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.

Match #48 (17 Dec 11): We Ended The Season On A High

We looked to be ending the 2011 season on a dismal state. Another match at Nanyang JC, a big pitch which is not exactly our favoured spot, and with a leaner turnout of only 13 players including a guest player, Nick, and Teck Wah who could only make it for 2H, we braced ourselves for some tough time. Thank goodness, Opponent aren't exactly young speedsters, whom we dread. They had a smaller turnout of only 11 players to start and end the match.
 
First half was a balanced contest between both sides. Both sides laboured but made no breakthrough until Weng Khong put through a through ball for Teck Chye to scoop the ball over Opponent's onrushing keeper for 1-0 at the break.
 
We changed the froutline pair to Teck Wah and Chwee Leng and it paid handsome dividends. Nick's long punt was headed down beautifully by Chwee Leng onto the path of Teck Wah whose effort failed to beat the keeper but the elder Tang followed up to put the rebound into the empty net.
 
Opponent reduced the deficit when we were simply tardy at the back and failed to clear a simple corner. Surrounded by our players, we still allowed Opponent's striker to backheel the loose ball through a sea of legs into our goal. 2-1. We seemed shaky with a quarter of the match to go.
 
The re-introduction of Teck Chye in the last 8 minutes proved to be a tactical payoff. First he set up his younger sibling through for the latter to produce his trademark lob over the stranded keeper to make it 3-1 for us. Then he pulled 2 players with him to let Mike's cross from the right to reach Teck Wah unimpeded and Teck Wah finished it off with aplomb. 4-1 and we richly deserved that scoreline.
 
At the back, Weng Kwan filled in the sweeper role ably and commanded the line superbly to keep Opponent at bay. Nick showed steady feet and head. Evergreen Ng seemed to be the last virgin on earth with his tight defending and lasted almost the entire match until he made way for Teck Chye for the last 8 minutes. Woon, having found his boots, was glad to foot the bill for beer, especially after an assured performance at right back.
 
Great ending to the season!

Match #47 (10 Dec 11): Lawyers Charged Us On 3 Counts And We Were Clueless to Appeal

On a big pitch at Nanyang JC and faced with a bunch of youngsters, we had a tough match tailor made for us and true enough, Law Soc literally put us on the stand and grilled us into pieces. We shipped in 3 goals and had nothing to account for ourselves. Final score: 0 - 3.