Match 176 - Win

Songbo FC 1:0 Opponents

Date: 29th Apr 2012
Venue: Westwood SS.
Jersey: Kappa Red

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

Substitutes:
Bingheng

Scores:
HT: 1-0
FT: 1-0

Scorers (Assists):
Junbing ()

Well-deserved victory against a tough opponent

Players out of action:
1. Jeremy - Rehabitation
2. Alvin Cai - Rehabitation
3. Rujia - overseas
4. T.Weijie - overseas
5. Sybian - personal

At first glance, losing the above quality players to the various reasons stated seem to be a huge lost to SBFC’s talent pool. They are players who have the abilities to motivate the team, instill confidence and produce moments of brilliance to overturn a lost to a win. Their temporary absent from the team cast doubts on SBFC’s abilities to win games when pitted against tough opponents. It would seem that winning games from now on would be a tall order. Or so they thought…

This week’s match brought back memories which most SBFC players would rather not recall. The opponent was a team that literally bulldozed us in the last meet up at Dunearn SS. A superb individual performance by them ensured that SBFC suffered one of their worst defeats in history, 2-5! Coming from a defeat in the previous game and facing the thought of having to compete them again with a much toned down SBFC team speaks volumes of how morally damaging it is.

A few changes were made to SBFC’s lineup. In defense, LB and RB were replaced by Jiaxiang and Shon respectively. Jackie resumed his LM role after returning from his “missionary” trip to HK. The strike force remains the same.

Drawing from their previous match experiences, SBFC started the first half in a very hardworking manner by closing in onto the opponent quickly whenever they have the ball. This prevents them from forming plays through short passes and drastically reduces the amount of potent attack they could produce. Not to be put off by this, the opponent resorted to using high balls to initiate their attack.  Long balls were pumped up from defense and the targeted striker would either head the ball or chest it down and layoff to a nearby teammate. Although they were successful in winning most of the high balls, this method of play wasn’t as effective as short passes. The ball would eventually find its way back to opponent’s defense again as they couldn’t penetrate the sturdy SBFC defense wall. Even their much feared player was unable to pull off any dangerous play as he too, wasn’t given much space and time to with the ball. The tight marking strategy paid off handsomely.

SBFC were rewarded with their tireless effort with a goal which came from good team play. Junbing react first to the rebound that came off the post after Swee Chao’s shot. A well placed ball to the left corner was able to beat the fully outstretched GK. SBFC took a deserving lead! 1-0! The score line could have been extended if not for the poor finishing by Swee Chao. Berbatoh nicked the ball of their LB and threaded a looping cross which saw Swee Chao controlled it perfectly. With just the GK to beat, he chose power over control and narrowly missed the bottom right hand corner of the goal. With the hardworking effort of each individual player on closing down the opponent, SBFC was able to go into half time holding on to the slim lead.

Jackie was being replaced by Bingheng as he couldn’t play the second half due to personal reason. SBFC has now just 11 players and are playing without any substitutes.

2^nd half begins with the same tempo as the 1^st. Opponents were not being given much time with the ball as they were quickly close down. This strategy however, wasn’t without any drawbacks. A lot of stamina is required to maintain the man-marking. This is a luxury that SBFC does not have. Tired legs begin to appear and this enables the opponents to string together short passes that result in some very dangerous attacks but fortunately, they weren’t able to put the ball behind the net. Adding on to the woes, there are times when SBFC had to play with 10 men. First was when Shon went off to change his boots and the second one came about when Kenny was rested at the sidelines due to exhaustion. This opens up more holes for the opponent to attack which SBFC responded well by summing up their last ounce of energy to fend off the attacks and hold onto the lead. The whistle to end the game finally came and SBFC registered a deserving win against a very tough opponent.

A win against an opponent who trumped us badly in the previous meet up would definitely boost up the morale and confidence for the next game. It instills a mindset to the current SBFC squad that they can still win tough opponents despite missing some of our very best talents. Their return will definitely bring us back to top form but until then, we will have to stick together, fight hard and hold on to the fort!  

Report by,
Swee Chao

Match 175 - Lost

Songbo FC 0:2 Opponents

Date: 15th Apr 2012
Venue: Bukit Merah SS.
Jersey: Kappa Red

Starting Line-Up: 4-4-1-1
Yanshou(GK), H.Weijie(LB), Binghong(CB), Kenny(CB), Kaiseng(RB), Kelvin(LM), Hweequan(DM), Swee Chao(DM), Mervin(RM), Junbing(AM), Alvin Toh(CF)

Substitutes:
Bingheng

Scores:
HT: 0-2
FT: 0-2

Songbo FC's Undefeated Streak Surrendered Meekly

Songbo FC's undefeated streak of 4 wins came to an end as they went down 0-2 to a team where they have beaten soundly before. Before the game has even begun, the squad was besieged by, perhaps, a whole battalion of mosquitoes lying in wait for the unsuspecting team. It resulted in the team changing up in record time before taking to the field for warm-up and runabouts.

The game itself was straightforward; Songbo FC's defeat could be summed up in just 2 crucial moments were mistakes ultimately proved costly as the opponents scored those 2 goals with arguably their only memorable attacks.

The 1st was a defensive mix-up between Binghong, slotted into the centre back position with Chaos being pushed up into midfield, and Yanshou who both ran towards the ball but none of them got to it. In the end, all the opponent had to to was to tap the ball into an empty net.

The 2nd came with another lapse in defense where the team let the ball bounce around one time too many. A cross field pass was played into their advancing player from the right and from a tight angle, the opponent managed to slot the ball in.

Throughout the whole match, Songbo FC had a few chances to pull back the scores but a lack of match sharpness, their 1st game in more than a month, contributed to their downfall, both in defense as well as offense.

Report by,
Mervin