Match #11 (21 Feb 08): Defied the Odds to Notch a Satisfying Win!

We were up against various odds last Saturday. Firstly, it was a very warm and energy-sapping morning but this affected our opponent, Minnows, just as well. Secondly, Minnows’ players are only in their earlier twenties, so not a slightest doubt on their stamina. And finally, the mother of all odds, we played more than half the match with a man down after Weng Kwan decided to test our resolve with his marching order 10 minutes before half-time. Yet, we walked away with a narrow but hugely satisfying 2 – 1 win. One might have thought that we rode on our luck, given the narrow score line but considering that we hit the frame of the goal four times (mind you, three times in the 2nd half when we should have been defensive), the score line actually did not do us justice at all.

Not that Minnows were pushovers. They may not be as skilful as Young Boyz, but they were robust and quick in challenging us for every ball. In their No 8, they possess a quicksilver with quick feet to stretch our defence. No 8 eventually went on to cause our usually infallible Weng Kwan to intercept a breakaway through ball with a deliberate handball and earn himself a consequent marching order before the break. Sometimes, it is more difficult to play against a team with one man down, as we proved to be. Surprisingly, we had the majority of possession in the 2nd half and could have won more handsomely if the woodwork had not denied us on those occasions.

Once again, Yong Chua was deployed as one of our front men and again, he put in a sparkling performance not only with his brace of goals but admirably leading the front line as the sole striker in much of the 2nd half. And again, not surprisingly, he was overwhelmingly voted as the Man of The Match.

Whilst Yong Chua led the line upfront, Chor Guan and his crew of Hock Leong, Weng Kwan, Chung Wen, Ng & Leo at the back doused Minnows’ effervescence with non-stop cold water. Weng Kwan’s send-off, Hock Leong’s recurrence of hamstring injury and Chor Guan’s twisted ankle were no small price we paid to fend off the onslaught from a young team. Shielding the defence were Simon and Kok Hock controlling the middle of the park. Kok Hock was clearly regaining his finesse. The way he calmly spread the ball around the pitch in the 2nd half was a joy to watch. Simon, uncompromising as usual, held the midfield together with another commanding display, enabling Weng Khong to support the attacks.

Visibly affected by the warm weather, everyone appeared lethargic with our passes coming up short and astray most of the times. The closest we came to scoring in the 1st half was when Teck Wah’s stiff shot rattled the horizontal. Yong Chua came in for the fast-tiring KH and duly made Minnows pay for their sloppy defending. Credits must be given to Hock Leong, who intelligently evaded 2 players closing him down in midfield before delivering a diagonal pass into the box. Yong Chua brought the ball down well, turned and shot past the keeper. 1 – 0! Our joy was short-lived when Minnows launched a quick attack down their left flank. A high ball meant for their quicksilver No 8 was unprofessionally stopped by Weng Kwan’s raised hand. The referee had no hesitation to produce the 2nd yellow card for WK who, despite the dismissal, nevertheless earned our respect for intelligently stopping their play. We held on to the slender lead at the break.

Despite us having a man down, Minnows did not manage to capitalize on their numerical superiority. We kept possession well for the large part of the 2nd half until the last 10 minutes when the heat really got into us. Yong Chua led the front line superbly, holding the ball well and bringing the midfielders into play. Weng Khong came close to stretch our lead but his effort also came off the horizontal after Ng overlapped from his left fullback position into the box to meet a delicate cross from Kian Hwa. Ng deployed his hairy chest to good use with a nice cushioning of the ball with his chest before laying the ball to Weng Khong but the woodwork denied a good piece of footballing action. Simon was the next one to see his effort agonizingly denied by the horizontal again. That came after some good work by Kian Hwa on the left, who turned in between 2 defenders well and teed up Simon for a shot.

Yong Chua then re-entered into play for a corner. Mike headed the ball onto the path of Yong Chua, who once again turned and converted to double our lead. 2 – 0! It would have been 3 nil up but Hock Leong’s intelligent knockdown from just outside the box trickled diagonally across the penalty box before it came off the right upright. At the back, our defence held firm to break down their offensive moves. Minnows scored a dubious consolation goal from clearly an offside position when their No 8 received the ball but he went on to slot the ball past Brandon. Teck Wah and Yong Chua took turn to provide an assist to each other and both came close to extend our lead. Teck Wah met Yong Chua’s lob into the box but his left–footed shot failed to trouble the keeper. Teck Wah then turned provider for Yong Chua and the latter’s shot from the outside the box sailed narrowly over the bar.

The heat took a heavy toll on our depleted resources but we managed to hold the 2 – 1 margin to the final whistle.

Man of The Match: Yong Chua (10 out of 16 votes)
Another sparkling performance, another convincing and deserving MoTM award!

“For the strategy to hold midfield and player rotation throughout the match, KH shd be nominated MOM. For the precise execution and imposing play, YC gets my vote today.” [Editor: Wa low eh, what kind of nomination was this? Like cock teaser! Want to nominate me, say so lah! Worse than a sympathy vote, man :)]
“my vote goes to Yong Chua. Played well as a lone striker, with two goals to win the match.”
“Yong Chua: Attack well and score a very good goal.”
“Motm is yong chua. He did not stay on the pitch for long but he is certainly effective in converting those 2 goals.”
“motm yong chua, lucky got him, convert his 2 scoring chances into goal….”
“Motm to yong chua, for scoring the 2 impt goals. Intelligent play upfront in the second half also helped the team manage the 1 man disadvantage.”
“YC for good finishing, converting 2 out of 3 chances”
“Obvious choice. YC. Played the role of striker really well. When he played alone up front he held up expertly. Plus if got two well taken goals”
“Mom is yong chua. 2 well taken goals”
“Mom is yong chua for the good holding up play as well as 2 goals to secure victory.”

The remaining 6 votes went to our defenders, a huge acknowledgement of their work at the back. Ng (2 votes), Hock Leong (2), Chor Guan (1) and Weng Kwan (1), stand up and be counted!

“Tough choice. So many had good game this week. KH, simon, khong, wah, hok hock, hock leong just to name a few. Even kwan was fantastic but for the dubious red card. But my choice to a returning prodigal son, Ng. He shut out their attacks clinically and make some nice moves upfront. Setting up a perfect chance for khong.” [Editor: Might as well mention the whole team for good performance :)]
“Motm: Ng. Thought he had a solid game n made a few positive runs forward, nearly connecting with a header. Never seen him as ‘lively’ as today.”

“MOM for last sat: Hock Leong-set up the first goal and almost scored the goal of the season.”
“Hock Leong, not for his superb defensive effort, which needs no mentioning but for his intelligence and high level of awareness. I was already suitably impressed by how he evaded the 2 players closing down on him, his eventual pass led to the opening goal was icing on the cake. His awareness of his position almost scored a brilliant goal but for the stubborn woodwork!”

“MOTM goes to Kuan for his last ditch effort to prevent possibly a goal by opponent team's no. 8, which could be a pivotal foothold for the young opponents to gather confidence & belief, thereby changing the complexion of the whole game.. Well, if that is not good enough a reason, he sacrificed his playtime in the process... hahaha..”

“Motm to guan. Reassuring last line of defence.”

[Editor: My records reveal a rather disturbing sign. Empirical evidence points that Yong Chua has a certain affinity and inclination for young men. He seems to get turned on by young men! How else would you explain this – MoTM against Minnows and Young Boyz and not forgetting coming in 2nd on 4 Jan at Temasek Sec Sch against Blue & Green Thunderbolts. All against young opponents! ]

Match #10 (14 Feb 09): Another Flattering Scoreline Despite a Scrappy Performance!

Except for Leo who remains our only Mr Romantic, we had almost a full turnout who forsook our domestic love for the love of the beautiful game last Saturday at Safra Ten-penis against Modello.

Despite the apparent quality and abundance of experience in the starting line-up, we had an uncharacteristic shaky start that defied any logic. Within the first 60 seconds, we almost gifted them a goal when sloppy passing involving Weng Kwan, Ng and Chor Guan caught Brandon out of position but our custodian recovered in time to block a certain goal on the line. Despite the close shave, we continued to play with laden legs as if everyone had rounds of humping before turning up for the match. Modello duly punished us when an innocuous pass evaded our back four and allowed their striker to slip through with ease and planted a left-footed shot past Brandon for their opening goal. 0 – 1 down!

Modello faded rather quickly after a bright start. Our quantity, for once, mattered. After introducing fresh pairs of legs, we began to run rings around them. A cross from Weng Khong on the right reached Teck Wah at the far side in the box. Not surprisingly, Teck Wah produced the equalizer. It was not just his perfect execution of the half-volley that produced the beauty but the goal was a timely tonic to calm down our nerves and set the rhythm for us. 1 – 1! And we began to run riot in the remaining 1st half. Kian Hwa then produced 3 crosses from the left in quick succession. The first presented a sitter for Gan but his lack of sharpness and confidence was too glaring for anyone to ignore, he screwed the golden opportunity to increase his tally; the other two put the Modello’s defence in sixes and sevens but without any damage to them.
Gan revealed that he was discerning and simply being selective on whose cross he wished to convert. Later, receiving a similar square pass from the left, Gan put the ball into the net but not after a near miss as the ball seemed to veer away from goal before hitting the right post into goal. 2 – 1 now. Yong Chua and Simon increasingly stamped their authority in midfield. Modello aggravated their misery with their cumbersome movement at the back. A hurried clearance went as far as Simon in the middle of the park and he nodded the high ball onto the path of Teck Chye, who was allowed to advance into the box unchallenged. With the entire defence still rooted onto the ground and mesmerized by Teck Chye’s grace, Teck Chye walloped a left foot cracker that the hopelessly-out-of-position goalkeeper could only grasp for air. 3 – 1!

Teck Chye then helped himself to a brace when he was brought down just outside the box. Confidently waving Simon away and taking over the resultant freekick, Teck Chye sent the ball to the top right-hand corner of the goal beyond the keeper’s desperate reach. 4 – 1 and we were in total command. The Tang brothers demonstrated that Valentine’s Day is not simply restricted to lovers. The brotherly love prevailed on the pitch again when Teck Chye squared another grounder from the left and Teck Wah had the simplest of tasks to tap the ball into the net. 5 – 1. We seemed to do no wrong, but we flattered to deceive. Brandon saved us from conceding another goal as his wonderful positioning blocked an one-on-one effort from Modello in the box. They persisted and punished us for another piece of sloppiness at our back. Mark needlessly gifted possession away and the giveaway proved costly as we produced all sorts of comic acts at the back except to clear the ball cleanly. Modello capitalized on our indiscretion and reduced the deficit to 5 – 2! Needless to say, our backline heard the thunder roaring across the sky….from the gallery! Mike then answered the critics with a perfect pass down the left flank that forced Gan to turn on his motor and race for the ball. Another simple pass into the box and Teck Chye popped up to grab his hat trick with glee! 6 – 2 and the timing could not be any better for Teck Chye to remind everyone that he is still the one to reckon with despite his younger sibling’s sparkling form.

No further damage was done to either side and we ended the match with a 6 – 2 win.

Man of The Match: Teck Chye (10 out of 19 votes)
“My MOTM goes to T Chye. Having not played a full match and to score a hat-trick and provide at least 1 assist, you cannot deny him of the MOTM award - fantastic game he had!”
“Motm: teck chye: excellent freekick, unselfish pass to his brother for a goal, hatrick, u name it, u have it.”
“Mom is teck chye for hat trick”
“Chye – for the hattrick”
“MOM to chye. Happy to see him back to scoring form. Took his chances well. Could have more. One assist as well.”
“Motm go to teck chye. Constant threat on the field. 3 well taken goals, inclusive of a outstanding freekick”
“Vote goes to teck chye. Goals and assists killed the game as a contest for our opponents.”
“Teck Chye. Not the hattrick but rather, good finishing when it matters.”
“Motm goes to teck chye, for scoring the hat trick. Scored a beautiful free kick just outside the box.”
“Motm: teck chye. 3 well taken goals plus lots of good build up play. Special mention to chwee leng who had a solid game at right back.”
The younger Tang grabbed 4 votes. Do we have any siblings to dilute the Tang effect?
“My MOTM for today's game is Teck Wah for his first goal that breath confidence back into a shaky start.”
“I was going to nominate Kok Hock as MOM but i figured that is his usual high standard of play, holding and running with the ball and acute distribution. Teck Wah is my choice this match.... saw him everywhere - crossing from both flanks, stealing balls midfield and ultimately scoring the goal which burst the opponent's party balloon and momentum.”
“motm teck wah – score our 1st goal when we r 1 goal down…that build up our confident..”
“Most would go for Teck Chye. But I opted for his younger bro. His first goal, our equaliser instilled some belief in us and rectified the rubbish performance from us before that.”

Simon’s authority in midfield did not go unnoticed as 3 nominations went to him:
“Motm goes to simon. He controlled the midfield and made a few defence splitting passes.”
“Despite the incredible goals and defensive play my vote goes to simon. Wonderful passing that led to a few goals and disciplined defensive play. Weng Kwan comes a close second”
“Motm to simon tan. His defence splitting passes resulted in many goals. His best game so far.”
Brandon and Kian Hwa had 1 consolation vote each:

“Mom Brandon – solid perf”
“MOTM for Safra game - Kian Hwa. make a few good crosses in 1st half and challenge for balls well.”

[Editor: One can’t help but feel that whenever KH was nominated, it was out of sympathy as the vote usually came from the eventual MoTM himself. If each player could nominate himself, which is not disallowed anyway, KH might not even get any sympathy vote :)]

Match #9 (7 Feb 09): Marine Sunday Notched An Impressive Win!

The performance against Young Boyz was not pretty but the 3 – 0 win was nevertheless an impressive one. Firstly, Young Boyz comprise players in their early 20s, who are not only naturally superior in fitness but also technically better than us. Most of their players possess nice, nifty touches with good control of the ball. Secondly, against such a young team, we still managed to keep a clean sheet, our first of the season, despite having them running at us most of the time. That spoke so much of our disciplined defending at the back, well marshalled by Chor Guan and his able lieutenants, some good positioning of Brandon in goal, and Simon patrolling the line in front of the back four just like the warships escorting the cargo vessels off the coast of Somalia.

We could attribute our win to 2 factors – better teamwork and stronger leadership on the pitch. Individually, they are no doubt better than us. As a team, our experience counts. Moreover, we are blessed with a player like Yong Chua who naturally assumed leadership in dictating play and deployed all his experience to the fullest use. No surprise that he would later be overwhelmingly voted as MoTM for this match. Collectively, we demonstrated that experience can overcome vitality.

After the opening 5 minutes of lethargy, YB seized an upper hand in possession as they started to run the ball around us with ease. They closed us down faster, a fact that we anticipated but we just don't possess the techniques and temperament to move the ball about smoothly. We kept gifting the possession back to them. YB came close to scoring on a few occasions, the closest being a dipping shot from outside the box that came off the underside of the bar and much to our relief, the ball bounced to the welcoming arms of Brandon.

Against the run of play, we stung them with a lightning counter-attack that left them with a rude awakening as the 1st half was drawing to a close. From defending a corner, we broke free with Chor Guan leading the breakaway on the left. A quick exchanges of passes involving him, Kian Hwa and Yong Chua allowed the former to beat the offside line and, without breaking his strides, hit a snap shot on the run at goal. YB's keeper did well to palm Chor Guan's initial effort to safety but sustained pressure from us kept the ball around their penalty box. Yong Chua dictated the play outside the box before spreading the ball to KH, who pulled wide in the box to dispose his marker. KH took one step to beat the last man and squared a grounder across the 6-yards box. Chor Guan was the first man to the ball to scoop it over the keeper for our opening goal. 1 – 0. YB were visibly caught surprise by our movements despite our ageing limbs.

YB resumed the 2nd half with their confident passing and smooth movements. For all their possession, they lacked that vital penetration to breach our tight backline. We delivered the 2nd sucker punch when Kian Hwa, who re-entered into the match for Chwee Leng, raced clear on the left and hoisted a lobbing cross into the box for Yong Chua, who outjumped the keeper to head the ball into the net. 2 – 0!

We then forced a corner on the right and the resultant corner was quickly played short to Kok Hock who sent a dipping cross to the far post for Yong Chua to nod it back across the goal for Mike to tap in, leaving the keeper in despair. 3 – 0! By now, YB’s spirit was drained dry.
They found no joy playing against us when their best chance for a consolation goal was even denied by the stingy Brandon. On the rare occasion they breached our defence to face only Brandon, they found our keeper a couple of inches too wide for their liking as their shot was blocked by Brandon’s chunky feet.

We wilted in the last 10 minutes of the match as the heat sapped our limited stamina but our stout defence kept them at bay no less. 3 – 0 was the final score.

Man of The Match: Yong Chua

A superlative performance from Yong Chua garnered 8 out of 15 nominations and he breezed through comprehensively to receive the MoTM!
“The one who scored one, made another & dictated play to help create the first. YC for motm.”
“I thought yc, simon and cg played very well. CG’s run up led to our first goal and he was steady at the back. Simon is the unsung hero who covered every inch of plastic grass. But my vote goes to yc for his stylish and intelligent play. Always open for a pass and cleverly playing for free kicks when he’s outnumbered. And then he scored a stellar goal and made one with a determined header.”
“Motm to yc – instrumental in all 3 goals”
“Yong Chua for 1 goal and 1 assist”
“Yong Chua for motm. Made the difference when he came on in the first half. Scored 2nd goal and help created 3rd. Initiated some of the more threatening attacks in the second half.”
“MoM is yong chua. Did very well in holding the ball and was involved in all of the goals.”
“Yong chua is mom. 1 great goal n 1 good assist. Held up play well like berbatov”
“It didn’t look like we missed Teck Wah or Gan. With that kind of performance, Gan needs to reconsider retreating to in between posts, Teck Wah dropping back to the flanks and Kian Hwa just simply out of job. Our No 10 is perfect ten for MoTM”

Our anchor in defence, Chor Guan, was impressive no less. 4 fellow teammates voted for him
“Mom Guan. Solid at the back n great goal.”
“Chor Guan. He was a pillar in our defence and scored the all important 1st goal.”
“Chor Guan. A good run down to beat the off side track and this create a first goal chance for the team.”
“MOM to Chor Guan. Quick to support the counterattack that lead to him scoring the opening goal. He also marshall the defence so well that keeper has not much to do.”

Kok Hock, Hock Leong and See Chiang had 1 nomination each.
“MOTM is Kok Hock for his midfield presence.”
“My vote goes to Hock Leong. He stopped most of the attacks in the 2nd half.”
“Difficult for me to choose between Hock leong, See Chiang and Weng Kwan. All 3 in the zone today with their game awareness. Kwan running up and down flank. Hock Leong throwing his body weight into opponent's path. See chiang industrious as ever. Tips in favour of See Chiang. Fluid passing. If nobody to pass to, he bulldozes up the flank and game restarts in opponent's half. MOM SC for me.”

Match #8 (31 Jan 09): Started the Year of the Ox On a Bull Run!

One side of the bizarre 8 – 4 score line suggested that we were a rampaging bull. The other side also suggested that we could be as listless as a castrated, domesticated bull, i.e. an ox to concede that many goals against Semangat United, a team made up of a bunch of abang-ade kawan kaki folks. Crazy football was certainly very much the order of the day! The uninitiated could not be blamed for thinking we played this match on a basketball court! Semangat United comprises players in a wide spectrum of age, ranging from a couple of wise guys in their late 40s / early 50s to a couple of teenagers, who are probably in the midst of their bull-like raging puberty and who would terrorise us with their speed. Further, they possess two national players lookalike – Indra Sahdan Daud and Noh Alam Shah and both were good for their money. However, as a team, it was clear they have not been playing regularly enough.

It was not entirely a satisfying match but a few positive takeaways provided some bright sparks. First, Melvin opened his account for the season with a sublime goal that brought back memories of Glenn Hoddle. Not only that, he lasted one half before switching to keep goal in the 2nd half. Next, Gan regained his scoring touch and more importantly, his confidence with a hat-trick in 2nd half, after guarding the posts in the 1st half. Not surprisingly, these two featured prominently in the MOTM nominations. Last but not least, Teck Wah showed his unselfish side with 5 assists and willingness to play for the team with his voluntary taking over the right-midfield position in the last 25 minutes of the match.

SU was guilty of playing a high line in the 1st half and were thoroughly punished by us. They would have conceded further ground if the referee had not been kind to them with his numerous whistle-happy offside calls against us. We did not take long to threaten when Teck Wah squared a grounder into the box for his strike partner, Kian Hwa. Instead of taking a crack at goal in that glorious position, the latter did not appear confident enough to do so when he should have. Instead he teed up Teck Chye whose feeble left-footed shot lacked direction. KH later squandered another golden chance when he and Teck Wah exchanged passes on the left before Teck Wah squared in another low cross into the box for Kian Hwa running into the box unmarked. KH trapped the ball well with his right foot and, with only the keeper to beat, followed up immediately with a left-footed snap shot that somehow found the foot of the keeper instead of the gaping goal. KH, cutting a distraught figure, was anything but sharp!

Melvin, getting back into better shape as the season progresses, showed glimpses of his glory days. And what a statement he made with that sublime goal to start the floodgate. Fetching the ball just outside the box, Melvin could have advanced further with the path opening up for him but he spotted the keeper to be slightly out of position. That was enough for him to chip the ball that curled away from the stranded keeper and dropped just below the bar for our 1 – 0 lead!
Strangely, SU persisted in playing a high line despite slower in recovery and with the referee bailing them on a few occasions. A few breakthroughs that we managed to beat the offside calls, we made them count. Our 2nd, 4th and 5th goals resulted from breaching their high defensive line with through balls. Simon’s through pass found Teck Wah beating the offside trap, who then advanced with Simon and Kian Hwa supporting on each side. With the keeper drawn out to the edge of the penalty box, Teck Wah passed the ball to his left for Simon to poke the ball into the open goal. 2 – 0! Yong Chua contributed to our 3rd goal with a brilliant piece of individual skill that could pit his goal against Melvin’s for the goal of the match. YC’s sudden turn left his marker grounded and went on to beat another defender before planting the ball past the advancing keeper into goal. 3 – 0! Kian Hwa then atoned for his earlier misses with a goal, courtesy of Teck Wah’s assist. Teck Wah released the ball onto the path of Kian Hwa running from deep, who then controlled the ball surprisingly well as he charged towards goal. Again, the keeper came off his line to expose the goal and KH’s left-footed swipe at the ball was enough to get it past the keeper. 4 – 0! Kian Hwa’s attempt to return Teck Wah the favour was smothered by the keeper. KH beat the defender well with pace on the right. Spotting Teck Wah at the far side unmarked, KH’s final square pass intended for Teck Wah was too weak and that allowed the keeper to cut the ball at the edge of the 6-yards box.

Just when SU looked down and beaten, they had other ideas. Typical of such team, relaxed in their attitude and turnout for the match, SU did not seem perturbed with the deficit and punctured our complacency with 2 goals, both capitalizing on our slackness and lack of communication at the back. Their 2nd goal saw their Indra Sadhan lookalike doing an Usain Bolt with a flashing sprint to get to the ball in between Kok Hock and Gan, who was surprisingly retreating back to goal instead of dealing with the ball. In between their 2 goals, Teck Wah broke through again with the SU defenders calling for offside in vain. Teck Wah rounded the keeper with ease to finish the half at an unbelievable 5 – 2.

SU resumed the 2nd half by plugging the gap at the back with their Noh Alam Shah lookalike anchoring the defence and unleashing 2 teenagers who caused some considerable damages to us. But they could not beat our revitalized Gan who swapped his gloves into his scoring boots to such devastating effect. Dusting the dust off his shoulders, Gan notched an impressive hat-trick to show that he is far from over the hill. The first was a screamer about 25-yards from goal. With the SU defenders crowding in front of him, Gan let fly a shot with minimal backlift on his foot that caught the keeper off-guard. The second came from outside of his right foot after Teck Wah found him in the box with a defence splitting pass. Gan beat both the recovering defender and the keeper closing down on him when he side-footed the ball into the far post. The 3rd goal came from a well-worked understanding among the front trio. Teck Wah got the ball to the byeline, spotted both Kian Hwa and Gan in the box and squared in another low ball. Kian Hwa ran towards the near post, drawing a defender to him but sold him a dummy instead. Gan was the grateful recipient of the ball and his crisp shot burst the net.

SU found enough space in our half and their Route One tactics aimed at getting the ball to their 2 teenagers at both flanks. This simple approach paid off handsomely with both flankers wreaking havoc at our back four and their Indra Sadhan lookalike notched another 2 goals in between our goals to complete his hat-trick as well. They hit the woodwork twice and Melvin did well with a couple of saves to keep them at bay. Otherwise, the match might have ended with a table-tennis score! Final score was an incredible 8 – 4 win for us.

Man of The Match: Melvin
Deservingly, Mel had his best game and notched 6 nominations out of 13.
“Motm is Melvin for his brilliant 1st goal and his first half performance, stringing good passes, giving instruction to players, play smartly.”
“Mel. Score 1 goal 1st half and make few good save in 2nd half when he stand in for keeper.”
Motm goes to Melvin. Good link-up play and passing despite lack of pace. Great opening goal.”
“Motm: Melvin wins it. Gan would have been automatic choice for his hat trick but overall contribution, Melvin tipped the scale. Lasted the whole match (notwithstanding one half as keeper), scored a brilliantly measured goal, had quite a few tricky dribbles in midfield n kept goal soundly with his creaking ankles”
“Vote goes to Melvin. Nice goal and good plays in 1st half. Was also good as keeper in 2nd”
“MOM to Melvin. Prob his best game so far. Scored a good goal, played thru the half. Was composed as keeper in the 2nd half, make a few saves.”

Gan was not far behind with 4 votes:
“Gan. He has defended well in the first half of the game and also attacking well in the second half especially when he attempted a direct shot outside the box with pinpoint accuracy resulting in a goal.”
“Gan for 3 well taken goals”
“Gan, kept goal well in 1st half and scored confidently in the second. A deserving hat trick and motm.”
“Close call between Melvin and Gan. Both scored goals that were good for their confidence. Both also kept goal well. I tossed the coin, it turned out in favour of Gan. No, that was not how I decided. Recently, he has been under a lot of fire for his misfiring, his hat-trick will prove the doubters and his critics wrong! So Gan is the MOTM”

Simon’s hardwork in the midfield did not go unnoticed and he garnered 2 votes whilst Teck Wah was nominated once:
“My motm is Simon. He controlled the midfield well, created a few goals with his defence splitting passes”
“My vote goes to Simon. Was consistent throughout and supported every attack. The fact that he lasted the whole game was doubly impressive”

“Motm to teck wah for his one goal and five assists. He was also seen defending”

Match #7 (24 Jan 09): Ended the Year of the Rat a bit Flat!

Most of the folks of Selaseh Food, our all-Malay opponent last Saturday, look more like wombats and we thought we had enough experience to more than match such gelek team. Little did we know that they possessed 2 little mice who can scurry through every nook and crevice. Their 2 livewires – No 2 and No 4, pulled the strings and carried the weight of the team. Their swift twinkle-toed movements were a joy to watch but nightmare for us to chase after and close down. Beating 3 or 4 of us at one go hardly broke any bead of sweat for them. Their support cast played simple, effective football of getting into space and passing the ball confidently, we were made to chase after the game throughout. We exchanged lead with them before both sides settled for a fair result of 3 – 3 draw. Again, our pure grit salvaged the game for us, when we should have capitalized on their vast difference in quality in their players but instead we let their pair of wizards control the match and terrorize us throughout.

The first scoring opportunity fell to the feet of Kian Hwa after Teck Wah brilliantly robbed the ball off their sweeper who was on the receiving end of a poor goal kick. Seeing the keeper retreating back to his line, Kian Hwa took a snap left-footed shot but the keeper managed to get his big foot to block the shot. Our first-time pairing of Weng Kwan-See Chiang took more than some time to settle down and SF seemed to sense the tentativeness in our backline, and they piled pressure on us non-stop. If they were clinical to capitalize on those openings, they could have easily had a handsome lead before even the 30th minute mark.

Our next goal opportunity was fluffed by the eagerness of Teck Chye to creep up the scoring chart and secure his Tang family legacy. Mike broke into space on the right and squared in a low cross into the box, Kian Hwa sold a dummy for Simon waiting in the box but Teck Chye came in for the same ball as well, resulting in a case of too many cooks spoiling the soup.
SF inevitably opened their account from the silky skills and pace of their No 4 after we shot ourselves in our feet at the back. See Chiang was caught napping in receiving a pass from Weng Kwan, allowing their No 4 to sneak in from behind and took the ball away in a flash. No 4 went on to dribble past 3 of our players, including Brandon, with such guile before burying the ball in the open goal. 0 – 1 down.

Chwee Leng came in for Teck Wah and had his first start of the season in his favoured striker role. And he didn’t disappoint with his immense contribution to our equalizer. As the half was drawing to a close, Chwee Leng called for the ball on the right and Kian Hwa duly found him in space with a reverse pass. Chwee Leng beat their big man sweeper before unleashing a shot at goal. The ball was destined going wide but SF custodian, another big and heavy chap, chose to dive low to collect the ball, only to cause a blunder by his failure to hold on to the ball cleanly. Teck Chye was at hand to scoop the ball into the net for his much-awaited goal. 1 – 1 at half-time.

Simon gamely took over Weng Kwan at the back, the latter having to retire early for a family commitment. We dug deep into our reserve of unyielding spirit and put up a much concerted and free-flowing effort in standing up to SF’s artistry and flair. With their keeper looking more like a clown ever ready to fumble, we were waiting for another early Lunar New Year hong-bao and we had him to thank for again in our 2nd goal. At the edge of the penalty box, he gifted the possession to, of all players, Teck Wah. Seeing the keeper hopelessly stranded in no man’s land, Teck Wah needed no invitation to produce a lob over him. 2 – 1 and we looked good for the money!

But No 4 had other ideas in mind and he showed us individualism can prevail. Another 2 goals from him reversed our lead into a lead for them. First, a shot coming in from the right gave Brandon no chance, with speculations that Brandon was having a snooze before realizing the shot coming in. 2 – 2. No 4 completed his hat-trick with a thunderous shot from distance. Despite his skinny frame, No 4 possesses enough tenacity and toughness just like Cesc Fabregas to pack enough punch in his shot. 2 – 3! Marine Sunday is not known for giving up until the whistle is blown and we proved to be the case again. Mike also notched his maiden goal of the season with a simple tap-in after Teck Wah brilliantly teed up the ball for him. Mike certainly deserved a goal for his improved performance. 3 – 3! The match ended in parity for both sides.

Man of the Match: See Chiang
Though tentative in the opening period, he filled in the stopper position with gutso. See Chiang is always a team player to give his 100% in whatever position he is asked to play. Here are his 5 winning votes:
“Motm was See Chiang. Good performance in an unfamiliar position. Although some mistakes were made, he got better as the game went on.”
“See Chiang for motm for good tackles on their young players”
“Motm see chiang for his overall effort”
“Motm is see chiang. Displayed good defensive play. Contained their players and was disciplined. Made important tackles”
“Motm Chiang. Cut out 50-50 balls, our most biting player to counter their flair.”

Leo did well to gather 3 nominations:
“Leo. Snuffed our numerous attacks”
“Mom to leo. Make some timely interventions including blocking one fierce volley. Some nice touches when playing as a striker.”
“Leo – though he was beaten a few times on his side but that was because their right winger possesses pace. But Leo sticked out his leg effectively a few times to break up their attacks. He was the most assured defender in that first 20+ minutes before he ran out of breath.”

The Tang brothers had 2 each and Mike, Chwee Leng and Simon had 1 each to round up 15 votes in total:
“motm: teck chye. did a lot of dirty work on the left harassing and winning the ball. plus following in from midfield into the penalty box for his durian goal - something which we need more from our midfielders to be doing.”
”Mom is teck chye. For his industrious running and follow up to score the morale boosting first goal.”

“No one stand out, so I will go for tw [i.e Teck Wah] who score the 2nd goal n create the 3rd”
“Tough choice, between simon and teck wah, will go for teck wah for scoring the second goal and initiating some of our more dangerous attacks down our right flank.”

“Chwee Leng – didn’t stop running though can see he was outpaced.”

“Mike, who make the score to 3-3”

“Mom: Simon for holding the defend [defence, he meant] well.”

Match #6 (17 Jan 09): Marine Sunday Swatted SWAT!

No doubt, Marine Sunday are not quite the same as before. After all, most of us have stepped into the 40s and that comes naturally with the inevitable decline in fitness and nimbleness of limbs. Surprisingly, SWAT were a few miles further than us off what we used to know them. Remember, at one stage, even our Mark was playing with them. The few familiar old faces are still around but their younger set of players was nowhere in sight. Call it a cheap shot on my part, but to a certain extent, it vindicates our rather stringent, albeit unwritten, policy of recruiting new players into our squad. We never place youth and vitality as our priorities in recruiting new players.

Our previous two encounters were in 2005, a hard-fought 3-3 draw on 30 Oct and before that, a closely-contested 1 – 3 loss on 9 Jul, with us conceding the 3rd goal in the dying moments after we had committed players to chase for the equalizer. It was not to be this time round. For a brief moment, we looked destined for another one-of-those-days feeling after SWAT had taken a surprise 1 – 0 lead despite our overall superior possession. Teck Wah, in the form of his life, augmented by 3 Old Amigos in the moulds of Kian Hwa, Yong Chua and Simon produced 6 goals of exquisite class to notch a convincing 6 – 1 win.

We were so determined in widening the lead not just with our attacking efforts, but our stable crew of Mr Dependables at the back defended our turf like an impenetrable fortress. Weng Kwan was constantly breathing down the neck of their striker-in-chief, hardly giving him any time or space to turn. Chung Wen, aided by his recent frequent therapy sessions in Geylang, was in his no-nonsense self and covered well to deny them a consolation 2nd goal with a goal-line clearance after Brandon superbly forced their striker wide to take a delayed shot at goal from a tight angle. Leo exuded class in halting their moves down the right flank, he made breaking-up-play like a child’s work. His coolness bore quite a resemblance of Paolo Maldini! Chwee Leng will in no time give our established full-backs a run for the money. Though tentative in the 1st half, he seemed to have undergone a thorough changeover in the 2nd half with a couple of crucial interferences to prevent SWAT from scoring. Once he recovered in time to put enough pressure on their striker to skive the shot less than 10 metres away from goal. Next, he sprinted back from the opponent half to his opposite flank to chase after a breakaway attack down their right flank, Chwee Leng did enough to force the final pass from this breakaway forward into nothing more than a misguided missile. On both occasions, Chwee Leng did not get to the ball but the willingness to fight for the cause on his part prevented any damage to us. Chor Guan sticked to his sweeper role with a disciplined display of timely interceptions and clearances. Nobody had any grouses when he was rewarded with 15 minutes of forays upfront for all his thankless job at the back. Once again, Brandon instilled confidence in us with another encouraging performance. Perhaps there weren’t many saves he was called upon but twice in the 2nd half, he came off his line quick enough to turn two 1-on-1 situations into futile forays for SWAT. He didn’t make any direct save on those 2 occasions but his imposing presence forced their forwards with no choice but to take the extra step to round him and on one of those, it allowed Chung Wen enough recovery time to clear a certain goal on the line. Their superlative performance diminished Kok Hock’s defensive contribution in the final 15 minutes of the match into mere academic mentioning.

Despite the landslide scoreline, SWAT were no pushovers. Against the run of play in the 1st half, they stole the lead. Our midfield gifted the possession to them and their forward drew Chor Guan near to him before laying the ball across to his right to his fellow forward. We called in vain for offside and SWAT punished us for our uncertainty in defending when the latter forward drilled the ball past Brandon for their opening goal. The goal punctured our belief momentarily but a quick double substitutions of Yong Chua and Simon for the first-time pairing of Weng Khong, in his ill-fitting boots, and Kok Hock put some familiarity in the command room. And the front duo of Hwa-Wah turned the deficit into a lead at half-time.

A typical hard running at the defender on the left by Kian Hwa forced a corner, which Kok Hock floated the ball into the box aiming for Yong Chua. SWAT’s keeper had the slightest of touch to the ball but it only diverted it to Teck Wah lurking at the far side of the 6-yards box. Teck Wah brought the ball nicely before unleashing a left-footed half-volley for our confidence –restoring equalizer. Gan came in for our left-flanker See Chiang, who felt the tightness on his hamstring, but Teck Wah voluntarily took over the left-midfield position. The move paid off handsomely as Gan later threaded a ball in between 2 defenders into the box. It was a deft pass, the movement of the ball fooled the defenders into thinking it would be safely dealt with by the keeper. Likewise, the keeper thought he had the ball covered but Kian Hwa’s pace startled him into inaction. The keeper was in two minds seeing the raging bull charging at the ball. Kian Hwa got ahead of the keeper by a step to squeeze the ball past him from the tightest of angle. The ball trickled to the far right-hand post and kissed it before coming to a stop just over the line. It was a morale-boosting goal to put us at 2 – 1 lead at half-time.

We expected SWAT to come back at us but we wrapped up the case with further 4 classy goals that had the neutrals on the gallery urging for more. Kian Hwa pulled the defender to the left create space for Gan to chip in a delicate ball onto the path of Simon coming in from the blind. Simon controlled the ball before deftly flicked it over the keeper to land the ball at the far right-hand corner for our 3rd goal. 3 – 1! There was still time for SWAT to recover and their illustriousness was not to be taken lightly but any remaining confidence was wiped out by the classiest of goal from Yong Chua. Picking a loose ball just over the mid-line, Yong Chua’s shot from distance landed perfectly over the keeper and into goal. Beckham had his glory with his strike against Wimbledon, Alonso’s wonder strikes from far against Newcastle and Preston North End stamped class. Whatever, we have our Yong Chua. 4 – 1. Not to be outdone by Yong Chua, Teck Wah played up to the gallery and brought the roof down with a goal that brought him the MoTM award! Gan’s cross from the left was a tad too heavy for Gan in the box but Weng Khong recovered the ball at the right to send a looping ball back into the penalty box. With his back facing the goal and a defender checking him, and sensing the spectators were gunning for something special, Teck Wah produced a spectacular mid-air overhead kick for our goal No 5. Even SWAT’s keeper was guilty of watching that goal instead of doing something to stop it! Teck Wah later conjured up our 6th goal with a measured pass onto the path of Simon, again coming in from deep. Simon waltzed past the hapless SWAT defence and placed the ball beyond the keeper into the net. 6 – 1, and that score line stayed till the final whistle.

The last 10 minutes produced further goal opportunities for both sides. SWAT had two 1-on-1 opportunities thwarted by Brandon with his superb positioning, with one of those aided by Chung Wen’s timely recovery on the line to clear a goal-bound effort. We could have added more. Kian Hwa was picked out superbly by another Teck Wah’s through pass but SWAT’s keeper interfered in time to boot the ball away. Then Kian Hwa’s left-footed freekick from the right required only the slightest of touch from anyone in the 6-yards box to convert it into a goal but the ball whisked past the left-post by a mere millimeter. Gan concocted his own scoring opportunity with a nutmeg that fooled 2 defenders. With only the keeper to beat, Gan dragged the ball to his left but the touch was a bit heavy and Gan painfully saw his effort going to waste.

MoTM: Teck Wah
A brace, white-hot scoring form and an out-of-the-world goal, any surprise that he garnered 11 out of 16 votes?
“MoM is teck wah. For good link up play and the magnificent overhead kick goal.”
“Teck Wah. Brilliant goals and made important passes too that lead to goals”
“My motm has to be teck wah for his 2 well taken opportunist goals and one assist.”
“Wah. What a goal! And many assists”
“MotM goes to teck wah. Good finishes, especially the reverse cycling kick and provided the through pass that created another of our goal.”
“Teck Wah for the spectacular goal and an assist for simon’s goal”
“Teck Wah for the equalizer bringing us back in the game, a couple of perceptive thru passes & oh what a glorious bicycle kick (right in their butt)!”
“MoM is teck wah. Wonderful overhead kick”
“Vote goes to teck wah for his second goal and his all round attacking play.”
“Mom to teck wah – 2 great goals, one or more assists”
“Cut the grandfather’s story short. MOM is Teck Wah for his spectacular goal.

The following 5 players mopped up the remaining 5 votes:
“With such an emphatic win, the scorers will no doubt grab the limelight. Those guys at the back kept it tight for us. Between Weng Kwan, Chung Wen and Leo…by the thinnest of margin, I settle for Weng Kwan. He gave no single inch of possession away!”
“Most will prob choose teck wah for that spectacular overhead kick. I’m going to vote for chung wen. He cleared a certain goal n deny the loud mouth opp[onent] of a consolation late in the game. Good defending overall as well. The team played superbly. Well done to all!”
“MOM - difficult to single out MOM this week as most got into the game well. Kok Hock tips my vote as he made himself available for a lot of the ball.”
“MoTM goes to simon for his outstanding play in midfield and scoring two good goals”
“MotM: Kian Hwa for lots of tireless running at the front and a well taken goal.”

Match #5 (10 Jan 09): Marine Sunday Fell to its Own Undoing

A couple of tactical changes proved to be suicidal to Marine Sunday against SOFA-Affiliates. Coupled with a lack of leadership on the pitch (which the self-proclaimed skipper must be hung high and dry for that) and the perennial problem of inferior fitness (lame excuse it may sound but indeed, most of us are above 40), it was a forgettable debut in our new 2009 kit.

Putting an attacking-minded Weng Khong into the right-back position is akin to fitting a square peg to a round hole. His over-zealous foray into the opponent box was calamitous move as a breakdown in our attack resulted in a quick breakaway by SOFA-A down the left flank and their eventual opening goal. We aren’t spring chickens anymore to recover that kind of distance, we forgot to remind ourselves that.

We are supposed to be wise with our age, especially relative to SOFA-A but we are foolish risk-takers at heart. Not contending to settle for a draw with 5 minutes to go, another tactical change involving advancing Chor Guan from his sweeper position to upfront and deploying Kok Hock to take over Chor Guan not only didn’t pay off but it devastatingly backfired. Chor Guan was effective in repelling their waves after waves of attacks. Don’t get me wrong, Kok Hock is a proven quality but has a different style of play in commanding the defence. Before the line could settle down to the new regime, SOFA-A punished us with a breakthrough in the dying moments of the match.

We were jaded and sluggish throughout the match. Perhaps, it was our first morning match after a long while and we just couldn’t get beyond the 1st gear in the morning sun. On the contrary, SOFA-A were lively and fluid in their movements. If there was any bright spark in our performance, it was the ever-improving Brandon who once again bailed us out of a possible landslide margin loss. Brandon, showing his willingness to play for the cause of the team, stepped up when most of us failed miserably with his numerous quick off-the-line shutdowns that thwarted several certain goals.

SOFA-A, with their majority in play possession and a few close opportunities, got their opening goal they richly deserved late in the 1st half. Ironically, it came from a nice build-up of our rare offensive move. Gan threaded in a through ball down the right, which Kian Hwa did well to run behind the full back to cut the ball back to Weng Khong, then as our right full-back, in the box. Weng Khong air-balled his shot and SOFA-A retrieved the loose ball and launched a quick counter-attack that exposed the big gap we left behind. A few quick moves allowed their forward to chip the ball from outside the box. Brandon barely got his fingers on the ball as it sailed over him into the net. 0 – 1.

Despite trailing at half-time, we were confident that we were able to get back into the game. Shortly after the match resumed, Gan was fouled in the box after Melvin sent in a cross that caused a goalmouth melee. Gan picked himself up to convert the spot-kick. 1 – 1.
But our tail wind didn’t last long to propel us further and SOFA-A took over the command. We managed to keep them at bay with our stout defending from Chor Guan, Hock Leong, Weng Kwan and Chung Wen , later replaced by Mike. Where our defensive line was breached, we had our Brandon to call upon. The dam eventually caved in to the non-stop onslaught by SOFA-A.

Their forward cleverly drew Hock Leong and Kok Hock to him before releasing the ball to their playmaker No 8, who raced clear with the ball. With Brandon out to narrow the angle and Kian Hwa chasing after him, No 8 demonstrated the coolest of footballing brain by slotting the ball through Brandon’s legs to seal the game at 2 – 1. By then, we were thoroughly sapped, both physically and mentally, with hardly any ounce of energy to recover lost ground. An unhappy ending for us but SOFA-A didn’t deserve anything other than a win.

Man of the Match (for Marine Sunday): Brandon
Any surprise? By miles again, similar to his first MoTM on New Year’s Eve, Brandon came out top with 8 votes out of 14. With his new found confidence, we definitely hope he could continue to command and impose in the box. However, one thing is of concern to the us. There is an inverse relationship between him winning MoTM and us winning the match. We do hope that the next time he gets MoTM, we are the winning side J

Brandon (8 votes)
- “I actually heard him shouting out at the players to cover positions. Fantastic! Showed marked improvements in positioning but really need to be more confident in handling and distributing balls.”
- “My MoM is Brandon. We didn’t play particularly well. But he made important saves and was steady throughout.”
- “Vote goes to Brandon. Great saves and a much improved performance.”
- “Brandon. Thanks to a few 1-to-1 saves.”
- “Brandon. Solid display”
- “Brandon. Did very well in goal.”
- “MotM: Brandon for keeping the score respectable with a few saves.”
- “MOTM Brandon for a few fine saves”

Kok Hock, Hock Leong and Weng Kwan had 2 votes each”
- “MotM = kok hock. Show his versatility. Play well as a central mid, left wing, last man”
- “MotM goes to kok hock. Most lively among group of jaded marine sunday players. Controlled ball well and also broke up some of opponents attack.”
- “My vote to hock leong for some timely interceptions and good overall defensive work.”
- “MotM is hock leong for holding the defence”
- “Weng Kwan MoM – slightly slow but makes up with determination. Gave opponents very little room today”
- “MotT: kwan – sound defending & oh what solid spot on crunching tackles to make a statement!”