Soccer Team Friendly vs Evangel Baptist Church (11th March)

The weather has been kind to us on a very wet and rainy sunday, where heavy rain has been pouring down all over Singapore but has somewhat eluded the small spot at Pasir Ris Crest Secondary. Even as i make my way over to the field from Tampines, i was constantly wondering if the game will still be on. Thank God it was just really dark clouds over Pasir Ris, and the rain never seemed to pour. Im sure many of the players thought the game was not going to take place, especially our opponents, who turned up so late i thought PMC guys are just going to play a fellowship game amongst ourselves.

When EBC did finally turned up, devotion was cut to just an opening prayer by Maurice and all of us proceed to the pitch. EBC did not have a full starting eleven at kickoff, hence in good nature, PMC loaned them Damien, Maurice and Jonathon, before a couple of EBC players last minute turned up, probably after being informed that the game is on.

Starting 11 for PMC:
GK: Sean, LB: Daniel Chen CB: Jem, David RB: Javier, LM: Lincoln CM: Kee Min, WeiJie RM: Jacob, ST: Yijun, Steve

EBC were relatively a young team, mostly still in their teens, and hence their lack of experience and strength were displayed clearly right from kick-off. PMC had the lionshare of posession, pressing EBC hard into losing possession easily; running directly at their defenders and sending in crosses after crosses. Hence its no surprise which team got the first goal. Yijun managed to drift down the righ channel unmarked, and upon receiving the ball, tried an audacious cross-shot that dipped in just below the cross-bar. Afew more chances fell to Steve and Yijun after that, but fortunate for EBC, they were not converted. Second goal came when after some neat passes in the middle of the pitch, Lincoln was released down the left flank and he ran straight at the defender before squaring the ball for Kee Min and he dutifully finished it. Towards the end of halftime, Maurice come on for Javier to play alongside Jem, with David moving out to RB.

Half-time: PMC 2 EBC 0

Only change for PMC for 2nd half is Rusydi coming on for Lincoln at LM, immediately adding much pace now to both wings for PMC. EBC kicked off the second half, but the story was largely the same as in the firsthalf, as PMC enjoyed most of the possession. Much of PMC attack now come from the left wing, as Damien and Rusydi totally dominated that flank, with Rusdi many times running the ball all the way to the by-line in a le suarez manner. Which is also how PMC third came about. Rusydi bringing the ball down the left flank all the way to byline, easily skipping away the vain attempts by EBC RB to tackle the ball and subsequently cutting the ball back for WeiJie to slot the ball into the goal.

EBC real test on Sean came when a long ball forward was cleared and miskicked by Jem into the path of Maurice, who was robbed by the EBC striker and subsequently chipped over Sean into the net. EBC might have thought that their comeback was on, but it was just a slight mistake at the back as straight after kickoff, PMC is winning all the possesion of the ball and pressing EBC all the way back into their own half. EBC gk was not able to deliver the ball high up field, kicking straight into Yijun's path but fortunately for EBC, Yijun kicked the ball straight back at the gk. On another occasion, EBC gk was not as lucky, and that is how the fourth goal came about. An attempted clearance by EBC gk fell to Damien near the midway line, and sensing the gk out of position, Damien cooly bend-it-like-beckham into the empty net, all the way from his LB position. A stunning goal.

Afew more changes were made as Lincoln came on for Wei Jie, pushing Rusydi into the middle and Lincoln taking up out left. More crosses were sent in and Yijun, who did tried his best to get into a very good position for so many times already in the game, failed to be clinical infront of goal. Despite that, he was able to create the fifth goal. Drifting to the right channel, he managed to picked up an unmarked Lincoln, who finished the well-crafted move in putting the ball in the net.

Full-time: PMC 5 EBC 1.

EBC then closed the session in prayer, thanking God for the awesome weather, and PMC for being a wonderful host.