21 Jan 2007. Disaster day for Songbo FC.
A long break since Dec seems like a degrading cum disillusioned cum slacking period for some of our team mates. First to note, Captain Sparrow....he was sick, from reliable sources, he was clubbing and partying on Wed till he dunno what is his mother's name. He was spotted as energetic as a raging bull on the dance floor, a far cry from the sick and weakly image he appear on Sunday. Squeezing breast, drinking alcohol, he was doing what he was best in that night. Though he kenna road block, he was given a stern warning only. Judging from his past profiles, he wun give it a damn after 3 mths. He apply for an Att C on Sunday, but he got the energy to still play street soccer on Friday. He drinks but get sick, so whose fault? He can do watever he wants.
For now, i shall mention Captain Sparrow first, the rest will be highlighted later on.
Our match is 11am. We arrived early for our game at Blk 367 Yishun. But to our disappointment, the pitch was wet and muddy. We knew it was gonna be a tough game. This time, a bad new surfaced. Our Commando Tan was having a stomachache upon arrival. And the nearest coffeeshop is abt 600-700 m away. Soon after him, Tiger Yan and LustySeng both had the urge to shit too. The stomachache affected them mentally and physically.
Line-up for the match: TigerYan(GK), Kenny(CB), C-Cup(CB), NBA Star(LB), Kelvin(RB), Zouk Chua(CM), Com Tan(DM), Looney(LM), Mervin(RM), Ah Lam(FW), PapaSoh(FW).
The match began, there were no noticeable chances in the first few minutes. The opponents were obviously better at the wings, judging from the number of times they attack from the left flank. Low crosses were delievered into our centre but all were well cleared by our 2 centre backs. Our PapaSoh had a great chance in the 10th minute. A bad clearance saw him getting past their last man and had only the keeper to beat from 18 yards. But a weak shot allowed the keeper to collect it comfortably. Songbo had 2 spot kicks won outside the penalty box, and Looney was the taker. Without much efforts, he sent the ball high up to the air beyond the reach of the goalkeeper. The kind of quality will put even the best International Rugby player to shame. Great shot, but Looney forgot that he is playing soccer, the goalpost below is his target and not above.
Due to the wet pitch, our players esp the DM had difficulty controlling and passing the ball well. Their foot were often submerged into the mud and they had problem running, let alone dribbling the ball. Battle in the midfield started to show signs of overpowering, the opponents had a greater share of the posession and they were fast enought to release it to the flanks, bypassing our DMs. They were playing 2 strikers in front and it leads to Zouk Chua being deployed deeper to defend against them. As a result, theres a man lesser to battle for the ball and closing down on the opponents. Even Ah Lam dropped deep from his supporting striker role to help out. Fortunately, there were Commando Tan and Zouk Chua to cut out the opponents.
Songbo hardly had any possession and clearance was not far enough to reach PapaSoh. Even our left flankers had little chances to dribble down the flank and cross a good one in. Winning headers from goalkicks and drop kicks were totally outbeaten. In the 30th min, the opponent lay a through pass into the centre of the box, Kelvin was close to the player and he raises his foot to tackle the ball, with minimum contact, the opponent was drama enough to fall to the ground and won a penalty. It was obviously a soft penalty, and the decision came largely due to the ongoing protests of the opponents that they were being mistreated. The referee was more worried he cant collect money from the opponents rather than being firm and fair to the game.
80% of the matches that Tiger Yan was keeper for the whole game, there is a penalty for him. A ridiculous statistic that needs attention and soul searching to all. Tiger Yan was totally beaten as he chose the wrong direction and 1-0 to the opponents. A goal down, Songbo decide to push the defence line higher to catch offsides. The opponents were not stupid to fall for the trap, they lay the ball to their wingers rather than their strikers which poses a problem for the defence, but luckily there is Tiger Yan to sprint forward and sweep away the ball. Not long later, Tiger had a one to one encounter with the opponent just 6 yards outside. But a great Peter Schi dive blocked away the shot. The match ended not long later.
During the half time talk, Captain Sparrow pointed out some mistakes in the team and declared to play in the 2nd half. 2nd to note.......Zouk Chua. He was virtually punctured and claiming his legs were numb after the first half. Never had this happened before, bcos Zouk Chua always claim his 70% fitness is more than enough to win anybody. From reliable sources, Zouk Chua was rumoured to be 'STANDING' the whole night. It could explain the weakness of his legs on that day. Mervin was subbed for LustSeng and Kelvin changed to the right wing. Sparrow on for Zouk Chua.
The start of the 2nd half was better. Defence was tighter and flow was better. Header for the enjoyingballs was much improved due to the presence of Sparrow. Sparrow had a good spot kick on target but the speed was quite slow to beat the GK. Another noticeably phenomenon was from PapaSoh. He keep standing in offsides positions, be it attack or spot kicks. He claimed the move was to drag away the defenders but as Zouk Chua mentioned, " U keep using the same move, people know ur pattern already, they just bo hiu u and carry on their game. U must try out different stances to catch them unaware." By standing in an offside position, all he can do is pray the ball touched the defenders and appear near to him. But that situation never came true.
3rd to note.......LustySeng. It seems like he is better in his Fantasy Soccer than on the field. We can never see the smug look every week he top the fantasy league on the field. He is a person that is damn xia lan and confident. It will be good if he can behave that on the field.
Robinho came on for C-Cup. Robinho learning from previous experience, he did not dribble in his own area. Though the only downside is he has difficulty wacking the ball hard and high.
Songbo continue to play offside trap, but the opponents began to trap us back. Balls are being laid to the right winger, beating LustySeng time and time again and causing trouble for Songbo. The second goal came not long later. A miskick by Robinho saw the ball rolling towards the corner line, Tiger Yan sensing danger and does not want to concede a corner, run towards the ball and wack it away with his left foot. To his horror, the ball travelled comfortably to the legs of the opponent and he made no mistake putting into the net.
Tiger Yan could not take it and began his 'hair dryer' kao peh skill, ranting everyone on the field. Not long later, Commando Tan had a serious stomachache AGAIN! He had an emergency sub. Songbo are getting tired and they try to get a consolation goal back. Few minutes later, a cross from the left flank deliever to their striker, and though Robinho went forward and raises his leg to try block his angle. But the opponent fake him and smash the ball under Tiger Yan arm into the near post. 3-0 up to the opponents.
Songbo continued to make attack and not long later the referee blew for the final whistle. It has been a long time since Songbo lost a match. Pitch plays a part and fitness too. We are kinda rusty on the field and we are unable to field the best 11 on the field. So lets take this defeat as a good lesson to learn.
We must keep learning and reflect ourselves, if not even we play another 100 games, we learn nothing. Lets improve both physically and mentally.
Match stats: Tiger Yan(3pts), Ah Lam, Commando Tan, Zouk Chua(6pts), the rest (5pts)
