Roman inspires SUFI

Serangoon Stadium, 1500 Hrs

SUFI FC 4 New Team FC 2

(AhCool x1, Juf x1, Dinie x1, Rudee x1)

A day of oddities as a massive squad of 23 gathered at the arena-like Serangoon Stadium which disappointingly harboured an arena more befitting of a weekend beach footie session at sentosa. A combination of massive areas of sand plus rock hard mud peppered the central regions of the field, a far cry from our amazing experience at the pristine pitch at jurong stadium. Ahhh, dont we all crave for more of that.

Admist the onlooking fans today, we had our esteemed VIP guest in Huseyin (I hope i got his name right) who was watching his new creation in flesh for the 1st time. The pressure was on the team to show the man what we were made off. However any nerves were quickly dispelled as the team began proceedings to the game with what is fast becoming our customary pre-match song and dance session, finished off by our cheer! Sweetness!

To the events of the game itself, Schemichel began in goal with a defense made up of Farhan, Huijie, Hizam and HG. Wong, Rudee, Kassler, Syafiq and Weisheng made up the midfield and Juf was the man up front for the 1st half. A niggly start to the first half was dampened when wong was badly hurt in a crazy lunge from behind from our opponent. I highly doubt the opposition knew that he was playing footie and i do not think that Wong would be the last player that he seriously injures. An atrocious challenge and all he got was a yellow. AhCool, the man in form replaced Wong and took his place on the left. Chances were aplenty in the 1st half as we pressured our opponents who hailed from the loftier regions of the Espzen Sunday League, Division 7 into frequent mistakes. With allan hardly troubled, Ahcool soon opened his and our account for the day with a neat finish from just inside the box. Pace was obviously an asset to have especially today. 1-0 to the SUFI boys.

One soon became two as Jufri joined the party after some sweet interchange of passing that involved Ahcool in particular. The man tucked home the ball from just outside the box, leaving the keeper with no chance and to rapturous applause from our fans and our owner. My memory of the 2nd half was one of chance after chance which we spurrned. The defense held its own whilst the midfield was first to every challenge. Syafiq, Kass & Juf in particular, hit the frame of the goal with speculative shots (unlucky!) while Rudee had a great opportunity which he failed to convert after a lung bursting run. 2-0 it finished at the half with the SUFI boys in a strong position.

As expected, the entire set of players were changed at the half with Phileo in goal, Jason, Ronald, Alaric and eventually Sianwei were in defense. Yasin, Vic, Law, Mok and LQ made up the midfield 5 n Juf remained up top. The order at the half time team talk was to keep it tight and to take our chances when possible. With Dinietov finally appearing at the venue, the man with magic in his boots soon proved his worth to the team with a rather fortuitous goal following a scramble in the penalty box from a corner. It probably took him 2 minutes from coming off the bench to being a goal scorer. With the team motoring forward, the assumption was that we would push forward and look for more goals. 3-0 soon however became 3-2 when in quick succession, a less than inspiring defending allowed our opponents to sneak a goal and then a long clearance from New Team took 2 bounces in the middle of the field off the rock hard surface and turned into an excellent through ball. The opposition striker however has to be credited for the pace he showed and clinical finishing. 2 chances, 2 goals for our opponents. I guess this falls under the oddities for our normally reliable team.

With a potential nervy end in store and a rather glum look on our owner's face (for added drama), returning flying winger Rudee decided to put an end to the uncertainty. After some strong running from Law down the left that saw him beat his marker, the man sent an inviting ball across the face of goal. Coming in from the right with eyes lit up brighter than the headlights of his bat mobile, the man slammed the ball into the roof of the net from a tight angle. 4-2 was how it ended at the end of a topsy turvy day of footie.

My MOM: The honour in my opinion has to go to one half of our dynamic african duo, Rudee who has been SUFI's answer to Chelsea's Malouda. His direct running and searing pace left his marker with constant difficulties throughout his time on the field and if not for the lack of confidence in his finishing, the man would probably have got more than just that goal to show for his efforts. Well done dude.

Gaffer's thoughts: Once again, we showed our mettle when the going got tough. It could be said that we should have done alot better and avoided conceding those 2 goals, however at the end of the day the result doesn't lie and we should be proud of what we achieved today. The performance of the team especially in the 1st half left me cooing in disbelief as we were superior in probably all aspects. We will learn from the lessons today I am sure. Furthermore, the feedback from our owner was one of a satisfied man. Should he be reading this, i would also like to thank him for the drinks that he got for the entire team. We are indeed a lucky group of social footballers. Last but not least, my thoughts goes to Wong and his swelling knee. Hopefully that horrific tackle does not put you out of the game for too long and we hope that it is just a false alarm. Take care dude. I will see the rest of you SUFI boys next week then. Cheers!

Personnel:

Allan, Phileo

Farhan, HG, Jason, Sianwei, Alaric, HuiJie, Hizam, Ronald

Rudee, Yasin, AhCool, Wong, Vic, Liang, Mok, Syafiq, Weisheng, Lianquan

Dinie, Juf

Fans in attendance:

Huseyin, Suzie, Liza, Aisyah, Zufar, Jassie boy!