Queenstown Sec, 1500 Hrs
YSOSRS 4 Kelly P 1
(Amsyar x2, Santosh, Mok)
*No Relevance to the Game. Legs. Slurp slurp.
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~
Personnel:
Khai
Eric Farhan Isk Hafiz Jason Eugene
Mok Ubai Law
AhCool Mimi Amsyar Tosh
Izwann
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