'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!
1 comment:
Great job guys! :)
AD
Post a Comment