Friendly Match Report - Panthers .vs. FIOFAFI [25th Apr]

The hot afternoon sun was beating down hard as players from the Pentecost Panthers and FIOFAFI gathered at East Spring Secondary to engage in a friendly match. Some late withdrawals meant that the Panthers were again unable to field a starting 11 on their own strength and had to invite Panda Sheldon to start as AM.

We were however, able to welcome back Andy after a long absence and lined-up as follows:

We started the match well- lots of possession and good running, especially Marcus and Rusydi down the flanks. However, the final ball into the box was often a letdown, with the opposing defence easily dealing with what we threw at them and Justin looking isolated on his own up front. On the defensive end, we had to deal with numerous high balls out to the flanks but most of them amounted to nothing.

We were holding our shape well and even the full backs were pressing forward until the 25th minute, when the 'nightmare' started. Ironically, it was a player we loaned FIOFAFI, Panda Jingzhong, who managed to beat our offside trap to easily centre the ball for FIOFAFI's striker, Luke to score. Losing our composure, we allowed FIOFAFI to breach our defensive line 3 more times in quick succession and before we knew it we were 4 - 0 down. It was a combination of not dealing with balls down the flanks and not getting a grip of the midfield. From the kickoff after conceding the 4th goal, Panda Sheldon decided to try a long one and it succeeded in catching FIOFAFI GK Sze Kuan off his line to pull a goal back. Half time score was 4 - 1 and we used the interval to emphasise again the importance of communication, keeping possession and winning the 50-50 balls.

During the 1st half, Panthers Jimmy and Keith had arrived, coming on for Sheldon and Bevan respectively. A slight re-org saw Jimmy play as SW, with Mark pushing up to CB and Kevin at DML. Keith came in at LB with Ronnie moving up to AM. Kee Min and Rusydi swapped positions as well. FIOFAFI also took the opportunity to make changes, bringing Panda Daniel on at right back.

We definitely gave it a good go in the 2nd half, trying to string more passes together and send more balls into the box for Justin to attack. On the defensive end, Jimmy did well to deal with the high balls and although there were some dangerous moments, our goal was not breached. We had at least 65% of possession in the 2nd half and although this translated into lots of opportunities on goal, the first few were rather tame. It was only in the 60th minute that a stiff low cross from Marcus on the left crept under the FIOFAFI GK for Justin to tap home. A few minutes later, good work by Justin and Kee Min in the box saw FIOFAFI's left back Yuchi trip Kee Min for a penalty. Ronnie gave the keeper no chance. With the game at 4 - 3, it was all to play for but try as we did, there were no clear cut chances to equalise. James came in for Keith to shore up the defence and although we controlled the 2nd half, we couldn't do enough to prevent the loss.

It was a good effort by everyone who gave 100% effort on the field, but summarising from the post-mortem, we need to:

1. Communicate more with one another
2. Challenge for more 50-50 balls
3. Play more intelligently
4. Keep possession when we have the ball

Justin closed us in prayer, praying for a spirit of unity as we strive to play better soccer.

Afternote: Mark and I play for FIOFAFI, who are a group of working adults playing Futsal regularly at The Premier Pitch (Bukit Timah), The Cage (Kallang) and Sports Planet East Coast, weekday nights from Monday to Thursday. Do visit their website here if you want to join the group for Futsal. You might also want to read their version of the friendly.