In this season-ending match, Songbo FC decided to tweak with its tactics and lineup and made sure every member has its fair share of action if it was lacking during the year.
In goal, Songbo started with Ah-Lam-par whose self-lessness and sense of responsibility has helped the team to go on an unbeaten run in the latter part of 2008. Being the vice-captain, he has led by example and his subtle sense of leadership is a perfect complement to the boisterous style of Sparrow. His fitness and level of performance have also been in tip-top condition, guiding the less-experienced mates along the way. Hence, he was rewarded with a starting berth in goal, which was definitely going to be action-filled, given the set-up of the experienced but most-of-the-time-hands-held-up defence.
In central defence, the pairing of Sparrow and Diver-Quan must be one of the best partnerships, if this match was played in 1998 instead. With combined total of more than 200 caps, the so-called Baresi-Maldini pairing typically relies on experience and reading of the game more than anything else. If a hand can be raised instead of making a tackle, this pair will gladly do a Rio Ferdinand.
The evergreen CapiTan started at right back and he slotted in seamlessly even though it must have been close to ten years since he last played there. With renewed vigour and maturity stemming from his recent engagement, he epitomized the role of a husband-to-be on the pitch, shackling the opponent’s wingers and giving them no space to maneuver at all. On the other side, the already long married Jackie Chan-wannabe, was displaying the petulance of his future teenager son and contesting every referee’s call while taunting every move of ‘Wee’. However, we all must admit that his cross-field passes and corner kicks are definitely far more superior to those we saw at the National Stadium later in the evening.
The centre midfield trio of Junbing, Mervin and Jeremy was enough to strike fear in any opponent when moving forward but the covering of the defence was severely lacking, probably due to their kind intentions to allow the flabby centre defence pairing to burn some fats. Junbing, who played like a hungry predator released into the wild due to his constant caged-up role of a goalkeeper, did his best to fulfill his fantasy soccer dream, even executing a bicycle-kick in defence at one point! Mervin, who was not supposed to feature in this match due to jet-lag, also tried his best though his touches and passess were apparently rusty and short of sharpness. I would like to take this opportunity to welcome him back to the team and hope he has shagged enough Taiwanese chicks! For Jeremy, let us just put it as he is a natural born finisher and great striker and being a support striker is just not his cup of tea.
Down the flanks, the fleet-footed seafood supplier Kenny and three-blind-mice Lusty Seng had the opportunity to terrorise opponents’ defence this time instead of the other way round. They played their hearts out and Kenny contributed an opportunistic goal. However, the Daniel Bennett-style of Jackie Chan greatly limited their penetrating potency.
The constantly menopausal but John Terry-style Chaos was rewarded with the role of a lone striker. In previous competitive match, he has displayed the competency of the role and even assisted in a goal in Match 89. However, in this season-ending match, he was preoccupied in being a Micheal Owen rather what his sheer size can do as a John Carew. In the end, for 90 minutes, zero shots on goal, enough said.
The opposing team was a bunch of uncles who look like a mixture of taxi drivers, construction worker (note the singular term), bookies and sugar daddies. Credit must be given for their passion and professionalism.
The match started cautiously with neither team gaining a foothold and chances were few and far between. The experimental (or makeshift) Songbo team was playing above expectations and soon they started dominating the match proceedings. However, the majority of the possession all came to nought as the moves broke down in the final third of the pitch. Neither keepers have much to handle in the first 20 minutes of the match but the long kicks of the uncles’ gk were proving t be a constant thorn to Songbo’s defence. One such kick landed the ball in the feet of their central midfielder and with one move, he played ‘Wee’ through on goal through the left side of Songbo’s defence. As expected, all four of Songbo’s defenders immediately raised their hands but the referee was having none of it. Totally against the run of play, ‘Wee’ planted the ball into the near post of our novice gk and the uncles were up 1-0.
Songbo was disappointed, having the bulk of possession and attacking chances but yet falling behind. Sparrow, who was constantly barking at the team and irritating the shit out of his forwards, up the tempo of his shoutings and Songbo woke up from their slumber. A foul was conceded by the uncles near the halfway line and Bennett-for-the-day stepped up to float a ball into the opponent’s penalty area. The ensuing melee left the ball at the feet of Jeremy and he gleefully toe-poked the ball home from close range. Parity was restored and Songbo was back on level terms. The half-time whistle was blown shortly thereafter.
The half-time team talk was simple; continue the possession football and take the chances. The uncles were obviously there for our taking. Some changes were made: Rino Kel-tusso came on for Mervin and he was instructed to provide the energy in the centre of the park while Ah-Lam-par swopped places with CapiTan.
The second half started like the latter part of the first half, with Songbo dominating possession and controlling play. From a move down Songbo’s right side, the good link-up play of Kenny and Chaos played Kenny into the edge of the uncles’ penalty area. With a combination of some fleet footwork and good luck, Ken penetrated the defence and slotted the ball home. 2-1 to Songbo!
The goal did not seem to ignite the hunger of Songbo to go for more, instead it made them slightly complacent. Soon after, the failure to close the uncles’ central midfielder down allowed their striker to be played through on goal and the awkward positioning of CapiTan ensured that the equalizer was served on the platter.
The match seemed to move up a gear after the goal and only the fast reflexes of CapiTan and heroic defending of Songbo prevented the uncles from taking the lead with a corner. The indirect freekick, as a result of CapiTan’s classic ‘drop-the-ball-and-collect-the-ball-again’ move, also went close. But Songbo was not to be denied in this season-ending match, a great move in the left flank, saw Papa Soh beating the challenge of one defender before tripping over the second defender’s outstretched leg in the penalty area. The referee had no hesitation and immediately pointed to the spot. The confidence of Jeremy was overflowing as he placed the ball on the spot before coolly planted to right of the goal.
3-2 to Songbo!
Songbo killed off the match with minutes remaining when a wonderful cross from the right by Jackie-Chan was met by Papa Soh who majestically out-jumped the defence and headed the ball into the goal from close range. 4-2!
At the end of the match, the spirits were high in Songbo’s camp and this was a wonderful end to Songbo’s 2008 season. As mentioned by Ah-Lam-par, an important lesson to be taken out of this match is the understanding of the difficulties faced by your teammates in other positions and also what opponents think when they shackle.
For those who weren’t around for this match, hope this match report was able to provide much insights
Well done, brothers!
Cheers!
(on behalf of capt. sparrow)
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