Galacticos vs Hiding Place

The first competitive match for the youths, including some new strong additions from KKMC. All of us headed to the venue knowing our opponents will be tough and experienced.

Daniel, leading Team Galacticos for the game, discussed some important team strategies and instructions before kick-off.

Both side had about 10mins of fair share of possession before Hiding Place got the upper hand through a lack of inexperience in defending. The defence tried to push up but one defender played the corner-taker onsite which he easily made an early tap into the box slightly slow in played the corner-taker which resulted a ball being play onsite while the defence is pushing up.

The second goal came when a mistake when the ball was played through the middle where no one but the opponent picked up the loose ball and saw the inexperienced defence line, played a simple through ball only to Damien clear off the line but the striker finished it to seal the second goal.

Within a span of 5 minutes, Hiding Place's third goal came when the Galacticos midfield lost the ball, only to have Hiding Place's no.9 show a class of brilliance to blast the ball from far past the keeper.

With less than a minute left in the first half, Galacticos made a substitution to bring on Rusydi to replace Justin.

Half time. Team talk, players got a chance to point out the need to change certain ways in how they play. The team were more determined to fight the battle, fight for 50-50 challenges.

Hiding Place continued to pressure and press on, but after a couple of attacks, the Galacticos' opportunity came when Rusydi's run down the wing got cleared out into touch. The resulting throw-in to Rusydi was controlled down and tapped on for Kee Min who brought it well and make a good square pass across the box, where Jingzhong made a good run into the box to volley it past the keeper to bring one back.

Then after, Hiding Place brought on a fresh leg, replacing a midfielder for a defender where they easily cleared more of Galacticos' attacks.

The Galacticos continue to press on for more goals and one good opportunity was a through ball from the right across to Jingzhong where his 1-on-1 attempt on goal was saved brilliantly by the keeper. Yi Jun was then replaced by Lincoln.

Attacks continued to be thrown forward by the Galacticos, only to have poor final ball to end some attacks. After a couple of crosses were made by Rusydi, Hiding Place made a substitution to bring on a fresh leg to their left-wing to put more pressure on him.

The last good chance of the game came when Rusydi whipped in a corner where Yi Jun got to the ball, but only to have the keeper do enough to put him off.

Final score, Galacticos 1 - 3 Hiding Place.

It was definitely a good game for the Galacticos, considering that they lose 3-0 in first half, and to win the second half battle 1-0.

Soccer Fellowship Report [20th March]

With the rain finally easing off, and many eager to play, Saturdays Soccer Fellowship session was well attended. Kevin led devotion with some advice and wisdom about passion and enthusiasm, mentioning our team member Ronnie who still has enthusiasm for the game after many years of playing. People making a success of their lives have a real enthusiasm, for not just 30 minutes, or 30 days, but over many years.

The two teams lined up as usual with the younger 'brights' against the older ' darks'. The importance of the session seemed apparent to the 'bright's' - it was their last warm-up session before their first real game of the season. A team-talk before the start of the game seemed to have worked as the brights started well and showed some good determination and willingness to win the ball. The first 10 or 15 minutes of the game were fairly even, with the ball being played through the midfield, often picking up speed as long balls skidded off the surface, making control for both defence and attack difficult.

Brights quicker pace caused problems for the darks and they went ahead with a goal by Yi Jun as the brights cut through the darks stationary defence like butter. Good ball control by brights, keeping the ball on the ground and passing to feet, allowed them to out manoeuvre the darks and the reward was a well worked goal.

Brights continued from there onwards, clearly working as a team, passing the ball around nicely and pushing hard at the darks defence. Some good work down the flanks was also apparent, with some good overlap play from the wingers and full backs. However, some weak finishing and good saves kept brights at bay, and at the end of the first half darks broke away to get a fortunate equaliser from Glenn, who showed good determination in the box to tuck the ball away. Half-time 1-1.

The second half started much as the first, with the brights again applying the pressure. Their second goal came quickly, with Roy finishing well after more quick movement from brights. 2-1 to brights. Again, brights looked to push on but couldn't make their pace tell. Against the run of play, darks won a corner and poor marking left Steve open in the box for a free header from the corner. 2-2.

Finally, due to good persistence and continued team effort, brights managed the breakthrough, scoring twice in quick succession, the second of the two goals a brave header from a corner by Andrew, again as darks defence looked on motionless. 4-2 Brights.

With time running out and players beginning to tire, darks grabbed a consolation right on full-time as Jeff showed determination to win the ball inside the box under pressure from brights defence and keeper, poking the ball over the line, though suffering an injury in the process. Final score 4-3.

The brights were by far the better team, showing good team-work and passing skills. Certainly the best they have played pre-season. Some things for brights to watch though:

1) Be careful with rash challenges (you know who you are) - with points deduction for yellows and red cards you will let the whole team down, not just yourself, if lashing out in frustration.

2) Watch the marking from set pieces. If you pick a man, try to stay with him. Often mere presence is enough to put off a player and stop him from scoring.

3) When the ball is on the wings, try to get the ball across early. Sometimes good attacks were slowed down and the ball played backwards when on the attack. However, this requires the forwards to get into the box quickly and provide support for the winger.

All in all, much improved from brights and this should hold you in good stead for the real games. Just remember to play for each other.

For the darks:
1) Avoid stationary defending. Difficult against quick opponents given our age, but the running players must be picked up.

2) Stronger challenges to the ball. This doesn't mean taking out the opposing player, but actually going for the ball with commitment so that when you connect with the ball it goes where you want it to. Often weak challenges and poor passing gave opportunities to the brights.

3) Take chances in front of goal. Some games we will have few chances and it's key to make each attempt count. Composure in front of goal is very difficult, but can come with determination and good self belief and motivation. (Actually, the same comment can equally apply for brights)

With both teams in action in earnest this coming weekend, the warm-up session should provide some good clues to improve performance. Galacticos must remember to play as a team in their first game, and Vets have a hard game ahead against the defending champions - all the more important to get the challenges in with commitment.

Kevin closed in prayer, thank-full for another almost injury free game.

Soccer Fellowship [20th March]

Soccer Fellowship is on this Saturday, 20th March at Pasir Ris Secondary School*. The session will be from 5 - 7 pm. We were unable to secured the usual time slot for the field this month and so we hope this later start will be pleasing to those who prefer some cooler weather!

We will split the teams according to DARK and BRIGHT jerseys for this session , so please bring BOTH just in case we need to balance the teams out.

See you on Saturday and please pray for good weather!

*The address of Pasir Ris Secondary School is 390 Tampines Street 21. The car park nearest to the school field is along block 253. The map of the area around the school can be viewed HERE.

VETERANS 6-1 WIN OVER CPC IN THEIR MAIDEN AGAPE CUP 2010 OUTING

PMC Starting 11:
GK - Kelvin
RB - John S, CB - James, CB - Mark, LB - Adrian
RM - Ronnie, CM - George, CM - Kevin, LM - David H
CF - Steve, CF - Martin

Subs:
Andy C for John S (HT)
David T for Mark (HT)
Ramon for George (HT)
Daniel for David H (HT)
Jeffrey for Kevin (60m)
Justin for Martin (65m)
Derrick for Ronnie (70m)

Unused Subs:
John C, Sean, Joel, Yuen Wai, Raymond

It was raining heavily when the Veterans arrived at the Hiding Place for the start of their Agape Cup campaign against Covenant Presbyterian Church (CPC).

Just when everyone thought the game would be cancelled due to the soggy pitch conditions, the rain ligthened to a drizzle just long enough for the referee to give the go ahead. The mood of the players immediately bouyed as everyone started to kit-up in earnest.

After Singspiration and Devotions led by Yuen Wai, the teams took to the pitch with PMC's starting 11 consisting of a mix of regulars and new faces. Both teams struggled with the soggy pitch with passes stopping short and dribbles being stuck in the small ponds that formed throughout the pitch.

Playing a 4-4-2 formation, the physically stronger PMC team was first to adapt to the water ponding problems with long passes to their front men of Steve and Martin who had a few early shots at goal. With the rain starting to fall heavily again, it became apparent very early on from these tentative shots at goal that the CPC goalkeeper was decidedly nervous. The PMC team forged forward to take advantage of this perceived weakness in the opponents.

The PMC midfield comprising of Dave (left wing), Kevin (centre mid), George (centre mid) and Ronnie (right wing) were more aggressive than their opponents and thus controlled the midfield. The height advantage of Kevin and George in the centre also contributed tremendously in allowing PMC to keep possession.

The 1st goal started down the left flank with Dave and Kevin working the ball into the opponents half. Kevin sent a long cross-field pass to Ronnie on the right wing taking the opponents by surpise. After dribbling past his marker at the touch line, Ronnie sent a curling left foot shot into the left corner of the goal taking the nervous keeper completely by surprise. This sent the (dry) PMC fans, who had taken shelter under the zinc roof along the touch lines, into loud cheers and shouts! High fives were also seen being exchanged between the (wet) players on the field.

The 2nd goal came shortly after. The play again started from the mid-field where PMC was firmly in control. The ball was passed to Steve who sent a long stiff shot into the top left hand corner past the bewildered keeper. The goal was almost identical to the earlier goal scored by Ronnie earlier. The weakness of the opponents keeper was being exploited to the fullest.

The opponents had a few opportunities at scoring but were stopped mostly in their tracks by the back four comprised of John Simpson (right back), Mark (Centre), James (Centre) and Adrain (left back). The main threat came down the left flanks from the opponents no.14 who had already been identified from the youtube videos as the man to mark! Adrain dealt with him comfortably and on those occasions where he managed to cut into the centre, James and Mark gave him no room to manouvre.

There were a few scary moments for PMC when the opponent's no. 14 managed to send a cross from the right but the opponents lacked the finish to score in the ensuing goal mouth melee. PMC had an extra '12th player' in the form of a large puddle of water in front of our goal mouth which on one occasion stopped the ball on the goal line when it seemed to be headed for the goal!

Kelvin, who was keeping goal for PMC, had a torried time dealing with the wet conditions and was forced on several occasions to take a 'bath' in the large puddle of water in front of him just in order to get on top of the ball! The brand-new silver goalkeeper's jersey looked like it had seen better days!

The 3rd goal came again from a cross from the midfield. Martin, who was facing away from goal, rose to meet the header and flicked the ball backwards. The dipping ball eluded the opponents keeper who was now truly demoralised. By this time, the opponents had totally lost all confidence in their keeper, who by all accounts looked like he was merely a stand-in for their regular keeper. One of the opponent's defenders took over as keeper and their nervous keeper was unceremoniously substituted by another midfielder.

The opponent's fortunes however did not change for the better with the substitutions. PMC's 4th goal came courtesy of Steve who scored from a beautiful cross from the left wing. This was Steve's 2nd goal and everyone on the PMC bench was now rooting for a hat-trick.

By now the opponents frustrations at the water-logged conditions was getting the best of them, although to their credit, they kept their cool and did not commit any rash tackles.

The 1st half ended with the score at 4-0 in favour of PMC.

During the half-time and in the 2nd half, Mark (Captain) made several substitutions with David Teong, Andy, Jeffrey, Derrick, Daniel, Ramon and Justin coming on to replace Mark, John Simpson, Dave, Ronnie, Kevin, George and Martin.

The team was also re-organised with Ramon and Steve in front, Daniel, Justin, Derrick and Jeffrey in the midfield and James, Andy, David and Adrain at the back.

PMC was now attacking the water-logged end of the pitch. Surprisingly, this did not deter the PMC attack and the 5th goal and Steve's hat-trick came from a cross from Ronnie on the right wing after a mazy run along the goal line. The cross eluded all the defenders and fell to Steve, who had positioned himself at the left goal post, for a simple tap in from the only 'dry' spot in front of the opponent's goal!

The 5th goal put a "comfortable" distance between PMC and our opponents. Justin was overhead saying "I dont think we even scored this many goals for the entire Agape Cup last year!" (to be verified).

As the rain had stopped by now and the ground was much drier, the opponent's pace was more apparent. A move down the right wing saw the off-side trap being beaten and resulted in a consolation goal for the opponents.

By now, time was running out for the opponents and PMC finished off the game with their 6th goal which started off down the right flank by Justin who evaded a few defenders before firing a stiff right foot shot into the bottom right hand corner of the goal.

The PMC defence held off further challenges by the opponents and the referee blew the final whistle to end the opponents misery.

Overrall the game was fairly played, with good sportsmanship all round. It was obvious that the rain played to PMC's advantage as it slowed down the play considerably and prevented the opponents from capitalising on their pace.

As always, the mid-field played a crucial role in the game and the bigger built of the PMC players compared to their opponents worked in our favour.

Several positive observations from the side-lines:

a. TEAMWORK was the key to the team's success against CPC - the attackers comprising Steve, Martin and Ramon worked together with the midfield as 1 cohesive unit. The attackers constantly tracked backed to challenge for the ball in the midfield leaving the midfield to pick up lose balls.

This meant that there was effectively 6 PMC players vs 4 CPC players in the midfield. Of course having fit attackers played a part and in this regard, Martin, Steve and Ramon are to be commended.

b. Tall midfielders - the 2 tall midfielders Kevin and George provided a target for Kelvin our keeper to aim for. Also they won quite a few balls that came from the opponent's goal kicks. This put a lot of pressure on the opponent's defence as the game was played mostly in their half.

c. Short passes - although we had quick wingers, they chose to make short passes instead of dribbling down the line. This allowed the midfield to play as a close unit and supported each other going up. Of course the water-logged pitch did not allow for much dribbling to begin with but this provided a valuable lesson in the merits of short passes.

d. Commitment to tackles - all players especially defenders were committed to their tackles. This gave us a psychological advantage as CPC knew from early on that PMC would not shy away from hard but fair tackling. The centres, Mark and James, also did a great job covering the right and left backs with hard tackles whenever the pacier wingers evaded the left/right backs.

Photos from Agape Cup Opening Match .vs. CPC

Pending the full report from Yuen Wai and the video footage courtesy of Voxsports, here are some photos from today's 6 - 1 victory over Covenant Presbyterian Church.

Players arrived early, kitted up and waited for the rain to stop


New faces to the squad this season - Dave & John


Ronnie wondering when the rain would stop


PMC Veterans ready to go!


'Wet' would be an understatement


James going in hard to win the ball


Celebrating Veterans' 1st goal of the season, by Ronnie


Supporters watching intensely


The manager barking out instructions from the bench


Andy goes for the long throw!

Gleeful supporters cheering the team on


James & David Teong ready to tackle any opponent


Justin running along


Steve & Justin chasing down a ball to show commitment


Derrick in full flight

Soccer Fellowship Report [6th March]

With soccer fellowship starting at 5pm instead of at the usual time of 3pm, the cool overcast skies (or was it the haze?) were certainly a welcome relief from the usual scorching 3pm sun. Bangshi led us in devotion from the Book of James as we welcomed more new players to our Soccer Community.

Both sides formed up according to the Whites and the Blues and it was evident that the Whites were comprised of mostly the younger players (and maybe 1 or 2 who were pretending to be young) with the Blues chock full of experienced players.

The match kicked off with play tentative in the opening 15 minutes as both sides tried to suss each other out. The Whites were having plenty of possession and stroking the ball about comfortably without ever really threatening as the Blues did enough to snuff out any threats.

Midway through the first half the Whites finally got the breakthrough they needed as some good play by Jingzhong down the left flank resulted in the ball finding it’s way to Yi Jun as he made no mistake from inside the box. Whites 1 – Blues 0. There was little to choose from between the teams thereafter as the Blues started to get into the game with good passing and movement resulting in some credible opportunities for the Blues. But with no further goals resulting the first half drew to a close. Half time score: Whites 1 – Blues 0.

The second half kicked off after both teams took a breather as the Blues looked to get back into the game as the Whites looked to consolidate and further their lead. The younger Whites were clearly the fresher of the 2 teams as they upped the tempo and stretched the Blues down the flanks thus creating more space in midfield for them to exploit. The Blues to their credit doggedly stuck to their task as the Whites weren’t finding it easy to break them down. But it wasn’t long before the Whites exploited the extra space created in midfield as some strong tackling and good passing resulted in Andrew drilling a shot past the keeper as he took his chance early before the Blues’ defence could close him down. Whites 2 – Blues 0. This gave the Whites the confidence they needed as they started to take the game to the Blues and momentum was clearly on their side. Further good play in midfield enabled the Whites to go a further goal up as their younger legs were getting them first to every 50-50 ball and clearly giving them the extra impetus. Whites 3 – Blues 0. The Blues however never gave up and always looked threatening on the break with good target man play by Steve and Ramon. It was one’ve those breaks which resulted in a goal for the Blues as Steve controlled a ball lobbed over the top and calmly put it past Joel who was in goal for the Whites. It was clinical finishing and scarcely more than the Blues deserved for all their good play so far. Whites 3 – Blues 1.

There wasn’t much time left on the clock before the game drew to a close and we closed in prayer giving thanks for another good session of inury-free football.

Full time score: Whites 3 – Blues 1

Soccer Fellowship [6th Mar]

Soccer Fellowship is on this Saturday, 6th March at Pasir Ris Secondary School*. The session will be from 5 - 7 pm. We were unable to secured the usual time slot for the field this month and so we hope this later start will be pleasing to those who prefer some cooler weather!

We will split the teams according to DARK and BRIGHT jerseys for this session , so please bring BOTH just in case we need to balance the teams out.

See you on Saturday and please pray for good weather!

*The address of Pasir Ris Secondary School is 390 Tampines Street 21. The car park nearest to the school field is along block 253. The map of the area around the school can be viewed HERE.

Friendly match Veterans .vs. CMC Report [27th Feb]

The scorching heat from previous outings never seemed to let up as PMC and CMC gathered for a friendly at St Patrick’s School before their respective campaign starts at the Agape Cup in a few weeks. CMC easily had 20 players ready to go at kick-off time while the PMC team had barely their starting 11. Thank God Yuen Wai and John Chia streamed in so that PMC could have a full team at the start. With a number of regulars missing, Justin helped to organize a somewhat make-shift 4-5-1 team for kick-off. Regular Kelvin was in goal with the back four of Mark Leong, David Teong, John and Yuen Wai. Dave and John Chia took the wings while Justin, David Sng and Steve held the midfield together with Ramon up front.

PMC was on the back foot right from the kick-off with CMC’s speed and teamwork clearly causing big problems. Within the first 15 minutes, CMC got their first goal through one of those moves that found its way right pass our defense for the CMC striker to slot home. CMC 1 – PMC 0.

With Michael Chua, Daniel, Parris and Felix arriving, PMC started to substitute some of the more weary legs and in particular, Daniel provided fresh impetus by taking over David Sng in the holding midfield role. PMC quickly stringed together a few decent plays with one finally reaching the back of the net. The move started with Justin breaking the run of play with a tackle in midfield and passing the ball to Steve who made a through pass down the flank to Dave, whose stiff cross into the box was guided into goal by Ramon. CMC 1 – PMC 1.

The score remained the same at half-time and while CMC brought on many more fresh legs at the half, the obviously more senior PMC team looked more worn out throughout the 2nd half. However, the first 10 minutes of the 2nd half did see PMC heap significant pressure on the CMC defense though none quite found the mark. Quickly, CMC turned the tables and it seemed that every failed PMC attack almost led to a goal being conceded on the opposite end. One such counter-attack led to CMC’s 2nd goal with a lob totally beating PMC’s offside trap and the CMC striker easily stroked the ball pass Michael Chua. Not long after, another long ball from CMC was slightly misjudged by Mike who allowed the pursuing CMC striker to steal the ball and roll it into the empty net. Kudos to John who tried his best to keep it out only to tumble into the goal with the ball.

Both sides tried to improve their score towards the end but to no avail and final score, CMC 3 – PMC 1.

Clearly, some of the key feedback from the players was:

• Lack of key regular players, especially in central midfield
• Silly mistakes cost the team the advantage
• Not enough passing
• Lack of fitness prevented the team from moving up and down as a unit
• Lack of awareness of positioning and where team mates were

Reported by : Justin Ang & Mark Leong