Agape Cup 2009 - Panthers Match #3 .vs. Wesley Methodist [31st May]

As it has been the last few weeks, the weather was stinking hot and the worship/devotion time easily reminded some of us of our army days baking in the sun. Wesley led the worship in acapella and without music or lyrics to sing along to, the worship leader gave an admirable rendition of “Amazing Grace” and “You Raise Me Up”. The devotion focused on the story of Zaccheus in the Bible and how much Jesus reaches out to each of us no matter how far we have fallen.

After 2 previous defeats, the Panthers turned up with a “must win” attitude against the only team below us in the league table. Unfortunately, the chain of emails before the match already revealed our lack of numbers due to travelling, injury and exhaustion so we were fortunate to have a full team at kick-off with 2 substitutes in Jonathan and Raymond. Without our full first team line-up, we tried to fill in the gaps as best as we could with the below formation.


With visibly weaker opponents compared to our previous matches, the Panthers started the match strongly with good passing and promising attempts on goal. It was not long before the Panthers took the early lead. Derrick brought the ball down the right flank and floated it into the box. Justin managed to trap the ball, elude the oncoming Wesley defender and slotted the ball home into the right corner of the net. PMC Panthers 1, Wesley 0.

As it has happened on numerous occasions, the Panthers started to let up and Wesley began to play. A quick counter attack saw their main Caucasian striker speed down the right flank with James reacting quickly to tackle him. He tumbled in the box and the referee blew for a penalty, with James protesting to no avail. Sean rose to the challenge and guessed right, pushing the penalty shot out of play. This was the start of a rather fast paced game with end to end attacking and defending by both teams. Shortly after, Joel was out of steam and had to be substituted for Raymond to fill in as right back. It was then Wesley’s turn to level the game. A long ball came in for their main striker and he powered his way to the goal. James tried his best to hold him back but somehow he managed a low shot from the left, beating Sean at the near post. Both team had a few more chances for the rest of the half with Felipe coming close on a few occasions and Ronnie hitting the post as well.

Half Time Score: PMC Panthers 1 - Wesley 1

Felipe seemed to feel the strain of playing up front and his injury was starting to show again, prompting Ronnie to prepare Jonathan to come in for him after the first 10 minutes of the 2nd half. There were no substitutions at half time but Derrick swapped with Justin to strike and Justin sitting back in centre midfield. Timothy also dropped back to be the last man as Kevin moved to left midfield. Both teams started off the blocks in the 2nd half and once again, the Panthers had a few more chances at the opposition goal with Felipe just short of the finishing touch when it mattered. Raymond, who was already nursing an injury before the game, could no longer continue and had to substitute for Jonathan at right back. There was no choice but to keep Felipe in the game and it finally paid off when he found the back of the net shortly after through a long ball from midfield. PMC Panthers 2, Wesley 1.

The Panthers worked hard to maintain their lead and withstood the attacks from Wesley well. Unfortunately, the Panthers then sustained another injury with Justin, who had no choice but to limp on in the game with no substitutions left. A sigh of relief finally came for the Panthers when in a reverse of the 1st half, Justin turned provider for Derrick with a cross into the box which Derrick tapped home from close range. PMC Panthers 3, Wesley 1.

The Panthers started to fall back in groups to defend our lead for the ending stages of the game and this allowed Wesley to camp heavily in our half. This finally resulted in a long range effort from the right from Wesley which Sean misjudged and failed to keep it out from the back of the net. PMC Panthers 3, Wesley 2.

As you would expect, the last few minutes were a mix of frantic defending and ball chasing from the Panthers and there was great joy when the final whistle blew for the Panthers to take their 1st win and 3 valuable points for the Agape Cup.

Final score: PMC Panthers 3 - Wesley 2