Match 106 - Win

Songbo FC 2:1 Opponents

Date: 24th May 2009
Venue: Fuhua Sec Sch
Jersey: Black

Starting Line-Up:
Junbing (GK), H.Weijie(LB), Kenny (CB), Suichao(CB), Kaiseng (RB), Hweequan(DM), Jiaxiang (LM), Alvin Cai (CM), Yanshou (AM), Sybian (RM), Jeremy (ST)

Subtitutes:
Kelvin, Mervin


HT: 0-0
FT: 2-1

Match Report:

Fuhua Sec Sch is not a ground that brings back good memories for Songbo FC; their record there is mediocre, they lost several balls due to over-zealous players practising their shots but most significant of all, they lost their hard-man Yanshou to career-threatening injury that ruled him out for several months. In fact, coming into the match, they have lost a few good men due to injuries as well. Binghong was still nursing his leg injury after his surgery and Tan Weijie also carried a knock that ruled him out of the game. The worst was that the team received saddening news that their Captain had been hospitalised due to Hepatitis a fortnight ago. However, Rujia has been discharged after observation and arrives on match day to provide valuable moral support to the team.

The rising temperatures can be easily felt by the players who were sweating profusely simply by jogging around the field. Matter were made worse by the poor timekeeping of the opponents; by the proposed match time, only 8 of their players had turned up. Nevertheless, after some delays, they had their full squad ready and the match went on.

The starting line-up of Songbo FC yielded a surprise; Alvin, the vice captain standing in for Rujia, made his decision to field Yanshou, who havent started in an outfield position for months, as the support striker behind Jeremy. The backline was the familiar 4 for Songbo FC, with both Suichao and Kenny shaking of their injuries. Midfield was to be marshalled by Alvin in the middle, Hweequan covering the defense, Jiaxiang to be dispatched to the left and Sybian to the right.

It was a nervy start for Songbo FC, who haven't played in about a month, and unforced errors were being made periodically. However, the opponents couldn't really find a way through their defense. Their only real chance came when their striker managed a shot towards Junbing. Even though the ball was going wide, Junbing took no chances and pushed it out for a corner. The first half was pretty much the standard game of attrition. There was bright spark though; Yanshou, who played his last outfield game so long ago, didn't look uncomfortable at all on his return. His touches, though rusty, still had purpose and one slick pass almost paved the way for Jeremy to open his account for the day. The half ended 0-0.

The second half picked up from where the first half ended, with Songbo FC looking more likely to break the duck. One chance saw Yanshou through and he could only muster a shot right at the keeper even though he was 1-on-1. A similar chance for Jeremy saw the same outcome. Songbo FC was trying and they got the breakthrough they needed. A slick move saw the goal kick to Sybian being flicked neatly to Yanshou. Wasting no time, he slid the ball to Jeremy to send him through and this time, he made no mistake to add to his bulging tally of goals. 1-0 Songbo FC.

Songbo FC had a few more chances to widen the gap, with Kelvin wasting another 1-on-1 situation. Sometimes, they have the luck to ride a 1-0 scoreline till the final whistle but on this particular field, this luck seems to always elude them. Near the 3rd quarter of the game, while Hweequan was trying to clear the ball, he was uphended by an opponent. Despite the obvious foul and with almost the whole defense expecting a whistle to be blown, play went on and the ball found its way into the penalty area. Concentration lapsing, the defense failed to cover the angles of an inevitable shot and was punished by a well-placed shot into the bottom corner of the net. 1 apiece and Songbo FC was furious.

With time ticking away, it seemed that Songbo FC's rotten luck on this ground was to continue. Things work in strange ways though; some good defending saw Kenny in possession of the ball. A long ball played Kelvin through on the left. Using his speed, he was able to shake off his opponent to deliver a pin-point pass into the area for Jeremy to finish it off to send Songbo FC into delirium. 2-1 the final score!

Report By: Mervin