Soccer Fellowship Report [19th April]

It was a fine afternoon and a number of players gathered early, looking forward to the afternoon's run-out. After some warm up, the group gathered for devotion led by Bangshi. Soon, more players turned up and a total of 29 attended this edition of Soccer Fellowship. We'd like to welcome back David Sng after a long leave of absence and Jeremy, Choon Heng's friend who joined us for the first time.

The first half started with the Blues' strong defence lining up against the Whites' more proficient midfield and attack. However, the contrary took place with the Blues dominating much of the play and threatening the Whites' goal on more than one occasion. It took much careful intervention from the Whites' defensive pair of Jeremy Sin and David Teong to clear the danger. Whites' keeper Bryan was also having a good game and made the necessary saves. It really took a while for the Whites' midfield trio of Ronnie, Sheldon and Kevin to string some passes together but no clear cut chances materialised with Blues' defensive quartet of Mark, James, Daniel and Damien working well as a unit. It finally came down to the odd goal to settle the first half. A good diagonal ball from midfield found Jingzhong cutting in from the left and as Blues' keeper Michael rushed out to meet the ball, Jingzhong coolly slotted it under the keeper to give the Whites a 1-0 lead.

Some re-organisation of the teams took place before the 2nd half kicked off. This was so as to prepare the team playing in the Agape Cup to get a run-out together. We'd like to thank all the players for their understanding and support in this regard. Both Blues and Whites also had extra players so that everyone could get involved in the game.

It was the Whites led by Sheldon that started the 2nd half very strongly. With Bangshi in partnership with him in the middle of the park and 3 strikers against the Blues' backline, it wasn't long before the Whites took the lead. A good move from the right found a grounded cross finding Isaac completely unmarked to tap the ball into the Blues' net. The Blues really needed time to settle down and string some decent passes together. Many times, the midfield of Ronnie, Kee Min and Kevin found themselves out of position and not stamping the authority in midfield or getting the ball to their strikers Samuel Eyo, David Sng and Jeremy. Blues' play was also predictable most of the time with quick balls being pushed to the flanks where Bevan and Jingzhong tried to operate. When required, goalkeeper Bryan was also on hand to make the necessary saves. It really took quite a long while before some pressure in the Whites' box led to the Blues' equaliser through Kee Min's close-range volley making the 2nd half score 1-1.

It was certainly a good run-out for everyone and we hope to see such good attendance at future Soccer Fellowship sessions. Praise God!