Soccer Fellowship Report [16th August]

The storm around 2pm did not bode well for Soccer Fellowship last Saturday. I remember the rain coming down hard and even as I got home at 230pm, the sky was still dark and rain was still pouring. God continues to amaze me at how faithful He is to our Community. I was reminded to tell my wife that in the 3 years of our existence, there have only been 1 or 2 times that rain has caused us to abandon Soccer Fellowship and that is simply amazing. Praise God!

As the group gathered at the void deck outside the field, we welcomed back Marvin who has been studying in America for the last few years. It was good to have about 18 turn up to really get a feel of a 9-a-side game as most of us were participating in the upcoming MWS Tournament.

I started off the session with devotion, sharing something that I had read earlier in the week. In the spirit of the Olympics, the devotion was about how athletes train and compete for one prize, but as Christians and as a Community of players, all of us can train and compete but obtain the prize of God's love, fellowship with one another and participation in a community. These things are not exclusive to 1 winner, nor 3 people who get to stand on a podium. I opened the session in prayer and we all took the field.

Both teams (Blues and Reds) looked well-balanced and the match started with great promise. The Reds were passing the ball well in the midfield and trying to play their target-man Justin into space at every opportunity. When Justin was held up by the very able Blues' defence led by Yuen Wai, the Reds' midfield of Derrick and Marvin tried to score from outside the box. Even I, standing in at left-back managed to get into the box for a volley, but it ended up looking more like a clearance. It wasn't long before the Reds took the lead. A ball from midfield found Justin who took out Yuen Wai and Blues' keeper Maurice to stab the ball into the net. Before long, it was 2-0. A nice through-pass from Derrick found its way to Justin who finished clinically.

Some complacency on the part of the Reds set in after leading 2-0. On one attacking move, we lost possession in the Blues' half and a quick outlet to Jingzhong on the left of midfield saw him race half the length of the field pass the Reds' defence to fire home beyond stand-in keeper Choon Heng. The Blues were back in the match. An identical move saw the Blues level the score. This time, the outlet pass to Michael on the left was not cleared by the Reds and this allowed him to fire a stinging shot off the post and into the bottom corner. The Reds re-organised with Mark Leong in goal and me moving into the centre of defence but it could not deter the resurgent Blues who were bossing themselves on the wings. Again from the left, the Blues were able to play the ball to dangerman Jingzhong who squeezed a shot pass Mark into the net. Amazingly, the Blues were leading with the half yet to be over. The Reds started to get their act together before the half ended and with better possession and passing, Justin found the ball at his feet and again managed to slip pass the defence to round Maurice to complete a 1st half hat-trick. An exciting half ended with the score at 3-3.

It was all to play for in the 2nd half as both teams took the field. Again, it was the Reds that dominated play with good passing and possession. There were many chances for us to take the lead, with the best one squandered by Justin who was completely open from a corner, but contrived to head the ball onto the ground, which bounced out off the horizontal. The Blues made the Reds pay for this as the triangle of Rusydi, Jingzhong and Damien got their act together and started to control the match from midfield. On one of their moves, Damien found himself in space just outside the box and curled a beauty with his left foot pass Reds' 2nd half keeper Joel. It was a goal that deflated the Reds and one more was to come when John found space on the right and squared the ball to Jingzhong who made no mistake for his hat-trick. With the Blues leading 5-3, the Reds pressed to get back into the match once again. This was to come when a mazy run by Choon Heng from left-back ended with him being tripped in the box by Rusydi. A penalty was claimed by the Reds and I stepped up to fire into the right corner to pull it to 5-4. With the match coming to a close, the Reds pressed the Blues hard, but to no avail. The best chances fell to Derrick who shot low and wide, and Justin, who managed to intercept a Blues' back-pass but poked the ball wide with just Michael to beat.

It was certainly an entertaining match, with lots of lessons learnt. The Blues have almost perfected their counter-attacking move, with skillful and speedy midfielders shouldering the goalscoring load. The Reds on the other hand, rely on a target man and will have to defend better from the midfield down.

Reported by Kevin Ang

Afternote:
I read a good review of Chelsea's win over Portsmouth this week and Lee Dixon's (ex-Arsenal and England right-back) analysis will surely give those of us playing in the MWS Tournament some ideas on how off-the-ball running will increase the chances for us to break down our opponents: Follow this link to read Lee Dixon's analysis of Chelsea's midfield

Happy Reading and God Bless!