Sunday, December 02, 2007

Friendly Match Report .vs. ECG (1st December)

The 2007 PMC Soccer Community season officially came to an end when the Veterans Team took on ECG in a friendly on 1st December. Most of the Jalan Tembusu pitch was still soft and sticky, but it was definitely more playable than the pitch the previous week. God provided excellent weather again with a cool breeze blowing throughout the match. Not all the Veterans that signed up for the match showed up, so it was good that a few Youth players turned up and Mark brought his friend Davin to add some strength to the squad. Even then, the team knew that a tough match was underway, with only 13 players in total.

PMC started the match well and held excellent shape against the opponents. Some neat work down the flanks from Choon Heng and John resulted in some half chances which did not convert into any goals. Ronnie and Bangshi were also holding the centre of midfield well and with Mark sweeping up as last man, things looked positive for the rest of the match. PMC's first goal came on the run of play with some midfield hustle landing the ball in the path of Choon Heng who took a good swipe at it on goal. A slight deflection off an ECG defender made it loft higher and swifter and right into the top corner of the ECG net. PMC was 1-0 up. Being a goal down fired up ECG and they took to the wings to find an equaliser. Cross after cross was fired into the PMC box. Off a corner, ECG's #10 climbed highest to head the ball towards goal, only to have Michael Chua deny him. However, it wasn't long before ECG's equaliser arrived. A flighted ball was initially caught by Michael but with mounting pressure, the ball dropped into the path of ECG's #10, who slotted it into the net. Possession was more even as the match warmed up and it took the goal of the match to break the deadlock. Picking up the ball on the edge of the box, Bangshi rifled in a screamer into the top left hand corner of the net to put PMC 2-1 up. Being a goal down did not hamper ECG but fired them to get another equaliser. A stiff low cross was fired into PMC's box from the left wing and although Michael did his best to parry it away from goal, it fell nicely again into the path of ECG's #10, who prodded it into the net. On level terms again, the 2 teams played to a draw at the end of the 1st half.

The 2nd half began very brightly for PMC. An apparent harmless ball into the ECG box led to a mix up between the ECG keeper and his last man, leaving Glenn to slip the ball into the goal from a tight angle. Not to take the set back lying down, ECG once again pressed for a 3rd equaliser. Much of the battle was in midfield, with both teams trying to exert authority- PMC to put the match away and ECG trying to get back into it. With PMC being stretched at the back, ECG took the initiative and played a good ball down the left wing which gave the ECG winger the opportunity to beat PMC's 2nd half keeper Kris, and slot home the equaliser. With the game poised on a knife's edge, some tough tackles were put in to boss the game. The referee tried to maintain control and dished out the only yellow card of the game to an overzealous ECG player who went too far with his challenges. Finally, cooler heads prevailed to get on with the game. On a successful attempt in beating PMC's offside trap, ECG's left winger managed to play a neat square pass to ECG's #10 who completed his hat-trick and cemented ECG's comeback. Despite playing well, the defeat shows the constant need for PMC to work on certain aspects of the game and improve. Most importantly, everyone had a good game. We thank God for His faithfulness this year and look forward to more good matches in 2008. Well done team!

Pentecost Methodist Veterans 3
[Scorers- Choon Heng, Bangshi & Glenn]

E C G 4

PMC Squad:
5.Davin Leong 6.Michael Chua 8.Jeremy Sin 10.Justin Ang 12.John Chia 13.Samuel Eyo 14.Glenn See Toh 15.Peh Choon Heng 17.Ong Bangshi 19.Adrian Phuah 25.Kris Chen 28.Ronnie Liew 38.Mark Leong

PMC soccer players still smiling after the defeat:
Justin, Michael, Ronnie, Choon Heng, Bangshi & Adrian


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