Queenstown Secondary School, 1700Hrs
SUFI FC 2 Galacticos FC 0
(Law x1, AhCool x1)
A gloomy and damp day probably set the tone for the game as the boys in blue kitted up in their all new all white outfit for the game. Amidst several groans about the quality of the jerseys, we knuckled down and attempted to start loving them. Bleh~
Coming into the game without the likes of hizam, vic, rudee and goal machine juf, it would prove to be an interesting outing as the gaffer experimented with the squad to get an up close and personal look at the rest of the players. Lining up in our usual formation, Allan, donning the new goalkeeping outfit started in goal. Farhan n Jason occupied the full back berths with Ronald (Captain of the day) and Huijie alongside him in defence. With Ws in the defensive screening role, Syafiq and Kassler aimed to provide the necessary support in midfield. The flying wingers were Yasin and Ahcool, with Wong starting upfront as the lone striker.
Right from the start, it was apparent that our relatively youthful opponents were a skillful and astonishingly quick outfit. Perhaps caught out by the level of attacking impetus our opponents had, we were in sixes and sevens for much of the 1st 10-15 minutes. Failure to get a grip in midfield also caused further problems for the SUFI boys. The misery of the start was compounded further when our new acquisition, Yasin got caught in a tangled mess as he swung to clear the ball, only to miss it and then unlucky handled the ball after a bewildering sequence of events. A penalty it was to our opponents and the there was a slight drop in heads from the jokers. Thankfully, Galacticos failed to convert the resulting penalty as Allan probably did enough to put the young striker off.
Going up the other end, the closest we came to nicking the first goal was a thumping header by midfield maestro, Syafiq from a corner kick, however as perhaps it was a sign of things to come, it cleared everything but the frame of the goal. On came, Ozil and Dinietov as we attempted to regain control in midfield. The first goal soon came as some neat footwork by dinietov released ozil just outside the box, and with hardly any backlift, the 'german import' crashed an unstoppable shot past the keeper. 1-0 despite not playing to the best of our abilities. A sigh of relief was heard from the touchline as it was an undeniable fact that our skillful opponents had given us plenty to think about in the 1st half.
The 2nd half soon kicked off with hizam taking his place in defense as well as hoeguan n sianwei filling in on the full back positions. A new midfield trio of mok, lq n law were flanked by speedster wong n ahcool who had been in hot form recently. Dinietov reoccupied his position up top. The 2nd half probably mirrored the 1st as our speedy opponents did all the running and they only lacked the final ball to kill us. Dinietov as usual, as in recent weeks was enjoying a new lease of life as the lone striker as he toiled and tormented our young opponents into submission with his close control and devastating feints that left them for dead. However, he was not the only sparkle as AhCool gradually found his way into the game after some thumping tackles by the super aggressive and accomplished left back of our opponents. He eventually fed off a long goalkick from phileo that saw a mix up, which resulted in the keeper n their last men clashing, leaving ahcool with the simplest of finishes to put the jokers 2-0 up. The man has scored in 3 consecutive weeks and is starting to prove what a great player he is. The rest of the half gradually died out and so it finished, 2-0 to SUFI.
My MOTM: Dinietov. No 2 ways about it. It has been refreshing to watch the man play and to play alongside him as he rediscovers the touches and brilliance that was always apparent but not put to full use in our 1st season. Like i mentioned in the report, he was probably the difference maker especially with our opponents looking to outmaneuver us in the middle of the park. Completely deserved dude. Keep it up.
Gaffers thoughts: 2 train of thoughts for the game. The negative was that we seemed flat at times in both halves and i'm not too sure of the exact reason but there is a need for alot more communication between the guys. The positive was that even though our opponents were more skillful than us, we stuck together as a cohesive unit and defended well. I would like to think of it as efficient football. We proved as well the strength in depth that we have in the squad is frightening. Very Real Madrid like in our play today as the defense n midfield held their own despite the occasional scares. And our attacking trio once again flourished as we countered to great effect. It may not have been pretty football but I can assure you that it is definitely efficient football. I was personally impressed with the level of skill our opponents possessed and perhaps experience won on the day. A good workout for the team as we carry on our pre-season campaign. I can safely say that by playing good opponents week in and out, it can only make us a stronger team by the time the league comes around.
Kudos to all of u guys and it is likely that we will play Questra Vipers next saturday in a friendly. Just so you know, it is a team that is in a class of its own and u can check out more about them in one of the links at the right hand panel.
P.S: ZL, Sianwei and Yasin please remind me to take individual photos for you guys next week. I need them to upload onto the espzen site. Plus, we need to take a team photo with us in our new jerseys!! Someone please remember if i dont. Thanks!
Personnel:
Allan, Phileo
Sianwei, HG, Alaric, Farhan, Jason, Hizam, Ronald, HuiJie
Yasin, AhCool, Law, WS, Mok, Syafiq, Kassler, LQ
Dinie, Wong
Fan in attendance:
Aisyah (Long awaited return of one of the founding members of the WAGS clan!)
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