Soccer Fellowship Report [17th January]

The fellowship started with Maurice giving the devotion based on the portion in Acts 4 where the religious leaders noted that Peter and John had “been with Jesus”. He challenged the Christians to be a testimony both on and off the field so that our pre-believing friends can see Christ in us. He also encouraged pre-believers to think about the claims of Jesus Christ in 2009 and consider accepting Him as Lord and Saviour of their lives. Then some simple BUT yet important advice + reminder from Kevin about about the unnecessary tackles, roughness and proper warming up before the game to prevent injuries.

The match kicked off with hot weather. Both the light-coloured side and dark-coloured side(made up mostly of young players) find it hard to string things up due to overcrowding and the lack of passing direct to feet. A couple of late challenges from the Darks which brought about some frustration on the Lights. Being only the second fellowship of the year after a month plus break.

An attack down the left wing by the Lights from the likes of Zech and Choonheng, nearly resulted in an early goal by the Lights when Choon Heng did his trademark "maradona turn" and took a shot from a tight angle which came off the crossbar.

Then came one unlucky incident for the Lights when wei en(whom have not kicked a ball for years) handled the ball from a cross which resulted in a penalty. Darks Bevan took the penalty with ease and keeper michael was rooted to the spot. 1-0 to the Darks.

The Darks continue to attack the Lights with string of passes around bevan. Soon after, another attack by the darks which Luke? finished with a rocket shot on Michael's near post. 2-0 to the Darks.

Finally, the Lights broke the lock when Joel squared the ball for Rusydi to take a shot, instead a fake shot and a return pass to Joel for a stiff shot above keeper Maurice. A half-time was called.

The second half kicked off with the Darks gathered all on the center circle. Bevan took a shot from kick-off which ricochet off Rusydi's chest with the Darks still undecided who to be the keeper.

A counter-attack by the Darks resulted in the Lights outnumbered. Jingzhong bringing the ball outside the box with no one attacking, giving him a free shot to the bottom left corner to make 3-1 to darks.

The session ended with Maurice reiterating about what he shared during the devotion- unnecessary roughness and keeping our cool. This was followed by some words of prayer from Bangshi.

Personally, I feel that there were a couple of late/unnecessary challenges, which resulted in some hot-heads. We are, playing with our own guys. And even if it is playing with people we don't know, it isn't cannot be a reason for us to "not be ourself". Clearly, this all goes down to self-discipline and love for one another. Reminder that, one of PMC Soccer Community's goal is to build character through self-respect and love for one another. This second fellowship of 2009 was certainly a reminder to some and to me.

Do remember to leave a comment on your availability for next saturday's "CNY Special" :)