Match 106

Match 106 (supposed) – Lessons Learnt

Ill-discipline and disappointment.

These two words summed up the both camps after this week’s supposed match.

A bunch of ill-disciplined and immature kids were the opponents lined up for our match this week. Young, fast and skilful, this team will go a long way if they are able to get their act right. Unfortunately, they showed their worst side to us and they may require more than a whacking or two before they can learn their lesson. Almost 1 hour late and only a total of 9 players turned up for their team. Total disaster and a total waste of time for us.

On our side, disappointed is an understatement for Songbo. Reeling from a competitive and mauling, though marred by some violence, match last weekend, Songbo has hoped for another competitive match this week to erase the painful memories. However, God was not so kind to us this time around as the opponent did not give a glimmer of hope for Songbo to redeem themselves. In fact, this match brought about more disappointment and demoralized the team more than it should.

With only 9 players available for the opponents, Sparrow decided once again to field 9 players to start the match much to the dismay and disapproval of most of the team. The availability of almost the full squad enabled Songbo to engage in rolling substitutions and ensure all of the guys have a leisure Sunday kickaround.

The morning got worse when the match started and the Young Punks scored with a long range shot in their first meaningful attack. Tiger Yan, goalkeeper for the day, was to blame for the goal as he did not put in any effort to tip the ball over the bar. Songbo woke up from their slumber and came back strongly after the first goal. They finished the half 2-3 goals up, however, the first half was marked by the consistent efforts by the Young Punks to shoot from all angles and distances, seemingly identifying Tiger Yan as the weakest link. The second half was a forgettable and uneventful affair as Songbo continued its dominance and ended the match with at least a 5-goal win.

Although this match was almost a pointless one, it was important to point out a few important lessons learnt and positive events:

1. The mental strength and maturity of Tiger Yan – He was lambasted and criticized straight in the face during the half-time team talk for his no-effort in saving the first goal and being seemingly mocked by the Young Punks who identified him as the weakest link and bombarded shots from all angles and distances. However, being the Tiger we all know he is, Yan came back strongly from the criticism and finger-pointing during half-time and played his heart out in the second half. In the end, he made a couple of important one-on-one saves and kept a clean sheet for the remaining of the match. I think the important lesson to be garnered from here is that respect can be won or lost during the short span of a match and it is really up to the individual to decide if he wants to earn the respect or allow himself to be engulfed by external factors such as the unprofessional opponents in this case.

2. The self-respect displayed by the team – Although it took Songbo a while to adjust to the unprofessional match and immature opponents, the team ended the match in a professional and self-respecting manner. There was almost no instance where the team showed a lack of professionalism and respect for both themselves and the opponents given the situation. I guess we can lift our heads high and give ourselves a pat on the shoulder for the maturity shown. The giggles and lack of seriousness displayed by the Young Punks throughout the course of the match only points to a lack of self-respect and total immaturity. This truly disgusted and irked Songbo who was actually looking forward to a competitive match.

3. Commitment – Players such as Hweequan and Ah Lam actually played their hearts out and were rewarded with early showers. In matches such as this one, it was easy to lose focus and not give out our best. However, some of the players did show total commitment and went about their normal routine even though the conditions were unfavourable. Experience and sense of responsibility do play a part in this circumstances and I hope we can all learn from this.

From this match, we can at least see and feel first-hand about how and what kind of attitude and actions we DEFINITELY do not want to be associated with.

Respect has to be earned and it is imperative to have self-respect first. Respect, coupled with a sense of responsibility, differentiates the boys and the men, the failures and the successes.

Capt Sparrow

Compettitive Soccer for season 2010!

Recently, the senior members of the team have informally discuss how best we can motivate our team members for our weekly matches. It has been noticed that our performances of late are not up to standard..

One of the more possible reason discussed was that maybe our weekend soccer sessions no longer provided the kind of thrill that we got from it - when we first ventured from court soccer to the field. It has become something like a mundane chore that we wake up to on every Sunday morning. Without the passion and the competitive spirit that has kept us going in our early years, it has directly affected our performances recently - maybe also due to our falling testosterone????

After some casual analysis, the idea to stop this rot would be to give everyone a focus, an aim for the season - joining a competitive league!

We have in fact, a few seasons back, toyed with this idea but it was put off due to financial constraints and the transition from studies to work.

Now is the time!!!!

Pros

- We have something to aim for.
- It can still be played on Sunday mornings.
- There is not much additional costs to us. About the same as what we pay now.
- We can have more unity and cooperation in the team when we unite to fight for somthing.
- Players like jacky(pun intended) will find motivation to play to his best every week.
- We will get a taste of competitive football at last once in our lifetime before our bones and tissues cracks easily.(In fact, some of our bodies are already decaying!!!!)

Cons

- Because its competitive, we cannot afford to have just enough 11 players on matchday - like some of our matches - so there will be a slight influx of players to the squad to counter this problem.
- Players like papasoh cannot always kaobei kaobu anymore say want to come play outfield because we need the best of our players to be in every position.
- We might need team members to have an additional session of FICO or something for training purposes. Fico, because its trains your everything - stamina, agility, technique, passing etc. Its like a all in one training for us.

Proposed League to Join: http://www.espzen.com/home.asp


Team Members pls consider and comment thanks!!

Rumours (Soccerneh.com)

With the implementation of the "Fine" systems, the team has effectively put in place a system that deals with procrastination and late match reports.

From a reliable source that chose to remain unidentified, it has been confirmed that this week's match has been postponed because the alleged author for the latest match report has yet to put up his report....:)

By identifying a loophole in the system, cancelling a match enables him to have another week in hand before the match reports needs to be produced..

Well, as it is, the above snippet is just a rumour..... :)

THE FINE TAKE IMMEDIATE EFFECT!
dated: 23th April 2009 8.30pm

fine for all late bloggers

we gonna start a FINE system for people who are supposed to post their blog in a week's time but eventually did not. here are the RULES:

1. For bloggers who are unable to post the match report before the next match will be FINED 10 DOLLARS for the match even if you're a starter, a substitute or an unused sub. Eg. if you're a starter, your fine is only 2 dollars. A sub, means 6 dollars. An unused sub, will be 10 dollars.
2. If the following week you still cant come up with the report, everything will be doubled. Eg. second week will be 20dollars, third week 40dollars... And there WOULDNT be a maximum cap on the fine.

The current funds for our club is 75dollars. i need generous donors... so everyone... please take your time to post your blog! Thanks!

"chaoz please indicate who is supposed to write the report everyweek so that i can keep track."

Match 105 - Lost

Songbo FC 0:3 Opponents

Date: 12th April 2009
Venue: Fuhua Sec Sch
Jersey: Black

Starting Line-Up:
Junbing (GK), H.Weijie(LB), Kenny (CB), Hweequan (CB), Kaiseng (RB), T.Weijie (DM), Jackie (LM), Alvin Cai (CM), Rujia (AM), Mervin (RM), Jeremy (ST)

Subtitutes:
Yanshou, Kelvin, Jiaxiang


HT: 0-1
FT: 0-3

Match Report
The venue is a cursed place for Songbo. Set aside losing 2 soccer balls to the construction site, our records at Fuhua Sec is damn SHITTY! Losing twice to the same team twice is not acceptable. How the hell can we allow ourselves to lose so badly?
This match has confirmed to our fans that Songbo simply cannot perform during rainy days or wet pitch. Except Jacky, virtually none seems to be able to wack the ball above opponents heads. (I am not saying Jacky is good fyi....his story has yet to come)

The defence knew how the 3 goals are scored, through passes and mis-communication, lead to the downfall of Songbo. Wayang Quan has to really buck up his sharpness, lack of playing time at centre back is not an excuse. Midfield wise....aren't we supposed to have 5 midfielders to "PACK" the midfield and a lone striker to attack, machiam the LIVERFOOL style? It just look so Newcastle that day. I leave it to Captain Sparrow to fix this technical issue.

Losing is part and parcel of life, losing with grace is something that has to be cultivated and it is not easy, thats what separates Respect and Dispute from opponents. PapaSoh...u knn action more than badminton. Kenna scolded "Pig" by that Ah Neh u feel shiok ah? We worry for ur saftey more than that Ah Neh leh honestly. Worst is we quarrelled with people, but penalty MISS!

I dunno wat the shit Jackie is doing. It just makes the opponents laugh at us even more. I believe all of us are disgraced that the penalty missed. We had lost the very little face that we had left on the pitch to that miss. Thanks leh Jackie!

End of the day, i think we have more work to do on individual techical shortcomings first then followed by teamwork cooperation. Let this be a learning point for everyone.

By TigerYan

Match 104 - Win

Songbo FC 1:0 Opponents

Date: 05th April 2009
Venue: Kranji Sec Sch
Jersey: Black

Starting Line-Up:
Hweequan (GK), Jiaxiang (LB), Kenny (CB), Suichao (CB), Kaiseng (RB), Alvin Cai (DM), Jackie(LM), Rujia (CM), Junbing (AM), Mervin (RM), Jeremy (ST)

Subtitutes:
Yanshou


HT: 0-0
FT: 1-0

Scoring Summary:
Jeremy [Alvin Cai]

It’s been awhile since we last played at Kranji SS. Statistics have shown that for matches played here, the probability of Wins, Losses and Draws are around the same. Thus, we can’t really rely much on the mathematics figure to give us a physiological boost from our recent poor form. To add fuel to fire, the opponent is a team that we have played countless times, Winning most of the matches, drawing a few and losing one. In cases such as this, winning wouldn’t up the team moral, but losing to them will make the team feel even worse. Another significant “item” to mention from previous statistic is that, this is an injury prone venue with Alvin Toh going down with a ligament torn and some other players injured and out for weeks.

Before the match commenced, our captain laid down a target for us to achieve. Win the game by 3 goals and without conceding any. To us, it seems a reasonable proposal since we had hit them with 4 goals before. The only concern is with the defense. With the iconic “John Terri” in dreamland and “Vidic Ken” not in sync recently, it seems that the main concern is whether the goals we scored can be more than the ones we conceded.

Frankly speaking this match doesn’t have any events that are worth mentioning. 1st half started slowly and boring with not much chances being created for both sides. However, due to a lack of concentration by the “full-back superstar”, the “import player” from the opponent team almost got the chance to make a breakthrough. Sensing the danger, “John Terri” made a superb sliding tackle to deny his one and only chance of the whole game. Unfortunately, though the danger is cleared, our “superstar” paid a hefty price for it. The tackle was executed badly and he twisted his right ankle. Medical reports have shown that the team will be missing his “outstanding” defense abilities for at least 4 weeks. With this, it concludes the 1st part of the match.

After some hairdryer treatment by Captain Sparrow, 2nd half started more brightly, with our wonder kid, Jeremy, scoring the first goal within 10 mins from start. The score line would have read 3-0 if Alvin and Jeremy have both scored in their one-on-one situation. With no goals coming from the front, and the defense doing a fantastic job to hold off the attack, the game ended at 1-0. Ironically, this time round, we are able to keep a clean sheet, but failed to meet the goal scoring part. Nonetheless, a clean sheet is still something of significant. Kudos to the makeshift defense.

Cheers,
Bullocks13

Match 103 - Draw

Songbo FC 1:1 Opponents

Date: 29th March 2009
Venue: Boon Lay Sec Sch
Jersey: Black

Starting Line-Up:
Junbing (GK), Huang Weijie (LB), Kenny (CB), Suichao (CB), Kelvin (RB), Hweequan (DM), Jackie(LM), Alvin Cai (CM), Rujia (AM), Mervin (RM), Jeremy (ST)

Subtitutes:
N.I.L


HT: 0-0
FT: 1-1

Scoring Summary:
Rujia [Jackie]

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.

Preview of PhotoBook

Guys, you should have heard about our plans to come up with a PhotoBook to commemorate our friendship and brotherhood of 15 years. I was clearing up some stuff in my room today and I came across our old photos. Below are a couple of them just for a sneak preview of what would end up in the book. Enjoy!

Our graduation ceremony - 1998

Australia Trip - 1998

Our fetish for paparazzi actually started some 10 years ago...

...and what a valuable find this might prove to be.

Match 101 - Win

Songbo FC 4:1 Opponents

Date: 15th March 2009
Venue: Hua Yi Sec Sch
Jersey: Red

Starting Line-Up:
Hweequan(GK), Huang Weijie (LB), Kenny (CB), Suichao (CB), Kaiseng (RB), Alvin Cai(DM), Jackie (LM), Rujia (CM), Kelvin (CM), Sybian (RM) [Mervin], Jeremy (ST)

Subtitutes:
Mervin


HT: 2-0
FT: 4-1

Scoring Summary:

Kelvin [Jackie], Jackie [Kelvin], Jeremy [Mervin], Jeremy [Sybian]

The game got under way with the opponent having a female right winger starting and their key player number 13 on the bench. Wayang Quan was the custodian between the sticks as Papa Soh had to attend his Great grandmother's funeral. (one min of silence pls....); Kelvin was placed in a CM role with Capt. Sparrow and Ah Lam was charged with protecting the back four. With this in view, Songbo FC started the game in a relatively confident mood despite the 2 week break. Songbo exerted their dominance on the game from the start and there were multiple corners-kicks being given in Songbo's favour. The opponents have tried to counter attack with aerial attacks like head ping-pong and looping long shots but they remain futile. 

The first goal of the game came when the newly evolved Looney attempted a cross across the goalmouth of the opponents and before the opponents are able to activate their defences to react, Kelvin connected with the ball and put it away with a clinical finish. 1-0 to Songbo!

The opponents sensing that they are unable to cope with Songbo's relentless assertion on the game proceeded to bring on their key player number 13 to replace the female right winger. With their key player in the right wing, thief was under more pressure and Speedy Kenny had to help out more to put out the fires. Songbo's right wing was not without action with LustySeng and Sybian having end to end action with the opponent's LB and LM. The second goal came when Looney received the pass from kelvin and he proceeded to attempt an Alonso style long shot at goal despite Capt. Sparrow shouting and waving fanatically to call for the ball at the far pole. The whole field watched in silence as the ball travelled along its looping trajectory and landed unerringly into the back of the net. GOAL! 2-0 to Songbo!

The half time break came with Capt. Sparrow stressing upon the need to be mentally prepared for the possibility of conceding a goal and that the expectation between the 2 teams are at their greatest with a 2 goal difference. 

The second half started with no changes on Songbo's side, the opponents however had employed a rolling sub tactic and it was near impossible to keep track of their players. (apart from the female player and the number 13 key player). The battle was mainly played out in the midfield with the duo energetic midfielders Lam and Kelvin chasing down the balls and coordinating the attacks. A fiery moment came when Speedy Kenny was injured by their number 13 player. Strong words were exchanged between the teams but Capt. Sparrow was able to keep a lid on the situation. The game continued with the number 13 apologising to Speedy Kenny for the injury which was btw a gruelsome gush of red across the bottom of the shin.

Minutes ticked by and Capt. Sparrow call on Mervin to replace Sybian as the right winger. Soon after Mervin was on the pitch, an opportunity presented itself and mervin was able to pass the ball to the feet of our Wonderkid Jeremy; with a quick deft of feet he side-stepped the on coming defence and shoots.. Goal!! 3-0 to Songbo!

Another contentious moment came when the opponents were awarded a corner kick at Songbo's left side, the opponent fired an in-swinger and Wayang Quan managed to grab onto the ball. One would have thought the danger was snuffed out but the opponents thru their brute force pushed Wayang Quan's considerable frame into the net across the goal line with the ball still in his hands. To the shock of Songbo, the ref did not call for a foul and awarded the opponents the goal.. :( Further arguments and petitions from Songbo led the ref to confess giving the opponents a “complimentary” goal to make them “steam” and there goes our clean sheet. 3-1

“Steamed”, the opponents proceeded to press on their attack thinking they have broken Songbo's spirit with that “Complimentary” goal. Tackles were flying from Songbo's side with C-cup tackling their player 13 after seeing his overly tough gameplay. Ah Lam also took the chance to kick him undetected by the ref as he was bumped by 13 in an unwarranted situation earlier. Capt. Sparrow was forced to sub Ah Lam with Sybian as Ah Lam injured himself spraining his leg. The opponents was subsequently awarded another corner kick and this was in turn cleared out of the 6 yard box by Songbo. Capt. Sparrow managed to pass the ball to Sybian whom crossed the ball to Wonderkid giving him a 1 vs 1 situation where Wonderkid always have an advantage. Indeed, he chips the ball into the net.. 4-1!!

The ref then gave an injury time of 3 mins, as the ball traversed the length of the pitch.. time sped by and the ref blew the whistle. Final score 4-1 to Songbo!

Moment of the match
Wayang Quan rolled the ball to C-cup and C-cup accidentally lost the ball to the opponents. Luckily, he managed to recover in time to put the ball out.. a major scare for Songbo.

Wayang Quan fell into the net after being pushed with a look of utter disbelief.. priceless..

Man of the match
Personally, I would nominate kelvin for the man of the match as his energy in the engine room helped to keep Songbo's game going. Demonstrating a marked improvement in passing, his goal and assist were also not unnoticed. 

Huat ah!!
Ice

Match 100 - Charity Match Lost

SongBo’s Century Match

Pre-match Kopi Talk @ Bukit Timah:

Mervin has took the initiative to organize a meeting for a discussion on how are we going to line up the players for our 100th match. And we have decided to field them by drawing Poker cards from Ace to Jack to determine the position & the joker shall be the reserve.

Drawing of Poker Cards on the match day:

An unexpected guest appearance made by Tiger Yan who declared that he will be absent on the match itself, is the game master for this card drawing. The outcome of the position can be found in the following under the Starting line up.

Mervin has actually got the Jack which is a striker role. However, has to play GK in the second half in return. Hence he has approached Quan to swap the position with him. Quan is kind enough accepted Mervin’s request. Have to give credit to Quan for making this sacrifice. Though he may think otherwise for being a keeper ^_^

Songbo FC 4-5 Guerrous FC

Date: 1st Mar 2009
Venue: Hua Yi Sec Sch
Jersey: Red

Starting Line-Up (1st Half):
Chao (GK), Huang(LB), Ah Lam (CB), Kelvin (CB), Seng (RB), Tan (DM), Kenny (LM), Mervin (CM), Jeremy (CM), Jackie (RM) , Quan (CF)

Subtitutes:
Papa Soh, Sybian

Line-Up (2nd Half):
Quan (GK), Huang(LB), Ah Lam (CB), Papa Soh (CB), Seng (RB), Kelvin (DM), Jackie (LM), Mervin (CM), Jeremy (CM), Sybian (RM) , Chao (CF)

Subtitutes:
Tan, Kenny

HT: 3:3
FT: 4-5

Scoring Summary:
Kenny [-], Kenny [Jackie], Jeremy [Jackie], Chao [Jackie]

SongBo lost to a much better team

SongBo was being outplayed by Guerrous FC (a pure Indian team + 1 chinese). The score line may have flattered us. We could have been thrashed given the fact that they are much superior in various departments especially their speedy wingers & center midfield & plus several player playing out of their position. But with our SongBo spirits within us, we stand strong against them where at least we never give up till the end.

Kenny had a brace during early of the match. Our wonder Kid, Jeremy once again had his name in the score sheet but missed a penalty later. Our C3 (C-Cup Chao) has helped us to get some dignity back by grabbing goal towards end of the match. Our Looney Jack is the main guy to created/involved behind the last 3 goals.

This is how the match goes……

Guerrous FC started the game with only 9 players. At this pt of time, I guessed most of us may think that we can take advantage of our number superiority. Well, soon enough we are too naïve to think this way..

The opponent started off brilliantly by spraying accurate passes among themselves. They made great possession and SongBo barely able to contain their first few attacks. SongBo is playing as if they are the one who has the number superiority instead.. =(

The 1st goal of the matched came at about 1st 15 min of the game. Guerrous FC’s RB had made a mistake and allowed Kenny to take control of the ball. Kenny dashed towards the goal and shot pass Guerrous FC’s GK into the net. 1-0!!!!

As the matched progresses, Guerrous FC has their players running over us time and time, especially their speedy wingers. Thief has been over ran by their right winger and left Thief seeing his “rear light” most of the time. Lusty Seng was not spare either. Their left winger had totally predicted his movement making him had a hard time dealing with him as well.. As the battle continue.. Jackie once again spotted a opportunity and made a cross field pass over to the left hand side. Guerrous FC’s defender & GK seem to misjudge the flight of the ball and Kenny once again used his forte to run behind them and headed towards the net 2-0!!! But seconds later, Kenny was found lying on the floor motionless for few seconds with a loud bang at the goal pole. Luckily he was still fine enough to stand up and celebrate the goal.

Guerrous FC refused to give up and constantly applying pressure on our defence. The 3rd goal came when the opponent managed to break through on the left hand side and shot passed our C3 at the near pole. 2-1!!!!!!

Our assist king, Looney made a quick pass to Jeremy through opponent’s mistake. This caught their backline unaware. Jeremy then had an unleashed powerful shot towards the goal and hit the net, leaving the GK stranded… 3-1!! This has regained SB’s confidence.
A moment later, Jeremy dribbled into the penalty box and was brought down by the defender. Referee blew the whistle and pointed his finger to the spot kick position. But Jeremy has failed to help SB to extend their lead as the GK managed to blocked his shot with his longy legs..

Due to injury, Tan was forced to substituted, with Sybian to replace him half way through the match..

The 5th goal was scored by Guerrous FC through a corner. It was a free header at the far pole where C3 was well beaten and Lusty Seng could do nothing as the goal is too fast for him to make any reaction. 3-2!!! At this time SB suffer enormous stress and SB players started to exchange some word of unhappiness and disagreement..

While SB still have not really recover from the previous goal, Guerrous FC made it 3-3!! Once again the goal is at the left hand side of the field, where Guerrous FC hit a shot toward goal. & C3 thought it will be goal kick and thus allowed the ball to run through and he never thought the ball actually hit the pole and rebound to the front of the goal. And the other player followed up and placed the ball into the empty net..

Half Time

SB made slight changes with Kelvin to the DM position to hassle their midfield and Papa Soh into the CD to stabilize the defence. Chao advanced to the striker role & Quan retreated to the GK role.


2nd Half

SB started off the 2nd half more confidently. Able to spread some passes and making Guerrous FC working harder.. However, they are the one who broke the dead lock for 2nd half through a corner again. Alvin managed to head the ball out of the penalty area but the opponent pick up the ball at the edge & volleyed a fearsome shot straight toward the net of the goal. Quan was well beaten. 3-4!!!

Few mins later, the 2nd goal arrived again from the Guerrous FC. The winger broke through on the left and ground crossed the ball to the center and their striker managed to stud out his boot and sent the ball back of the net. 3-5!!!

*These 2 goals were scored within 10 mins into the game.

SB trying again and again to contain their attacks. Towards end of the game, Jackie managed to break through on the left and sent the ball to the totally unmarked C3 at the far pole and he made it 4-5 with the ball hitting the roof of the net.. Then SB began to feel that they may drew this match and try to attack with more confidence. At the same time opponents are showing sign of fatigue. However we are still unable to keep the tempo and the match ended.

Final Score 4-5


[Moment of the match]

For this century match, is the 2 cousins that caught the eyes of SB where we saw Yyang Quan pulling a superb save by parrying the goal-bound shot at his full stretch.
And Papa Soh making a semi bicycle kick to clear away a dangerous ball at the defence line.

[Man of the match]

Personally I will give my vote to Looney this time rd for assisting most of the goals in this match and making a lot of running at the by line.


Cheers!!!!!

Post on behalf of Lusty

Match 99 - Extracted from SoccerNeh.com

Results

Songbo FC drew 2-2 in a match where they were left to rue their lorry-loads of missed chances. It was a game where they should have wrapped up easily given the number of opportunitues they had to score goals. However, it was the whole team's lacklusture performance that contributed to a morale-sapping draw! From the defence to the attack, they were mostly unable to perform to their usual standards and had to make do with sharing the points.

Man-of-the-Match

There isn't a strong contender for this match seriously! However, if we have to pick one, it will have to go to Wayang Quan. His contributions to the results were notable with a worldclass tip-over-the-bar save, a one-on-one foiled attempt and several threat nullifying moves. Perhaps, his biggest contribution comes in the form of his selfless standing in as GK while our main custodian is out injured with a strained wrist.

Key Man Watch

Wonderkid Jeremy - The new signing was guilty of missing several glaring misses in the match. On another day, he would have grabbed a double hat-trick with his clinical finishing. Well, expectations are always going to be high on him due to his impeccable goal records - an average of 2 goals per match.
This was his first notable below-the-par performance and Songbo FC certainly hopes that it is not the start of many such performance to come.

Weakest Player

Well, we have a problem here! It seems everyone is eligible with their below-the-par performances and nitty-gritty mistakes that contributed to the team as a whole!

I'll say we have a draw here! (any objections??)

Secret Paparazzi Recordings

Rookie Manager Sparrow(in the dressing room):

" ...I think we'll have to sit down and re-evaluate our own disappointing performance to the team..."

"...I see the mistakes made by a defender in the same light as a striker missing a goal..everyone is responsible for their own area of play..no one is above the team!!... If you think that your poor performance is due to your superiority and that others are to be blamed then you are a F!$K%R and you can go ahead and leave the dressing this instant!..."

"...I want to see more from all of you in the next match...I demand total commitment to the team...You can do whatever you want pre-match but make sure that when Sunday morning beckons, you're F!#$%NG ready to give your all to the team and I expect a solid performance from all of you!!...."

Press Release

On the match:
"I think we could and should have won the match in a more comfortable manner...but you'll have to give credit to the opposition for not giving up and counter-attacking us whenever they had the chance..Their Gk also had a good match with several important saves and a powerful kick....one led to their equaliser.... I'll need to do more work with the team on the training grounds to improve their movement on the pitch, their mentality and their decision-making....It's the main cause of the poor performance today... "

On the Injury list:
"...Yeah!! It's kind of frustrating when you've got another player injured before another one is back...Our 1st choice GK has been diagnosed with a sprained wrist and could be out for up to 4 weeks...we'll have to speak to the specialists and see how we can get his wrists back in shape soon...but we're expecting his deputy Tiger Yan to make a comeback soon...his condition is improving by the week but we dun want to rush anything...Commando has also taken a slight knock after a heavy fall...so let's hope the injury list will stop here...

Match 99 - Draw

Songbo FC 2-2 Opponents

Date: 22nd Feb 2009
Venue: Hua Yi Sec Sch
Jersey: Red

Starting Line-Up:
Hweequan (GK), Huang Weijie (LB), Kenny (CB), Suichao (CB), Tan Weijie (RB) [Mervin], Junbing (DM) [Kelvin], Jackie (LM), Rujia (CM), Alvin (CM), Sybian (RM) , Jeremy (ST)

Subtitutes:
Kelvin, Mervin

Scoring Summary:
Jeremy [Jackie], Rujia


Songbo FC gets 1st Draw of the Season

It was a bad day for Songbo FC as what was suppose to be an easy win became a draw or worse, a lost if time was to be extended.

Songbo FC started the match with Hwee Quan infront of the 2 poles as Junbing was found a have a hand injury before the match. Songbo gained most of the possession for the 1st half and was on the offensive. Chances were made but the ball just could not find the net. One pass to Jeremy and he faked past 2 defenders to have a 1on1 situation with the gk but the shot went wide. Few corners were won and 1 of them found Jeremy near the far pole who headed in to get the lead for Songbo.

The defense on the other hand was performing under expectation. The center defenders were missing clearance but luckily not much threat was given to their GK. The opponent was given the only chance when both the CD missed their tackles and was allowed to face Hwee Quan 1on1. The opponent placed a weak grounder which Hwee Quan managed to stretched out his hands to save it. Half time ended with Songbo leading 1-0.

2nd half came and changes were made. Tan Weijie was swapped with Mervin with him playing RM and Sybian pushing back to RB. Songbo remain offensive but found themselves playing like a team leading with 4 goals when the scoreline is only 1-0. After some reminders from the defense, Songbo created alot of open goal chances but all were managed to cleared the their defenders. 1 thru ball founded Mervin on the right flank and he crosses a beautiful ball to Jeremy who didnt manage to keep the ball down and almost put it over the fence. 2 balls infront of the goal with the GK beaten, 1 Jeremy and 1 Mervin, were cleared by their defenders who had the time to recover while the 2 are trying to control the unexpected ball to them. Jackie had his goal rejected when he had shot the ball past the GK off the line but not the 2 defenders who had came back to help out.

The opponents began their counter attacks after Songbo didnt manage to kill the game. A shot from them saw Hwee Quan tipped the ball over the bar which looks almost a goal. The opponents got their equaliser soon. A lob into the penalty box saw Swee Chao and Kenny beaten and even Hwee Quan when the receiver managed a shot past Quan who tries to parry off but couldnt do it. 1-1 . Songbo's morale went down as the opponents easily scored a goal which we had tried so hard. The waves of attacks became heavier but the defense tries to absorb like the match before. A throw-in in the opponent half saw Rujia free and he tries a shot+pass which the opponent's GK deflects into their goal post. 2-1!

A win was in everyone's mind as there was not much time left. just 5mins before the final whistle, Songbo was counter-attacked by the opponents after an offensive corner was cleared by them. The ball was taken to their right flank with 5 Songbo players and 2 opponent players. Huang Weijie managed to win the ball but cleared a weak ball to another opponent player, who again pass the ball into the penaly box and the receiver lobs the ball past Hwee Quan to get their equaliser. 2-2! Songbo received waves of attacks again before the refree blow for the final whistle to end the game.


p.s. report on new signing to be on SoccerNeh.com

Match 98 (Tanglin Sec Sch) Snippets - extracted from SoccerNeh.com

Results

Songbo won the game 5-0 in a match in which they demolished their opponents to smithereens! They show that its not always about the the amount of possession you have but the ability to put the ball into the back of the net. Clinical finishing was the difference today!

Key Man Watch

Jeremy - The wonderkid continues his goal-scoring spree by helping himself to a hat-trick in today's match. The opponent's defence simply had no answer to his speed and deadly finishing and were duly punished. Jeremy was signed from Timbaktu F.C on a free transfer and is proving to be every bit of the gem that rookie manager Sparrow promises him to be!

Man -of-the-match

Wonderkid Jeremy has no contenders for the award today with his outstanding display of attacking prowess, speed and agility, bagging a hat-trick in the process.

Weakest Player

Wayang Quan's performance today was a shock to his fans and his manager alike! He looked like he had just started learning to play soccer over the last 3 months. His passing was almost non-existent and his skills seems all but forgotten.

"It was a pain to watch him play today" said rookie manager Sparrow.

Sparrow has declared to the press that he is extremely disappointed in his performance and has issued him a warning to clean up his act for the coming matches.

Match 98 - Win

Songbo FC 5:0 Opponents

Date: 15th Feb 2009
Venue: Tanglin Sec Sch
Jersey: Red

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

Subtitutes:
Kelvin, Mervin

Scoring Summary:
Jeremy [Jackie], Jeremy [Jackie], Jeremy [Kelvin], Junbing, Jackie


Jeremy Grabs His 1st Hat-Trick for the Season

Tanglin Sec Sch brings back sad memories where we lost a comrade a few months ago due to injury. Today, Songbo FC revisits the same ground again in the searing late morning sun as the match is set to begin at 11:00PM. Sensing that the opponents were a technically gifted team, Songbo FC braces themselves up for a tough and tiring match.

The opening few minutes confirmed what Songbo FC had predicted; accurate passing, good ball distribution and quick movement by the opponents forced our team on the backfoot for much of the opening period. In the distant past, this might have been a fatal issue to handle. However, Songbo FC, on the back of a 3 win streak, did not come 98 matches far just to watch our opponents play. With the opponents pushing their backline forward, an eagle-eyed Jackie found Jeremy with plenty of space in front. A precise through pass combined with a calm finish gave Jeremy his 1st of his hat-trick of goals to put Songbo FC ahead.

Unshaken by the early deficit, the opponents started to work their way through our defence. Much of the attacks started from the middle, as a clearly fatigued Hweequan was making mistake after mistake, incurring the wrath from the Captain and the rest of the team. Luckily, none of his mistakes were fatal as the opponents failed to capitalize on his mistakes. One breakthrough almost succeeded as an incoming ball was misplayed and it left the opponent's striker running through on a counterattack. With many players caught on the backfoot, it took Alvin quick thinking and backtracking all the way from midfield back to his own penalty box to diffuse the danger. The fragile lead still hanged on.

Near the end of the 1st half, Songbo FC got the important 2nd goal. Pushing their defence so forward that they landed up in our own half, a high through ball by Jackie gave Jeremy all the space he wanted in between the defenders and the GK. A well executed chip by Jeremy netted him his 2nd goal as well as to give more breathing space for Songbo FC. The opponents could only appeal weakly for offside to be given.

The whistle sounded for half-time. We were leading 2-0 but were physically drained due to the pressure that we had to withstand. Captain's half-time talk was clear; we have to soak up the pressure like a sponge, look for an opportunity and release all our tension into a goal. He then made changes to bring Kelvin in for an under-performing Hweequan and Mervin to replace Sybian who had personal matters to attend to.

By the time the play started for the 2nd half, it was mid-noon and temperatures were soaring. Songbo FC had to look for a 3rd goal quick to relieve much of the unwanted pressure that they had withstood thus far. They did not have to wait long. An inspiring throw-in from Huang Weijie saw Kelvin racing through and provided him the chance to cross the ball to Jeremy. Missing out on a hat-trick for so many of the matches, Jeremy made no mistake to bring the ball down in the box and guided the ball home for his 1st hat-trick of this season.

3 goals up but Songbo FC was not exactly cruising. The opponents piled up the pressure as they sensed that opportunities might be abound when Alvin took over Junbing in between the posts. However, Alvin was not as bad a goalkeeper as they thought and Songbo FC certainly had the brains to switch to a more defensive mode. Even then, there were scares now and then but weak finishing by the opponents did not help them at all.

Against the run of play, Songbo FC were then 4-0 up. A mistaken drop kick gave the ball straight to Junbing who wasted no time to head the ball towards an empty net. The disheartened keeper could only watch the ball go past him and into his net. Another goal for Junbing and what a way to reward his teammates for giving him the opportunity to play an outfield position.

Songbo FC then made it 5-0 as Jackie hit a swerving corner kick into the goal. The keeper, trying to punch the ball out of his goal, could only help it in instead. With the scoreline so wide apart already, the opponents still did not give in. We were subjected to much pressure towards the end of the game as the opponent continued to push forward. Alvin did not help matters much when he misguided a throw followed by a drop kick straight to the opponents who, once again, have been let down by their finishing.

End of the day, Songbo FC played an average match against a technically superior team. We did not deserve the scoreline but the discipline to our system along with lethal finishing contributed to our 5th win in 6 games.

Man of the Match: Jackie is a strong contender with 2 assists and a goal. However, Jeremy steals the award with his hat-trick and finishing that gave him his "goal machine" nickname.

Moan of the Match: Hweequan only played in the 1st half. However, it was a half riddled with mistakes. Almost every touch he took gave the ball away to the opponents. It was a performance that he would want to forget.

Moment of the Match: Near the end of the game, with everyone drained of energy, we could only wonder what drove Kaiseng to sprint 50m down the right flank as he bellowed Jeremy's name in desperation for the ball. The latter, however, did not notice his presence.

Match 97 - Draw

Songbo FC 1:1 Opponents

Date: 16th Jan 2009

Venue: Hua Yi Sec Sch

Jersey: Red

Starting Line-Up:Hweequan (GK), Huang Weijie (LB), Kenny (CB), Suichao (CB), Tan Weijie (RB) [Mervin], Junbing (DM) [Kelvin], Jackie (LM), Rujia (CM), Alvin (CM), Sybian (RM) , Jeremy (ST)Subtitutes:Kelvin, MervinScoring Summary:Jeremy

ps: Sincere apologies for the delay in the posting of the match report. -Jackie-

Revised Proposal

Hi all, Thanks for replying to the initial proposal for rotational Gk policy.
Your response and comments have been good and valuable. After some thoughts and mish-mashing of ideas from some of Songbo's members, I have come up with a new proposal...Pls read thru and cast your votes! (not including Merv's suggestion)

The Proposal

In view of feedback that utilising ALL members for the GK position poses more threats than value to the team, there is a need to re-adjust the policy. As such, the next best proposal is to come up with this:

General Issue

1.) Rotational Policy will apply only to shortlisted/volunteer Songbo's members.

2.) I will be GK for first half, for every match, thereafter, the scheduled deputy will take over in the second half.

3.) Deputy duties will be rotated amongst the shortlisted candidates based on a queuing system.

4.) This policy will keep repeating itself, regardless of seasons, so that it will flow smoothly and spread itself out evenly amongst the candidates, for all the matches that we will have played.

5.) I will be in charge of drawing up the schedule and it will be posted on the blog and in addition, the scheduled deputy will be informed in advance once match is confirmed.

How This Works?

1.) This Rotational Policy will not be a hard and fast policy such that switches must be made in every match we play in.

2.) The opponent's threat to SongBo's goal and strength will be assessed during the 1st half. This will determine the applicability of the policy in every match.

3.) Should there be fair or minimal threat to goal, this GK change will take place at the re-start of the 2nd half, by the scheduled deputy on duty.

4.) ******When I play out-field, my positions will be based on the needs and balance of the team and I suggest that this be decided by Capt Sparrow. ******

Responsibility of Risk Assessment---------------(comments on this section pls!!)

1.) ******I suggest that the responsibilty of assessing the risk lies solely with me and my two senior central defenders, , who will have a good view of the match from the team's back and of course the confidence level that they have in protecting the goal in front of the deputy GK.******

2.) This will ensure that this policy will not just be like b4, where decision is made mainly by the midfield department.

3.) This time round, decision will be made by the defence department where they face the brunt of opponent's onslaught and they will be able to tell if they are always under pressure or sometimes under pressure or once-in-a-while under pressure.

4.) I believe that my two central defenders and myself have the professionalism, maturity and experience to be able to judge the opponent's threat, by the end of the first half.

5.) The reason for not including the left and right back in decision making, is to increase the speed in which the decison is arrived at, during the short half time break.

6.) The idea of a 3-member decision making committee will also ensure that there will be no tie in any event. A decision is always reached - to change or not to change.

7.) To ensure that this policy will not undermine the overall authority of the team Captain, ONLY Capt Sparrow is given the Constitutional Veto Right to the decision that is arrived at.

For This To Work...

1.) There must be a certain level of trust and belief amongst SongBo's members that when every decision is made, it will be done rationally based on current day match proceedings and not emotionally.

2.) Should there be dire results because of "hidden potential" by opponents not shown during the 1st half, we need our team spirit to be at the highest level ( which I strongly think we have after so many years together both on and off the pitch) so that there will be no personal blame game and finger-pointing after the match - be it at the decison makers or at Capt Sparrow.

3.) We must realise that at the end of the day, it is just a match and we are just a weekend team enjoying our friendship in a match. While results are important to the team, we should not take it too seriously till the point that team spirit and friendship is affected after a lost match. Remember, there is no prize money involved in all of our matches!!

Before you Cast Your Vote(s)...

1.) I urge all SongBo's members to seriously consider my contributions for the past years. It is never easy to turn up on a Sunday morning and stand in between two posts and go home telling yourself ..."Hey, I've had a good workout and enjoyed myself!!"...when sometimes all you do is be a spectator for the whole match.

2.) I hope to be able to be involved in the huff-and-puff and sweat and toil of the team.

3.) This proposal has come up only because everybody knows the " level of fun" you get when playing as a GK. Thus there is a lack of enthusiasm to fight for the place..haha..Everybody will try to "siam" because its basically a thankless and seriously "boring" position to play in. Your importance will only be highlighted when your team plays badly or when we are outplayed by opponents.

4.) I am not paid for playing the GK position. I am only there because of the ability to perform better than anyone else in the team in that position and like what wayang has told me many times - "for the team la...you dun be gk we always lose then no one want to play liao, cos always lose no fun".Although over the years, I itched to play out-field but it has been limited to a few cameo appearances over any one season. One of the reasons beside ability, is that I know the importance of my role in the team - in order for the rest of the team to enjoy, I have to be there to ensure that our goal is well-protected and they can have a piece of mind in a match knowing that they have one of the best Gk in Singapore...(oops...hahahahaha...who like bicycle kicks too!!)

5.) Having given much for the team over the years, I sincerely hope the team can now give me a bit of out-field playing time regularly, in my twilight playing days! Thru this policy, it is hoped that I can achieved what i want, with minimal disruption to the team and our form.


Thanks Brudders!!! Pls cast your votes........

Pssssst!!! one vote for me =$5....collect from me after results are announced.....wahahahahahaha!!

Rotational Policy for GK position??

Yo SongBo members!!

I was looking at myself in the mirror today, in my "triangle shorts", and I was not very happy with what I saw - rolls and rolls of fat!!

Its not very healthy, yeah i know that!! But I'm lazy to go to the gym, although i did went for a run just now...and it was quite shiok!

After the short run in the gym, I was sitting alone and smoking and I thought of how I can increase my fat-burning regime. I got the idea that running up and down the pitch on match days will be a good way! However, I know my limits and that I will never be able to last a full match as an out-field player. It will be wasted if I were to give my all in one half and slack around in the other half and deprive others of a chance on the pitch.

As such, I have thought of a plan.....

I will start every match in the GK position. Then I'll like a half as an out-field player.

Although I know that I am so good that nobody is half as good as me (hahahaha), I do need the exercise and of course a bit of fun. In addition, we are getting old so I hope that i can enjoy the game like the rest of you do before i succumb to injuries or old age.So how do we do it?

I suggest that all take turns to be the deputy GK every week - not only senior members who sometimes help me out when I wanna have a run. This will then be fair to everyone. While i understand that some of you are clueless about handling or shot stopping, I believe that at our level of soccer, we do not need a good GK. We need only a strong defence in front of the GK and basic handling - as previous matches have shown! Even if we do lose any match because of some GK errors, I believe that our team spirit and enjoyment of the game will prevail over the significance of the result.

If need to, I'll be willing to draw up the GK roster for the team!

I hope that everyone will take it in their stride when their turn comes - and not "chut special" and find excuses! If you look at it, maybe for the whole year, you'll only need to perform the duties for around 2 times (like writing the blog) or even less and for half a match only.

This is what I would like to ask for, from the team members....do consider the proposal and post your comments with regards to this matter. After which, I will put up to Sparrow if there is an agreed consensus!!

Kam Sia beri muchy!!!

PapaSoh

Match 95 report is out!!

Finally Match report for our 95th match is out... Please click on the Janaury link at the right side and scroll down to match 95.

Finally wayang quan decided to churn out the report after all the CNY goodies are digested!!

Enjoy mates!!!