As per the customary shenanigans between fierce rivals Cuzz and el jokers, the intensity on the pitch often spills over to the sidelines as well. And make no mistake about it as there was plenty of it in the game yesterday. Furthermore, for the past 2 seasons in which both sides had been in the same division, meetings between the 2 had been settled at 1 win a piece for each side with Cuzz often claiming the 1st tie.
Well, that was exactly what happened 2 saturdays back at Ping Yi Sec when we were outgunned by a spirited Cuzz outfit as we fell to our very very first defeat this season in the league.
Welcoming back several magicians in the forward line especially, the team headed into the game with a relatively carefree attitude. Exactly what the doctor ordered for what has been a season of ups and downs thus far.
Excellent weather greeted us yesterday, so much so to the point that the dreaded lightning warning system at Tampines Sec decided to play a game of flashing lights. Who cares when the sun continues to shine oh so brightly. Game on and the boys got the game underway.
1-0: After dominating the early exchanges with a really calm and collected approach, a huge change from the reverse meeting... Izwann won us a freekick from around 25 yards. Up stepped the huge frame of our magician, Dinietov. And what happened next was most definitely a first, even though the lad claims he would be able to do it more often if he had been given the opportunity to. *nope is my repy* A bullet of a freekick that moved in the air and had the keeper grasping at air here. Top corner stuff and well, we were all shell shocked. Quality quality goal from our top scorer this season. Kudos bro!!
2-0: Our star player of the east was back in a jokers uniform this week after a lengthy layoff and boy were we glad to see him again. After sauntering his way past 3 challenges in a move just earlier, he contrived to miss from just inside the box with a ballooned shot. So uncharacteristic and rumours has it that some under table stuff had occurred prior to the game for him to take it easy yesterday. Well thankfully he dispelled rumours of that almost immediately when a brilliant lofted through ball by our ever impressive, evergreen full back Eric, saw it take out the entire Cuzz backline. *THAT MISS
* Making up for it
With the touch of a ballerina, Mahdi took the ball down and slid it oh so calmly past the outstretched arms of the keeper. 2 goals in a matter of minutes and all of a sudden we were looking pretty. That was how it ended, 2-0 at the half.
2-1: From one of the forays into our half, Cuzz pulled a priceless goal back straight from a freekick inside our own half. The arching frame of their striker allowed him to guide the ball so delicately into the bottom corner. Full marks for technique there. Game on as Cuzz sensed that they were back in the game. *Athletic Keeper we have there.
3-1: Well, that was finally put to bed when Cuzz pushed forward and we caught them on the break. A devastating break involving the likes of Mahdi, Santosh, Mimi and finally Izwann saw our lazy lanky cockroach man smash the ball home from the edge of the box to the relief of the gaffer. Fantastic play boys!!
4-1: The scoring did not end there as the walking Mahdi decided that he was game for one more burst. Receiving the ball in the centre with acres of space, he pushed forward towards the backline and then laid of a simple through ball that sliced apart the defence. The onrushing Toshie boy who had been industrious all day long pounced upon it like a hungry beast and headed straight for goal. From a tight as hell angle, the man beast thumped home a shot that hit the underside of the bar and went in. One of those shots that u would love to see again and again and the perfect icing on the cake for us indeed.
*Zee 3rd goal from cockroach man
FT 4-1 *Brilliant shot of the surroundings while e game is underway.
Great response to the defeat from our last game. Let's keep it going boys. Hopefully there will be peektures from the very kind Fadilah and Dinietov. If not, till next week.... Adios amigos!
*There's a whole lot of legs in this. Watch the entire video to feel better. I hope it does for all of you.
Ping Yi Sec, 1500 Hrs
YSOSRS 1 TeamCuzz 2
(Syafiq x1)
Apologies if this sounds like a long ass excuse of a report. It ain't. So read on folks...
Having played on every saturday since the start of May which included Cup and League games, the jokers headed into a potentially pivotal game against long term rivals TeamCuzz looking a tad weary and with a squad that had a whole host of players missing. This meant the calling up of very capable stop gap stand in players from our VJC contingency, PK and Shenhao.
Straight to the game as the morning long downpour that potentially threatened the cancellation of the game created a surreal, European like environment for a football game. Nice, cool and breezy. However, that all changed as soon as we kicked off. Tackles flew in and around as players from both sides gave full commitment to the cause.
Sadly for the jokers, we soon sunk into a predictable pattern of play that became the bane of us. Hoofing pointless long balls in a small ass field against a very committed Cuzz side was to no avail, whilst our opposition found plenty of joy from their wings. Particularly in the likes of Haikal on their left who caused us problems for most of the 1st half.
The jokers laboured and were eventually 1-0 down when some sloppy defending coupled with a really cool and calm finish by their forward just inside the box saw Cuzz go a goal to the good midway through the 1st half.
Fast forward and now to the moment that could have really killed it. A long ball hoofed down the pitch by Cuzz saw an awkward bounce that was misjudged by Khy. It bewilderingly lobbed over him and saw the striker through on goal with only a simple tap in to double their lead. Yet in some weird twisted turn of events, he slipped just as he was about to knock it home and the ball spilled into the empty penalty box with players from both sides scrambling all over the place. In the ensuing chaos, Hafiz's overzealous attempts to clear the ball saw him give away a penalty. Bloody hell.
Up stepped their forward, while Khyrul made himself big in goal. Penalty saving has always been a unique ability he possessed and true enough, a firm hard penalty down to the left was well palmed out. A god sent lifeline as the jokers trudged off the pitch at the half looking frustrated and pissed.
Once again, despite the quality the jokers possessed today, the lack of experience probably counted against them. A restructuring of the team plus a late rally from the gaffer to psyche the boys up and we were off again. True enough, the jokers upped the ante in the 2nd half as we have always done this season.
1-1: A freekick from just inside the Cuzz half was poorly defended and wala, our stand in captain Del Syafiqo was 2 steps away from the net to knock it in with his head. Nothing fancy, nothing pretty. Just the way we should have played from the start.
Moving on, the next 15 minutes saw some incessant Jokers pressure as we repeatedly attempted to breach the Cuzz goal for a 2nd time. Time after time though, the momentum was not taken advantage off and it eventually turned into a desperate mood for the young jokers side. Repeated attempts to get the ball down the other side early on meant misjudged clearances and hurried attempts to force the play.
Sadly for us, with 7 minutes to go... Their prolific striker found joy as our entire backline lest Eric was unable to keep him at bay. Waltzing his way round the 3 men, he proceeded to chip Khy from a really acute angle to produce a winner of genuine quality. No one, and i mean no one can discount that.
Well folks after all that debacle, the boys never gave up. Which was most definitely the most comforting thing on a difficult saturday afternoon of footie. Time after time in the last 5 minutes, we plummeted the Cuzz box with crosses and bodies.
Sadly for us, it.just.would.not.go.in.
1-2 was how it ended as the jokers sink to their 1st defeat of the current season. The humble pie well and truly eaten on a bruising afternoon session. Plenty to learn for the squad and also plenty for the gaffer to learn about from his players. Absolutely no disappointment with regards to effort even though the result did not go our way.
A well deserved break next saturday after a span of 8 wins and 2 defeats in 10 games. Well done nonetheless. And to the muslims in the team, happy fasting. Adios amigos.
A cup tourney that perhaps several of them jokers would have forgotten about considering how long it has dragged on. Knocked out in the 2nd round in a shock cup upset, the jokers parachuted into the plate tourney where they met literally a star studded Real Suspects FC who had the likes of Uday Joshie to name a few in their ranks. 5-0 winners we ran out on that day to move into the Quarters of the Plate tourney.
Today, we faced them Vietnamese opposition in the name of Kelly P. Established for many a year, the jokers lined up with at least 5 players who were under the age of 20. Talk about bringing the average age down!! Coupled with the alarming number of absentees as injuries, holidaying and other commitments buoyed our core players down, this was a game that could have been an anything goes situation.
Welcoming the likes of our nepalese monster back into the fray on a more consistent basis once again. The young man shared a moment of nostalgia with the gaffer when he stated that he had played for the jokers when he was 17 and with him now coming to 19 in abit, it was indeed one of those wow wow wow moments. So nice. Well of course, we also had another very recognisable name in the mould of Amsyar whom followers of the A Division would have heard about his exploits there. Amazing footballing lad, and as proven today... One with the character to match.
And so we started the game on the excellent Queenstown Sec pitch with a young, but strong looking side. There was a moment of panic when our top striker, bamboo cockroach zwann decided he had to take a dump right before kickoff. Nonsense fella.
1-0: The boys passed and probed with plenty of verve and our opening dominance was rewarded when rampaging Eugene exchanged a couple of passes with Santosh and then Amsyar before he was released down the left. Bulldozing his way into the box, he unselfishly laid the ball back into the path of Amsyar who nonchalantly side footed it home from 2 yards for a priceless opener. Much of this move had to do with the attacking initiative shown by our fullback as he couldnt resist a chuckle to himself for the good work done.
2-0: 15 minutes into the game and our incisiveness in the attacking 3rd was proving a real headache for the Kelly P defense. Once again, the same trio combined to devastating effect as Eugene aka Cock version of Gareth Bale replicated his earlier move and ran straight at the defense, in the process unsettling them. A quick pass to Amsyar and one touch later, our Nepalese monster was released through on goal before expertly finishing it with his outside foot. Barcelona-esque at times according to our young one.
3-0: After 20 minutes, the time had come again for that once in a blue moon situation. Much probing had seen the jokers toil with scoring a third but to no avail. All I could remember was that Toshie boy tried to control a lofted ball into the penalty box with his marker in close ass attendance. Fortunately the ball fell to the gaffer who was also being closed down relatively quickly. Needing no invitation, a swivel and a swing from the left boot saw the ball nestle brilliantly into the other side of the net. To be honest, the gaffer was as baffled as the rest of the players who struggled and asked bewilderingly if Mok was the one who had scored. Have faith lah guys!!!
3 and easy at this point. Definitely a recipe for disaster as the lads took their foot off the pedal thereafter. One of those awkward moments came when in Kelly P's few forays into our box, their midfielder was upended by Isk. Soft penalty in my humble opinion but the element of risk was there in the tackle. Kaboom and it was 3-1.
Bla bla bla bla... HT.
The half time team talk croaked along and I believe the boys were more content on laughing at the gaffer's futile attempts to keep concentration levels up due to his epicly fading voice. Thanks guys.
The 2nd period saw Kelly P with a decent midfield trio that kept the ball much better and a nippy forward that had us on our toes. However, they certainly came out with a plan to stop us playing the ball around which was by simply kicking us all over the park. I'm sure the raft of yellows shown were sufficient proof of that. Not one to moan about tackles as this is after all a contact sport, some of the challenges left much to be desired honestly.
Moving on, the jokers looked a tad lacklustre as we lacked the penetration in a slow moving 2nd period. And when we stepped on the pedal and turned up the charm, we had unfortunately left them shooting boots somewhere off the pitch. Several decent chances were spurned and a 3-1 lead looked not entirely comfortable.
4-1: Finally with 10 minutes to go, we finally ended Kelly P's resistance when Amsyar received the ball just inside the opposition's half. Facing up against the back four, the swift off the ball running by our wingers and also Tosh saw them stretch out the Vietnamese defense. Needing no second invitation, the man unleashed a powerful shot that nestled oh so sweetly in the back of the net to make it four and fancy. Icing on the cake for a good afternoon's workout for the lads.
Moving on, we will head into the qualifying semi's of the plate tourney where we will face a relative unknown in SDP Fushan Warriors. If we do get pass them, we will play Classique Futbol Clube (losing semi finalists of the Cup toruney) in the actual semis of this Plate tourney. Talk about a baffling tournament. Will take anything that comes anyhow...
Well done to the squad today for turning up and getting the job done. Till next week~
