Match #31 (11 July 09): MarineSunday Melted in Hot Sun

Match report contributed by Leng.

It looked like Machrone has become our arch rival from now on. We just do not seem to be able to beat them, just like VS Staff....

It started off slowly, at 3pm, MS had only a handful of players. The opponent had more players but the referee was nowhere in sight. I was hoping that none of our players thought it was a 5pm game as we were already short on players. Slowly, more players arrived but still not the full 11. Frantic calls were made to the last 3 and I was told that we were supposed to have 13 with Mel and one guest player. However and for whatever reasons, st and Mel went to Marsiling instead. Time to start and MS had only 10 players. Mel came and followed by Terk running into the compound. Now we had 11 to start the game. MS started the game with more purpose and controlled the game well. The opponent went for Route 1 tactics playing the long ball forward. The backline aided by Mark in the defensive midfielder position held up the pressure well restricting the opponent to shoot from far and not threatening our stand in goalie, Chye. Mel took over the keeper halfway through the first half. Off one of our attack, the ball was played to the left. Machrone’s right back missed the ball allowing Terk to have a free run in. He squared the ball to Wah and Wah had the easy task to side foot the ball into the empty goal. 1-0 to MS till half time.

Chiang was axed by the opponent and had a swollen ankle and he had to stop the game for the day after only 25 minutes. MS was left with only 1 reserve for the 2nd half, while the opponent had reinforcement with a total of at least 7 reserves. MS managed to hold the pressure from the opponents attack for the next 25 minutes or so. The pressure was telling as the lack of reserves at a 3pm game began to take its toll on MS players. Our strong defensive stance lost our shape. We were slow to the 2nd ball. Our defence was slow to react to the long pass. Off one of their attacks, the ball was cleared only outside the penalty box, Machrone’s striker managed to lob the ball over the 'lanky' Mel. 1-1. Over the next 10 minutes or so, Machrone scored another 2 goals, all from route 1 long pass into our last man, who allowed the ball to bounce, pressurised by their strikers and conceding the goals.

For the 2nd time in a row, MS lost to a stronger team with more manpower backup. Final score: 1-3 to Machrone.

Man of The Team: Teck Chye (6 out of 12 votes)
6 votes went to Teck Chye:
“Motm to Chye. Reliable as keeper, forceful as midfielder, classy as defender. Mel did well for a spell when we were under seige. Mike put in a solid battling performance.”
“MOTM goes to Teck Chye for his commitment, hard tackling and multi-role as Goalkeeper, Left Midfielder, Right Back and more.....”
“motm: Teck Chye. He was covering for our defence's immobility. Was all over covering the defence line and shutting out the attacks in tandem with Mark. Opponents scored 2 goals after he was removed, and then the 3rd goal came when he was put back further upfront. Think we lost the momentum in the 2nd half as our wingers on both flanks were non existent after See Chiang had to withdraw with injury.”
“MOM for 11 Jul-Chye - played keeper, striker, midfield, right back with the confidence of someone in the regular role”
“MOTM - I pick Chye for his commitment, determination and his performance was one of the better one among the lots. He started as a keeper, attacking midfielder and lastly as a defender. I was impressed with the ways he helped out in defence and at times, making timely sliding tackles when he knew we were in danger.”
“teck chye. he start as keeper, follow by midfield, he did very well in the midfield keep us in clean sheet till last ten minutes.”

Mark garnered 4 votes:
“My MOM nomination to Mark, in a hot afternoon, Mark played with more purpose and energy than some of the younger and more established players. He kept his defensive duty tight and deserve my vote.”
“Motm - Mark. Consistent in most games he played and just outstanding in this game.”
“Motm goes to mark. Good holding play and helped out defence too.”
“The 2 quick goals by opponent was due to some lapses in the defense and many goal chances we had were given away by our strikers. The only person out of the 11 who had played well was Mark . He has controlled the central exceptionally well despite some skillful opponents in the central as well. My MOTM will be Mark.”

Remaining 2 votes went to Kok Hock and Melvin:
“MOTM for game at Bowen is Kok Hock. Well timed tackles, good reading of the game. But just too bad the whole team could not keep up with the young boys who would not stop running in the hot sun”
“Motm was Melvin. He did well during the onslaught in the second half. We could have ended with a worse scoreline.”