Match 102 - Lost

Songbo FC 1:3 Opponents

SONGBO FC FACED TEST OF CONFIDENCE

Date: 22nd March 2009
Venue: Fuhua Sec Sch
Jersey: Black

Starting Line-Up:
Junbing (GK), Huang Weijie (LB), Kenny (CB), Suichao (CB), Kaiseng (RB), Kelvin (DM), Sybian (LM), Rujia (CM), Jackie (AM), Mervin (RM), Jiaxiang (ST)

Subtitutes:
N.I.L


HT: 1-1
FT: 1-3

Scoring Summary:
Jackie [Kelvin]

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.