Songbo FC's 30th match came more than a month after their last 90mins of football. With the match confirmed at literally the 11th hour, the turnout was still surprisingly strong with only Alvin "Ah Lam" Cai missing due to work commitments. The opposing team was one that Songbo FC had played, and won, before. However, it was a tough game as the opponents had good skill and Songbo FC was, at that period of time, top of their game. It was thus difficult to predict the outcome of this match as anything could happen.
With Tan Weijie in the starting line-up, Skipper Rujia decided to place Hweequan to partner Suichao in defence, with Yanshou dropping back to a defensive midfielder role. The rest of the members were in their familiar positions. As it has been quite a break for Songbo FC from match sharpness, Rujia had only 1 instruction at the start; play tighter, safer.
The game started off with a good weather and the best possible pitch in NTU. The early stages of the game can only be described as scrappy, as both sides tried to bring the game into their control. Chances on goal leaned towards Songbo FC, with Kelvin missing a good chance 1-on-1 with the keeper and Tan Weijie hitting the side of the post. The controversial moment came when Rujia got a firm header towards goal from a cross. The shot beat the keeper completely but not the post. The ball was deemed by many Songbo players to have crossed the line before the keeper scrambled it into his arms. However, the referee took a 2nd look at it, no goal.
The tables of fate then started to turn against Songbo FC. A good pass saw the opponent got control of the ball inside the penalty area. A shot was pulled off and it was brilliantly parried by GK Junbing. However, it fell kindly for "Bar ka" Toni, the opponents' centre forward, and he made no mistake planting the rebound at the back of the net. 0-1 to the opponents.
The rest of the half saw Songbo trying to make a comeback. Frustration began to set into the team and instructions began to fly everywhere. When a Songbo player touched the ball, many instructions were passed to him which only served more confusion than instruction. The problem was evidently revealed when Yanshou was given acres of space to have a blast at goal. With everyone screaming at him, he hestitated for too long and gave the ball away. With that, he blasted at his teammates for the muddle caused. Half time whistle came with no changes in the scoreline.
The half time talk was exactly what Rujia had been waiting for to get some sense into the team. Reinforcing the fact that the team consisted of friendships built over the last 10 years, he made it clear that the team played like nodding acquaintances in the 1st half. The team was self-imploding and had to be stopped before we completely self-destructed. Rujia then made a "tactical" switch by fielding Junbing as a support striker and Yanshou in between the posts.
Junbing immediately made an impact on the field. His attacking instincts and ball control skills were evident as he began to start attacks deep into the opponents' half. His first chance at goal came not too long after the match resumed. With a good look at the goal, he misfired his shot just wide of the post. A sign of things to come, perhaps. Songbo FC then took a hit when central defender Hweequan was injured in a tussle at the edge of the penalty box. Deemed unable to play any further, Sybian took to the field as left back with Kenny dropping back into the central D. Fresh from the bench, Sybian made an important contribution as he did some good work on the edge of the penalty area before slotting it to Junbing, who made no mistake this time in sticking the ball in the corner of the net. His 3rd goal for the team and no small feat as he spends almost all of the time between the posts. 1-1 and it's all square again.
Mervin then left the field with an injury sustained at the end of the 1st half and Huang Weijie was in as the right back with Kaiseng moving up to take Mervin's place. A resurgent Songbo FC started to lay siege as the goal had brought them new confidence. They could have gone 2-1 up with the amount of chances created but the finishing touch just wasn't there for them today. In the end, they had to endure a bombardment by the opponents near the end of the game as fatigue set in and the defence was repeatedly exposed. It was then the opponents' turn to experience some poor finishing of their own.
In the end, the match ended all square at 1-1, with neither side able to convincingly stake the claim on victory. The lesson for the match was plain for Songbo FC to see; in the field, there can only be 1 leader at all times. Conflicting instructions only serve to, well, create conflict. Instead of reprimanding their own teammates everytime they made a mistake, they should learn to encourage. Enjoy the game.
