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I was told post-match that there were 7 brothers among the Opponent and those 4 women at the sideline were their sisters! Wow, 11 siblings and they still remain so close at their age. Very admirable. Sure, they lost the match big time to us. 10-nil....but they had won big, very big in terms of family tie.
Simon (3), Chor Guan (2), Kama, Mike, Teck Chye, Kian Hwa, Woon scored the 10 goals but no way did we dent the love among their 11 siblings :)
When a team is named Question Marks, either they are casting doubt on their opponents or they have been searching for answers. Today, they might have been enlightened by a bunch of mid-life crisis folks who overran them 7-1.
Yes, the goal conceded was a sore point in an otherwise thoroughly perfect outing. If KH had not missed the sitter less than half-a-meter from the open goal, it would have been the lucky eight.
Mike put in a top-form display and notched 2 goals, Gan also notched a brace and a goal each from Teck Wah, Kama, Simon completed the misery for Question Marks. Question, anyone?
Our performance and result today fell into Quadrant 2 of my Result Interpretation matrix (see attached pic).....KTGL - Kio Tio Gu Lan (Pick Up a Bull's Ball).
We narrowly beat Perfect 2-1 and of course we had who else but Teck Wah to put in the winning goal for us. But the match was really won by our rear guards. Gan, as stand-in keeper in 1st half, blocked a one-on-one when the match was not even 1 minute old. And then, he recovered brilliantly, after thoroughly wrong-footed by Chwee Leng's back header, to claw the ball away just 5 cm from goal! Brandon, arrived in time for 2nd half, produced 4 stupendous one-on-one saves to keep us alive. And Chor Guan blocked a certain goal on goal line and later when Perfect launched a quick counter-attack, he coolly organised Chwee Leng to cover him while he went to close down their playmaker and close down he did. Chwee Leng was at his tenacious best in the 2nd half, battling 4 players and even won a free-kick out of it. See Chiang, though rusty and frequently out of position, produced one vital block to prevent Perfect's striker from taking a shot at goal in the box. And not forgetting our two evergreens - Leo and Ng, who ran their hearts and lungs out trying to contain their wing play.
Our first goal came from their defender as he deflected Teck Wah's cross and wrong-footed his keeper. Perfect equalised in the 2nd half after putting us under tremendous pressure in the opening 20 minutes of 2nd half. Though Teck Wah settled the match for us, I am sure everyone would pay tribute to our guys at the back! :)
6-0 up and with 5 minutes left to play, complacency set in and allowed opponent to score 2 quick consolation goals. It was frustrating to see a clean sheet being unnecessarily denied by our own sloppiness. Up to those last 5 minutes, we were in control throughout although our passing could have been better.
3-0 up at the break, courtesy of Teck Wah's cool finishing, Weng Khong finishing off Teck Wah's cut-back and Woon latching onto Gan's backheel pass to side-step Opponent's keeper. Gan then added a brace in the 2nd half, with the his first coming from distance after spotting Opponent's keeper way off his line and his second was a credit of his doggedness in the box to finally put the ball in the net after being hauled down before that. Teck Chye thumped in a header from a corner by Teck Wah. We looked to further increase the margin but instead the final 5 minutes denied us the icing on the cake.
Young wasn't enough, we have to contend with ferocity as well, and how we ganned them down. Opponents, perhaps with their affinity for speed and power and thus named themselves Carrera (a model of Porsche, you know?) clearly knew how young they are compared to us. In an altercation with Ng, the rude opponent indicated as much declaring that we are old enough to be their father! Where's the respect for the elderly? Ferocious they were, as straight from the kick off, their battle cry bordered on the maniacal as they came charging at us like a pack of wolves. But they could not contend with our fine blend of composure, wisdom, resilience and a man who goes by the name of Gan.
Just as Arsenal acquired the king of assists, the match today was in large part significant for Gan's triple assists. First, he took a difficult ball and advanced into the box causing the panicky defender to pull him down. Weng Khong took responsibility and promptly put us one up. Then he dealt with a high bouncing ball, nonchalantly chesting it into the path of Simon who powered a stiff grounder which the keeper could only deflect it to spin into goal. Two goals up at half time.
Carrera came into the second half with renewed energy and pulled one back quickly. Suddenly, the tide seemed to start turning as they attacked in waves. Nevertheless, two incisive counter-attack from inside our own half did them in. The first defence-splitting pass found Teck Wah sprinting down the left to square for Gan who was too strong for their defenders and they had to drag him down again. Up stepped Teck Chye to restore our two-goal cushion. Then a replica of that pass found Teck Chye whose cross caused havoc in the defence. With the keeper stranded, Rashpal recovered the ball and passed to Alex whose delightful chip was heading for goal until a defender pawed at it. That was the cue for Alex to step up and score from the spot.
Final result - a well deserved 4 - 1 win.
Marine Sunday refused to get intimidated by the impressive looking Boon Lay Old Boys who were decked out in pristine all-white. We started confidently and ended the match impressively. Their keeper seemed to have a split personality - a bundle of nerves and spilled every ball in the air in the first half; but was so full of confidence and plucked every ball in the air like harvesting mango with ease in the second half. But his dismal first-half performance allowed us to surge to a commanding 4-0 lead at the break, and could have been more if Alex had been alert to react to an open goal and Gan would have been credited with a goal after his long clearance bounced over the keeper into the net but the goal was disallowed for a dubious offside call on Teck Chye.
Still Mike, Teck Wah, Alex and Teck Chye, in that order, got us the goals. Our fluidity stretched their defence with ease and they must be relieved to hear the whistle for the break.
Boon Lay Old Boys came back with a heightened sense of purpose when the match resumed and began to impose themselves but without real threat to us. We were pinned back for the first 15 minutes and it took a poor clearance from their keeper and the brilliance of Teck Chye to put the ball beyond the stranded keeper for our 5th. Then Alex set up Teck Wah nicely for the latter to place the ball beyond the despairing dive of their keeper for our 6th. And that was the last touch of the match and the referee's final whistle ended the slaughter.
You could say that we reduced Boon Lay Old Boys to literally a....BLOB.
What could be more satisfying for a bunch of mostly mid-40s uncles when facing a crew of young guns in some fearsome-looking outfit? Just stand up to them and dish out some disciplined and effective football without all the fanciful footwork. Result? A handsome 3 - 0 win, which the young guys, Lutador FC also could not quite figure it out.
We did labour in the early stage before Teck Wah opened the account after receiving a brilliant cross-field pass from Kama. Teck Wah finished it, just another day in the office. Woon then added to our scoreline after he reacted quickest to a loose ball that cannoned off the post and put in the rebound. Second half did not produce much cutting edge but a quick movement involving KH, Weng Khong set up Gan to score from just outside the box. 3 - 0
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