Match #45 (19 Nov 11): Strong 5-2 win over Malay team

With the team shorn of its usual central defenders, Marinesunday improvised and rotated admirably to overcome a Malay team of mixed ages which on the whole is still way younger than the ageing marines. Leng is showing his versatility across the back and his usual reliability playing in the stopper's role. Gan also showed his strength and decisiveness at the back, contributing to the second half's clean sheet. Mel in goal showed that stiff joints and muscles could not hold back a willing spirit, diving in practically every direction to thwart our opponents as they could only watch those incredible saves in disbelief! Our team played well to come back from behind twice and score all 5 goals from well-constructed open play. Scorers: Chye, Wah, Gan, Khong and Mike. Final score 5-2.

Match #44 (5 Nov 11): We Just Had No Luck Against ACME!

A depleted squad of only 13 players, including Brandon who hardly plays outfield but had to for this match, a half-baked and half-blind stand-in goalkeeper, and simply unlucky again, we lost agonisingly in a highly entertaining match...6-7 against ACME which we seem to have no luck against them! ACME's striker was our main tormentor, scoring two and had a hand in the other 5 goals. Out of the 7 goals, 2 were simply durian presented on a silver plate for them. And to think that we were leading 2-0 before their striker-in-chief started shredding us apart made it even more painful for us to accept. But we did well to recover from 2-4 down to chase back 5-5 before attempting to chase from behind again when trailing 5-7. But we came up short, just short, eventually.

Teck Chye (2 goals), Teck Wah (2 goals), Mike and Simon found the net for us.

Match #43 (29 Oct 211): Marine Sunday Avenged for Singapore Over China Reds!

What Singapore Lions failed to do against China in the World Cup qualifying match, we made it up for them with an entertaining, nail-biting 3-2 win over China Reds. The star of the match was undoubtedly Teck Chye who not only put us in the lead with a thumping header but, when he stood in as keeper in the 2nd half, prevented China Reds from equalising with a penalty save. Kama, making his comeback after resting for a few matches, notched a brace. Ng came close to scoring a rare goal for us when his shot just dipped over the bar but he did find the net later when his clearance resulted in a wicked spin that had KH flapping for the air. Yes, that was an own goal in case you didn't get it.

Match #42 (22 Oct 11): 4-1 Win Over Forex Team

A bare turnout of 11, including Brandon forced to play outfield due to his injured finger, supported by 2 guest players put up a spirited performance to run out worthy 4-1 winner over Forex. But that was not without various moments of scare provided by the comical goalkeeping of KH. The Tang brothers settled the issue with a brace apiece. We could have had more but the Spiderman of Forex, their keeper has super long arms to catch the ball from the air, saved Forex from further embarassment.

Match #41 (16 Oct 11): Fantastic Fightback Win 4-3!

It was a fightback of an epic nature, the kind of heroics that could etch onto concrete slabs as folklore for future generations to saviour. No regular sweeper n stopper to start with, 0-3 down at half-time, lost our No 1 keeper just before the break....all looked doom and gloom. We took a gamble in the line-up for 2nd half and unbelievably, and to much astonishment of opponent Carmichael, we carved out a gigantic 4-3 win, which even Liverpool's turnaround in Istanbul in 2005 Champions League Final paled in comparison.

Gan, as the stand-in sweeper in 1H, atoned for his disappointment in 1H with an accompished performance in 2H when he partnered Teck Wah upfront. He posed a constant threat to Carmichael's backline. Melvin and Chwee Leng stood in as the central defensive pair in 2H and it was a flawless performance from both of them. Melvin marshalled the line superbly and Chwee Leng shackled their African striker like a bloodhound without giving the latter an inch to move. Watch out, Chor Guan, Weng Kwan, Rock and Kok Hock, you have competition! The fact that KH, as stand-in keeper, was hardly threatened in 2H said a lot of the big performance from our defensive quartet.

We knew if we could get a goal early in the 2H, we might have a chance and Mark provided the perfect tonic. He stood up to the challenge in midfield and scored an Alonso-like goal from just after the midfield line. Yong Chua was at his most effective self as the attacking midfielder, winning us the penalty which Gan, who deserved a goal for leading the line, converted. 2-3 and we were in for a shout. Mike, given a dressing-down by KH during the break, has that habit of embarassing KH with a well-taken poacher goal. But it was due to great effort of Yong Chua and then Gan to bring the ball back into the box for Mike to sneak in with a header. Then, a rare cross from Woon from the left brought out the best from Teck Wah with his spectacular left-foot mid-air volley to score the winning goal. We could have our 5th goal but Simon's glorious effort from distance was acrobatically tipped over by Carmichael's keeper.

4-3! What a win! Everyone deserved that pat on the shoulder!

Match #40 (8 Oct 11): 2-2 Draw against Eagles

This is one team we've not beaten before and despite a depleted team, we had seem like breaking that record throughout the match. Falling behind to a goal for which an offside decision was not given in our favor, we continue to make the better play. Deservingly, we equalized early in the second half with Wah's superb volley from a quickly-taken free kick. Then we went on to take the initiative when Eagles put the ball into their own net after some concerted pressure from us. They managed to maintain their unbeaten record over us with a rather dubious goal, which was scored after an infringement on our keeper. Final score 2-2.

Match #39 (2 Oct 11): Unbeaten Streak Ended by Incompetent Referee

The incompetent referee robbed us of a win against SJI Old Boys. Instead we had to settle for a 1-2 loss, a result which we did not deserve. And SJI Old Boys knew they had gotten away with the match. Their opening goal came from a blatantly offside position which the myopic referee overlooked.   Then, for no reason, he denied Kian Hwa of a perfectly legitimate goal, which he nodded in from the corner delivered by Teck Wah. Even SJI Old Boys were bemused why the goal was disallowed. Another contentious moment came when their keeper managed to claw out the ball that appeared to have just crossed the line but again, referee turned a deaf ear to our appeal.

SJI Old Boys, boosted by more than a handful of young players who are hardly in their early 20s, made use of their young lungs to full advantage and their 2nd goal came in the 2nd half from their speedy (relative to us) winger down the right who squared in a low ball for their striker to turn See Chiang before planting the ball beyond Brandon.

We battled hard to win a penalty which Simon duly converted but counting the number of chances we created and our disallowed goal, we simply had a day that nothing went for us.