MWS Tournament 2008 Report by the Panthers

The Panthers put in their effort, sweat and blood in Saturday's tournament (Thanks, Marcus for playing through the tournament with blisters on both feet!). We put in a very commendable performance and can be proud of ourselves for achieving a quarter-final place.

Most importantly, the following qualities were evident during the matches played:

Team spirit and support -
We displayed very good team spirit and support. We encouraged one another on and off the pitch, and cheered those on the pitch to lift their game and win the match (I know Samuel was shouting for us to win the game against the Paya Lebar youth team). There was no blaming when goals were conceded and when we drew games we should have won and lost games we should have drawn, but the team remained united even in games we did not win.

True grit and determination -
I know many Panthers played through the pain and tiredness barrier and thank you for that. 3 wins, 2 draws and 2 losses in the group stage and 1 quarter-final loss. I think these are good results and results we can build on to go 1 or 2 steps further next year. I especially remember the game against the Paya Lebar youth team (credit to them for taking the game to us) where we were trailing 0-1 and on the brink of not reaching the quarter-final stage. David Sng hit the crossbar once and it seemed things would not go our way that game. But the team pressed on with urgency and David hit the crossbar again, and thankfully, the ball deflected into goal this time! 1-1. In the closing seconds of the match, we got a free-kick just outside the penalty area. Jing Zhong (I think) took it quickly before our opponents could organize themselves; David Sng latched onto the pass and slid that ball pass the onrushing goalkeeper. 2-1. It was Panther-monium! The whistle blew and we made it to the quarter-finals!

Sportsmanship -
I remember at least 3 incidents during our quarter-final loss to eventual champions, Aldersgate MC. The first was when they scored their first goal. The opponent's striker had just put the ball in goal from a tight angle and the follow through saw the striker hit his head on the goalpost with a loud 'Dong' and fall to the ground. Our players immediately went to assist the player to see if he was alright. The player was alright but he had bit his tongue during the knock and it was bleeding. Our players assisted to help him up to get treatment. The second incident was when Rusydi seemed to make a slightly late tackle and brought a player down in the opponents' half. Rusydi immediately went to apologize and see if the player was alright. Although the resulting throw-in was awarded to the Panthers, we threw it back to AMC, even though we were already trailing 2-0 by then. The third incident was when an AMC player fell and got cramps after a fair challenge in our half. I immediately went to assist the player to stretch and I remember the referee kept saying that the ball had not gone out! The ball was eventually kicked out by AMC, but we threw it back to them in good sportsmanship. We eventually got a goal back through a stunning first-time volley by Samuel but there was no time to get another goal. I'm proud of our display because it shows that there are things that are more important than winning, even though all of us wanted to win badly. That in itself makes us winners.

And even though we did not bring the tournament trophy back, I'm sure we've returned with the trophies of strengthened friendships!

The Pentecost Panthers:
Michael Chua, Lee Yuen Wai, Daniel Low, David Teong, Marcus Tan, John Chia, James Lee, Rusydi Mah, Choo Jingzhong, Samuel Eyo, Marvin Khoo, David Sng, Andrew Lee & Maurice Lim

Please read the comments to this post to see what the other Panthers had to say about the tournament!

Reported by Maurice Lim