Agape Cup 2009 - Panthers Match #8 .vs. HFC [23rd August]

A cold wet sunday precedes Panthers game against HFC. Afew Panthers were absent for 1 reason or another and hence, loaned afew Pandas over for this game. At kickoff, only excatly 11 players arrived for Panthers whereas HMC had a shortage of players too, starting the game with 10. Panthers had Felipe in goal, veteran Jimmy sweeper and Jem stopping infront. Sam Eyo at LB and Andy on the right makeup the defence. At the centre of the pitch is Derrick and Keemin with Marcus down the left and Nigel on the right. Upfront Justin partnered David, and after Felipe had his gear on, HFC kicked off the match with 10 men before their 11th man join in sometime into the first half.

1st Half:
Opening minutes saw lots of physical tussel in midfield, with misplace passes, misread high ball and poor touches, largely due to the condition of the wet pitch. Challenges were coming in fast and ball went out of play more often than not, with Nigel and Andy on the right seeing lots of possesion. Long balls to David and Justin were dealt with by HFC big defenders while Derrick easily dominated aerially in centre midfield whenever HFC launched long balls.
Incident 1:
Midway through the 1st half, Marcus was ridiculously yellowcarded for a foul by HFC. Pushing down the left, HFC RB was apparently unable to reach the ball and thus bodychecked and obstructed Marcus, sending him to the floor. Surprisingly referee blew for HFC freekick and issued Marcus a yellow card of which Marcus was clearly not happy about. Play stopped for awhile as Marcus confronted the referee. Not sure what the referee said, but Marcus was told to calm down and walk away, hence play resume. Having failed to attack down Panthers right, HFC turned their attention to the left towards the end of first half. Sam Eyo lacked of pace was exposed a couple of time but Jem and Felipe did enough to cover up.
Panther's goal:
Just before halftime, a long ball to David was controlled beautifully and as he turn in the box, HFC defenders sandwiched and sent David to the ground. A clear foul but referee once again somehow cant seem to see the obvious. Fortunately strike partner Justin came in at the right time and place, slotting the loose ball cooly past HFC goalkeeper. After the restart, the opposite pitch halftime whistle somehow reminded the referee that halftime is here.

Half time: Panthers 1 HFC 0.

2nd Half:
Panthers kicked off the 2nd half making changes to the midfield. 'Hot headed' Marcus was replaced by Jingzhong on the left and Ryusdi replaced Nigel on the right, adding much pace to wings. HFC also make changes to their team, sending their speedy wingers down their right now (clearly spoting Panthers LB lack of pace) and adding another technical striker to partner their big targetman. Opening minutes of 2nd half saw both teams attacking down the wings but at the final third often produce nothing as both side defence coped well. Positive attacking play is often seen down Panthers right as Andy and Rysudi torment down the wings, with David shouldering close to their last man and getting himself to a couple of good position. HFC on the other hand constantly attack down the left, taking on Sam Eyo on the left and many times left him catching nothing. Fortunately Jem and Keemin covered him a couple of times and HFC final shot end up over the fence more often than not. Midway into the second half, Justin make way for John to come in.
HFC's equaliser:
HFC persistence down Panthers left finally paid off as their equaliser soon came. Beating Sam Eyo at the left, Jem did enough to cover and win back possesion but his mispass back out to Sam was intercepted and the ball came back into the penalty box. In an attempt to get back the ball, Jem bodychecked the HFC striker coming in, sending him to the ground (apparently too soft) easily. Referee blew for a penalty immediately, and when Jem questioned why, referee replied that the striker was 'tripped' (the referee judgment of the game is obviously blurred with this kind of reasoning). HFC then duly converted the penalty with a powerful drive, nothing that Felipe can do much about. At 1-1, the intensity of play increase as both side looked for the winning goal.
Incident 2:
Derrick pushed up to support David and almost and should have gotten Panthers infront. A long ball forward saw Derrick through on goal and as HFC GK came out for the high ball, Derrick got to it first in the box but HFC GK nudged onto his back and sent Derrick to the ground clutching his back. A clear penalty claim, almost identical to the last BPL game between Portsmouth and Birmingham (where David James came out for the ball but Birmingham's Mcfadden nick it before James, and James momentum simply floored the Birmingham striker and referee awarded a clear penalty). Derrick had no choice but to continue the rest of the game with an aching back.
Incident 3:
Next to the ground was Andy as he was nudged the ground by HFC LM after he cleared the ball away to the touch but referee simply just waved played on, leaving Andy stranded on the gounded. A clear foul but because referee failed to blow the foul, Panthers were unable to attend to him as HFC were holding onto possesion. When referee finally see Andy on the ground, play stopped to check if hes ok. By then Andy is already on his feet limping back to his position.
HFC winning goal:
With Andy limping, HFC switched to the right to attack Panthers LB again. Its resulting cross from HFC right to the far post saw a free header nodded in by the same player on the left who earlier injured Andy. With that goal, opposite pitch blew the final whistle and the referee here let play for another minute before blowing the final whistle as well.

Final Score: Panthers 1 HFC 2

One side point, it was noticed that the referee of our game officiated without a watch. With so many stoppages in this game, one wonders if his timecheck based on the opposite pitch is actually accurate, especially since both pitch have different amount of time stoppages. Well the ball is round and life's like that...

Friendly Match (Soccer Community XI .vs. CMC) Report [16th August]

It was an absolutely fine day for soccer. It was raining in most parts of Singapore and even though there were some dark clouds over Ping Yi Secondary School, God blessed us with the cool weather to enjoy an afternoon of soccer.

As the players gathered for devotion before kick-off, I shared about how at the mid-point of the year (or thereabouts), it is always good to take stock to see what kind of 'renovation' needs to take place in our lives. It could apply to our soccer team, in our work or studies, but most importantly, God wants us to look at our hearts to see what we may need to REMOVE, REPLACE or REPAIR so as to maintain a right relationship with Him.

The match kicked off with the following players from the Soccer Community in a 4-2-3-1 formation:

GK- Jeremy Tan

RB- Daniel

SW- Kevin

CB- Mark

LB- Damien Chua

DMR- Timothy Loke

DML- Kee Min

RM- Jingzhong

AM- Timothy Cheong

LM- Marcus

ST- Yi Jun

The bench was made up of Samuel Eyo, Rusydi, Andy and Damian Chee.

The match started with both sides very enthusiastic, quick to the ball and pressing for an early goal in a very direct manner of play with most balls launched forwards. Play was pretty much even with both sides losing possession in the final third either through aimless passing or poor ball control by the forwards. Tim Loke tried to pick up the slack in midfield by holding play well, taking a couple of shots on goal which went high and wide. The CMC players were moving the ball quickly to the wings in the hope that a deadly cross would find their forwards free, but none did. The same story could be said for us, with crosses by Marcus not finding anyone in the box. It was in the 15th min of play that some calamitous defending resulted in a CMC long ball finding its way into our penalty box. Although the ball was deflected, punched and knocked around, it was not cleared well and a goal-bound effort was palmed away by Damien Chua with Jeremy off his line. The generous referee only gave Damien a yellow card (instead of red) and pointed to the spot for the penalty. CMC's #10 calmly stepped up and blasted the ball into net to give CMC the 1-0 lead.

Going behind galvanised the Soccer Community XI to work together for a goal. This was slightly disrupted when Marcus took a knock on the left wing and had to replaced. Rusydi came in at right midfield with Jingzhong moving to the left. This unplanned substitution had a positive effect on the game as Damien Chua and Jingzhong worked numerous times to string moves that sent good crosses into the box for the forwards to attack. On one such inter-play, Jingzhong laid off the ball to Damien, whose 1st time curler fooled the keeper and ended up into the top left-hand corner of his net. It was 1-1. At the 25th minute mark, the planned substitutions were made:

1. Andy replacing Daniel at RB

2. Samuel taking over Yi Jun as ST

3. Damian Chee coming on in place of Tim Cheong at AM.

Play continued to move in our favour, although CMC did threaten a few times with hopeful long balls and a few forays down the wing. Damien was starting to have a man-of-the-match performance at left-back, marking the forwards well and supporting the attack. Another man-of-the-match candidate Tim Loke then started the move that led to our 2nd goal. Taking the ball in midfield, he beat 2 players before laying the ball off to the racing Rusydi on the right wing. Rus cut into the box and centered the ball for Damian Chee to thump into the goal. At 2-1, we pressed on for the 3rd goal before half-time but this didn't materialise.

The half-time break was very casual, with chit chatting and friendly banter. This is perhaps where the 'friendly mentality' set in which 'ruined' our 2nd half. The team started with the starting 11 again, with Marcus trying his hand at GK and Jeremy playing RM. With CMC chasing for an equaliser and us mentally dropping our guard, we let too many long balls catch us off guard, leading to 2 very soft goals. The 1st came when the ball in our third was not well cleared. It found its way into the box and when both Marcus and the defenders rushing towards it, the CMC winger played it square to the forward who tapped it into an empty net. Not long after, a dinked ball wrong-footed the defence, leaving another forward with an easy chance against Marcus. It was defending at its worst and at the 20th min mark, both Mark and myself were replaced by Andy (SW) and Samuel (CB) respectively. Play settled down for the next phase, with both teams having opportunities but not converting. The remainder of the substitutes came on- Nigel replacing Damien at LB. Damian Chee coming on for Tim Cheong at AM. Rus replacing Tim Loke at DMR. The highlights for the remainder of the match had to be 2 wonderful saves from Marcus, both coming off well-hit shots that he had to tip over the bar.

After the match ended, handshakes were exchanged and a prayer was said to close the session. The match was certainly played in good spirits and everyone enjoyed themselves.

MWS Tournament 2009 [29th August]

MWS Charity Soccer Tournament 2009

29 August, Saturday, AR-JAS Sports Centre (600 West Coast Road)

The MWS Charity Soccer Tournament is here once again. Funds raised will continue to help more than 6,000 disadvantaged persons a month in our community through the 13 services of MWS – three centres for children, a centre for youths and children, an annual bursary programme for students, five Family Service Centres, Bethany Methodist Nursing Home, Christalite Methodist Home, and Agape Methodist Hospice.

This year the target is to raise $100,000 from sponsors as well as what the participating teams contribute. Entry fees is $400 per team of 15 players and as per normal, it will be 50-50 co-payment with PMC, with each team coming up with $200.

I'm sure many of us had good memories from last year's tournament when both teams entered the knock-out stages and the Pandas came in 3rd overall. The report, comments and photos from last year's tournament can be found here for us to relive the good memories -

1. Panthers' Report

2. Pandas' Report

3. Photos

The number of teams we register this year will depend on the number of people who sign up. If we hit 24, we will definitely send in 2 teams of 12 each.

As usual, please signal intent to play on this blog post. I know many have already booked their calendar for this.

Agape Cup 2009 - Panthers Match #7 .vs. Calvary Assembly of God [9th August]

'National Day Soccer' would be a phrase that sounds good to the ears, but it certainly wasn't in this case as too many Panthers were away for the long weekend, leaving the team with insufficient players for the match against CAG. With our opponents facing the same difficulty, the Tournament Organising Committee (TOC) decided to allow both teams to field un-registered players for this match in order for the fixture to go ahead. I started off by inviting Pandas, but when even that couldn't guarantee enough players, I proceeded to ask friends and players from other teams I play with, to join in.

With a significant number of 'maybes' and 'non-replies', it was indeed a surprise that on match day, 18 players turned up. The full squad of players were:

1. Kevin (Panthers)

2. Rusydi (Panthers)

3. James (Panthers)

4. Raymond (Panthers)

5. Joel (Panthers)

6. Kee Min (Panthers)

7. Marcus (Panthers)

8. Bevan (Panthers)

9. Timothy (Panthers)

10. David Sng (Pandas)

11. David Teong (Pandas)

12. David Lim (Pandas)

13. Jingzhong (Pandas)

14. Mark Taylor (Guest)

15. Darren Chia (Guest)

16. Charpin Tan (Guest)

17. Vincent Lee (Guest)

18. Mr RB [who doesn't wish to be named] (Guest)

After singspiration led by Mark Chan from CMC and a testimony by CAG, we lined-up in a 4-2-3-1 formation to start the match:

To say that we dominated the 1st 20min of the match would be an understatement. The forward quartet completely kept play in the opponent's half of the pitch with foray after foray being launched. Many of which tried to use the speed of David Lim on the right-wing, who was having his best game in a PMC jersey. On 2 occasions he was 1-on-1 with the GK, with only poor finishing letting him down. The team continued to press for a goal, leaving CAG with long range pot-shots that Mark easily smothered. In midfield, the high balls were dealt with by myself and Kee Min broke up our opponent's play on the ground. David Sng was also doing tireless work up front to win balls and link up play with Timothy. It was thus against the run of play when a CAG long ball found their forward free on our right wing. James sped to intercept the ball in the box but inadvertently took the man out instead, conceding a penalty! However, the trend of teams not being able to score against us from the spot continued, with the CAG penalty-taker pulling his shot wide of Mark's left-hand post. This was the 4th 'miss' against us this season. Putting this incident behind us, we continued to press hard for a goal, which did not come despite numerous corners and free-kicks that were launched into the box. 1 of these found its way to me, but my first-time volley screamed wide of the GK's top right-hand-corner. Good work by the defence kept it tight at the back and the referee blew for half-time.

4 changes were made at the half:

1. Rusydi for David Sng up front

2. Vincent for David Lim on the right wing

3. Charpin for Jingzhong on the left wing

4. Mr RB for Darren at right back

The team started the 2nd half where we left off in the first, pressing hard for a goal to give us a lead. This time, both flanks contributed to this effort, with Charpin and Vincent getting many touches on the ball. Vincent also helped himself to some long range shots that either the GK saved or did not find the target. In this series of plays, a ball into the box found its way to me, but with only the GK to beat, I conjured to do blast the ball high into the back-netting instead. It was a nightmarish miss and in Timothy's words - 'I owed the team big time'. It was much to everyone's relief that our opening goal finally came, in surprising fashion. A long clearance by CAG into our half found Mr RB trying his luck ala Xabi Alonso. Mr RB's first time volley was long and high and its bounce fooled the keeper who was off his line. It was 1-0 to the Panthers! The advantage galvanised us to press on for more goals. This could surely have come when Rusydi and Timothy faced a single CAG defender in a 2-on-1 situation. However, Rusydi tried to score from a tight-angle leading to an easy save, instead of passing to Timothy who was open. Another glorious opportunity presented itself when Vincent, Rusydi and Charpin tried to scramble the ball into the net from well inside the penalty box but the ball refused to enter. In the process, the over-reactive CAG GK tried to 'be funny' with Vincent, who told the GK that he would have nothing of it, causing the referee to step in and warn the GK for unsportsmanlike behaviour. Our 2nd goal finally came when a free-kick was awarded after the CAG RB used his hands on me as I tried to chest-down Bevan's throw. From the subsequent direct free-kick, Bevan curled a beauty into the GK's top left-hand corner. We seem to be free-kick specialists with this being the 3rd goal scored from a direct free-kick this season.

With the 2-goal advantage, we tried to hold the ball and slow the match down, but wasn't too successful in doing so. The CAG players were pressing fast and tried to rob us of the ball at every opportunity. It was around this time that there was some confusion with our final substitutions, leaving only Joel to come in for Timothy for the remaining 10min. Within that time, CAG managed to pull a goal back when a long ball found a striker free (albeit in an offside position from our point of view) who placed his shot beyond the diving Mark. A minute after that, the referee blew for half-time, securing our 2nd win of the Agape Cup campaign.

Result aside, it was a good game played by everyone considering the number of newcomers to the team. We thank all non-Panthers for taking the time and effort to help us out on National Day and hope to play with you guys again soon!

Liverpool in Singapore

Abit late with this post, but nonetheless here to chip in my experience with the Reds when they were in town! As everyone know by now, Singapore were thrashed by Liverpool 5 goals recently about 2 weeks ago at our very own National Stadium. Im not going to say much about the match since most of you should have read about it in the papers or over the net. Just going to share some photos and talk abit about the atmosphere in the stadium during the match.





There happen to be an Agape cup match during that long-awaited sunday and straight at 5pm, i had to rush home and head down to the stadium. As expected, there were major traffic jams leading to the roads of the stadium, machiam like the past NDPs with TPs trying to guide the flow of vehicles. Even when 1 manage to enter stadium boulavard, finding parking is another major problem. Ive resorted to parking at TheCage narrow road and then walk quite a distance up to my west entrance which is near the indoor stadium side.











Outside the stadium, everywhere people were wearing all kinds of liverpool jerseys and scarfs, some even had banners, mostly wanting Xabi Alonse to stay. Unfortunately everyone knows that he left for Madrid and Benitez has brought in Aquilani to replace him. Anyway i did not get to enjoy the atmosphere at KOP east side of the stadium but i can still hear them from my gallery west side, singing all kinds of Anfield song.

Inside the stadium:

My view, from where i sit, of our very own KOP side. KOP side passing the banner from right to left.



Finally at about 710pm, both teams appear from the tunnels. At first glance, the starting 11 has no major big names except for Carragher. Side note, Carragher looks simply like a giant in real person, big and massive!

Anyway, Torres was not seen in both the starting 11 as well as the substitute bench and that broght alot of jeering from my side of audience. Everyone keep asking where Torres is, especially when theres already no Gerrard.






Starting 11 warming up with passes as officials get ready. Everywhere, KOP songs were being sang.


Match soon started with the score being 1-0 to liverpool at halftime as Voronin scored just before halftime.














At halftime, the most eagerly anticipated star finally appear from the tunnel, bringing screeching cheers from everywhere, particularly the ladies...













And there he goes, joining the rest of the subs to warming up with '2 monkeys' game, 1 touch passing. Throughout halftime, typical British pop music were played which Glen Johnson is obviously enjoying it, sitting happily on the bench since hes injured. To see videos of liverpool training at halftime, go to my facebook page.













2nd half soon begin and everyone was just waiting for benitez to start bringing on the real stars into the game.

<-- Mass substitution brought loud applauces from everyone.

When the match finally ended, Torres jersey was exchanged the quickest, not sure which singapore player got it though. Riera and Alonso lost theirs too. Prize presentation followed. Unfortunately my seat dont allow me a good angle at them holding up the cup.

For more photos , visit my facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/jeremy87?ref=profile&__a=1#/album.php?aid=268020&id=740325430

Soccer Fellowship 'Special' [15th August]

The Singapore Sports Council has cancelled our field booking at East Spring Secondary on Saturday, 15 August, because of a Scouts Camp.

I have thus arranged a 'special' Soccer Fellowship friendly with Christ Methodist Church @ their homeground - Ping Yi Secondary School (61 Chai Chee Street). We will meet at 4pm for devotion before kickoff.

This will NOT be a match between Agape Cup teams. Instead, we will form a Soccer Community XI from the entire community to take on CMC's fellowship group.

Yes, there will be a referee, but focus will be on having a nice run-out and fellowship. Lock this in your diary if you are keen.

Please leave a comment on this blog post to register your interest.

Soccer Fellowship Report [1st Aug]

Saturday's fellowship game was played among 11 itchy legged players who probably have not kicked the ball for quite awhile. Weather was great with windy cooling temperature. The 11 of us split ourselves into teams wearing red and blue jersey against teams wearing other tops. Michael open the session with a prayer before we proceed to our mini game played using 1 half of the field, goal post being the low bench on each side.
Playing on a smaller pitch means its more about keeping possesion, passing more than dribbling and off the ball movement and 1st half is definitely full of that, with goals to both side, including 1 tap-in goal by talented young Amos for the Red and Blue team. Apparently Amos have the talent to be a top class striker as many chances fell to him, only for him to trip and fall a couple of times. Amos, defintite future berbetov-to-be with his laziness at chasing after the ball, yet always at the right place at the right time, to give the final touch and send the ball rolling beneath the benches!
Second half see many tired legs out there as the tempo of the game slowed down. Star striker Amos can now be seen 'camping' at the opponents goal by sitting at the bench and waiting for his always energetic teammates to service him with good delivery. Goals continue to come as tired players failed to drop, ending in many 3 attackers against 1 defender scenerios. As the 5pm players stroll into the field, Ronnie called the game to an end. And obviously everyone knows who the man-of-the-match is!