Friendly match vs RLC Report (25th March)

The weather looked ominous at 5pm approached. Many wondered if the match would proceed as there was a thunderstorm in the Central and Western parts of Singapore. Nonetheless, by 5pm, about 15 players gathered at Coral Secondary to take on RiverLife Church. The last time we played, we left the field 5-1 losers, and so was determined to make amends for that defeat, especially with a strong team taking the field. RLC appeared to have the same set of mostly young and speedy players at their disposable.

Warming up for the match under dark skies

The very nice synthetic pitch of Coral Secondary

The starting line-up for PMC kicked off the match in the familiar 4-4-2 formation:

Isaiah - Steve

Jingzhong - Kevin - Kee Min - Jacob

Damien - Marcus - Jeremy Sin - Daniel

Sean

For the 1st 5 min at least, RLC enjoyed the better share of possession, zipping the ball quickly along the slick synthetic surface. The skies also opened to make it harder to trap and play the ball. PMC did well to weather both storms and started to settle into the match with the usual tempo and direct style - playing ball to feet out wide or lofting it for Isaiah and Steve to chase. The complacent RLC back four were also caught in possession a number of times but they managed to clear the danger. Similarly for PMC, when RLC threatened, the back four or Sean were up to the task. RLC tried to impose themselves with some physical play but their only reward was a yellow card shown to their player by trying to take Kee Min's shirt off during a tackle. It was thus left to PMC to seize the initiative. When a free kick was won outside the 18 yard box, Daniel curled in a beauty which Jingzhong guided nicely into the net with his head. The RLC keeper stood rooted, stunned from the goal. From there, PMC built their momentum to press RLC at every opportunity, causing panic in the RLC backline, especially during set pieces. It was thus no surprise that the 2nd goal also arrived from a dead ball situation. A corner was nicely played into the box, with Steve expertly heading it across the helpless RLC keeper and into the bottom corner. With 25 min gone and 2-0 up, PMC was in a strong position. Credit to RLC that they fought on and continued to play their speedy game of short passes. They had many forays down the wing and into the box, but their 1st goal arrived courtesy of a half-cleared ball in the box, which the RLC player did well to control and place beyond Sean. The remaining minutes of the half were pretty even and it took the quality of Isaiah to add PMC's 3rd. Pressing for another goal put RLC under enough pressure that a wayward clearance found Isaiah outside the box. He took a touch and curled the ball past the keeper in experienced fashion to make it 3-1. At this point, Kevin, Isaiah and Marcus came off for Weijie, Yi Jun and Mark but before they could touch the ball after the re-start, the referee blew for half-time!

Taking a well-deserved half-time break

The victorious PMC team of the day

After a quick break and half-time team talk, PMC returned to the field much changed from the 1st half, in order to give everyone a run-out:

Martin - Yi Jun

Rusydi - Weijie - Kee Min - Lincoln

Damien - Mark - Jeremy Sin - Daniel

Sean

In the initial few minutes, the team clearly showed a lack of continuity from the 1st half due to the many changes made. Still, the quality of build-up play was good, owing much to the skill of Rusydi and Martin, who made a few forays into the box. Weijie and Kee Min continued to control the midfield and RLC was limited to fast breaks, which the back four and Sean did very well to deal with. PMC's attacks were also well handled by RLC and it took a fortunate decision by the referee to present PMC with its 4th goal. A long ball into the box was played by Martin to Yi Jun, who in the process of chasing the ball down, was sent flying by the RLC player in the box. It could have been a 50-50 challenge, but the referee did not hesitate to point to the spot in PMC's favour. Amidst much protest from the RLC players, Weijie coolly stepped up to fire the penalty past the keeper to put PMC 4-1 up. It was from here that things got heated up when a bad foul by an RLC player caused the 1st of 2 scuffles on the pitch. This one was not too serious with both sets of players walking away rather quickly for play to resume. A couple of changes were made to restore some calm, with Daniel coming off for Jacob, and then Lincoln and Yi Jun coming off for Steve and Isaiah. With a 3-goal cushion, a 4-3-3 formation was experimented with to see if the front 3 of Martin, Isaiah and Steve could conjure up some 'magic'. Unfortunately this formation gave RLC more space in midfield, and they took advantage quite quickly with fast breaks down the middle and wings, leading to their 2nd goal. A cross from their right was not well cleared, allowing the RLC forward to fire in the ball. With a goal pulled back, RLC pressed for another and it took Sean to keep the scoreline the same with some excellent one-on-one saves. Damien then came off with Kevin coming back on at LB, and soon Jonathan (Lincoln's friend) replaced Martin. At this moment, the 2nd scuffle took place when Jingzhong was tackled hard, leading to some PMC players confronting RLC. Worse still, players from both sides left the sidelines to join the 'action' on the pitch. It took a while for the more senior players to restore calm. The break in play clearly did PMC no help as a long ball from the back was not dealt with by Mark, which allowed the RLC forward to face Sean and chip in for RLC's 3rd goal. A final change was made when Daniel came on to replace Kevin in order to cope with RLC's speedy wingers. Try as they might, RLC did not have sufficient time to complete their comeback and PMC left the field as winners for the day.

During the post-match team talk, Kevin shared that apart from the scoreline, it was still good character that the Soccer Team was built upon. Hence, he asked everyone to reflect on their participation in the scuffles and decide whether their actions aggravated the situation or otherwise. Isaiah also shared about a BBQ the church was organizing for young adults on 14 April, and then closed the session in prayer.