vote. I thought Chwee Leng and Ng had particularly good games. Ng outjumped their strikers on headers. Stole balls. Stopped advancing wingers dead. Good stuff. “
“My MOM is for Gan. He was full of running and creating some good moves in the penalty area. He almost scored twice but the ball ran away from him each time. I think to keep his commitment to turn up and stayed so focused when he was playing , despite the worries on the home front, makes him my MOM.”

Match #22 (16 May 09): We Lacked the Kampong Spirit But Not the Winning Desire!

Surely from how we kitted ourselves and the way we turned up, got ready and waited for them, we didn’t look like we came from the same kampong as them, right? But Relak Abang somehow had the impression that we turned up just to kick around with them. So, they took their own sweet time to change, stroll into the pitch, exchanged shoulder slaps and high-fives among themselves. We had other ideas. Relak Abang were rudely awakened by our ruthless play in the 1^st half and they could have been starring at a cricket scoreline at half-time if not for our toothless Kian Hwa who squandered four, read that again, four, scoring opportunities in just one half. Credit to them, when the match resumed after the break and after realising that we were not their kawan after all, they decided cukup was cukup, jangan main main lagi, jangan relak relak, must man-tan bal-lan (read: maintain balance!), they played some decent football bearing some resemblance of their heydays. 2^nd half was a much closer affair but it was too late to stop us from running away a 6 – 1 winner.

Their pre-match attitude irked us and that must have spurred one of the top teachers from one of the top junior colleges, who himself is one Relax Jack, into action. Mike put in a whirlwind, devastating performance in the opening 15 minutes of the match. Though he fizzled out thereafter, he had done enough by then to conjure up the opening 2 goals for us, and not forgetting the assist within the first 60 seconds by setting Kian Hwa up in the box but the latter’s intended left-foot chip over the keeper was nowhere near Teck Chye’s class. Mike punished Relax Abang’s last man, whose touches were too tiada-apa and sloppy, and squared in a simple ball for Teck Wah to tap in. 1 – 0! Our edge in mobility brought us the 2^nd goal. Kian Hwa escaped the defender’s attention and stepped up to receive a throw-in from Kok Hock and then released Mike on the right flank. Mike’s subsequent cross kissed the horizontal but Teck Wah was on hand to tidy up the loose ends and scored his 2^nd goal with a stiff grounder. 2 – 0!

Kok Hock, anchoring the midfield, was commanding in breaking up Relak Abang’s play. One of his many interceptions yielded his 1^st goal for the season. Winning the ball just after the mid line, he had only one look at the goal and shot from distance. The ball sailed over the keeper and landed perfectly just under the horizontal for our goal No 3. Kian Hwa then nipped in front of the keeper to get to the ball before the latter did but with an open goal in sight, KH’s left-foot shot from a tight angle met the left upright instead. See Chiang then set Kian Hwa up in the box with only the keeper to beat but KH once again screwed his effort wide off the mark.

We didn’t have to wait much longer for our 4^th goal when See Chiang nodded a corner down onto the path of Chor Guan, who was given time and space in the box to trap the box and turn to shoot at goal. 4 – 0! Relak Abang almost snatched a goal against the run of play when their midfielder produced what Kok Hock did earlier with a delicate shot from distance but Gan proved to be a different class from Relak Abang’s keeper – he tipped the dipping shot over the bar. We still had time to extend our lead when an exchange between Kian Hwa and Simon put the former through in the box. Kian Hwa, clearly struggling to find his balance and short in confidence, chose to pass the ball forward to Chor Guan instead of having a go at goal. Chor Guan was duly ruled offside, thereby wasting another effort. Half-time came with Marine Sunday leading by a gulf of 4 – 0.

Relak Abang were a transformed side in the 2^nd half as they began to pass the ball confidently. Whilst their diligent possession of the ball was aplenty, the penetration was found wanting. In addition, they found our backline a bit too miserly for their liking. At the same time, they continued to play suicidal football at the back with their penchant to involve their keeper in the play. Off a poor clearance by their custodian, we made them pay dearly. Teck Chye was at the receiving end of the poor clearance and passed it forward to Kian Hwa on the right. Seeing Simon unmarked in the box, KH picked him up with a measured pass. Simon didn’t waste the assist and finished it off with a trap-and-shoot to put us up at 5 – 0! As the game wore on, Relak Abang’s custodian should be performing in a circus instead of on the football pitch. Another piece of clowning clearance gifted the ball to Teck Wah but the keeper recovered to clear it for a corner. It proved to be no difference as Teck Wah’s corner was met by Weng Khong’s thumping header. 6 – 0!

Relak Abang snatched a consolation goal after we stepped off the pedal with a series of substitutions to rest key players. Their ex-S League player wriggled his way through our defence and beat Gan to reduce the deficit. 6 – 1! Weng Khong came close to get his second goal but his header, from another corner, was just an inch too high above the goal. Final score stood at 6 – 1.

Man of The Match: Chor Guan (5 votes)

The man is surely regaining his form and back to his best! 3 forays upfront, 1 goal!

1. “chor guan. very stable in the defence, helping in the attack and score a beautiful goal.”
2. “MOTM goes to Chor Guan for managing the right deployment of defence & taking time off to score a goal in the coolest & simplest manner.”
3. “MOTM - Chor Guan, steady at the back and lethal upfront”
4. “motm: chor guan. swatted the opponents time n again like flies in defense n made his mark as well upfront with an opportunistic goal.”
5. “Difficult to name a MOTM. Our forwards were hardworking, created a few chances by harassing their defenders. Midfielders and defenders kept up their pace and even scored a few goals. My MOTM is a toss between Gan and Chor Guan. I will go for Chor Guan as he virtually shut their attack in the first half and he even managed to score a well executed goal.”

Mike was in supreme form, wasn’t he? Albeit for only the initial stage of the match….3 votes went to him. Keep it up!

1. “MOTM goes to mike. Exceptionally performance with good assist well taken goal."
2. “Mike-unselfish assists saw a goal and number of chances.”
3. “For the first 15 minutes, he was lively on the right flank, setting up 3 opportunities, 2 of which led to our first 2 goals. Unfortunately, he fizzled out. Still, it was an encouraging 15 minutes of performance.”

Gan, Teck Chye and Hock Leong had 2 votes each but I would go for Gan to take the 3^rd spot in the tally for standing in between the posts and dutifully sticking to his goalkeeping duty. Even his request for 20 minutes of outfield play was denied, so his attitude needs to be rewarded with due recognition:

1. “Motm to gan. Think we were all not really pushed. But he was steady throughout.”
2. “MOTM to Gan. It was tough to be playing keeper today, but he kept his focus as he made some dangerous attempts look unthreatening with his calm reactions. came out quickly on a couple of occasions to snuff out threats.”

The remaining 7 votes went to Teck Chye (2), Hock Leong (2), Chung Wen, Kok Hock and Simon:

“Teck Chye. Good attacking support which made the strike counts. Also execute a necessary professional foul to prevent opponent from shooting.”

“Teck Chye for MoTM. Good control and created dominance in midfield, harassed opponents and was a threat in attack. Some well taken shots towards the end of the game.”

“Vote goes to Hock Leong. ROCK of our defence, opponents didn't stand a chance.”

“MOTM is HL for another hard tackling and solid game as stopper”

“motm- chung wen....as usual, gives no room to the left winger.....hard tackler......”

“MOTM is the Kok Hock - Supported both the defence and attack effectively”

“MOM is Simon for stabilising the midfield and creating good moves and also for scoring a great goal with 2 touches.”

Match #21 (9 May 09): Deja-vu.....Almost

Lightning almost struck twice two weeks in succession for Marine Sunday. There were several similarities with last week’s match that at one stage, the feeling of déjà-vu dawned on us. Just like last week, we conceded our first goal directly from a corner when we were comfortably leading 3 – 1 before we shot ourselves in our feet by giving away a late penalty. Thankfully, we managed to hold out the final nail-biting 10 minutes that merely produced verbal bickering than further goals. We narrowly avoided throwing away what looked like a comfortable win. We could do with less self-imposed anguish if our forwards had been clinical – we missed three sitters! – and a higher level of concentration in our keeper. Among the four forwards – Teck Wah, Gan, Kian Hwa and Leo, rotating to front the line, only Gan did admirably well as he notched a brace. Kian Hwa was in his usual assist mode scurrying down the flanks and supplying his crosses, including setting up two sitters for Leo but the latter simply had a bad day in office. Teck Wah was out of sorts throughout the match with an uncharacteristic glaring miss when presented with a sitter, and his only notable contribution was a fine cross from the right for Gan to equalise.

Eagleboyz (EB) found the pitch a tad too hard for their liking as their passes went astray early in the match. We settled down earlier and soon, we broke through on the right when Kian Hwa evaded their offside calls but Gan’s header to meet Kian Hwa’s cross was too tame to trouble EB’s keeper. EB played a high line that kept catching our static forwards offside but they were struggling to keep up with the pace of See Chiang on the left. He timed his breakthrough well to position himself with a scoring opportunity but his hasty effort screwed the ball wide. Teck Chye then picked out Mike in the box, who found the net with a header but the effort was ruled offside. At the other end, the defence was well marshalled by Chor Guan and Hock Leong, ably supported by Chung Wen and Ng on both sides. Chor Guan showed that he was back to his best as he timely broke up their attacks with ease. Mid way through the 1st half, Teck Wah and Leo replaced the Kian Hwa-Gan combination and things began to liven up. Both sides came close to open the account. A well-worked passing and off-the-ball running involving See Chiang, Simon and Mark released Mark to advance into the box. Mark had time to look up and presented Teck Wah at the near post with a sitter. It was a too-good-to-miss scoring opportunity but to everybody’s disbelief, our top scorer scooped the ball over the post. Teck Wah continued to work hard but he further ballooned twice, leaving us wondering what (or shall we allude it to who?) had consumed him the night before. At the other end, EB was denied by a brave block by Chung Wen when he put himself in the firing line of a long-range effort that was packed with so much power and it looked destined for goal before Chung Wen’s intervention. The half finished scoreless.

Second half hardly moved into 2nd gear and we found ourselves a goal down, courtesy of a lapse in concentration by Brandon in goal. A corner was floated in from the left and with nobody in close proximity to harass him, Brandon could have plucked the ball from the air. Even without catching the ball, he could have punched it away to safety but instead, he palmed it against the underside of the post and the referee judged that the subsequent bounce brought the ball over the line despite Chwee Leng’s last-ditch clearance. 0 – 1 down! We did not let our heads down and the new pairing of Teck Wah and Gan reaped immediate dividend. Gan chested the ball onto the path of Teck Wah and then continued advancing into the box to meet Teck Wah’s cross from the right. Gan flicked the ball high enough over their tall keeper for our equaliser. It was simple football – pass and move – that was pleasing to the eyes. 1 – 1! Next, Simon was alert to intercept a poor back pass and rounded the keeper before, surprisingly with his left foot, chipping the ball over the recovering keeper! Gan was lurking behind the keeper to nod the ball home 2 – 1! Gan was surely in irrepressible form and his quest for a hat-trick was denied by the earlier provider, Simon who failed to notice that Gan was in a better scoring position in the box. Simon decided to beat the keeper on his own but this time round, EB’s keeper put his height to good use as he blocked Simon’s chip with ease. Mike was felled in the box but the referee dubiously ruled that the tackle took place outside the box. Teck Wah put paid to the poor referee decision when he drove a low shot from the subsequent free-kick. His initial effort was allegedly blocked by Melvin in the box. Melvin’s block seemed to have confused EB’s keeper for a split second and Simon followed up on the loose ball with a venomous half volley to find the net. 3 – 1 and we looked on cruise control. Our defence mopped up their forays into our area with relative ease. Kok Hock alternated between stopper and sweeper like hands to gloves and his assuring display reinforced our depth in the defence department.

We could have been home high and dry but it was not to be. Kian Hwa did well enough to find space on both flanks to set up his fellow strike partner, Leo with two sitters but Leo, clearly not accustomed to be the beneficiary of such too-good-to-be-true scoring opportunities, failed to capitalise on both moments of glory. In between Leo’s lack of potency in front of goal, See Chiang proved just as wasteful when he fluffed another shot in a similar position to his earlier effort in the 1st half. EB kept up the tempo of the match. Teck Chye lost possession of the ball when he indulged in one dribble too many. In his earnest effort to win back possession, he put in a wholehearted, fearless tackle in the box to deny their winger a direct shot at our goal. Teck Chye got to the ball first but the momentum of the tackle carried through to bring down the winger as well. Referee contentiously pointed to the spot and Brandon, just like last week, was again close to making a save to deny their penalty effort. 3 – 2 now and things looked nervy on our side. Aided by a few cool heads in Mark, Hock Leong, Kok Hock and Simon, we rode through the final 10 minutes with no further damage done apart from one yellow card flashed at Kian Hwa, who was elbowed in the face, for retaliating.

Final score was a close 3 – 2 win but it was only half a story.

Man of The Match: Simon (5 votes)
This must be the closest round of nominations in the season so far. Both our midfield generals – Simon and Mark – tied on 5 votes each. The tie breaker is simple, attendance counts in situations like this and here, MoTM is awarded to Simon.
“MOTM Simon. While Mark was the anchor in the defensive midfield, it allowed Simon to be more creative in attack. I felt Chwee Leng also had a good game.”
“motm: simon. complemented his good work in midfield with one pinpoint assist n one opportunistic follow up from a equally brilliant 'defensive' block by melvin.”
“MOTM - Simon. Control midfield well. Good anticipation for the assist and a goal. Play simple football and kept his cool throughout.”
“MOTM is Simon. Great all round play and a well taken goal.”
“MOTM goes to Simon for his all-round superb performance - tireless work in the midfield area, coming back to help up in defence & putting up several good assists in the attack & netting one goal for himself. Though Gan is not my MOTM but he is another player worth mentioning with his confidence coming back & looking forward to more goals from him.”

Well done, Mark! No doubt about your quality and we could certainly do more with your regular turnouts:
“MOTM: Mark. Really hard this one cos central midfielders played brilliantly and completely shut out their players. Both goals came off dead ball so no worthy attack out of open play and for that we have to thank Simon, Chye and Mark. See Chiang tearing down the flank also created loads of opportunities for us. Brandon was steady as hell except for the corner. Our defence played well too but it all started with the central guys and I must say Mark was just brilliant.”
“It's a toss between Simon and Mark. I go for Mark for his overall command of midfield and determined performance which has allowed us to dictate the pace of the game.”
“Motm. Mark, good control at midfield, stop most of the opponent attack fm center midfield, thus our defender got bit of time to support midfield n striker”
“MOTM goes to Mark. Industrious performance in midfield. Impressive me with his energy level and shown dominance in the center despite facing more skillful opponents.”
“Vote goes to Mark, who controlled the game from midfield very well.”

Gan was just 1 vote behind:
“Motm to Gan for getting into the box with perfect timing to score 2 goals. A constant threat to opponents as he was always first to the balls in their half, then passing well to help MS build attacks.”
“MOM for me is Gan who scored two well taken goals and had a part in both their creation as well.”
“Motm to gan for scoring the two goals. Held on to ball well and was a handful for their defenders today. Lively play and good confident touches that left their defenders struggling whenever he played.”
“Gan – a tentative 1st half performance was replaced by a match-winning display in the 2nd half! More than made up for the other ineffective strikers!”

The remaining 3 votes were split among the 2 KHs and See Chiang:
“KH: The most hard working players of the team. Also created a goal by working hard to create a beautiful cross resulted in a headed goal.” [Note: this nominator later confirmed his nomination was meant for KH but he got his facts wrong. The one who put in the beautiful cross that resulted in a headed goal was Simon, not KH. KH did put in some decent crosses but they were clearly not good enough to the extent that our forwards refused to score from such lousy assists :D]
“MOTM - Kok Hock (it was not an easy task to contain their strike force but Kok Hock was there to deal with it effectively. I thought he was very composed despite the constant pressures towards the end of the game)…….. Btw, my friend (goalkeeper) commented that despite our age (he thinks we are all above 40) he is impressed that we kept running at their defence. Obviously he is referring to our strikers...... well done to all the strikers.....”
“Motm - See Chiang....make very good runs down the left when he is playing, full of energy. Too bad did not score on 2 occasions”.

Match #20 (2 May 09): Not H1N1 Flu But Yellow Fever Flattened Us!

We only had our lack of sharpness in our frontline and lack of concentration in our backline to blame. What looked like a certain win somehow slipped through our grip. A commanding 3 – 1 lead gave way to an unsatisfying 3 – 3 draw at the final whistle, courtesy to all the goals conceded through dead-ball situations, and for that matter, a corner, a direct free-kick just outside the box and a penalty completed the repertoire. Teck Wah, Gan and Kian Hwa had, in total, 5 gilt-edged chances in the 2nd half to wrap up the match but each of the front trio must have put on two left-sided boots. Teck Wah fared slightly better as both his efforts were denied by some superb saves from Yellow's custodian, whereas Gan and Kian Hwa confirmed they were not snipers in their army days as they put their efforts anywhere except within the goal frame.
All Yellow had in them are a couple of speedy and skilful Gonzales and a tall right-back who used his height to cause us a great deal of troubles whenever it came to their corner kicks.

We were comfortably keeping our shape despite the early pressure from them. Our better teamwork built up a comfortable 2 – 0 margin at half-time. Kian Hwa and Weng Khong worked well on the left to break the shackles of their tall right-back. Kian Hwa latched onto Weng Khong's return pass and put a decent cross into the box for Teck Wah. Yellow's keeper dealt with the cross but Mike did enough to cause the custodian to spill the ball. With his back facing the goal but possessing a keen sense of direction, Teck Wah produced a cheeky back-heel to score the opening goal, 1 – 0! The Tang sibling rivalry has been producing the goods for Marine Sunday and we aren't complaining. Showing that he could do much better, the elder Tang intercepted a ball in the middle, brought it forward and after seeing the keeper slightly off his line, produced what-has-become-his-trademark lob over the stranded keeper. Another classy goal to add to his collection of audacious goals, 2 – 0! Leo and Ng, taking turns in left-back, managed to hold their own against their speedy right-winger and on the opposite flank, Chung Wen and Chwee Leng kept forcing their robust striker wide without allowing him to have a single shot at goal. Chor Guan, regaining his touches, put in a very assuring performance with his timely interceptions and partnered well with The Rock, whose astute reading of the game nullified danger early. Kok Hock, deputizing for Chor Guan, provided the depth we need in time to come.

Whereas we were in control in the 1st half, 2nd half was a different story as we allowed them back into the game. Yellow began to find space in our half and made full use of their fast players to breach our defence. Chung Wen held his ground well at the byeline to deny their striker and concede a corner. Yellow scored directly from the resultant corner when their playmaker curled in the ball that sailed beyond the reach of Ng standing at the right post. Brandon could only watch in dismay, having caught surprised by the flight of the ball. The margin was reduced to 2 – 1. We recovered quickly from the setback and Gan was presented with back-to-back scoring chances by firstly, Teck Wah and then Teck Chye. Gan disappointed the Tang brothers with his failure to convert both. It was 3rd time lucky for Gan when he headed unchallenged a corner from Teck Wah beyond the stretched arms of Yellow's keeper into goal. We restored the 2-goals margin to 3 – 1. Teck Wah tested their keeper with a couple of stiff shots that brought out reflex saves from the latter to deny our Chief Predator.

Yellow's playmaker punished us for our misses. Again, we allowed them too much space outside our box before Kok Hock attempted to rob the ball from them but in the process, tripped their player just outside the box. Yellow's playmaker curled the ball nicely over the wall to dip at the lower left-hand corner of the goal. 3 – 2. A moment of folly on our right involving Brandon and Chwee Leng resulted in a hasty clearance and concession of a corner. We failed again to defend the corner, allowing their towering right full-back to head the ball towards goal. The ball took an unkind bounce before hitting Chwee Leng's hand and referee pointed to the spot. Brandon was so close to become our hero as he got down well to get his hand to the penalty kick from Yellow's playmaker but the ball simply packed too much punch. Three dead balls from the playmaker, three goals and 3 - 3. We still had enough time to rescue the game but after being set up nicely in the box, Kian Hwa screwed his left-foot effort wide, with only the keeper at his mercy.

No further goals ensued and we had to settle for a draw. AS we trooped off the pitch, we were wondering if we were hit by a bout of yellow fever!

Man of The Match: (5 votes)
Ever since he started his chicken rice business, Ng has been playing like a spring chicken! Another no-nonsense performance from him for the MoTM!
“MOTM goes to Ng for many timely & effective tackles in the box. Great performance! But his height was sorely exploited by opponent’s goal from corner J”
“Motm was Ng. Again, he saved us with a couple of tackles that prevented goal scoring opportunities.”
“MOM is Ng : He manage to prevent the opposition strikers from scoring thru a few well timed tackles that were hard but fair. It kept the game in balance as we continued to miss golden opportunities to extend the scoreline.”
“motm - Ng. hard tackler and manage to prevent some of their threatening moves. Special mentioned to Chung wen also who played just as well. But no choice, got to choose 1.”
“I was torn between Ng and Hock Leong. Both put in one very good tackle each. Hock Leong’s tackle in the 1st half was timed perfectly to break down their speedy winger’s marauding run down the right flank. Ng’s 2nd half tackle in the box denied them a certain shot at goal. I’m inclined to go for Ng because his tackle was not only timely but he was brave in putting in that block. The lack of which would have resulted in a certain goal for them and a loss for us.”

The Rock was just as imposing at the back to win 3 votes:
“Hock Leong: He is outstanding in cutting out the attack, never give a chance for them to turn to their front during the attack. He was playing a great stopper role.”
“MOTM to Hock Leong. Tough choice as defence played well and Ng was Mr Super reliable but Hock Leong was also essential in covering gaps in the middle.”
“Motm goes to hock Leong. Neutralised most of opponents attacks especially in the first half where they were much more aggressive and faster. Again lift up to the rock reputation.”

Teck Chye seems to have found his Indian Summer. Another classic goal, and 3 nominations!
“Motm is always marginal with so many players. Despite the 3 goals, credit to the defence which played well. Chye deserves motm for another fighting performance & classily taken goal.”
“MOTM to Teck Chye - He was a livewire in our team and was very influential in our attacking play. If he was there to convert those chances we had created like the 2nd goal he had scored, we would have probably won against a very fast and good opponent.”
“MOTM-Teck chye for a great solo goal and some good attacking play”

The remaining 7 votes went to the following players:
“MOTM - Difficult to choose between the Tang Brothers. Both were influential in their own rights. The younger Tang continue his good form and the older Tang is getting back his fitness and scoring form. My vote to the younger Tang for his opportunistic goal and the assist for the third goal.”
“MOM is teck wah. was always a threat to the opponent.”
“motm: 2nd half no one in particular stood out. so my choice is more motm '1st half', which goes to see chiang. full of running on the left n combined well several times with kh. most attacks were from the left.”
“MOTM for Kian Hwa. His assist minded game saw him running the flanks, feeding the flanks. I think he ran as much as on days we have 12 guys.”
“MOTM: Chor Guan has my vote as he read the game well and stabilise the defence when we were shaky.”
“MOTM = simon. Great work rate and effective link up play in midfiled, creating numerous chances for the strikers”
“motm. Chung Wen, provide solid defence against a very strong and quick opponent, also make a good clearence in the 2nd half.”

Match #19 (26 Apr 09): We Crushed Minnows But Not After Surviving Their Spirited Fightback!

The last encounter between Marine Sunday and Minnows two months ago was a close one, with us snatching a keenly-matched 2 – 1 win. This time round, Minnows doubled their goals scored against us but we edged further than them, more than doubled our goals scored against them. It could have been tripled if Gan had converted the penalty, whose effort was put off by a strange scare tactic from our tactically-wise Melvin. We definitely deserved to be on the correct side of the final score, 5 – 2, but it did not do justice to the onslaught by Minnows in the 2nd half in their gallant attempt to overturn a half-time 4 – 1 deficit.

The tag team of Tang brothers put the issue beyond doubt by half-time as each grabbed a brace to remind us of the famed Ali Bakar-Isa Bakar brothers of Penang in the 1970s. As if to demonstrate their ample talent and skills, the elder Tang scored his goals from a couple of exquisite chips, the younger Tang put his head to good use. The elder Tang scored once from each foot, the younger Tang used both the right and left sides of his skull to head home his goals. Out of respect, the younger Tang provided the assist to the elder Tang’s first goal. Out of brotherly love, the elder Tang returned the favour by providing the precise cross for the younger Tang to head in the latter’s first goal.

Minnows were the livelier of both sides in the opening encounter but we proved to be the fine wine that enthused into life after being left to breathe. They were quicker to the ball, like hungry wolves devouring their succulent meat, but we were clinical with the ball, akin to experienced men knowing where to hit the G-spot. Teck Wah, from the right, picked out his elder sibling at the far left. Teck Chye feinted a move before cutting to his left and deftly chipped the ball over their tall keeper for our opening goal. 1 – 0! Shortly later, Teck Chye’s measured left-foot cross from the left found Teck Wah in the box like precision engineering. The younger Tang could do no wrong with a fine header to double our lead. 2 – 0! Despite their huff-and-puff, Minnows found themselves chasing the game. Chung Wen, admirably subduing their danger man, No 8, operating on the left wing, further compounded their misery with a direct ball down the right for Gan to do the fetching. Gan lobbed the ball into the box for Teck Wah to head in his 2nd goal and our 3rd. 3 – 0!

Then our typical lapse in concentration and lack of communication at the back allowed them to reduce the deficit. Teck Wah’s back pass found both Leo and Teck Chye napping, who were probably thinking the other would get the ball. Instead, Minnows’ forward nipped in to cross in from the right. Instead of heading the ball away, Weng Kwan chose to boot the ball but missed it totally, allowing Minnows’ striker to gleefully tuck the ball past Brandon, who in the first place should have called out to pluck the harmless looking cross from the air. 3 – 1. Their hope of recovery was brief as Teck Chye punished them again with another piece of top-class clinical finishing. Matt Le Tissier would have been amazed by what Teck Chye could do with both his feet. Teck Chye’s 2nd goal came off another exquisite chip from, this time, his right foot outside the box. Minnows’ custodian decided it was useless stretching himself as he helplessly watched the ball sailed over him into the net. 4 – 1 at half-time!

Minnows’ new-found vigour as they resumed the 2nd half unsettled us greatly. Ironically, it was when we retreated Teck Chye to fill in stopper position. Instead, perhaps too eager to find his hattrick, it slipped Teck Chye’s mind that he was supposed to prevent goals instead of scoring. Defending a long throw-in at the near post, he shockingly back-headed the ball past Brandon. Minnows’ striker at the far side was thankful for our generosity in defending and found their 2nd goal. 4 – 2! Teck Chye and Brandon were involved into another piece of non-communication mix-up in the six-yard box that almost allowed Minnows to snatch their 3rd goal. Enough was enough and See Chiang returned to take over the stopper role. It was not coincidental that from then on, Minnows found us hard to break down at the back. In contrast to the 1st half when we were sharp in front of goals, we were rather toothless in the 2nd half. It eventually took Mike’s quick thinking to steal the ball from in between their last man and the keeper and set Simon up for our 5th goal. Mike then threaded a through ball into the box for Gan, who was crudely checked in his path. Referee pointed to the box without hesitation. Instead of lining up for his hattrick, Teck Chye allowed Gan to convert the penalty but the latter’s failure in doing so was largely attributable to Melvin’s fine piece of work in distracting his own teammate.

The match degenerated into numerous niggling fouls by both sides but no further damage was inflicted on either side. 5 – 2 final score!

Man of The Match: Teck Chye (7 votes)
The last time we pitted against Minnows, Yong Chua was the MoTM with two goals worthy of any predatory striker. This time round, Teck Chye’s classy brace earned himself the honour.
“motm:teck chye. Score two long range goal and one good cross for our first goal, hope to see him remain or improve his scoring form in our future games....”
“MoTM goes to Teck Chye. Everything he does is magic...the two goals and the assists for his brother...”
“MOTM to Chye - 2 great goals and 1 assist. gentleman to give up chance for hatrick to Gan (who then missed)”
“MOTM=CHYE. Ever threatening. Effective link up play in midfield and rewarded with 2 great goals”
“motm: teck chye for two well taken goals, one assist, plus positive play on the left flank”
“Motm to teck chye. Not only controlled midfield, but helped out in defence by tracking opponents back and was in the thick of action with some tough tackling. His two goals were sublime beauties that gave their goalie no chance. It also helped settle our team given the speed the opponents closed us down.”
“Motm to classy Chye. 2 exquisite goals, 1 precise assist & versatility in defence.”

See Chiang came in 2nd with 3 votes:
“MOM: Chiang-the Rock #2.”
“MOM is See chiang for a impactful performance where he stamped his authority on the game with his first time clearances and timely interceptions.”
“The first 10 minutes of the 2nd half was chaotic at the back. Then See Chiang resumed his stopper role and played like a man possessed, clearing all the balls and breaking down their attacks. SC is the Man of The Match for me!”

The hardworking Simon won a couple of nominations:
“Didn't catch the whole game but what I saw of Simon was stellar. Hard young team to defend against and Simon played like a real tiger in defensive midfield, freeing up Lakesh and Chye to roam.”
“Simon and Lakesh were the glue that held the midfield together. Simon tips my vote for his inspiring display in breaking down the opponent's midfield forays.”

1 each for the guest player and our scoring machine:
“Lakesh. He basically control the mid very well and also distribute the ball excellently.”
“motm = Teck Wah for 2 brilliant goals.”