Match #52 (9 Dec 2012): It all happened at the end!

With only 12 today, our job was made more enviable with an opponent who had the luxury to field two teams. Nevertheless, we stuck to the task but it required a huge effort at the end. It didn't seem so at the start when we dominated possession and chances, though MACOM (short for Majority Chinese One Malay, the latter being the player they most depended on playmaking) was fortunate to live by the skin of their teeth. We eventually took the lead in the first half when Delap Khong's throw was handled in the box. He took responsibility for the penalty and scored from the rebound after the initial effort was saved. ROI for new Nike boots was doubled immediately.

MACOM gave us a surprise in the second half. Not only did they continue to restrict us, they scored two quick-fire goals near the end to take the lead. We equalized after some hard work from Chiang to win the ball and passing it to Simon to conjure a defence-splitting chip for Gan to chest it down majestically before slipping it past the keeper. We continued the pressure and were rewarded when Gan won the ball from their goal kick and released Wah who cut in and smashed a grounder to put us ahead. It ended 3-2, much to the disappointment of MACOM which was super hyped up just moments ago.

Match #51 (2 Dec 2012): We Could Also Grind Out A Win, Though Undeservingly

Tornado Singhs are the type of opponent we fear most, a team comprising a few veterans who command on the field and supplemented by young, skilful players to run us ragged. Quality aside, they also outnumbered us with 16 players against us, a bare bone 13 and 2 of which, See Chiang and Kok Hock, had to play through pain barrier and our topshot had to retire early due to cramps from overstretched limbs. In fact, everyone of the 13 was overstretched to the limit. Hats off to these magnificent 13!

TS started with 1 man short but still commanded the possession of play. Their right-winger tormented us throughout 1st half with his trickery and pin-point crosses. Brandon was at his better than best today to keep TS at bay with numerous top-class saves and brave punches to deal with the crosses.

Against the run of play, we stole the lead. Teck Wah set up Mike for our opening goal. Then, sloppiness at our rear end presented them with an equaliser. Teck Wah then beat the offside line to put us in the lead before the break. Before that, he hit the post once and TS hit our framework twice.

TS equalised early in 2nd half and piled non-stop pressure on us thereafter. They could have easily won the match. Brandon was the main reason why they didn't but the real culprit was their left-winger who was show-boating too much. After rounding Brandon and facing an open goal, he chose to round off Gan instead, only for the latter to stick out his leg to block the dribble and Brandon recovered to collect the ball.

Against all odds, we were gifted with our winning goal. Their last man, after seeing Woon off, chose to pass the ball across the penalty box but it reached Weng Khong instead. He took no further delay to deal with the gift and put the ball into the net with his left foot. Mike celebrated with an I-polish-your-boots for Weng Khong, to much disbelief of TS.

A win is a win. We didn't tell them not to beat us, did we?

Match #50 (25 Nov 2012): Sunday Derby Episode 3 - They Were Getting Better But Same Outcome.

Episode 3 of the Sunday derby ended with the same outcome although the scoreline didn't look as convincing as the 1st 2 encounters. But we could have bettered the previous scoreline, had it not been their keeper's heroics in the 2nd half and the referee's dubious decisions in the 1st half to judge KH offside when he clearly beat the line and then deny Gan a crystal-clear penalty when he was blatantly brought down by their keeper. The referee did apologise to KH for the error during the break but it couldn't be undone.

Opening encounter was very edgy and we had to rely on their defensive errors to get our 1st 2 goals in the 1st half. Teck Chye capitalised on a poor clearance and went on to find the net. Sunday FC's last man further compounded their misery when he converted Teck Wah's teasing cross into an own goal. Mike widened the lead in early 2nd half when he jumped well to nod KH's corner for our 3rd goal before our sloppiness at the back gifted Sunday FC's 1st goal. Teck Chye then rounded the keeper before setting Gan up for our 4th goal and Sunday FC responded with a brilliant piece of work in tight space in our box and their chief striker reduced the deficit.

A satisfying 4-2 win nevertheless, despite a smaller margin this time round.

Match #49 (18 Nov 2012): Finished off FFF

Another young team, another inevitable outcome. Both sides had sufficient numbers to cope with the Sunday scorching sun, still players were pleased to be substituted. In contrast to AVB's claim that Spurs were in control in last night's north London derby from first minute to the last, we clearly were dominant in the first half. Kok Hock scored from a free kick near the corner post and Chye smashed one smartly into the bottom corner after a clever lay-off from brother Wah.  That we did not score more was our way of making life exciting for ourselves. 

Second half saw a spirited fight back from FFF. They scored through a well taken free kick and then equalized after some eye-catching exchange of passes. The game was poised nicely on knife edge as FFF was clearly freely and fanatically fired-up whilst our old heads contemplated how to wrest back the initiative. Yet, under the searing heat, play from both sides was stuttering rather than purring and it became clear that it a moment of magic would determine the direction of the match. It came from a long defence-splitting pass from inside our half played with the outside of the foot which allowed Chye to stride in, round the keeper and stroke the ball into the net. Wah then made the game safe with a thumping header after Mel had created the space to free Gan to deliver the superb cross. 

A satisfying 4-2 win. 

Match #48 (11 Nov 2012): We Removed The Sting Out of Venom

Against one of our regular opponents, Venom, which comprises mostly a bunch of ex-Commandos and hence the team name with a scorpion as insignia, with the unbearable heat, and absence of a few regular players, we were mostly at the receiving end throughout the match. But for all their lion share of the possession, they only managed to get into our box twice and each time they were close to scoring. Apart from those couple of golden chances, they resorted to shooting from distance which Brandon had no real issue dealing with them. Then we dished out a couple of sucker punches in 2nd half from our hotshot Teck Wah - one directly from a corner and his second went through keeper's legs - and Venom knew it just wasn't their day. Very certain they have revenge in their mind when we meet again next week.

Marine Sunday 2: Venom 0

Match #47 (4 Nov 2012): Made Whirlwind Wanderers Wonder

Our youngest player Gan used to play for Whirlwind Wanderers and since then they have rejuvenated. How doubly old we are comparatively. Yet, as usual, we thrive on such opportunities to defy old age.

WW was never a threat in the first half as we controlled the tempo despite the hot sun. Gan put us in the lead which was extended by Wah. Mel's teasing corner curved over the keeper and we thought we were in cruise control. A lapse allowed WW into the match and they enthusiastically attempted a fightback. Then another goal - cue players rushing into the net to pick the ball out and put it in the centre circle.

Was a capitulation on the cards? We regained the initiative with some composed play and a cross field ball found Wah who lobbed the keeper with finesse. That broke WW's spirited endeavor. Final score 4-2.                          

Match #46 (27 Oct 2012): Dug Deep To Carve Out A Fantastic Victory

With only 12 players (including one with 2 left feet, one with 'handicapped' right foot and one 14-years old boy), we dug deep to score a fantastic 3-0 win over Orangee, who had 17 turnouts and half the team comprising young Malay players to augment the older Chinese (but still younger than us) folks, and in the process, we certainly stood heads and shoulders above them.

Mike broke the duck early in the match when he latched onto KH's knockdown and whipped a shot past Orangee's keeper. Teck Wah and Mike had further chances to threaten Orangee's goal but Mike was the greater culprit. With the keeper on the ground and an empty goal, Mike chose to pass instead of attempting a shot at goal. Our backline was rock solid, despite playing without any backup. Rock, Chwee Leng, Chung Wen and Ng marshalled the line superbly and dealt with Orangee's forays comfortably. We ended the half with a slender 1-0 lead.

Expecting an onslaught from them and mindful of our limited and depleted resources, we opted for a defensive lineup in the 2nd half, depending on the 14-years old boy, Alex's energy to trouble whatever he could. Our 2nd goal came from a typical counter-attack with just 3 players up front. Teck Wah, on the right, reacted to KH's call and sent the ball across the pitch to the opposite flank, with KH galloping down to meet the ball but his cross was handled by Orangee's clumsy defender and referee had no hesitation to point to the spot. Weng Khong coolly made it count, despite having to retake it after his first attempt was disallowed by the referee.

We sat back to absorb and relied on counter-attack to trouble them. Teck Wah got our 3rd goal, his first attempt at point-blank was blocked by their keeper but he followed up on the rebound for our 3rd goal. Alex had a glorious chance to score our 4th but, in order not to out-score and embarrass his father, he chose to fluff the golden opportunity and so he remains 1-goal behind his father on our scoring chart.

Final score: Marine Sunday 3 : Orangee 0

Match #45 (21 Oct 2012): The Older Sunday Still Have It!

A re-match of the Sunday derby: Marine Sunday (hereafter referred to as Uncles) vs Sunday FC (hereafter referred to as Young Fellas) and Uncles have put to rest which Sunday is a better day :)The re-match was certainly a closer and tighter affair and Young Fellas doubled their tally against us this time round, finding our net twice whereas we remained stagnant at six.

Uncle Teck Wah pounced on the dreadful back pass by a Young Fella to his keeper and Uncle Teck Wah lobbed over the latter for our opening goal. Uncle Gan, with his trickery, released Uncle Chwee Leng on the right, whose cross sailed over the stranded Young Fella's keeper and Encik Kama nodded the ball into the empty net for a 2-0 lead. Young Fellas then came back strongly and were much quicker to every ball. Their striker, No 2, turned Uncle Weng Kwan sharply before unleashing a superb left-footer that left Uncle Brandon rooted. 2-1 at the break.

Young Fellas continued with their high tempo in the 2nd half and Uncle Melvin's reckless challenge in the box earned Young Fellas a penalty but Uncle Brandon pulled off another fine save to deny Young Fellas their equaliser. But they didn't need to wait long for it. Their No 2's turn-and-volley again caught our keeper napping and at 2-2, things seemed to go their way. But Marine Sunday are not a bunch of Uncles for nothing. Uncle Chor Guan showed how things should be done with his trademark lung-bursting charge into the box and whacked in our 3rd goal. Uncle Gan was then hacked down in the box and Uncle Teck Chye, who completed his 10-km run earlier before the match, converted the resultant spot kick. 4-2 up. Young Fellas' tentative defending allowed Uncle Gan to weave his way through to score our 5th goal and Uncle Teck Chye's shot from outside the box took a deflection off Young Fellas' defender's back to sail over the keeper for our half-dozen. The Uncles tried valiantly but we failed to improve on our last outing.

Final score: Marine Sunday 6 : Sunday FC 2

Match #44 (14 Oct 2012): Vintage Wine On Display; So A Vintage Performance And A Vintage Win

It was a rare sight that a younger opponent turned up earlier than us but still, when it comes to getting ready on the pitch for the match, nobody could square up to our discipline. Blaze certainly took ages for their pre-match lineup talk but whatever plans they might have laid out for us, we dug deep to punish them for making us wait for them. We didn't take long to open the account and Mike was the final beneficiary of a fine build-up resulting in a cross from the right. Mike broke free from his marker to tap-in a first-timer beyond the despairing dive of Blaze's keeper. A couple of our players got into their complacency and were dreaming of a durian harvest but it wasn't to be. Blaze's youthful dynamism and vitality soon gained the advantage for them as they laid seige on our goal. They just lacked the cutting edge to seriously threaten Brandon and we finished the half with a slender one-goal lead.

As in the 1st half, we scored our 2nd goal soon after the match resumed. Again, a series of simple passes disrupted their concentration and KH pressured their right-back to concede possession before whipping in a cross for Mike, again getting in front of the defender, to nod home. Blaze's inexperience conceded a penalty. Teck Chye mustered his charm to invite Blaze's defender to his bum and the Blaze's defender duly fell for his trick and in a moment of eagerness to hump Teck Chye, pushed him down in the attempt to pin him on the ground. Before Teck Chye could cry he "was forced to take it in", the referee pointed to the spot. Teck Chye lustfully picked himself up to convert the penalty for our 3rd goal, before wiping that drop of fluid from his mouth and flicking it onto that defender's face.

3-0 and a rare clean sheet for us :)

Match #43 (7 Oct 2012): Hard-Fought Win Over a Young Law Society

In a tightly contested match, Marine Sunday oldies displayed tremendous tenacity and skill to outplay their younger opponents. The match will be remembered for the superb finishing of the three goals as well as the two missed penalties, one from each side.

MS started brightly and had a better share of the early proceedings. It took a while but the breakthrough came when off a partially cleared corner, Weng Khong responded quickest with a smart shot that gave the keeper no chance. Law Soc's striker then showed his perseverance as he held off the challenges of a couple of defenders before turning sharply to fire a superb grounder for their equalizer. One a piece at the break.

The second half was end to end stuff as both sides were determined to outdo each other. The winner was thoroughly deserving. Playing a one-two and ghosting into space for the return, Teck Chye completed his smooth as silk momentum to caress an exquisite curler over their keeper's despairing leap. 2-1 final score!

Match #42 (30 Sep 2012): Marine Sunday 3 : Everton MIK United 1

A familiar opponent, thanks to Kian Hwa's blood connection as his 2 cousins are playing for E MIK Utd. We have had several past encounters and every one of those was close and evenly matched. Today was no exception. They literally ran over us in the first 15 minutes. Our stand-in keeper, Gan, brilliantly denied them twice on one-on-one. We slowly got to the grip of the match and from them on, we exerted our influence. Still, we needed a stroke of luck from their keeper to spill the ball and Teck Wah tapped in the loose ball for our opening goal. See Chiang then missed a glaring sitter before Teck Wah set Gan up for the latter to lob over the onrushing but slow keeper for a 2-0 lead at the break.

Things were balanced out when the match resumed. E MIK Utd reduced the deficit when Mike gave the ball away unnecessarily, allowing a counter-attack. The out-swerving cross from the left eluded the defence and it was none other than KH's cousin who ghosted in from the blind side to head past Brandon. The 2-goal lead was restored after Woon had done a hell of hard work to retrieve the ball on the right and square it to Simon who let fly a stiff grounder for our 3rd goal. Teck Chye and Kian Hwa came close but were denied by their keeper. No further goals ensued. A solid 3-1 win!

Match #41 (22 Sep 2012): Figure the score

There are times when what you see is not what you get. In fact, it was twice what we saw! The ball had clearly crossed the goal line before it was scrambled out only to be knocked back in crossing the line but the ref was oblivious and so the second frantic clearance saved CJC old boys (a misnomer really).

The other key highlights of the match was a gift from their right back and keeper combining to provide comic relief with that own goal, a moment's madness on our part to return the favor of a penalty which was duly converted and then a late sucker punch to register their first 'win' over us.

The only consolation as pointed out by KH was that the chance of us being invited again would be better now that their losing streak against us was over.

Match #40 (16 Sep 2012): As Long As We Out-Score Opponent, We Win :)

For 3rd consecutive match, we conceded unnecessary goals but we scored more than opponents did, we won although performance wise, it had been patchy at best.

We found Soccermaniacs hard to break down until the introduction of the Tang brothers. Chwee Leng's determination won the ball for us in our half and from there, a swift attacking move saw Teck Wah setting up his elder brother to find the net for us. We came close on a couple of occasions but ended the half with only a 1-goal lead to show.

The opening 15 minutes of the 2nd half were a torrid time for us as Soccermaniacs found the extra impetus to pile tremendous pressure on us. They could have comfortably reversed the deficit but were superbly denied by Brandon twice and even more astonishingly, Chung Wen produced a last-ditch on-the-line clearance with his outstretched right foot to deny Soccermaniacs a certain goal. Against the run of play, we put in 2 goals to ease the pressure. YC's long ball into the box looked heading for nowhere but Teck Chye still managed to conjure up a beauty with his left foot from a tight angle. Then Soccermaniacs' keeper gifted us the 3rd goal as he allowed YC's harmless looking long shot from outside the box to slip through his arms and legs. Kian Hwa then floated in a measured cross from the left for Teck Wah to nod in our 4th.

We looked to be cruising but Soccermaniacs found their 2nd wind and notched 2 quick goals set up a potentially tensed finishing but Teck Wah put the issue beyond doubt with his 2nd goal, again courtesy of their keeper's poor handling of the ball. 5-2 final score.

Match #39 (9 Sep 2012): Hard Fought Win - MS 5: Reds FC 3

It was certainly one of the most satisfying wins, against a younger and technically better team. Our determination won us this match and Reds' playmaker, the No 18 with the elegant touches and commanding presence in the middle of the park, remarked likewise :)

Despite starting the match with only 8 players for the opening 5 minutes, Reds had almost 90% of possession with their movement of the ball. Ironically, we got into the lead when they had their full 11, with Woon producing an Andy Carroll's style of header to meet Teck Wah's corner on the 11th minute. 1-0. Things evened out thereafter. Reds' keeper gifted us our 2nd goal when he wrong-footed himself to let a harmless-looking freekick from Teck Wah to go past him. A nice build-up involving Mike and Teck Wah set up Teck Chye for our 3rd goal. We could have our 4th but Kian Hwa's left-footed volley was acrobatically denied by Reds' custodian. 3-0 at the break.

Reds' 3 goals in the 2nd half owed much to Kian Hwa's couple of blunders. At the kick-off for 2nd half, KH's poor giveaway let them counter-attack down their left flank and earn a free-kick, from which they opened their account, with the clock hardly registering 1 minute. Another swift counter-attack got them their 2nd goal and the half wasn't even 15-minutes old. Things looked shaky for us but we dealt them with the same medicine. A rare counter-attack freed up Gan and his pace shook off their defender and for once, Gan didn't dilly-dally and he planted a stiff grounder past their keeper. 4-2. KH then produced a Rory Delap-like throw-in that caught Reds' last man out of position and Gan lobbed over Reds' keeper for his brace.

Another horrific blunder from KH allowed them to notch their 3rd goal. KH could have cleared their corner with ease but he completely air-balled, leading to a scrambled clearance from the back. Reds' winger followed with a shot that cannoned off KH's and then Weng Kwan's backs to sail past Brandon. The resultant screaming from Weng Kwan and Teck Chye's spontaneous call for a substitution spelt the end of KH's presence on the pitch, deservedly so. We held on gallantly to deny Reds of any comeback, though. 5-3 :)

Match #38 (2 Sep 2012): Scrappy Win Over Oranjee 5-3

Oranjee probably lamented they didn't deserve to lose this match, after all they forced an extraordinary triple-saves out of and were denied twice on one-on-one by our brilliant Brandon in the 2nd half. But our custodian can be a clown at times as he gifted Oranjee their 1st two goals. And not forgetting, we were denied thrice by their 2nd-half keeper, whose agility was quite astonishing. So, fair and square, they had nothing to complain.

It was a match of 2 halves: we had the 1st half, they had the 2nd. We were 2-0 up in 8 minutes with Chor Guan, as a striker in 1st half, opened the scoring followed by Kama's wonderful volley from outside the box. Oranjee reduced the deficit but Gan and Mike put us in a comfortable 4-1 lead at the break. Alex rounded up the scoring with a cool tap-in at the far post after their keeper could only parry Teck Wah's corner onto Alex's path. Then came the onslaught from Oranjee and they were well rewarded with 2 late goals. But they could do no more than that and 5-3 was the final score.

Match #37 (26 Aug 2012): Crushing Loss to AFC 2-5

It's the 7th Month syndrome again and that probably explained our dismal 1st half performance (what performance???) against AFC, trailing 0-5 at the break. Yes, you didn't see wrongly. FIVE goals down!!! Listless, disorganised and in total disarray. We were shredded apart by their swift one-touch football that opened up our midfield and defence like hot knife cutting through butter. Furthermore, their right-winger tormented us, giving us nightmare to our left-back and left-midfielder. Short, sturdy and fleet-footed, his mission was to shoot on sight and he duly notched up a hat-trick, all power-packed shots that left Brandon grasping for air.

But we were a totally changed team in the 2nd half. A couple of tactical changes - Weng Khong in the central midfield role and Weng Kwan to left-back to shackle their dangerous right winger - seemed to transform the team. The aggression of both Wengs added a lot of steel and won a lot of ball. In fact, the entire team seemed to have galvanised and stepped up 2 notches. The gallant effort enabled us to be in complete control in the 2nd half and created enough chances to reverse the deficit. Poor finishing and AFC's nimble goalkeeper ruled out a possible famous comeback. No fairy-tale ending but the 2nd half play was fantastic and commendable. Gan and Chwee Leng notched in the consolation goals for us but we knew we were good enough for a draw.

Match #36 (19 Aug 2012): Good lesson dispensed for cocky opponents

Once in a while, you get people whose feet are too big for their boots. A lesson to reduce the size of those egos from elder statesmen is just the right fix towards a more humble society.

Red Chinese Team comprises players mostly younger than MS. What we lose out in youth, we more than made up in teamwork, organisation and focus. A five-man move led to Gan releasing Woon to deliver a peach of a cross for Wah to nod home. This was followed by a superb long ball from Chye to find brother Wah who turned provider with a clever through ball for Gan whose trickery left the keeper on the ground before stroking the ball into the empty goal. Two nil at half time.

The second half saw RCT playing with greater urgency and aggression. We worked hard to contain them but could not stop them scoring a consolation goal, a well-taken long range shot. As we started to regain the initiative towards the end, a coming-together between their loutish No.9 and our diminutive Ng led to a most unsportsmanlike reaction from the former as he moved to strike Ng who was on the ground. Not taking it lying down, Ng showed the young man that some old men are not to be trifled with. As usual, players and subs quickly converge onto the field to join in the action.

The ref had no choice but to end the match. It was utterly unfair that a foolish big-headed jerk had deprived our 14-year old trialist some play time. 2-1 final score.

Match #35 (12 Aug 2012): Very much on target against Darts!

Eight-goal thriller, seven goals scored by six different MS hotshots! The key stats in a pulsating match against Darts, a team which also plays frequently at St Wilfrid's on weekday evenings.

We started brightly with an enthusiastic pressing game. Early pressure from Mike in Darts defensive area caused a panic clearance which only found Chye lurking at the edge of the box, whose low drive beat the keeper comfortably. Continuing to take advantage of Darts' tentativeness, we dispossessed them in midfield and Chye turned provider with a sweet through ball for Mike to pick his spot at the near post. Against the run of play, Darts had a corner which caused confusion in our penalty area. The ball pinged around before it found its way trickling pass the line off Khong's attempted clearance. Soon Khong was up in midfield and his battling qualities won the ball for us on the right. His pass infield to Simon was deftly relayed on for the forward running Wah to finish expertly.

At this point, we were cruising but Darts right midfielder was also providing some threats with Beckham-like crosses. A free kick in that zone allowed him to crack a diagonal shot which cannoned off the post, but fortuitously hit our diving keeper Gan's head and rolled in. The goal inspired Darts and pressing in our half with menace, we could not get the ball out easily. Simon was pressurized into losing the ball and their loud-mouthed player drove forward and powered a shot which gave our keeper no chance. Half-time three apiece, and we had scored five.

With some reshuffle to balance play time, and YC's wise advice to us not to worry about the result, we played with renewed freedom and conviction. Both teams were attack-minded and the action swung from end to end. We seized the initiative again when Wah's corner kick was headed home by Gan. As the clock ticked away, Simon put the gloss on our victory with a long range special. The only blemish in this enthralling encounter was Mike's mild concussion suffered from a clash with a Darts' player. Final score 5-3.

Match #34 (5 Aug 2012): Clash of Sundays: Oldies Triumphed!

Besides having similarly sounding names, both Sundays had another thing common for their first derby match. Both sides missed their regular goalkeepers, each had to call upon 2 outfield players, one for each half, to deputise in goal. Marine Sunday's stand-ins proved much superior to Sunday FC's and in case nobody noticed it, this seemingly lop-sided 6-1 win owed in no small part to our Gan and Teck Chye in goal. The gulf scoreline looked deceiving, it didn't tell any story that we were under seige for the first 25 minutes of the match. In our typical fashion, we started poorly and let the technically and physically superior Sunday FC boss around us. Gan had to produced two stunning saves, one of which a penalty, to keep Sunday FC at bay. Against the run of play, we dealt them with 3 sucker punches, all due to Teck Wah's well-timed run to beat their offside line. Teck Chye first set Teck Wah up in the box for the opening goal before the latter latched onto Melvin's superb pass to set up his elder sibling and return the earlier favour. 2-0. Sunday FC reduced the deficit when their left-winger's cross caught Gan by surprise to sail into goal. Weng Khong then threaded in another through pass for Teck Wah to easily side-foot the keeper for a healthy-looking 3-1 lead at the break.

It was Teck Chye's turn to fill in between the posts when play resumed and while he didn't produce those stunning saves of Gan, he dealt with whatever Sunday FC threw at him - low shots, thunder bolts, crosses, corners, through balls - with such ease that he made us forget who Brandon is, and the latter had to turn up to remind us of his presence! Gan, Mike and Simon produced the goods for us in the 2nd half and their keeper pulled off a superb double saves to deny Gan and then Teck Wah, gallantly blocking the latter's stiff volley with his face.

Another satisfying morning outing with the mid-lifers proving their worth over the testosterone-raging young fellas.

Match #33 (29 July 2012): ACI Showed What It Means To Be Clinical

We lost 1-3 to ACI. Really, their first 2 goals were quite sucker punches. Despite their domination in 1st half, we created 4 on-target goal-scoring opportunities, enough to put us on an unassailable lead by the break. Yet, in the dying moments of the 1st half, a lightning-quick counter-attacker caught us totally out of position. Despite Rock's gallant effort to force their striker wide, the latter still managed to force in a shot from a very tight angle that Brandon only managed to parry and their young left-winger capitalised on our already out-of-breath defenders to tap in the rebound. 1 goal down at the break.

2nd half was more of the same. They had the possession, we carved out the chances. Chasing to overturn the 1-goal deficit, we went for what we thought the broke by deploying Gan and Chor Guan forwards with a strong midfield quartet of Simon, Yong Chua, Weng Khong and Teck Chye, only to be disrupted shortly after by the unfortunate withdrawal of Brandon, thereby forcing Gan to stand in between the posts. Again, ACI dealt us with another sucker punch when they proved youthfulness and vitality win over old limbs anytime. Weng Khong was incessantly harassed and forced to pass pack to Weng Kwan, who looked so assured to clear the ball, only to dealt with a cruel stroke of reality when ACI's alert striker robbed the ball away from him and raced on to put the ball past Gan. We shortly conceded the 3rd goal through a lapse in concentration that allowed their defender to rise unchallenged to nod in a corner.

We launched a spirited fightback in the last 10 minutes but it proved to be too little, too late. Chor Guan's tap-in was scant consolation to Marine Sunday, when we knew we were good enough for a deserving draw.

Match #32 (21 Jul 2012): Satisfying win over KK team

Against a team we have not beaten before and at their 'home' ground and 'home' ref no less, we played the formation to suit the players we have at our disposal. A tight defense, fluid midfield and nimble attack was what we conjured and strived to maintain.

Wah gave us the lead in the first half with a smartly taken shot at the end of a flowing 5-man move. KK equalized early after the restart when powerful 11 cut across the defense to smash an unstoppable shot past our keeper. Chye restored our lead after YC astutely put him through. The goal of the match (and possibly the season so far) was Woon's rising diving header from Wah's precise cross.

A satisfying 3-1 win.

Match #31 (15 July 2012): Marine Sunday Hit 5 and Kept a Clean Sheet!

Kop is a good opponent with a balanced mix of veterans and youngsters to boost the lung power :) And we did find them quite a hard nut to crack until the last 15 minutes of 1st half. Kama's perseverance set up 2 goals for Teck Wah, one of which was a spectacular overhead kick. Then Kama's intelligent through pass set up Kian Hwa (you didn't read wrongly, yes, Kian Hwa), who made his appearance after a long-term knee injury, who went on to register a memorable goal on his comeback. The goal of the match must be from Teck Chye's left foot. No, he didn't score but what a cool mind he demonstrated. When he could have taken a shot at goal, he set up Gan with a delightful, perfectly weighted cross from his left foot that Gan had the simplest of task to head it in. Teck Wah rounded up the misery of Kop with a blistering shot.

It was good to see players who had not appeared for a while, namely Weng Kwan, Mark and ahem........ :) I believe I overheard Kop players on the sideline complimented on our team work. Well done, Marine Sunday!

Match #30 (7 July 2012): MiRed in 2-3 Loss

Was it only in May that we pitted against this team, Malays in Red, at Woodlands Sec and came off winning 5-4? The re-match, if indeed so, saw a reversal in fortune with them a worthy 3-2 winner. But we simply did not turn up to play football, our off day. Melvin got into the rare act of scoring goal but it was an own goal, their winning goal. Our usually dependable Simon could have salvaged the match but he skied the penalty in the dying moments of the match. Malays in Red were technically superior and better players, but cannot accord a few of their players the same compliment on their behaviour...far from it. For the record, Gan and Simon found the net for us.

Match #29 (30 June 2012): Another Fruitful 8-1 Harvest Against GS

Having the kick-off time at 3pm and with the recent blazing sun and scorching heat, we feared the weather more than the opponent, a bunch of young men from the high-flying investment bank. We are a blessed bunch of mid-lifers. Weather turned out to be more than kind to us, with the unexpected gloomy clouds hanging but it didn't rain. We couldn't really complain of the cool effect, could we? Goldman Sachs turned out to be a bunch of relatively young football enthusiasts getting together for the first time. Lack of team work and short on fitness in most players aside, they were without a proper goalkeeper. Any decent goalkeeper would have prevented at least 6 of the 8 goals GS conceded. So the one-sided 8-1 scoreline was not indicative of their shortcoming in the quality aspect.

For the record, the harvesters were Teck Wah with a hattrick and 1 each from Mike (this slow tortoise still managed to beat GS' static goalkeeper for our opening goal, it just showed where their fatal point was), Simon (a beautiful cut-in followed by a thunderous shot that left any keeper no chance), Teck Chye (a direct free-kick that slipped through keeper's buttery fingers), Weng Khong (deployed as a forward for just 5 minutes and he demonstrated his positional awareness with a good follow-up after their keeper spilled Chwee Leng's well-taken shot onto the red carpet for him to tap in), Leo (another 5-minutes striker who benefited from this temporary deployment and he popped up at the far post to notch in a good cross from Teck Wah). And of course, Teck Wah's hattrick - 2 well-taken one-on-one goal and a well-drilled free-kick completed the rout of GS. The only MS player who wasn't happy with this harvest was Gan, who had to stand-in as our keeper and as a result, couldn't join the durian party upfront.

But it wasn't totally plain-sailing for us. After taking an early 2-0 lead, we slipped into the "durian mentality" mode that attracted a dressing-down at the break. We pulled up the socks in the 2nd half, and coupled with Goldman fading into Oldmen....another fruitful harvest resulted.

Match #27 (17 June 2012): Trinity Trample

Match report by the Rock!

We started the game with zero unemployment. Mel's nephew was called in beef up the numbers as we decided to go slow & not fast in our game plan... & he proved to be a much needed substitute later on in the game when our legs struggled to hold out. And we were glad to be further reinforced by a last minute turn-up by Mark & the game commenced with two substitutes. Game on with very much the same problem that we would like to perform a comeback - conceding a goal first to a very well-taken & low shot by Trinity's striker after tearing down our right flank. Our opponents are firing a lot of crosses that caught the defence back-paddling on numerous occasions. But, as usual, comeback we did & Wah showed Trinity Boys his version of a low & well-taken shot on the right flank and we are back in business. First half finished with one a-piece.

2nd half started with substitutions & rotation of positions according to the strength of our players - moving Mel to last man & Kwan to the left back. Credit to Mel's strategy in keeping the defence line low which congested our half with midfielders compacting the mid line doing their 'loansharking activities' - harassment. Gan did a great job as a central midfielder doing the harassment work with his henchmen - Mark (defensive central mid), Woon & Khong, left & right mid respectively. This deployment cut off crosses by our opponents & we started to string passes together after winning the ball in the midfield & defence areas. Tiredness started to seep in but MS boys showed their determination, with carefully well-strung passes found Wah again twice, Khong once & Gan once bringing the final score to a satisfactory 5-3 win for MS, albeit Trinity boys making a serious attempt to come back into the game scoring two more goals towards the later part of the the game. Good try but too late....they forgot we are the authentic comeback kings!

Must state that Gan's goal was quite a beauty after having dribbled past 3 opponents down the left flank & cut back to cross. Upon receiving a rebound, he volleyed in a shot from a very tight angle catching Trinity keeper off-guard. In conclusion, MS was a cohesive fighting machine that day with every cylinders(players) firing!

Match #28 (24 June 2012): 1-2 loss to Yellows

Despite the reputation of Yellows as a good team featuring little plump stocky fella with a venomous left foot, we were not awed at all. For all their swaggering possession, Yellows were not able to find a way past us until we suffered a loss of concentration and they gifted a stroke of luck. Their stiff shot from outside the box was never going anywhere in a crowded penalty box but struck their own striker who reacted smartly to turn the ball in. We deservedly equalized through Wah's simple header off Mel's teasing corner.

We maintained our discipline and composure in the second half and stayed in contention to win the match until the ref failed to make a call on an offside decision. This allowed their old striker to cracked a firm grounder which turned out to be the winning goal. Final score 1-2.

Match #26 (9 June 2012): First Time Failing To Find The Net And A Frustrating 0-2 Loss!

Another bunch of kampung relek kawan and true enough, they just felt compelled to uphold their renowned traits: blatant disregard for punctuality and disrespect for opponent with their tardiness and care-less attitude. This bunch would take the cake - Mother of All Latecomers...we only got to start the match at 5.45pm. Doubt it is any insult if they are referred to as Tidak Apa Gang.

On the other hand, very typical of such opponents, their players are technically gifted and experienced. Despite starting the match with 2 players short and without any sort of warm-up, they still rang rings around us. Preferring to keep the ball to the ground and relying on short passes to move around, they stretched us at times and their 2 goals resulted from midfielders embarking on intelligent off-the-ball running in from deep and beat our otherwise solid defence line to score past Brandon.

We were not without our chances but our forwards must have put on their ballet shoes for the day. They would rather forget how we ended up failing to find the net for the first time of the season. On the few occasions when they found the soccer boots, TAG's goalkeeper was simply brilliant to deny us.

The only positive of the match was to see such commanding performance from Brandon. Like a territorial wolf guarding its hunting (or mating?) ground, Brandon's authoritative play only means one thing, i.e. instilling confidence in us. And that can only be good.

Match #25 (3 June 2012): Sunday stroll in the park

It seems like a long time since we don't make life difficult for ourselves. Yet for half an hour against Mixed of Whites, a team that is clearly one step behind (us for a change), we dominated but couldn't apply the finishing touch. So it was with much relief that Wah cooly finish for us after Simon had split the defence with a well-weighted cross-field pass. He added his second with a smartly taken shot from Kamar's long flighted cross. Two nil at half time seems like a good platform for durian harvesting.

It took surprisingly turn soon after the restart. MoW clawed back a goal with some determined work. As if affronted, we responded emphatically by restoring the 2 goal cushion within seconds - a few quick passes upfield and Wah was at the right place to notch his hattrick. Further punishment was meted out as Chye emulated his younger brother. Simon added a brace in between Chye's hattrick. There was still time for MoW to win a graciously-awarded penalty which Brandon valiantly got a hand to, only for an alert MoW player to slot in the rebound. We had the final say when Woon slotted a firm grounder to complete a big win for us.

Final score 9-2.

Match #24 (26 May 2012): We can't win by going in front .....

Dire situations require desperate measures. Back-ups came in the form of one who hasn't played for months and a sprightly fourteen year old. Opponent was an all Malay team, with some degree of nastiness in some.

Yet we ominously went in front when Brandon's long punt eluded the defence and Gan went through to lob over the keeper. Opponent that equalized and we stubbornly went ahead again against our natural instinct. Leng's superb cross from the right was expertly first-timed by Khong low past the keeper. As expected, opponent restored parity and both teams went into the break two apiece.

We were to pay dearly for the few opportunities not taken earlier. Two quick fire goals saw us going behind for the first time in the match. Is this what we asked for? Going behind seems such a natural thing to enable us to play properly. Sustained pressure led to us winning possession and Khong fed Guan to round the keeper. Simon then released Wah with a ball over the top and the former made no mistake slotting the ball home to put us on even terms. And the expected outcome was accomplished when Khong sent Woon galloping away down the right to deliver a precise cross for Wah to apply the coup de grace.

That's not all. What was also eye-catching was young trialist Alex Koh's composed performance. A few good crosses was supplemented with disciplined defensive cover when we lost possession. Chief scout may wish to take a look - player available for a free transfer. A few beers should buy the agent's favor :)

Match #23 (20 May 2012): Flow Inter-rupted: Another Brilliant Comeback!

No, not that giant from Italy but our opponents must have fashioned themselves to be by virtue of their previous jersey :)

So, except for 1 who is 47-years old and is only 2 years older than most of us, the rest may not even have their age starting with 4. We felt they had misrepresented slightly and maybe that was why they weren't surprised that they stole an early lead on the 3rd minute when a few of our players hadn't even touched the ball. Their movement was swift and their football was pleasing to the eyes, and for a split second slower in movement, we tripped their forward just outside the box. For that, we paid a heavy price as their play-maker, No 16, curled in a beautiful shot from the resultant free-kick. This play-maker could have inflicted more damage on us with another free-kick from almost the same spot but it hit the side netting instead, leaving our shaken Brandon visibly relieved.

We slowly got to the grip of the match. Teck Chye and Simon broke up their play in the middle and the latter quickly released Teck Wah on the right, whose low cross into the box was forced into an own goal by Inter's defender under the pressure of Mike. The defender regretted falling to Mike's trap as he realised later that had he left Mike alone, he was actually harmless as proven later. Teck Wah set Mike through on a one-on-one but our physics specialist took too long to calibrate his momentum and calculate his force of inertia. With only the keeper to beat, Mike screwed the ball wide. And the Inter's defender then realised the trick :). The introduction of Weng Khong produced immediate impact as he intercepted a ball and headed back into the box for Teck Wah to shoot past Inter's keeper. Teck Wah could have notched a hat-trick in first half but his 2 other efforts kissed the horizontal instead. Kama had a header cleared off the line. Otherwise, we could have ended the half on much more than just 2-1.

We resumed the match with a simple game plan, i.e. shackle their No 16 and choke the supply line. Kama, and later Simon, worked their socks off to great effect. We began to gain more possession of the ball. Gan fended off the attention of their pesky left-back and produced a delightful cross that sailed beyond everyone's head and dropped nicely onto Weng Khong's path. His turn-and-half-volley produced the fruit and brought an immediate substitution by Inter - the goalkeeper changed his gloves! Wow! That was serious stuff!

Not to be outdone, Melvin showed Inter's No 16 that he could score directly from free-kick as well. At a much further distance from goal, about one-third length of the pitch, at 45 degree angle to goal, Melvin's shot produced that kind of flight which goalkeepers hate. And it went into the top left-hand corner of the goal, leaving their keeper wonder why he bothered to change the gloves. Mike then produced another of his tricks to fool Inter's defenders to notch goal No 5 for us. Doing his trademark seagull run towards goal and without looking at where the ball was landing, it gave their defenders false hope that it was leading to nowhere. But all the remote controls on the sideline cued Mike on where the ball was and more importantly, where Inter's keeper was standing. Mike dutifully lobbed the ball over him and we gave ourselves top mark for such team coordination :)

5-1! A convincing win and we hugely deserved the beer after the match.

Match #22 (12 May 2012): Comeback 3-2 Win!

0-2 down by the 15th minute, it could have been worse if referee had not ruled their 3rd goal offside, against another opponent of young players, Nitro FC..... things looked bleak. Not when you have experience and commitment to count on..... The last-minute unscheduled appearance of Teck Chye after some 'pitiful plea' by KH; the long-awaited comeback game for See Chiang; Weng Khong and Leo who are rarely deployed as strikers; willingness of the Rock to hold the defence line; the commanding performance of Brandon...these were just some of the factors contributing to this hugely satisfying comeback win! Of course, nobody should discount the usual dependable contribution from the other members of the elderly brigade...Simon, Yong Chua, Chung Wen, Ng, Chwee Leng, Mike, Woon and our hotshot Teck Wah.

After withstanding the early onslaught from Nitro, we settled down and began to carve out half chances. We managed to reduce the deficit just before the break when Leo slotted a through ball for Teck Chye to coolly beat Nitro's keeper. 1-2 at half-time.

We had the better of the possession in the 2nd half. Yong Chua, Teck Wah and See Chiang had chances to put the ball in the net but wasted all. At our rear end, Brandon bailed us out on a handful of occasions with his safe pair of hands. It took us a stroke of luck to equalise. Woon's shot in the crowded penalty box took a wicked deflection past the wrong-footed keeper. 2-2! With 7 minutes to spare, we continued to build on the momentum. Our winning goal could not have been more pleasing to the football purists. YC started the movement from our box and found See Chiang on the left. SC's ball into the box for our stand-in forward, Weng Khong, was well cushioned down by the latter and he set his strike-partner, Teck Wah, up for our hotshot to finish the job with his trademark left-foot volley to give Nitro's keeper no chance at all. A superb football movement leading to a great goal and a fantastic 3-2 win!

Match #21 (5 May 2012): No joy in tussle with Tusser

Rarely do I not enjoy a match because of a referee (as a benchmark, 'spider' is quite fine for that matter), but this one takes the cake for letting opponents have their cake and eat it. Remarkably partial, retaken set pieces, revolting!

A questionable decision to allow an offside Tusser Rangers player to score one on one against brandon led to us falling behind. We leveled through a well-worked free kick which allowed Guan to run in and side-foot home. We were then to rue the few clear cut chances that our better cutting edge created, going into the break at 1-1.

In the second half, two sucker punches, the first questionably offside again, saw us going behind and we never recovered. Credit to TR for their sound organization and playing simple football to avoid getting into trouble. Final score1-3.

Match #20 (29 April 2012): We Made All-Stars See Stars!

This was a match where we dug deep into our experience to carve out an impressive win against Dunman All Stars, a team whose average age is 14 years younger than us. And considering we had only 12 turnouts against their 17, the win was all the more admirable. Last minute pullouts of Melvin and Leo reduced the team to bare bones, the joy of YC's arrival was short-lived and dimmed by the back injury sustained by Kama during the match. Still, we battled on and the unwavering spirit prevailed! In such adversity, much to everyone's pleasant astonishment, Mike stood up to be counted as he chalked up 4 goals to his credit.

DAS had us in sixes and sevens in the opening 25 minutes of the match. They notched an early goal after a mix-up in our defence presented their swift striker with a ERP-less access to our goal. They then came close again when another build-up hit the post, followed by another certain goal denied by Brandon's broad chest. We struggled to find some semblance of fluency in our play. Mike, after his initial tentative play, then popped up to reverse the early deficit with 2 poacher goals, both from fine assists by Teck Wah, only for another defensive lapse to present DAS with a soft equalising goal. DAS thought they had regained the upper hand but Teck Wah completed his hat-trick of assists when he set up Chwee Leng for a clinical finish that was reminiscent of his old VJC self. 3-2 at the break.

We expected DAS to come back strongly in the 2nd half but by their own admission, the team spirit evaporated in the warm weather and they lost their shape. Teck Chye intercepted one of the many poor clearances from DAS' keeper and set his younger sibling up for his deserving goal. Mike then displayed his agility to the fullest - first rising highest like a salmon to meet Teck Wah's corner with a header that would have made Fandi Ahmad proud. Then, from another Teck Wah's corner, he stooped to the lowest point he could and headed another ball unchallenged into goal. 6-2 and we looked to be cruising, but DAS benefitted from the referee's dubious call for a soft penalty and reduced the deficit to a less embarrassing 6-3 scoreline.

Match #19 (22 April 2012): Durians Harvested But Gave Away A Few

For someone who didn't show us a wee bit of respect at all, turning up late, taking his own sweet time to change up, we punished him duly. With the clock hardly registering 5 minutes, this late-comer star keeper of A2 Orange embarrassingly allowed a tame low cross from Teck Wah to slip through his hands and legs for our opening goal. And we thought the floodgate should open wider but we toiled for some good 15 minutes without any further goals but instead allowed them to equalise. We hit top gear in the remaining 20 minutes of the first half, notching 4 goals through Kama, Teck Chye's brace, and Chor Guan to lead 5-1.

The Tang brothers completed the rout in the 2nd half with a goal apiece. The late morning heat then took a toll on our ageing bodies and limbs and we let them steal 2 durians from our harvest as the match was coming to an end. Final score: 7 - 3!

Match #18 (14 Apr 2012): Another comeback, a good win

We didn't do ourselves justice the last time we played CJC old boys, managing with a labored draw. Thunder in the distance aside, we ensured lighting doesn't strike twice. Yet we found ourselves going behind for the third match in succession when CJC old boys took three bites of the cherry to finally put the ball just over the line. Our equalizer came from unlikely circumstances. Gan, not normally our corner kick taker, swung one to the near post. With the keeper flapping, Khong reacted quickest to plunder the loose ball from the narrowest of angles.

KH gave his half-time team talk and made the substitutions. We could either fail him and lose this game or credit him with a good result. It wasn't long after he had turned his back to prepare for the Merseyside derby that we conjured the lead - lending credence to his Midas talk! From a throw-in in our half, four slick passes was all it took to free up Gan to apply an accurate finish. Continued pressure enabled us to camp in their half. Their defender dawdled on the ball and he was duly punished as YC unceremoniously robbed him of the ball and completed the humiliation with a cool finish. At the death, Teck Wah did all the hard work before laying the ball for Simon to toe-poke the ball past the keeper.

Another comeback win, but comfortable all the same!

Match #17 (8 Apr 2012): Double Comeback Win

Some things we couldn't achieve on good Fridays or every Sunday - this time we finally did it. A team bearing some semblance to MS, all Chinese saved for 1 outstanding Malay, but that's where the similarities end. Are there no above-40 teams out there? Another young team, another challenge for MS to overcome - and we have been doing a rather decent job of it, betraying the age of the team.

Unicef Yellows started brightly, keeping possession well, speedy wingers tearing down the flanks. A cross from the left created confusion and led to their first goal with a well-taken finish. On the other end, their failure to clear convincingly allowed Rock to score a rare and nonetheless beautiful goal - sweeping a looping shot over the entire defence as he was falling on account of a heavy b***! UY took the lead again just before half time when their winger again took the ball down the right. At full stretch, his fortuitous cross skidded on the surface and eluded everyone as it slipped in through the near post from an acute angle.

Good interplay epitomize our second half as all three goals were well-created. Starting the moves from our own half, we worked the ball out of it, wide to the flanks before superb finishing was applied to the crosses and knock-backs. Gan equalized with an assist from Wah. He then turned provider with a deep cross for Chye to slid in, making up lots of ground along the way. Chye then headed an assist for Wah to extend our lead. UY scored a late goal to make substitutions decisions harder but we prevailed 4-3.

Let's hope a new run is started!

Match #16 (6 Apr 2012): Double Comeback!

A third consecutive opponent which was young and full of energy (and reserves to boot), yet when we looked back, it was another match we could have won. Unfortunately, we will have to rediscover our winning groove on another day.

MOA started confidently and stroked the ball around the big pitch (by our standards these days), but without any real penetration. We had the more clear-cut chances but contrived to fluff them. We paid for those when MOA launched 2 counter-attack sucker punches. 2 down at half time.

KH made some tactical substitutions for his final contribution of the day. His breakfast was well-deserved as we started to click and take control of the game. Gan scored 2 goals to bring us back on par before MOA regained the initiative with another goal. We continued to play with confidence and drive as MOA struggled to cope. When Gan sent a beautiful cross for Wah to stroke home, we were all fired up to snatch a win. Unfortunately time ran out and we had to settle for a second successive 3-3 draw.

Match #15 (1 April 2012): We Only Had Ourselves to Kick!

Maybe Brandon was affected by the field warden who checked his NRIC before the match kick-off. Perhaps, he was too distracted by her charm - so SSC's new strategy to ensure genuine users of booked fields has some sort of side effects! That aside, to throw away a handsome 3-0 lead and in the end we were lucky not to lose the match, was simply uncharacteristic.

We raced to a comfortable 3-0 lead, courtesy of goals from Mike, Gan and Simon, by the 20th minute mark. Simon had his trademark goal cruelly denied by the referee's contentious decision to rule an infringement on AFC's keeper by Gan, when clearly, it was the keeper barging into Gan instead. AFC had their moments as well, hitting our upright in the early moment of the match and were all over us in the 2nd half. They reduced the deficit just before half-time. Their relentless pressure in the 2nd half paid off handsomely with 2 late goals.

Final score 3-3, as we reflected that a more savvy approach could have been more productive. We only had ourselves to kick!

Match #14 (25 Mar 2012): Unbeaten Streak Ended.......Agonisingly

It has to come, we knew it. But to concede defeat against Greyhounds, whom we knew we are capable of inflicting much more damage on them, was a tad agonising. Gan had a couple of certain goals cleared off the line and another coming off the woodwork, Teck Wah had a point-blank scorcher brilliantly tipped over by Greyhounds' keeper and another couple of half chances from Teck Chye and Mike, our efforts were simply insufficient to avoid the inevitable, the first defeat of the season.

Greyhounds lived up to the spirit of the no-nonsense breed, hounding us for every ball and driving us to the edge whenever we had the ball. 1st half was evenly matched but a scrappy affair. Greyhounds stole the lead when we allowed their midfielder to waltz through half the pitch unimpeded and send in a long ball that eluded every of our defenders for their striker to lob the ball over our static keeper. Teck Wah equalised before the break with a well-taken free-kick just outside the box.

A tactical change saw us seizing the initiatives in the early stages of the 2nd half, only to be dealth with by a sucker punch. A couple of long balls from Greyhounds sent the ball onto the right foot of their striker who brilliantly took it first-time to blast past the half-asleep Brandon. Our misery was further compounded with the concession of another soft goal. A weak corner somehow managed to slip through the grip of our custodian for their 3rd goal. We battled hard but luck wasn't on our side. Agonisingly....1-3 loss.

Match #13 (18 Mar 2012): Football Focused - Ignored Rough Play and Emerged Worthy 4-1 Winner

It was blessing in disguise that our Fighting Cock Trio were absent from this match against Kampung Hijau, otherwise their 2nd half's incessant antics would have certainly triggered a free-for-all. A relatively incident-free 1st half degenerated into crunching tackles and flying elbows from the kawan of the Hijau gang in the 2nd half, resulting in a few brusied lips on Teck Wah, Weng Kwan, Weng Khong and knocks on Rock and Gan. But we overcame their unnecessary rough play and walked away with a convincing 4-1 win over them.

How we ended up just 1-1 at the break bore uncanny resemblance with Liverpool's home form this season. We created a handful of scoring chances before being dealt with a sucker punch when Kampung Hijau's first and only goal attempt in the 1st half allow them to take the lead against the run of play. We continued to capitalise on their fumbling goalkeeper whose handling of the ball was highly suspicious and indeed, he made a mess out of Teck Wah's attempt and Gan pounded on the rebound for our equaliser. His fumbling antics aside, their keeper astonishingly produced two superb reflex saves to deny Gan's header and a certain own goal from his defender's head.

Despite the rough measures dished out by the Hijau gang in the 2nd half, we kept our cool to move the ball around albeit a tad harder with the water-logged pitch. While Simon's numerous long-range attempts were either too weak or sailed over, Teck Wah produced the perfect strike from a free-kick just outside the box to put us 2-1 up. Gan was then fouled in the box and Simon made no mistake from the spot despite a defender's attempt to play mind games on our Mr Reliable. Then, the goal of the match put the icing on the cake. Chor Guan, deployed upfront in the last 25 min of the match, turned his marker and left him dead, went down to the byeline before squaring the ball for the onrushing Teck Wah to get ahead of the keeper and nip the ball in. Simple flowing football! Worthy 4-1 winners, we were.

Match #12 (11 Mar 2012): Dug Deep for satisfying 2-1 win

Estar Loco looked the type of team that fancies form over substance. Togged in the blue and black of Inter Milan, they were darn serious on what adorns them relatively young turks, with the captain (and then subsequent changes) taking time to put the armband on. Wah siah (accord the meaning according to whether u prefer the second or third intonation of the hanyu pinyin)!

We humble MS didn't have our usual captain to flaunt the kind of substance that matters, so we were left with our greying hair as indication that we could be of some small threat. Off the go, EL were playing it tight and pressing hard, albeit without any real threat in attack. We were compact in defence and more incisive in attack, and created a few chances that should have put us in a comfortable lead, but the first half ended with the match finely balanced.

The pattern of the match continued very much in the same vein and to our surprise, we went behind through a well-taken shot from their nifty forward. We turned the match around late on with 2 strikes from Wah, assisted by a long throw from Khong, and a free-kick delivery from Simon. Great spirit shown in a thoroughly deserving win!

Match #11 (26 Feb 2012): Convincing 3-1 Win Over KS' Blues

Of all the encounters with Kok Seng's Blues, this  must be the most convincing win. We could have scored another handful more, considering the glaring misses by Teck Chye and Weng Khong and 2 superb saves by their keeper to deny the Tang brothers.

Not suprisingly, both Tang siblings added to their tally and Woon's maiden goal of the season capped a fine performance, though the scoreline did not really reflect our domination, especially in the first half.

The win was marred by a serious injury to KH, whose unquestionable, but really stupid, committment to block a certain shot came up worse. As Teck Wah captured it on video, the tackle did KH's knee in.

Match #10 (26 Feb 2012): Brave Performance, Gritty Win

Our unbeaten streak of the new season looked set to come to a halt against Red Stars, which comprise a potent mix of late-30s and early-20s and have, among them, a few players who used to ply their trade in S-League. Their technique, movement, passing are simply 2 notches above us. Facing such formidable opponent and given the water-soaked pitch that made the condition even more treacherous for us, we put in the best shift of duty to date, grinding out an against-all-odds 3-2 win over them. The fact they applauded and paid generous compliments to us at the end of the match speaks volume of our grit and determination. Everyone of us worked our socks off for this hugely satisfying win.

The blistering pace that they set from the whistle stretched us thin and the match was hardly 10 minutes old when they opened accounts. Teck Chye equalised, though he looked a tad offside, when a fiercely determined Simon bulldozed his way in between 2 defenders for Teck Chye to benefit from. Simon then scored another of his trademark long-range goal from a free-kick just after the centre line to reverse the deficit at the break. Simon added to his goal tally with another cracker from outside box but Red Stars forced the match to the wire with a late goal to set up a pulsating finish. Our defence department comprising Melvin, Rock, Weng Kwan, Ng, Chwee Leng and Chung Wen could stand tall and proud against such pacy and skilful forwards of Red Stars. Well Done! Love it!

Match #9 (18 Feb 2012): A Disciplined Marine Sunday; A Fine Win

We put up a very disciplined performance to beat Team Orange 7-0 and kept our second clean sheet so far. No doubt, our strikers should grab the limelight but credit to our defence line, impressively marshalled by Melvin and fine performance from Rock and Chung Wen, both back after a spell on the sidelines through injury. Our guest player, Daniel, put in a fine shift of duty as left-back. Teck Chye (3), Teck Wah (2) and one each from Kama and Mike completed the rout.

Match #8 (12 Feb 2012): The Wind took out the Venom of Opponent

In any other matches, those two moments of individual brilliance from Teck Chye would have usually grabbed the limelight of this 5-3 win over Venom. But this win was actually masterminded by our resident feng-shui master, i.e. Melvin, who advised just before we kicked off the 2H that we should make use of the wind which was blowing against Venom. True enough, we scored two wind-assisted goals - Simon, from his trademark long range free-kick just after the centre line that swerved cruelly for Venom's custodian to deal with. Then the master himself swinged in a corner that seemed to hang eternally in mid air before it suddenly dropped just under the bar, again embarassing their keeper. Our master's advice clearly overshadowed every other thing.

Teck Chye, scorer of our 2nd and 4th goals, atoned for his countless misses in the last match with this pair of screaming beauties, one from each foot. The younger Tang opened the account for us after Chor Guan nodded the free-kick from Melvin perfectly onto the path of Teck Wah for the latter to deftly place the ball beyond the reach of Venom's keeper.

Venom, to their credit, kept pressing us and reducing the deficit to eventually equalise at 3-3. They thought they had the match in their hands but too bad, they don't believe in feng shui. And we have a practitioner in disguise, and a non-Chinese one. Full moon next, how should we play?

Match #7 (4 Feb 2012): 8-nil Romp

The one-sided scoreline was not reflective of ACME's quality. We know them, our past few encounters were close and evenly contested. For this match, they were not only deprived of their regular players but were also short in number, starting and ending the match with 10 players. We were in similar situation and had to call up 2 guest players.

We were disciplined throughout the match. Even with a 4-0 lead at half-time, we continued to press them hard and continued to breach their high defence line with our overlapping runs to find space.

Teck Wah (3 goals), Teck Chye (2, and he missed 4 other glorious opportunities in the 1st half!), Mike (2) and Kama completed the rout of ACME. And KH had 4.....assists :)

Match #6 (28 Jan 2012): MS 5 - 3 UBS, Kept The Momentum Going!

I wouldn't dare to use the label "great team" on ourselves. But after last Saturday's gritty performance, I think we could indulge ourselves with this label for a fleeting moment. When all the regulars turn up and play in their usual positions, it's a good team but it's a business-as-usual team. The character of the team is tested when it is short of a few regular players, especially for key positions, and others have to give up their usual and preferred positions to fill these vacant positions. And the team go on to achieve result. Then this team is better than good, perhaps still far from great but certainly not mediocre. And we were precisely better than just business-as-usual last Saturday against UBS. Yes, we had the insider information (in me) to capitalise on their weakest link - their inexperienced goalkeeper - and richly benefited from it, but isn't football about tactics as well?

Among the positions, I always feel that the most difficult, and thankless, positions to play are the central defensive pair. We were short of our regular central defenders but Gan and Simon stepped up admirably to fill in these roles and galvanised a much-deserved 5-3 win over UBS. No doubt they had a nervous 1st half display but 2nd half performance was solid, ably supported by our rock-steady fullbacks in Ng, Leo and Chwee Leng.

UBS' blistering pace in the opening 15 minutes of the match really unsettled us - they closed down on us fast, passed the ball quickly, had pacy forwards. Not surprisingly, they opened the account on the 7th minute when our defence was carved wide open by their fabulous forward, aptly named Fab, to cut-back and wrong-footed Simon and Gan before planting a stiff grounder past the rooted Brandon. For all the upperhand they had on us, UBS failed to leverage on that and their momentum was somewhat affected by a series of substitutions so early in the match. We regained our footing and began to find inroads. Mike has the tendency to frustrate us as he failed to make any good use of the 2 through balls presented to him. But he also has the knack of producing the unexpected pleasant surprise to knock in goal for us when we think otherwise. A sweeping counter-attack had Teck Wah break free on the right and his low cross into the box, bouncing twice enroute, was miraculously converted by Mike, even with a defender breathing down his back! 1-1.

Sensing the vulnerability in their inexperienced keeper, we began to single him by placing crosses and dead balls close to him, and our subsequent 4 goals resulted in one way or another from his poor handling of high balls. He failed to deal with an in-swinging corner from the left and the ball sailed directly into goal, with Kian Hwa claiming credit to that. But UBS restored parity when a defensive blunder by Gan, an intended back-header meant for Brandon, gifted possession to their pacy winger who then relayed the ball to his forward to shoot past the out-of-position Brandon. 2-2 at the break.

With a stroke of luck, we had our 3rd goal. Teck Wah arched backward to his maximum to reach out to a cross. His resultant header lacked any power but somehow UBS' custodian failed to deal with the looping ball, and it dropped just below the bar. 3-2. UBS gallantly searched for their equalising goal and it came from a contentious call from the referee to judge that Leo handled the ball in the box. UBS' skilful import from India coolly converted the spot kick to put UBS back at 3-3.

We then won 2 free-kicks from almost identical positions just after the mid-line and we had Simon to launch his trademark long balls directly at the keeper. The keeper nervously tipped the 1st one over for a corner, which UBS failed to clear convincingly from the resultant corner and Weng Khong pounced on the confusion among the UBS defenders caused by the conflicting calls for handball (from us) and offside (from them) and walked the ball into the unguarded net. 4-3. Simon's 2nd free-kick again put their keeper under great stress. With added pressure from Teck Chye, the keeper failed to deal with the free-kick, it came off the upright and Teck Wah knocked in the rebound from a tight angle. 5-3!

Teck Chye wasted 2 golden opportunities to add to the scoresheet and then Teck Wah couldn't set up a perfect tap-in for Yong Chua in a glorious breakaway that had 3 MS players zooming in against UBS' solitary defender. UBS came close to scoring on several occasions too but Brandon strong right-foot blocked 3 certain goals and on other occasions, our defensive quartets held the line well and admirably snuffed out their attacks.

A gritty 5-3 win. A great one, perhaps.

Match #5 (22 Jan 2012): Sweet victory over Eusoffianos

We avenged our last disastrous encounter with Eusoffianos with a hard-fought 2-1 win. Eusoffianos must have wondered why Lady Luck didn't even cast a wink at them as their star player, Heng, who only came in the last quarter of the match, hit the goal frame 3 times as they went in search for the equalising goal. If that weren't agonising enough, their defender earlier presented us with our opening goal when he converted a cross from Kian Hwa into an own goal and that put us 1-0 up at half-time. Eusoffianos equalised early in the 2nd half. Their striker capitalised on a lapse in concentration in our defenders and sneaked in from the blind to put the ball past Brandon. Melvin and Yong Chua then rekindled their college partnership (on football pitch, that is) when Melvin floated the ball from a corner-kick and Yong Chua did his trademark header for our winning goal. We held on nervously to the slim lead and later heaved a sigh of relief at each of their effort hitting the goal frame. 2-1! Not a convincing win, a sweet one nonetheless.

Match #4 (14 Jan 2012): 2nd Leg - A Cracker 4-3 Win over SOFA!

The 2nd leg match proved to be an even more keenly contested affair, with heart-stopping moments right to the final whistle. We were under seige in the final 10 minutes but SOFA just missed that element of luck to at least secure a draw, which would have been no injustice to us as well. The final result was a great win for us, a testament to our great resolve.

SOFA fielded a stronger line-up than the 1st leg match, with the return of their regulars including their star midfielder after a lengthy lay-off through knee injury. Whereas, we were rather short in defence and once again, Gan gamely stepped in to fill the sweeper position and what a match he had. His authoritative marshalling of the line, including the timely interceptions, spot-on tackles, courageous defending, and especially his cool head in the final 10 minutes was one of the key factors, if not the factor, contributing to this win.

We had an early setback when the usually composed Rock allowed his recent lethargy to get the better of him and uncharacteristically messed up a routine clearance in the box and handled the ball instead. SOFA converted the spot-kick to put themselves 1 up. The Tang brothers reversed the scoreline with their respective first goal of the season and both found the net with a class of their own. Teck Wah found space on the left to receive a high pass from Kian Hwa and finished it off with a left-foot half-volley that gave SOFA's keeper no chance. Nobody could have hit the ball sweeter with such power and accuracy with the left foot than Teck Wah! He then set up the elder Tang, who waltzed his way into the box and sold the keeper a delightful dummy before planting the ball into the empty net. Such grace and class, who else but Teck Chye! 2-1 and we were in control. Simon then put us in a comfortable 3-1 lead with his specialty long-range free-kick that had the SOFA's keeper flapping. 3-1 at the break.

But SOFA reduced the deficit shortly after the break. A poor clearance gifted the possession to SOFA with the ball eventually finding their chief striker, Dinish, who enjoyed a huge dosage of luck when his miscued shot went into the lower right-hand corner of the goal. We restored the 2-goals cushion from a quick-thinking set play. Kian Hwa rolled a quick corner to Teck Wah, whose accurate cross found Mike rising unchallenged to head the ball in. 4-2. When it seemed comfortable, we somehow made life nervy for ourselves when SOFA's chief striker was again left unmarked to shoot past Brandon. 4-3 and we were living on the edge from then on. Mike could have settled the match for us but he wrestled the Miss of The Decade title from Teck Wah instead. KH brushed aside their burly right back to reach Brandon's long punt and then presented the silver on the platter for Mike to simple tap the ball in. He screwed the ball wide instead. The final 10 minutes were not for the faint-hearted as SOFA piled relentless pressure on us but we managed to hold out for this fantastic win. 4-3.

Match #3 (7 Jan 2012): 1st leg 1-1 draw with Sofa

Coincidentally, we played against SOFA, our opponent for 14 Jan, today and it ended on a cordial 1-1 draw. it was a fair result. We could have won the 1st half but they could have wrapped up the 2nd half. Just before the break, against the run of play, we let in a soft goal to allow them have a 1-0 lead at the break. But Lady Luck smiled on when Mike, clearly offside, equalised for us in 2nd half. So, fair and square, no complaints :)

Match #2 (31 Dec 2011): Against Kampung Semangat United, Our Spirit Was No Less

The trademark Marine Sunday spirit was demonstrated aplenty in our 2nd match of the season. 0-2 down, we fought on; 1-3 down, we pressed on; 2-4 down; we persevered; and we ended the match 4-4 against Kampung Semangat United. Simon, Gan and Yong Chua got onto the scoresheet again and Yong Chua forced an own goal from their defender. At times, we could have just simply played simple football and that could have won us the match. But to recover to draw parity, we have nothing to complain as well.

Match #1 (26 Dec 2011): Keenly-Contested Match, A Narrow Win. A Good Start, Nevertheless.

Against Kok Seng's Blues, who were so kind to accomodate us in our new kit that they turned up in red, we knew we were in for something. We thought we had an impressive turnout of 19 players, they had more than 20, including four 'foreign talents'. Despite their strong line-up in the 1H, we could have comfortably settled the match by half-time if we had converted those chances created. Instead, we had a narrow 2-1 lead. 1st goal resulted from a piece of individual brilliance on the right by Teck Chye, who twisted and turned (i should have simply used 'tormented') KS' Blues' last man before setting up Simon for our opening goal of the season. Nice defending work on the right from See Chiang, Woon and then Teck Wah led to Yong Chua to have his time to measure up a shot from outside the box that beat their keeper hands down. 2-0. We seemed to be cruising but one of their foreign talents produced a brilliant volley that had Gan, our stand-in keeper, surprisingly beaten. 2-1 at the break.

KS' Blues had the better of possession in 2H but in one of our few rare forays into the offensive third, Chor Guan produced a needle-eye through ball to set up Gan to toe poke the ball into the net. KS' Blues refused to be beaten and their playmaker, No 32 intercepted the pass between Yong Chua and Chor Guan and went on to shoot from distance. The ball took a wicked swerve and Brandon was left grasping for air. 3-2 but we held on somehat nervously to win the keenly contested tie.