Match 170 - Lost

Songbo FC 1:5 Opponents

Date: 22nd Jan 2012
Venue: West Spring SS.
Jersey: Kappa Red

Starting Line-Up: 4-4-2
Junbing(GK), T.Weijie(LB), Swee Chao(CB), Kenny(CB), Binghong(RB), Jackie(LM), Hweequan(DM), Rujia(CM), Mervin(RM), Alvin Toh(AM), Yanshou(CF)

Substitutes:
Jeremy, Jiaxiang, Bingheng

Scores:
HT: 0-2
FT: 1-5

Scorers (Assists):
Junbing (Alvin Toh)


When the sun shine, it scorches

It's never easy to write a match report detailing SBFC's lost. It's even harder when the defeat is of a big margin. If one can turn back the time, the scoreline might be different. And this will be a post about how SBFC managed to bond strongly as a team and hold on to their slim victory over a talented opponent. But atlas, the truth is always hard to swallow.

A match was being scheduled on a special day, the eve of CNY, with the intention of enjoying a satisfying game of football before each of the players break off for the long holidays. The opponent was one which we had played before, a talented team. If my memory serve me correctly, the outcome of that match was either a draw or SBFC had managed to scrape a win out of nothing. With a strong, if not stronger, lineup this time round as compared to the last match, and a festive season just round the corner, SBFC heads out to the field aiming for nothing less then a win.

The first 10+ mins of the game was played cautiously between the 2 teams as they analyze each other, looking for holes and weak spots to penetrate. The first great chance of the game falls to SBFC as a low cross put in by Rujia was met with Yanshou's left foot shot. However, being the weaker foot, he was unable to generate enough power to beat the keeper, who managed to block the weak shot with his outstretched legs. Sensing danger, the opponent began to up their tempo. An attack down the left frank saw their winger  doing a feint past T.Weijie and with much still to be done, execute a powerful strike which rocks the top of the net. SBFC down by a goal! Statistics have shown that SBFC would often come back strongly after being a goal down. But with the recent poor run of form, it seems that SBFC wasn't able to live up to its past glory. And sure enough, a second goal came soon after. With a looping cross from the right, the same winger controls the ball with his chest and beat Junbing with a neat finish. 0-2!

The captain tried to inject some morale into the team during the half time talk but none of it seems to be able to get into the players. SBFC is staring at a big defeat.

With low morale, mistakes are quick to appear. It's just a matter of time being the 3rd goal came from a lapse in concentration from the defense. A well placed shot to the bottom left hand corner from outside the penalty box increments the deficit further by 1. The 4th goal follow soon after when a cross from the left was left uncleared and the opponent's striker has the easy job of tapping it into an almost empty net. To make things worse, a mistake by Yanshou allows the opponent to score the 5th goal. 0-5! This massive goal deficit was a scoreline which SBFC has not seen since 2008! Realizing that there isn't a chance for SBFC to come back fighting, the opponent began to stroke the ball around the field, amusing themselves at the expenses of humiliating SBFC. Withholding their pride, SBFC struggles on to find a consolation goal. Their effort pays off  as a string of good passes from the defense finds Junbing through on goal and he easily put the ball past the keeper. With the consolation goal achieved, the scoreline remains static till the final whistle.

If one puts in a great deal of effort but still gets beaten by a talented opponent with such a scoreline, he can hold his head high knowing that he had tried his best. But, to be beaten badly and at the same time played a poor game, it furthers add on to the pain of defeat. Thankfully, every fall comes with a reward of knowing how to stand back up again. One shall not fear the pain of the fall, but embrace it as it serves as a priceless lesson to prevent him from falling again. Let pick ourselves up from hereon! SBFC Huat ah!

Report by,
Swee Chao

Match 169 - Win

Songbo FC 5:2 Opponents

Date: 8th Jan 2012
Venue: Commonwealth SS.
Jersey: Kappa Red

Starting Line-Up: 4-4-2
Junbing(GK), H.Weijie(LB), Swee Chao(CB), Kenny(CB), Kaiseng(RB), T.Weijie(LM), Binghong(DM), Rujia(CM), Mervin(RM), Alvin Toh(CF), Yanshou(CF)

Substitutes:
Kelvin, Jeremy, Shawn, Bingheng, Sybian

Scores:
HT: 5-1
FT: 5-2

Scorers (Assists):
Alvin Toh (Binghong)
Alvin Toh (Rujia)
Alvin Toh (Mervin)
Rujia (Yanshou)
Mervin (Yanshou)

Songbo FC begins their 8th season with a much needed win

With a bad 2011 season over for Songbo FC, the club was eager to hit the ground running for the new season but they had not played since early November where they lost 0-2.

Luck was probably on Songbo FC's side when the game had to begin with the opponents having only 8 men on the field. With vast numerical advantage, complacency was a danger that could creep into the players.

Fortunately, that was not the case as Songbo FC went 5 goals up in the 1st half. A clearance from the opponent's GK only found Binghong's head and the ball fell to Berbatoh who had the time to juggle the ball twice in the air before sending a volley through the air and beat the out-of-position keeper.

Another goal came when Rujia got to the ball at the byline and crossed the ball to Berbatoh who was lurking at the far post with no one near him. Berbatoh's hat trick was complete when he reacted quicker than the keeper to get to the ball and stabbed it into the net as Mervin planted a pass to the near post.

Rujia got into the goalscoring act as well when Yanshou laid on a ball for him to cannon it at the back of the net from outside the box. Yanshou grabbed another assist as he got himself into a great position on the right to deliver a square pass into the box. Mervin was unmarked when the pass found him but he miscued this shot on the 1st try and still managed to find time and space to drive the ball home on the 2nd attempt.

A late goal in the 1st half by the opponents dampened the mood a bit as the opponents started to find a footing in the game and their numbers were slowly getting up to 11.

The 2nd half started with a proper 11 v 11 match and Songbo FC's lack of recent match practice started to show. What they have at their disposal, however, was a healthy bench of 5 players and Kelvin, Sybian, Jeremy and Shawn made their 1st appearances of the season from the bench from half time. The small pitch, now made crowded by the full 22 players, made the game rather scrappy as Songbo FC found it hard to string passes together or to display any real attacking intent. In the end, the defenders were kept busy as the opponents launched waves of attack which passed through the defense several times, culminating in a goal line clearance from Kenny; not for the 1st time and certainly not the last, one suspects.

The opponents managed another goal when a ricochet found their striker in a good position and he promptly converted the chance from inside the box, though suspiciously offside, the goal was given. The scoreline could have been more respectable have the opponents taken their chances well, with a chance that went begging after the forward was clean through but the shot was way over the bar. Bingheng was given some game time near the end of the match and managed to thwart a goal bound effort.

In the end, Songbo FC came away with their 1st win of the season but this might not be remembered as a win they thoroughly deserve.

Hat-trick hero Berbatoh thinks win was "not justified"

Berbatoh felt that the win today will not happen if the opponents started the match with a full team: "I don't think we would have won it (if the team had 11 players). In the end, a bao jia match became tio jia."

Songbo FC's new treasurer Missing-In-Action

Despite volunteering for the position of treasurer, he was nowhere to be seen and was not contactable for the game. Rumour has it that interest for the job has waned as the proposed pay cut was announced.

Report by, 
Mervin