Soccer Fellowship Report [7th Feb]

The warm afternoon sun greeted both teams as we arrived at East Spring Secondary for another Saturday afternoon of soccer. Kevin shared with us the word, which strongly revolved around how Nike has been a symbol of victory for the Romans and how Christ should be our symbol of victory. Bearing that in mind, we begun our match with the goal of playing gracious football. It was a massive turnout of almost 30 players and we kicked off with a 15-versus-14 match, the Brights having a one-man advantage.

The match got off to a flying start when the Brights conceded an early goal from Bryan Chan. Andrew played a superb through-ball to Bryan, who broke the offside trap to finish with aplomb beyond Brights’ goalkeeper of the day, David Lim. Clearly stunned by the early goal, the Brights struggled to keep pace with the Dark Shirt’s play through the flanks. The game eventually spluttered to a ping-pong match where nobody really held possession long enough. A few half-chances were created by the Darks, one spurned by Sheldon when played through by a glorious pass from JZ. His shot was expertly saved by David, in what turned out to be his only other serious test for the first half.

However, the Darks managed to sneak a goal right at the end of the first half when Uncle John audaciously lobbed David. He had found space on the right side in the penalty box after a counter attack. While all expected a cross, Uncle John had other ideas. The Darks entered the break 2 goals up with the Brights not looking like they had a reply.

The second half started with the collective decision of each team to field 12 players instead so there would be more space for chances to be created. Indeed, that came to pass with the Brights drawing level after skill, good fortune and controversy.

The first goal was scored by Samuel Eyo off a Bright corner. The first ball was half cleared and when it was popped back into the box, it found Choon Heng unmarked at the far post. He let fly with a volley that looked to be going wide. Samuel Eyo appeared in the 6-yard area and clinically tapped the ball in with the touch reminiscent of a certain languid Bulgarian. The Brights were back in it with a shout.

The second Bright goal was down to some sloppy defending by the Darks. A harmless punt down the field was not properly dealt with by the Dark’s defenders and was allowed to bounce around the penalty area. Nigel looked to have been fouled during the melee and while he was on the ground, Xingli (was that his name?), a friend of Bevan, picked up the loose ball and drilled it beyond Felipe for the equalizer. Controversy was present in the form of a foul not being called. No replays to help the Brights there.

Nevertheless, the Darks rallied and their next goal came more as a gift than anything else. Daniel Low, playing as an auxiliary right back, mistook Bryan for a team mate and passed the ball to him. Bryan was left with a 1-on-1 against David and his finish did not disappoint. The Brights pulled back an equalizer through Joel.

However, the Darks had the last laugh. JZ, swapping flanks with Ernie, dispossessed a Bright defender near the right touchline and advanced on goal to score his first goal.

The match ended 4-3 with no injuries and many smiles on all faces. Maurice closed the session in prayer.

Reported by Sheldon Liew