Friendly Match Report .vs. Kampong Kapor Methodist Church (23 February)

Soccer Friendly Report by Adrian Phuah:

PMC saw one of the better turn-outs whereby 22 players were available for the coach's selection. KKMC even negotiated two loan deals that saw Kevin Ang and Maurice Lim swapping their blue jerseys for the opposing white jerseys. PMC fielded the U-23s for the first half with Mark Leong (Obviously just slightly above 23) playing as the last man in defence.

Mark trying his best to "kill" the referee

The players were all raring to go, except that the referee was nowhere to be seen! He soon appeared. Thank goodness! PMC started with a 4-3-3 formation and both teams started cautiously with very little separating their play. Our midfield trio of Lee Kee Min, Ong Bang Shi and Peh Choon Heng tried to make in-roads but was met with a resilient defence line. The opposing team retaliated as they tried to bypass the entire midfield by lobbing high balls. They were convincingly snuffed out by our backline of Joel Tan, Mark Leong, Jeremy Sin and Daniel Low. Our goalie Jeremy Tan also had little to do.

Ryusdi and Bangshi combined to stop KKMC's foreign striker

Our strike force of Ryusdi, Jing Zhong and Damien were having no joy up front as they were ably tamed by the opposing defence. Our opponents then had two opportunities to put themselves ahead but they were off target. The game was so equally matched that the attention was drawn regularly to the $50 referee who continued to stay just within the centre circle, now dubbed the "The referee's circle". The first half drew to an end with neither side having the advantage.

Player/ Manager Ronnie Liew then made wholesale changes where 10 pairs of fresh legs were brought in. The chop and change did not help as we were left trailing by two goals through defence lapses (One of the goals scored by our very own Kevin Ang). After that, our defence - Michael Chua, Mark Leong, Raymond Chang and Andy Chua ensured that our opposition were well shackled.

PMC's midfield Adrian Phuah, Ronnie Liew and John Chia tried to press the game but the KKMC players stood firm. Timothy Loke also provided good support for the front two of Glenn See Toh and Samuel Eyo as we prodded on to search for the elusive goal.

Then with a little shimmy, John came loose for his marker and he unleashed a lovely ball that struck the upright. The rebound was picked up by Glenn and he coolly lifted the ball beyond the reach of the opposing goalkeeper. PMC 1-2 KKMC.

At the end of the game, PMC players knew that we should have done better but for our lack of match practice and communication. Still, we had fun and are looking forward to cosying ourselves to our new home ground at East Spring Secondary School.