Friendly match vs HFC Report (26th February)

It was raining in some parts of the island on Sunday afternoon, causing some players to question whether the match would be on. Feelings were mixed as many players were unavailable this weekend, and a number of veterans had to come make up the numbers, including 2 friends joining the Soccer Team for the 1st time. Nonetheless the weather cleared, and weather was perfect as players arrived at Greenview Secondary to take on Harvester Football Club. The only confusion that greeted us was that the Hinghwa Methodist Church team had also turned up, and as they found out later, at the wrong field!

David & Isaiah kitting up for the match

As the players warmed up, we could see that HFC was a much changed side from the one we beat 2-1 late last year. The players were younger and there were many new faces amongst the 20 players they had. Certainly this must have been orchestrated with their participation in the ESPZen league in mind. We were also most surprised to see Benny (Brian's friend) in their ranks, and if his ability was now the new standard for HFC, we knew we would be in for a tough time. With just 13 players arriving at kick-off, the following PMC team was fielded:

Isaiah - Steve

Daniel Chen - Kevin - Kee Min - Yi Jun

Damien - David - Jeremy - Jacob

Michael

It was clear from the start that HFC was going to play possession football. Keeping the ball at their feet and passing the ball round comfortably, the PMC team spent much of the 1st few minutes keeping shape and breaking the play up. In the middle, it was clear that Benny was pulling the strings for the revamped HFC team. On the wings, HFC's wingers were speedy and tricky, but Damien and Jacob dealt with them ably. PMC was left to play a counter-attacking game with some long balls to Steve and Isaiah. Although HFC enjoyed the lion's share of possession in the 1st 20min, they could not break down the determined PMC rear-guard, which performed commendably. Michael also proved to be a safe pair of hands. However on the attack, PMC also did not offer much, with the midfield being closed down quickly. It was thus left to the long ball to trouble the HFC defence and on more than one occasion, Isaiah and Steve found the time and space to take pot-shots which the HFC keeper dealt with. However, he had absolutely no chance when a pass from Steve saw Isaiah curl a right-foot shot from outside the box which went straight into goal. HFC was certainly stunned that PMC had taken the lead. To keep things fresh on the wings, PMC brought on Lincoln in place of Yi Jun on the right and Lincoln's friend Jonathan came in up front for Daniel Chen, with Isaiah moving to the left wing.

Being a goal down certainly galvanized HFC into pressing for the equaliser, with Benny again, orchestrating moves with his fine range of passing. However, the better chances actually fell to PMC, with both Steve and Isaiah having one-on-one chances with the keeper, but not being able to convert. Such wastefulness (similar to that of the newly crowned League Cup champions) came back to bite PMC when Benny was allowed to run across from the right wing, to the middle of the park where he launched a stiff grounder that beat Michael. It was not the best time to concede, being only a few minutes away from half-time.

The PMC Team photo taken at half-time after a commendable 1st half performance

After a short break and team talk, PMC took the field looking for another good performance through improved possession and ball movement. The team started with the same line-up that ended the 1st half, with Daniel Chen departing for a family function. On the bench at the start was Yi Jun, Samuel Eyo, Yuen Wai and Jacob's friend Cheng Qian, who joined us for the first time.

The 2nd half started with HFC fielding a much-changed side, clearly intending on giving all their 20 players a run out. With the freshness in their legs and quality maintained, HFC was again enjoying the bulk of possession and probing the PMC backline with intent. It required some good interventions from Jeremy and Michael to keep HFC at bay. Unfortunately, PMC was soon 3-1 down when defensive errors led to 2 quick goals conceded. 1st, a cross-field ball was mis-judged by David, who did not catch the HFC forward running from his blind side. The pass was controlled and well placed beyond Michael for HFC's 2nd goal. Still reeling from this goal, PMC's defence was again in disarray, unable to contain Benny, who dribbled a fair distance before unleashing another unstoppable shot past Michael. It looked grim being 3-1 down and HFC on the front foot.

PMC truly called upon its reserves and fighting spirit to claw its way back into the match. Making a positive change by bringing on Yi Jun for Jonathan, PMC started its fight back by constantly playing a direct style to trouble the HFC backline. Being complacent, HFC even 'allowed' Isaiah and Steve to steal the ball from them more than once, but conversion proved a problem yet again. However, on one foray into the HFC box, a HFC defender played the ball with his hand. The referee had an easy decision to award the penalty. Isaiah stepped up and coolly blasted the ball past the helpless HFC keeper to pull one back for PMC. That had to be Isaiah's last contribution to the team as he had to leave for a family dinner. He was replaced by Samuel, with Yuen Wai coming on for David. Another tactical switch saw Jacob taking Kevin's place in midfield to add more drive, with Kevin doing right-back duty. PMC was certainly energized by the goal and with Kee Min and Jacob driving the midfield, a number of good opportunities fell PMC's way. On one move, a cross found its way to Yi Jun in the box, with only the keeper to beat. Taking what seemed like a lifetime to control the ball, he calmly slotted it past the keeper, low into the corner, with the keeper completely rooted. PMC had amazingly come from 2 down to make it 3-3. The match would have ended on a sweet note like that, but with 20 more minutes to play, it still looked to be anybody's game. Cheng Qian came on for Lincoln as the last substitution for PMC in order to freshen things up, albeit slightly.

However, with more players, and squad rotation to keep their team fresh, HFC capitalised on tired PMC legs and some inexperience to take the match. Firstly, Cheng Qian found himself in the unenviable position of last man, having been pushed back by onrushing HFC players. Losing the ball to the HFC forward, Michael had no chance in the one-on-one situation. Next, PMC lost possession of the ball in midfield, and although the HFC had both Jeremy and Yuen Wai to beat, he managed to twist, turn and then fire a low shot which Michael could only parry into the bottom corner. The 5-3 scoreline surely did not look reflective of the match from PMC's point of view. With 10 min still left to play PMC once again pushed for a comeback, which almost came in the form of a clear-cut penalty when a HFC player handled in the box again. However this time, the referee completely missed it, much to the relief of HFC's captain, who even apologized on behalf of the referee. Next, Jacob had a glorious chance to pull one back when he expertly rolled the defender on the box, only to fire high with his weaker left foot. The final chance of the match fell to Yi Jun after a good move. Jeremy confidently dribbled the ball out of defence and played a good through ball to Steve on the right wing. Steve's cross evaded all of HFC's defenders and keeper, finding Yi Jun on the far post. With the goal at his mercy, Yi Jun was unable to control his header, firing it over. That was the last act of the game as the referee blew for full-time.

It was certainly another good learning experience for the PMC Team. Steve encouraged everyone by saying how much the team had grown since he started playing with us 2 years ago. Kevin closed in prayer, thanking God for the experience and keeping all players injury free.

To read HFC's version of the match, follow this link.