Calvary Assembly of God (CAG) started off with a time of Singspiration, and sharing led by Qiyang. Handshakes were also exchanged as a gesture that the game to be played in good spirits. The PMC team came together for the pre-match team talk, which emphasized playing together as a unit and playing a direct style to bring in the forwards as early as possible. The team lined up as follows:
Martin
Isaiah
Jingzhong - Wenbin - Kee Min - Jacob
Damien - Mark - Daniel Low
Weijie
Michael
PMC started off very brightly, keeping possession and threatening the CAG defence early on. CAG on their part, played the counter-attacking game well, using the flanks, especially on their left to bring the ball quickly into attacking areas. Daniel did well to cope with these, as did the defence. PMC pressed hard for the early goal and was rewarded with a number of throw-ins and corners. The breakthrough did come when Isaiah flicked a ball into the box, which caught both the CAG GK and last man standing, allowing Jacob to loop a controlled header over both players to give PMC the early 1-goal lead.
High-fives for Jacob as his header gave PMC the early 1-goal lead
As the match wore on, it seemed that PMC was contented to sit back and defend its 1-goal lead, giving CAG lots of space and time on the ball. This spelt danger but the post and some last-ditch defending allowed PMC to keep a clean sheet for most of the first 30min of the half. Wenbin also cleared on the line to keep it at 1-1. However, a speculative first time volley from outside the box allowed CAG to level with both PMC defence and GK rooted, not expecting the shot from way out. With the game at 1-1, it was pretty even as both teams had chances to take the lead. CAG continued to threaten down the flanks and on corners. PMC had Martin and Isaiah but their shots were either off target or directly at the GK. With half-time approaching, a 5min spell of poor defending allowed CAG to claim 2 goals. On both occasions, it was the CAG players hungrier for the ball, as they beat the PMC defenders to 50-50 balls. For CAG's 3rd goal, even when Michael had parried the initial shot, the CAG forward beat Weijie to the ball to fire into the empty net. As the referee blew for half time, PMC knew that it was their own doing that had them behind by 2 goals. On the positive side, the match was played in good spirits, hard but fair.
Weijie takes a free-kick from deep in our half
Jacob takes on the CAG defence
Isaiah in full flight
The half-time team talk focused on not allowing CAG so much time on the ball, and playing with more heart, definitely needing to challenge for the 50-50 balls all over the pitch. As Damien was ill, Andrew came in to cover at LB as Kevin got ready. Dominic replaced Wenbin in CM. The 2nd half team definitely gave a solid account of themselves in the 1st 15min of the half. They strung passes round and tried to involve the forwards, but to no avail. CAG seemed to be contented to sit on their 2-goal lead and gave PMC more time and space to play. 15min into the half, Kevin came on for Jacob, with Andrew moving to RM. Immediately, Kevin had a chance to pull a goal back, but his quick shot from outside the box was directly at the CAG GK. Andrew also had an effort high and wide. The first yellow card of the match came when Kevin was brought down by a CAG player. All the possession the PMC team had did not bring any goals, and when CAG had a corner, they did well to kill the match off. Moving faster to the ball (again!), the CAG forward planted a firm header in the corner of the net, and even Kevin on the line could not reach fast enough to clear it. Credit to the PMC though that they did not stop fighting even at 4-1 down. With fresh pairs of legs in the form of Lincoln (for Jingzhong), David (for Martin) and Yi Jun (for Isaiah), PMC continued to press for their 2nd goal. Both David and Yi Jun had chances, but they were off target. The consolation goal finally came during added time when a corner was not well dealt with by the CAG GK. The loose ball was first met by Andrew from close range to bring the final score to 4-2.
The match was certainly played in good spirits and it was another lesson in competitive soccer for the ever-evolving PMC team. The post-match team talk focused on the positives of the 2nd half and the never-give-up attitude of the PMC players. Also, the team stayed true to the 'team-philosophy' with everyone getting at least 10-15min of pitch time.
PMC thanks CAG for the good match played and look forward to the rest of CRC2012.
The team was still all-smiles after the match despite the loss
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