Rise from the dead

Tanglin Sec, 1500 hrs

YSOSRS FC 3 Coke 1
(Liang x1, Calvin x1, Ah Cool x1)

I’ll try to be as concise and accurate as possible so pardon me if I miss out anything.

So here it goes.

Ysosrs faced a daunting task of travelling to Tanglin without their manager Mok. It was their first ever game without their gaffer and there was a big question mark to whether their caretaker Ws could somehow lead the team to a victory. Coming back from a heart-breaking defeat last weekend, the jokers needed 3 points badly to keep their title aspirations in sight.

The situation was further compounded by the absence of several key players, some dropping out at the eleventh hour. Only a modest number of 15 players (including 2 keepers) were present, including Calvin, a new acquisition who turned out to be a revelation.

And in a glorious fashion we took on the game.

We controlled the momentum of the game from the start. Defensively, we kept our shape throughout, covered for each other and kept constant pressure on our opponents. We were dangerous on our attacks and could have possibly scored a few more throughout the game. Juf nearly scored very early on in the match when his shot hit the top of the woodwork from a ball cleared out of a corner. However, we finally managed to score a few minutes later with Zl drawing first blood. A ball was picked up in the middle and fed to Zl who dribbled and muscled his way before putting it to the back of the net. Goal! We were far from complacent, but however we conceded shortly from a a header from a well taken corner kick to the far post. The team was slightly rattled but far from given up. We continued to play a dominant and patient game which nearly paid off minutes later. Dinie managed to find his way into the opponent’s penalty box and was brought down. Penalty! Juf stepped up, and buried it to the back of the net. Goal! Or not. The referee ordered a retake as the provider of the penalty had crossed the line before the kick was taken. And it was not meant to be. Juf’s second attempt was well saved by the keeper and Juf failed to convert the rebound. Bad luck! Just minutes before the half-time whistle was blown, we took the lead again. Calvin was fed by a long ball and (fuzzy recollections) he brought the ball into edge of the penalty box and deftly placed an inch-perfect shot past the keeper and into the net. 2-1!

And then due to my super short-term memory I can’t remember everything and arrange them in chronological order.

So I will just try to list all our goal attempts.

We had several one-on-one attempts throughout the game when the ball was fed over their backline. Our balls were always menacing but there were many of them which were ruled offside but we clearly thought otherwise. From what I remember, Law, Dinie, Juf, Calvin, Ronald, Ah Cool all had one-on-one chances that could very possibly turn into goals. (Not Ah Cool. He had one shot, one kill) Law, especially, withstood all the hammering to his legs and dribbled like a dog past 20 coke players to face the keeper, but only to kick it to him. He also had a near beauty of a goal with his overhead kick, crossed by Juf, just grazing the wrong side of the post. Just a hair’s breath away! It was an exact prelude of how Berbatov scored later against West Ham. I also nearly had my Stevie G moment when I thought I had finally broken my scoring duck. Calvin and I also had our chances from free-kicks. We were clearly frustrated with not capitalising on our chances as we knew that 2-1 is a too precarious scoreline to be sitting on. Coke might just pull a goal out of nowhere and it would be heartbreak all over again. Then it happened. On the 75^th minute, Ah Cool and Zheng Liang was brought on to solidify the midfield. And what an immediate impact they made. Ah cool, set free by a header from Zl on the counter, and with his first or second or third touch, lobbed it over the keeper and into the net. Wooo! Zl is good-looking and resilient enough to ask to be brought in to set up the third and final goal.

But to only list the goals and goal attempts is an understatement to the whole performance of the team. Everybody did their part in this victory. Our defence was solid. Hizam, Huijie, Ronald, Farhan, Hoe Guan and Sian Wei all did their part winning headers and throwing tackles and clearances. Our centre midfield was solid also. Dinie, Syafiq were ever so commanding in their presence and without them I could not have sat behind comfortably. I felt that Dinie had an exceptional game and was the bulk of their troubles in the middle. Ronald, Ah Cool and Zheng Liang were also causing mayhem down the wings and were also always covering the flanks defensively as well. Juf was leading the forward line well as the lone striker and was very lively throughout. He also dropped down to the middle to help out in many instances when the opponents tried to hit us on the break. He could have scored at least 2 or even a hat-trick and it was just bad luck that he didn’t.

And also last but not least, I would like to thank Calvin for making it for the match. Your physical presence and speed were always causing their defence problems and I really hope that you can join us. I believe that you will surely score more when you get used to us.

Lastly, I would like to thank everybody who came down today to make my managerial debut a success. And also a special shout out to the muslim guys who were fasting. And Mok for his guidance (Sorry I omitted it in the beginning but you're not an afterthought!).

Please tell me if I have missed out anything. Oh ya, Man of the match.

Man of the Match

There a few candidates I feel who deserve the man of the match. And seriously everyone is a man of the match in their own right. But I have to say that Dinie is my man of the match. He had a wonderful performance in the middle and was a handful for the opponent’s centre-mid to handle. He was so languid in his movement and skills but was the focal point of all the one-touch passes and action in the middle of the park. So this one is yours, buddy.

Zheng Liang, Ah Cool, Juf and Calvin also had wonderful games and were my candidates for the award as well.

On the whole I think that it was a very enjoyable game of football. We were focused about winning and playing and we kept our cool even though our opponents were whacking our legs like crazy. We let our feet and the ball did the talking and 3 goals was our answer.

Allan (Our experienced custodian): Our RB & LB coordinated well with the wingers. Their performance totally shut out our opponent's wing play and limited their crosses in. Because of that, we were very much in control and rarely threatened by our opponents. Kudos to them for sticking to the plan and doing their job well.

-Xabi Ws