Match #30 (4 July 09): Marine Sunday Couldn’t Sustain Winning Momentum Against Chapalan!

Report contributed by Mark.

The topic on “self-imposed suspension” continued during our warm-up session today prior to the start of the game and in reality, many did feel for our captain whom we thought was too harsh on himself. The good thing about his suspension is it helped clear up all the misunderstandings if there’s any but the bad thing is his absence seems to have an effect on the result of this game. Ah Leng had been tasked to take over the armband today and he did a marvelous job throughout, organizing the team, overseeing the substitutions and giving instructions to the players. Hey! Is there one MOTM for captaincy?

We were made to wait for this “Chapalan” team that made up mostly the Malays, one Chinese and a few Indians (and it was one of this Indian chaps that spoiled MS’ day). The match eventually started with Chapalan having only 10 players. Both teams were trying hard to find their feet on this bumpy pitch and it seemed Chapalan did so first by firing the 1st shot at our goal from a resulting free-kick outside the penalty box but Brandon was made to collect the ball near the toilet. Both team tussled to dominate the midfield and as usual for a predominantly Malay team, they do have some skillful players whom we struggled initially to contain but as the minutes ticked, we too started to find our feet and momentum and the first real clear chance fell to See Chiang. By now Chapalan had 11 players on the field. MS had won a corner and Teck Wah swung in the ball which seemed to be connected by Simon. The ball hit one of the defenders and dropped in front of See Chiang. His reaction was good but his execution let him down. The ball spun over the cross bar!

Gan was obviously struggling as he endured to play with his swollen ankle. He was soon substituted by Chye and Mike also came in for Ah Leng. As a tactical move, See Chiang was switched to right midfield. The move appeared to add more fire in our attacks. Soon a through ball from Simon sent Chye on his way to the opponent’s goal and with only the keeper to beat, he took a thunderous strike which was on its way to the target but the young Indian keeper steadily palmed the ball away. Chapalan did have their moments and they made several moves down the right flank. Ng was keeping tight on their Chinese player while Weng Kwan managed to wipe out most of the dangers. Chor Guan was also cool and kept their danger man closely watched. Our defence seemingly in good shape, we continued to press forward. Wah and Mike combined well at the flank and unlike before, there were plenty of crosses coming in from the left as well as from the right. But not all crosses were of good qualities and when there were, the keeper coolly plucked the balls away. There was some neat play between Simon and See Chiang on the right. Simon eventually swung in a good cross which was well met by Chye but the ball again was off the target. MS appeared to have the upper hand now as we had more possessions. The goal did finally arrive but regrettably, it was our Brandon who had to pick the ball from our own net. A through ball from one of the Chapalan skillful midfielders sent their danger man towards Brandon. It appeared to be off-side but there was no whistle, sensing the danger, Brandon had to rush out to close down the angle but the danger man who was also just as skillful to beat Brandon to it and he did well to go round Brandon to hit the ball into the net. GOAL! (0-1).

MS was not disheartened at this stage and like the “Old Warriors”, we battled on. The goal did not demoralize us either. Instead we continued to attack and soon there was another superb chance which we failed to convert. A cross from the midfield found Chye who chested the ball extremely well. He followed up with a superb strike but again, the Indian keeper palmed the ball away. The chance did not stop here. Wah had a superb volley inside the penalty box from a free-kick from midfield but like See Chiang the ball just could not find its target. MS began to feel some frustration. Even with the inclusion of Weng Khong, we just could not convert our chances. Soon the first half ended with Chapalan taking a 1-0 goal lead but we knew we still stand a good chance of winning the game, at least that was what we thought when we walked off the pitch.

… We battled on ….fought harder …but the come-back never happened, to make it worst …we lost Brandon through a back injury…

As anticipated, we started the 2nd half positively. There were some familiar signs from our previous match at RSS. We were determined and were closing up on the opponents. Our backline started to defend high and that worked well as we continued to win a lot of possession. But the most disappointing part which let to our eventual downfall was our final delivery – a complete let down! Mark was one of the culprits who on several occasions hit the ball too far and made it easy for the Indian keeper to pick up the through balls. Gan did come in again for the striker role and he did reasonably well despite the swollen ankle but due to Brandon’s back injury sustained during the 1st half, Ah Leng had to make a necessary switch for Gan to replace Brandon. For most of the 2nd half, we were pressing for the equalizer and we did have our chances….. First, a cross from Chye on the left found his beloved brother, Wah who leaped high and connected the ball with great power but the ball skimmed agonizingly over the cross bar…. Next came the most glaring miss. Another cross from the left, this time it was Chye’s turn to head the ball and the Indian keeper came out thinking he could snatch the ball again but somehow he misjudged it and was completely out of position. Weng Khong was lurking behind and the ball fell in front of him. With an open goal within metres, Weng Khong hit the ball with his left foot and to our disbelief, the ball flew over the cross bar!

Soon we were punished for those misses… and it came during the last 10 to 15 mins where we were sucker-punched by one such counter attack from Chapalan. They played some wonderful passing near our penalty box and we were made to look like school boys …They deserved the credit as they worked well to split us apart. Their danger striker sensed the opening and took a shot towards Gan’s left. Gan was blocked by several players in front of him and by the time he saw the ball, it was too late to react…GOAL! 0-2. Still, MS did not give up and we quickly resumed the kick off. With some urgency, we did create another chance for Chye who was sent through by Weng Khong. Undone by the bumpy pitch, Chye struggled to reach for the ball but he by then Chapalan’s defenders were all back to form a wall in front of Chye. With great determination, Chye still managed a shot at goal but posed no threat to their keeper. The final knock- out punch was delivered when Chapalan made one swift counter attack towards the last few mins. Their skilful young right winger beat our defenders with ease and hit a stinging shot at our keeper. Gan did well to punch the ball away but the young winger followed up the rebound and completed our misery on this day GOAL! 0-3.

Man of The Team: Mark (5 out of 14 votes)
Mark stamped his mark again, despite a disappointing team performance:
“motm: mark. covered every blade of grass in midfield. the only spark in a disappointing team display.”
“MOTM:Seem like everybody is off form today especially the strikers who wouldn’t make any goals despite all the chances they have. My MOTM will be Mark as he distributed the balls well enough for the strikers and assisting the defenders more than enough in the game.”
“mark. control the midfield well, but too bad, we lose to a team that convert their chances to goal...”
“MOM for 4 July: Mark-was the midfield general that commanded the play for the whole time he played”
“Motm to mark. Distributed and created several chances for our strikers. High work rate in midfield helped nullified many of their attacks.”

3 players – Chor Guan, Simon and See Chiang, had 2 votes each.

2nd position to Chor Guan:
“Motm today to guan, playing a stopper's role. Imposing and muscled in on all challenges in the central area.”
“MOTM : Full of running, anticipating, covering angle, my MOTM goes to chor guan”

And 3rd to Simon:
“MOTM: I think Simon promises himself to give it his all each game and he was consistent as usual today. He stood out in the field especially today where most of us felt we could have played better individually and collectively.”
“Motm was Simon..... most of us had a off-day, but he kept a cool head and played well in the middle of the park.”

The remaining votes went to the following:
“MOM is see chiang - made many runs on the wing.”
“MOTM - See Chaing. The only one who play well out of the 14 present.”
“MOTM - Chye. His presence gave us more bite in attacks. If not for the outstanding keeper, I am sure Chye would have hit one or two for MS.”
“MOTM - It is not for a lack of trying, we control the first half and still trail 0-1 and then we go on to lose the game 0-3. Among us still stand one 'hero'. My 'hero' to Gan. First for making life difficult for the opponent when he was playing upfront. Secondly for taking up the keeper role when Brandon could not continue due to injury without hesitation.”
“MOTM goes to Ng. Hard tackler who never fear to go in for all the 50-50 challenges. Good workrate and support the attacking play whenever he sniff opening chances.”