Match #21 (26 May 2013): First Draw of The Season!

Nothing to shout of with regards to our first draw of the season. We shouldn't have let Temasek Royal get anywhere near our goal area in the first place. 2 goal attempts and 1 foray into the box resulted in 2 goals for them. We had lion share of possession throughout but all opportunities created counted for nothing and we had to rely on 1 penalty (converted by Simon, albeit just) and a free-kick (despatched expertly by Teck Chye) to find the net. TR's keeper was in excellent form to keep us at bay, denying us all our goal attempts at him.

2-2 was the final score. No disrespect to TR but anything less than a win was injustice to us.

Match #20 (18 May 2013): Marine Sunday On A Mission

We put aside last week's fractious discord and went on a rampage against NEFC, an All-Malay team comprising youngsters and a few in early 20s. Despite the typical gelek-gelek and individual flair, the lack of experience in their ranks was telling. We had the upper hand in possession in the early stages but against the run of play, NEFC drew 1st blood with an innocuous shot from outside the box that the napping Brandon allowed it to go past him. KH's brace overturned the deficit and could have notched a hat-trick but NEFC's keeper's brilliant double saves denied him. The slender 2-1 lead stood at the break.

What was fairly even in the first half became lopsided after the break when NEFC apparently lost their shape and spirit to play as a team - Woon, Mike's double, Chor Guan, Gan and Kama in that sequence found the net for us. Despite the comfortable-looking scoreline, our rearguard colleagues kept thing very tight, denying NEFC space and putting in the challenges to win back the ball whenever any of the defenders was overrun by their relatively skilful midfielders.

Final score: 8 - 1.

Match #19 (12 May 2013): We Caused Our Loss. As Simple As That

Disharmony within the ranks in 1st half cost us this match. Yes, Sons of St Patrick's had 2 ex-internationals - Steven Tan and Amos Boon - and a few other technically better players but we were not overrun by them. Perhaps, the scorching heat in 1st half made us lose our cool and our shape resulting in our concession of 2 soft goals. We came back strongly and we showed in 2nd half that we meant business - Kama was tenacious in midfield, Chor Guan was ferocious in his harassment of their defenders, Rock put his body in the line of duty, Teck Chye showed what he could do for the team if he could focus on what he does best - football, Mike worked his socks off and won us the penalty.

Final score was a narrow 1-2 loss but we knew we could have done better.

Match #18 (5 May 2013): Oranjino Crushed

Full of energy and running, the youngsters of Oranjino kept us at bay for a while. Simon opened accounts with another long range effort, spilled by the keeper. Oranjino equalized with an equally powerful shot from outside the box.

One all at half time, MS weathered the pressures in the early second half to post a comfortable win at the end. Mike scored one that landed in the top corner followed by Chye's exquisite beating of the keeper at the near post and Khong's header ala Chicharito. Oranjino scored a consolation at the death to bring the score to 4-2.

Match #17 (28 Apr 2013): A Woeful Performance To Match The Woeful Weather

Chung Wen made his long awaited comeback from injury. That coincided with the first time we failed to score. Ok, not meaning to put one and one together but the inescapable fact was that we were woeful in the entire 1st half and we let Hwa Chong Alumni boss us around. Mike missed a sitter, our only real threatening chance in the 1st half, and a poor giveaway by our ever reliable Teck Chye that resulted in their only goal summed up our dismal performance before the break.

The match lasted for only 10 minutes in the 2nd half before it was aborted due to the inclement weather but we showed a much higher tempo in that 10 minutes that could have restored parity. KH screwed a wonderful opportunity after a splendid one-two with Chor Guan. The match stood at 1-0 in favour of Hwa Chong Alumni before it was called off.

Match #16 (21 Apr 2013): Another Close Call With Trinity

Trinity and Marine Sunday have proven to be worthy opponents to each other. Our 2nd encounter in this year ended with another narrow win over them, although we could have walked away a much convincing winner than what the 2-1 score line suggested.

Woon put his recent personal ordeal behind him and chose a holy occasion to notch his first goals of the season, with his 2 goals in 1st half proving to be enough, albeit just enough, to win the match. Chor Guan almost opened the account for us but his freekick rocketed off the bar and bounced off the line. Woon's brace put us in comfortable lead before Teck Wah's effort shaved off the bar. Just before the break, Brandon was superbly alert to pull off a brilliant save to deny Trinity's quickly taken free-kick outside the box.

2nd half was quite evenly matched. Their livewire striker shrugged off the close attention of Mark and pulled the trigger. A wicked deflection off Melvin's shoulder caught Brandon wrong-footed and the goal reduced the deficit. Gan side-stepped the ball towards the open goal, only for Trinity's defender to recover in time to clear the ball before it became our goal #3.

No further goal ensued and we came off worthy of the 2-1 win.

Match #15 (14 Apr 2013): Kicked In The Teeth By Last Kick of The Match

Our stop-start performance resumed and we only had ourselves to blame for the agonising 4-5 loss against Venom, with their winning goal came on the last touch of the match. We started brightly and were running them ragged in the opening 25-30 minutes before slackness crept into our play and allowed them to take control. And what a difference 1 player can make, and we are referring to Venom's newly recruited striker, No 23, who tormented us with his guile, power, technique and scoring prowess. He proved to be too hot for us to handle and was the most venomous player, accounting for 3 of their 5 goals.

We started off well with an early goal from Teck Wah, who chipped the ball over Venom's advancing keeper. Things looked promising as we continued to pile more pressure on their goal but no further damage ensued. Then sluggishness in defence allowed their No 23 to overturn the deficit with 2 quick goals - 1st by shaking off our defender effortlessly to score with the outside of his left foot; and then a horrendous piece of our defending allowed him to sneak in with a goal. Gan equalised for us after combining well with Teck Wah before we fell asleep again at the back, allowing their midfielder to steal in a header at the near post from a needlessly conceded corner. 2-3 at the break.

Kama won a penalty for us early in 2nd half, which Teck Chye duly converted. 3-3. Another ball-watching, this time by KH, let their playmaker No 10 to sneak in from behind to tap the ball into the open goal. 3-4. KH then had a golden opportunity to equalise after a mazy run by Teck Chye saw his effort come off the upright but KH fluffed the rebound, with the open goal at his mercy. Teck Wah then saw his goal-bound effort denied by their recovering defender. Teck Chye then launched another solo effort from midfield, leading to shot from outside the box that beat the keeper for our equalising goal. 4-4. Things were even thereafter with both sides having chances to advance further. Their No 23 again popped up as their talisman. His initial looping effort was clawed away by Brandon but the clearance didn't go far and the ball was sent back into our box and there he was at the far post, No 23 headed the ball past the scrambling Brandon. 4-5. With that, the referee blew for the final whistle and that was really a big kick in the teeth.