Soccer Fellowship Report [28th June]

The weather was hot and dry on the Saturday and we were back to East Spring Secondary School for the session. Our players were urged to drink more water to prevent a heat stroke or exhaustion. We also welcomed Zac, Deyi (Bangshi's friends?) and a Malay friend of Raymond. I apologise for not being able to recall his name.

After Uncle John opened the session with a prayer and a short bible study on the topic of encouraging one another, our 23 or 24 players were split into blue and white captained by Uncle Ronnie and Bangshi respectively.

The first half saw six goals being shared equally between the two sides. After about 15 min of controlled play by the two teams, the whites opened the account of the day with a simple tap-in by Rusydi. The blues' goalie Michael Chua made a pass to his own central back after receiving a back pass from Deyi but the pass was weak and it was easily intercepted by speedy Rusydi for the goal. However, Samuel Pang equalised for the blues inside the penalty box 10 minutes later with a well-placed right foot shot after he ran around a defender to receive a simple pass from the midfield. 1 - 1.

After that, four more goals came in at nearly regular interval for the remaining half. Rusydi was on the scoresheet again with a well-timed volley that nearly blasted a hole through the net before Justin equalised for the blues again with a fierce right-footed shot after running clear of the whites' hapless goalie Bryan. 2 - 2. Few minutes later, the blues found themselves leading the game for the first time through first-timer Deyi. This time again, with a fierce right-footed shot after a running wide to the right of the whites' box. However, the whites were not to be undermined as they finally equalised at the dying minutes of the first half through Daniel Low. After a few neat passes between Rusydi, Jingzhong, Zac and Sheldon outside the blues' box, Daniel received a pass on the left inside the box and unleashed a low-driver beyond a helpless Hongyi (exchanged position with Michael Chua) towards the far right end of the goal mouth. 3 -3 at half-time.

The second half saw a few players like Raymond's friend and whites' goalie Bryan leaving early so Michael Chua switched to the whites team to balance the number. 15 min into the second half, Chun Heng demonstrated his speed and dribbling skills while holding to the ball well. He drifted from the left side of the field to the center at the edge of the blues' box. Seeing the whites' goalie Michael covering his angle too far out of his line, Chun Heng delivered a shot high above his head before it spun downwards towards the right corner of the net. The blues lead the game for the second time.

After calming down, the whites gathered momentum and launched attacks after attacks. The blues' lead was cancelled out by Jing Zhong 15 min later when he powered a shot from inside the blues' box at the middle after a clever pass from Rusydi and a fine run pass a defender. With 10 min of play left, Rusydi put his name on the scoresheet for the third and final time to give the white a final victory over the blues.

Final score 5 - 4.