The game, which was supposed to be played in the late morning, got delayed to noon before kickoff. This was due to the lack of punctuality from the referee, a man who is supposed to more professional than anyone else on the pitch. But what can we expect from the bald-headed man-in-black, a dirty player who was once our opponent? Songbo FC also had to play the game with only 11 men without any substitutes due to key players not being able to make the trip.
The game started off to a high tempo, with attacks coming fierce and fast at both ends. No one could get the better of the other until the deadlock was finally broken at Songbo’s end. A neat passing move between the Red's striker and winger split open Songbo's defence ruthlessly and paved the way for the winger to close down onto the goal area. A clean strike of the ball to the near post had the GK beaten. 1-0 to the Reds.
Songbo picked themselves up from the opening goal and chased for an equalizer. It could be due to the thoughts that were going on in the players' heads that even though key players were missing, we were still more or less matching them all over the park.
This brought belief to the players which was most epitomised in Looney's strike which brought about an equalizer for Songbo. A corner was earned by Songbo and once again Looney went up to take it. The ball was cleared out by the Reds and it fell one to one of their players. The player made a mistake trying to dribble the ball of out the danger area and got slapped in the face when Kelvin nicked the ball away from his feet. A horizontal pass to Looney, who was now at the 30 yard line, was made by Kelvin and a thunderous looping strike by Looney caught the keeper offline and nestled nicely at the back of the net. Songbo was back in business!
The halftime team talk by Captain Sparrow emphasized on the importance of keeping up our energy and spirit. The team was doing well containing the threats and also with creating them at the other end.
Songbo went into the second half revitalized by the break and encouragement. However, dark clouds loomed. The Reds stepped up their offensive work and laid siege to Songbo's goal. This happened and was negatively complemented by Songbo's impotence in attack due to a one-man attack force in Jiaxiang who did not receive much service, despite his tireless running.
We couldn't say that luck was not on our side. An attack by the Reds was snuffed out when the striker hit the ball right smack on the goalpost with PapaSoh clearly beaten. On another instance, after a quick attack by the Reds, the left winger swung a mean strike at the goalpost. Resilience has always been a forte in Songbo's defence and Kenny showed that trait by arriving right on time at the goalpost to clear the goalbound shot off the line.
However, it was only a matter of time before the Red's second goal came. Prior to this, PapaSoh had showed his quality and class by producing a few world class saves by dropping to the ground instantly and getting his palm to save the ball. Alas, good things come to an end. A long ball into the goal area saw Chao missing his clearance header. The ball dropped to the striker's foot and his weak shot escaped PapaSoh's outstretched hand and leg to trickle into goal.
Songbo tried to keep things up with a strong self-belief to get another equalizer, however it was too little too late when the Red's third goal came. This time it happened due to Red's left winger who was clearly enjoying his free-roaming role. A blistering run with the ball into the penalty area had our defenders thinking he would cross to the centre to his striker. He had us all fooled when he hit the ball viciously with his stronger left foot to send the ball flying past a hapless PapaSoh.
Songbo's effort to get another goal was cut short when the referee shortchanged us of time and blew the whistle to signal an end to all proceedings. Even though, we lost this match, Songbo enjoyed the game thoroughly. Even though we had a few players absent, the existing crop of players did not show that we missed any of them at all with a spirited and disciplined performance.
Songbo's spirit remains sky-high, and we look forward to our next challenging game.
Our graduation ceremony - 1998
Australia Trip - 1998
Our fetish for paparazzi actually started some 10 years ago...
...and what a valuable find this might prove to be.Kelvin [Jackie], Jackie [Kelvin], Jeremy [Mervin], Jeremy [Sybian]
The game got under way with the opponent having a female right winger starting and their key player number 13 on the bench. Wayang Quan was the custodian between the sticks as Papa Soh had to attend his Great grandmother's funeral. (one min of silence pls....); Kelvin was placed in a CM role with Capt. Sparrow and Ah Lam was charged with protecting the back four. With this in view, Songbo FC started the game in a relatively confident mood despite the 2 week break. Songbo exerted their dominance on the game from the start and there were multiple corners-kicks being given in Songbo's favour. The opponents have tried to counter attack with aerial attacks like head ping-pong and looping long shots but they remain futile.
The first goal of the game came when the newly evolved Looney attempted a cross across the goalmouth of the opponents and before the opponents are able to activate their defences to react, Kelvin connected with the ball and put it away with a clinical finish. 1-0 to Songbo!
The opponents sensing that they are unable to cope with Songbo's relentless assertion on the game proceeded to bring on their key player number 13 to replace the female right winger. With their key player in the right wing, thief was under more pressure and Speedy Kenny had to help out more to put out the fires. Songbo's right wing was not without action with LustySeng and Sybian having end to end action with the opponent's LB and LM. The second goal came when Looney received the pass from kelvin and he proceeded to attempt an Alonso style long shot at goal despite Capt. Sparrow shouting and waving fanatically to call for the ball at the far pole. The whole field watched in silence as the ball travelled along its looping trajectory and landed unerringly into the back of the net. GOAL! 2-0 to Songbo!
The half time break came with Capt. Sparrow stressing upon the need to be mentally prepared for the possibility of conceding a goal and that the expectation between the 2 teams are at their greatest with a 2 goal difference.
The second half started with no changes on Songbo's side, the opponents however had employed a rolling sub tactic and it was near impossible to keep track of their players. (apart from the female player and the number 13 key player). The battle was mainly played out in the midfield with the duo energetic midfielders Lam and Kelvin chasing down the balls and coordinating the attacks. A fiery moment came when Speedy Kenny was injured by their number 13 player. Strong words were exchanged between the teams but Capt. Sparrow was able to keep a lid on the situation. The game continued with the number 13 apologising to Speedy Kenny for the injury which was btw a gruelsome gush of red across the bottom of the shin.
Minutes ticked by and Capt. Sparrow call on Mervin to replace Sybian as the right winger. Soon after Mervin was on the pitch, an opportunity presented itself and mervin was able to pass the ball to the feet of our Wonderkid Jeremy; with a quick deft of feet he side-stepped the on coming defence and shoots.. Goal!! 3-0 to Songbo!
Another contentious moment came when the opponents were awarded a corner kick at Songbo's left side, the opponent fired an in-swinger and Wayang Quan managed to grab onto the ball. One would have thought the danger was snuffed out but the opponents thru their brute force pushed Wayang Quan's considerable frame into the net across the goal line with the ball still in his hands. To the shock of Songbo, the ref did not call for a foul and awarded the opponents the goal.. :( Further arguments and petitions from Songbo led the ref to confess giving the opponents a “complimentary” goal to make them “steam” and there goes our clean sheet. 3-1
“Steamed”, the opponents proceeded to press on their attack thinking they have broken Songbo's spirit with that “Complimentary” goal. Tackles were flying from Songbo's side with C-cup tackling their player 13 after seeing his overly tough gameplay. Ah Lam also took the chance to kick him undetected by the ref as he was bumped by 13 in an unwarranted situation earlier. Capt. Sparrow was forced to sub Ah Lam with Sybian as Ah Lam injured himself spraining his leg. The opponents was subsequently awarded another corner kick and this was in turn cleared out of the 6 yard box by Songbo. Capt. Sparrow managed to pass the ball to Sybian whom crossed the ball to Wonderkid giving him a 1 vs 1 situation where Wonderkid always have an advantage. Indeed, he chips the ball into the net.. 4-1!!
The ref then gave an injury time of 3 mins, as the ball traversed the length of the pitch.. time sped by and the ref blew the whistle. Final score 4-1 to Songbo!
Moment of the match
Wayang Quan rolled the ball to C-cup and C-cup accidentally lost the ball to the opponents. Luckily, he managed to recover in time to put the ball out.. a major scare for Songbo.
Wayang Quan fell into the net after being pushed with a look of utter disbelief.. priceless..
Man of the match
Personally, I would nominate kelvin for the man of the match as his energy in the engine room helped to keep Songbo's game going. Demonstrating a marked improvement in passing, his goal and assist were also not unnoticed.
Huat ah!!
Ice
