Chwee Leng's words "We did enough to win the match!" and Simon's remarks "It felt like a loss." summed it all up why we weren't too glad to settle for the 2 - 2 outcome with Redhill Old Boyz last Saturday. Their experienced veterans, luxuriously supplemented with 4 youngsters, had no doubt had the lion's share of the possession but we created enough goal-scoring opportunities to produce a tennis set score. Their 1st-half stand-in keeper, in particular, played like a man possessed and he must have my gloves to thank for. He might have looked clumsy in the pre-match warm-up but he was not short of bravery to put his small frame at close distance to deny point-blank efforts from See Chiang and Kian Hwa. All our corners in the 1st half were placed into tricky areas in the penalty box but this botak man was just so willing to stick out a palm or a fist to divert the ball away from one of our players. Another direct free-kick from Kian Hwa was destined for the top left-hand corner of the goal but again we were denied by this charmed man in between their posts.
The non-availability of all the established sweepers enabled The Rock to deploy Melvin for the last man position but our Mr Perpetual Latecomer strode in only after we had kicked off the match, thus another last minute change of plan. Seah, returned from his highly successful stint with an Afghanistan Premier division club, gamely stepped in to sweep. We thought the referee was late enough but nobody can beat Mr I-need-to-wait-my-wife-I-need-to-handle-my-kids-I-have-my-job in tardiness. That explained why both latecomers decided to make up for their lateness with their own sparring later.
ROB started with their usual fluent repertoire orchestrated by their No 17 playmaker, who, apart from his balding pate, resembles the Glenn Hoddle of old - so graceful and at ease with the ball. ROB now also possess a young Malay boy in their ranks, complementing their veteran playmaker perfectly and they proved to be a very effective central midfield duo in controlling the game. The other 3 youngsters roamed along the flanks and upfront, and their mobility frequently caused us anxious moments and at times, stretched our fragile tendon to the limit. Despite their early domination, it was us who came close to scoring first. Our 2 wide men almost came to the good with a couple of tag-team efforts. Firstly, KH's low cross aiming at See Chiang at the far side was intercepted by ROB's defender at the critical moment before See Chiang could pounce on it. Next, KH sent
in a looping cross and this time, See Chiang rose magnificently at the far post to thunder down a header but to our disbelief, ROB's keeper managed to keep the ball out at point-blank. We were guilty of allowing ROB to sing their tune for too long and their Malay midfielder put through a defence-splitting pass in between The Rock and Weng Khong. ROB's young forward sped past Seah and Chung Wen, who both are relatively speedier than most of us, with relative ease. Brandon advanced to block the forward's initial attempt but the latter collected the rebound and literally walked the ball to the empty net. 1 - 0.
Not to be disheartened, we continued to probe. KH was next to be denied by the brave ROB’s keeper, who kept putting himself in the firing line. See Chiang's cross from the right eluded Gan's head but KH was in the right position in the 6-yard box to send in a left-foot half-volley. ROB's keeper produced another blinding save to palm away the ball. KH retrieved the loose ball and sent it across the face of the goal but Weng Khong's diving attempt missed the ball by a whisker. They were let off the hook again, we cursed. ROB were menacing whenever they advanced into our half. But for all the openings they pried, the accuracy was missing, with several good attempts failing to find the target, be it the goal or their forward in the box. Terk appeared to have been tripped from behind by the keeper in another goal-mouth scramble, which resulted from another cross that came in from our left. The referee was not too convinced by the infringement and waved away our calls for penalty, infuriating Mr I-have-the-right-to-question-your-decision in particular. KH was then brought down by a last-ditch tackle just outside the box. From the resultant freekick, KH’s in-swinging chip was bound for the top left-hand corner of the goal but he was denied again by the fingers of ROB’s keeper. Despite carving out numerous clear-cut chances, we trooped off at the break trailing by a goal.
2nd half was more of the same – ROB controlling the ball; Marine Sunday threatening to score, with Gan toiling ceaselessly upfront to hold the line for support. Simon, with his overworked knees closing ROB down in midfield, softened at the crucial moment when he was put through. For 2nd week in a row, he failed to capitalise on a one-on-one situation. Where all our initial efforts failed, Chwee Leng, from his right fullback position, produced a moment of inspiration by launching an age-defying run, exchanging a one-two with Seah in midfield before laying a pass to Gan. Gan’s first effort was blocked by the keeper and his follow-up came off the post but the process took up the required extra seconds for Chwee Leng to get in front of goal to benefit from the ball coming off the post. Leng’s simple tap-in produced our equalising goal, 1 – 1!
ROB’s young forward then almost restored the lead but after cutting in sharply, his left-foot shot just whizzed past the right post. His subsequent foray into the box was expertly guided out of the way by our imposing Mr-I-have-experience-to-show-though-you-have-speed. We overturned the deficit into a lead, and Gan had a huge part to play as well. He not only shook off the close attention of his marker, he also robbed the ball from him and from a tight angle, Gan shot at goal, which cannoned off ROB’s keeper’s legs but KH was at the right place to produce another simple tap-in for a 2 – 1 lead. KH then nearly extended the lead when he ran onto Simon’s through pass but the former’s left-foot shot from a tight angle hit the right post, much to the relief of ROB’s keeper. The keeper was further relieved of embarrassment when his defender managed to deny Gan from following up on the rebound. It was clearly a tackle from behind at Gan’s ankle, denying him to reach the ball cleanly but again, the referee turned a blind eye. With the clock ticking away, the match was played in near darkness condition. At the dying moments of the match, the referee again incensed us by contentiously awarding a freekick to ROB. We chose to play a high line to catch them offside but that only benefitted ROB’s younger players. True enough, their young forward was quicker than us to receive the ball in the box and he exquisitely lobbed the ball over Brandon at a very close range for their equalising goal, 2 – 2. That was as good as the final kick of the match as the referee blew for the final whistle as soon as we resumed play. All of us headed for the shelter but Mr-Am-I-not-entitled-to-question-you continued with his injury-time act with the referee to insist on his last say. Coincidentally or otherwise, both were the last 2 to arrive and both were also the last 2 to leave the pitch. Aptly reflected in the final score: 2 – 2 as well!
Man of The Match: Gan (5 out of 12 votes)
Gan, despite not being among the scorers in the last 2 matches, his work rate as a lone forward helped the team to achieve the results:
1. Not sure if Wordsmith was trying to test my intelligence. I read it twice, just who was his MoTM? Apart from mentioning himself, he also mentioned Simon and Gan. But since he mentioned Gan twice, I deduced Gan was his MoTM…
“What worked: our extra midfielders shut out their wide men and also prevented Botak from stringing passes.
What didn't work: Their stopper pushed up and took over the mantle. He sprayed passes to their speedy forwards.
What might work: defensive midfielders to push up less and move towards the middle to shut out fast players. Leave Simon and attacking midfielders to create the attacks.
Who worked: Team played well but a few lapses let us down. Gan was tremendous up front. He did all the hard running, made space and took on several players to create opportunities for our midfilders. In fact both goals came off his forays. Thought Gan is adapting very well to his lone striker role. All in all, he played a wonderful game.
Who didn't work: My decision to push them up with the last free kick backfired. One delicate chip and I was left stranded.”
2. “MOTM goes to Gan for his brave battle alone in the lone-striker position getting hacked all over the places whilst trying to shield balls passed to him but still managed create numerous chances and feeding balls back to midfielders. In the process, create a lot of problems for our opponents. Tough role to perform but he did fine.”
3. “MOTM : My MOM is Gan for good play in holding up the ball in the opponent's half and creating chances for himself and others . He put himself on the line physically for the team and suffered a few knocks himself as a result.”
4. “Motm today to Gan - hard work to play the role but he ran his socks off & gave opponents plenty to worry. A welcoming return for Seah playing a few positions other than keeper. Rock stayed rock solid as usual.”
5. “Gan. A very difficult role to play as a lone striker upfront. Plus the wingers were a tad disappointing in not supporting him fast enough. So unlucky not to score in 2 matches but his hard work has not gone unnoticed
He could have won a few more votes if it was for ability to give referee a dressing down. But we are talking about football here, so we go….
1. “MOTM = Melvin. Lead the defence line well and made many well-time interceptions that break-up the opposition attacks.”
2. “MOTM: Melvin. Against 2 speedy forwards, Melvin organized the back line with authority and shut down attacks with conviction. He used his short burst nitrous oxide injections perfectly to snuff the forwards who were 1 or 2 steps away from taking a shot at goal. Perhaps we should use Mel more in the central spine of the pitch where speed counts less than on the flanks and his cheekiness serves to unsettle dribblers? I also thought Hock Leong had his usual rock steady performance so a bit boring to state.”
5 players tied at 1 vote each. Breaking the tie is relatively easy. 3rd spot to Chwee Leng – did anyone miss his inspiring run leading to his goal? Surprised only 1 nomination for him:
1. “MOTM: Chwee Leng has made a great breakaway in one of the moment and score a goal. Good work there.”
The other votes went to the following:
1. “MOTM : KH -made some good crosses and scored the 2nd goal.”
2. “MOTM goes to Weng Khong. One of the most lively player, made numerous challenges and contantly harrassed the young wingers and strikers.”
3. “MOTM to Leo - Held his position well to break out many attacks and always cover the last man position whenever it is empty.”
4. “MOTM for 3 Oct, Hock Leong.... he's controlling the defence very well and also cover my post (last man) when i'm loss during the game...hehe”
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