Yi Jun wondering when the dark skies would clear
Referee Saleh checking if the field was playable
It was thus good news, that after a 30min rain delay, the referee Saleh deemed that conditions were safe enough to play, and so we kicked off in overcast conditions, which turned sunny very quickly. The starting line-up was slightly changed from what was planned as some players were still on the way to the pitch:
Isaiah - Yi Jun
Jingzhong - Kevin - Jacob - Lincoln
Kee Min - Dominic - Weijie - Daniel Low
Jeremy Tan
As the match started, there was also a lot of sunshine in our football, as the PMC team stroked the ball round the park comfortably and probed the GIBC backline with some neat passing. Although this did not bring any goals in the early minutes of the match, it was good for the confidence of the team as there was good attempts to play the through pass to the forwards, with chances falling to Isaiah, Jingzhong and Yi Jun. Within 15min, Michael arrived to take Jeremy Tan's place in-between the sticks. After 20min, Lincoln also went off to be replaced by Rusydi on the right of midfield. Rusydi immediately saw much of the ball, and although it took a while for him, Jacob and Daniel Low to get their play together, it was inevitable that a cross from the right would fall to Isaiah, who needed 2 tries to put PMC ahead 1-0. This immediately gave PMC the confidence to press forward even more, as GIBC sat back and only had a lone striker to chase hopeful long balls. PMC on the other hand, played the ball comfortably into space, or feet for good chances. On one such occasion, good inter-play between Yi Jun and Jacob saw Jacob charge through the GIBC defence and finish home clinically with his left foot. With 10min left to play in the half, PMC was comfortably up by 2-0. GIBC clearly missed some of their stronger players, including the very memorable 'David Hasselhoff' look-a-like. The 'cruising' feeling clearly allowed some complacency to creep into PMC's play, as a casual pass allowed GIBC to regain possession and spring a counter-attack. As the defence stepped back, and Michael stepped forward into no-man's-land, the GIBC player in possession simply chipped the ball over Michael and into the net to bring the score to 2-1. In the final minute of the half, PMC actually had the opportunity to go 3-1 after good exchange of passes between Yi Jun and Kevin. However, with only the GK to beat from 6 yards out, Kevin's shot was only good enough for the GK to save with his feet and the chance was lost as the half-time whistle blew.
Amazing turnaround in weather conditions. From stormy to super hot!
Yi Jun giving new meaning to the phrase 'sun tanning'
Substitutes waiting to get onto the pitch
The half-time team talk followed soon after players had their drinks. Kevin commended the team for good, controlled play in the 1st half and encouraged the team to take time on the ball, as the GIBC players were not pressing high. The 2nd half started with the following line-up, to keep the team fresh:
Isaiah - Jeremy Tan
Jingzhong - Neil - Jacob - Rusydi
Daniel Chen - Dominic - Weijie - Daniel Low
Michael
PMC's good 1st half form continued with the start of play, with Rusydi again, seeing plenty of the ball on the right. A number of half chances resulted from balls in the box, and it was only a matter of time before Isaiah got his 2nd of the match to put PMC 3-1 up. PMC was clearly confident enough to then play the ball around swiftly and also adaptable enough to play through balls to players running from deep in order to beat the offside trap. Next to get on the scoresheet through this tactic was Rusydi, then Jeremy Tan, followed by Isaiah, who completed his hat-trick. At 6-1 up, Yi Jun came on for Isaiah, Lincoln for Jeremy Tan and Yu Hong (Rusydi's friend) for Daniel Low. Within minutes, it was 7-1, with Jingzhong providing one of his many assists of the morning for Yi Jun to slot home. There was still time for 2 more substitutions, with Kevin coming back on for Daniel Chen and Daniel Low coming on for Rusydi, but the match score stayed the same and PMC wrapped up its biggest ever victory.
In light of preparing for the CrossRoad Cup commencing in July 2012, the full-time team talk focused on 1 key strength and 1 key area for improvement. In the area of strength, the PMC team was able to adapt their play according to the opponent's weakness/tactics of the day, which was to sit back and allow PMC to play the ball. PMC was thus able to take advantage by passing to feet until the final through ball to the man running from deep. An area for improvement was to cut back on the use of vulgarities, which was not in line with the goals/values of PMC and also punishable (yellow card offence) during the tournament. All in all, it was a good run-out for PMC as part of its tournament preparations.
No comments:
Post a Comment