Combined team photo a sign of the long-standing but respectful rivalry between the teams
Isaiah shares about overcoming the giants in our lives
With the teams arrived and ready, Kevin led both sides in 'Lord I Lift Your Name on High' and Isaiah shared about boldness and courage to take on the giants in our lives, referencing the lives of Joshua and Caleb as they scouted the Promised Land (Numbers Chapter 13). Once done, teams had some time to talk through their tactics. Kevin emphasized the need to focus on playing playing the 'PMC way', keeping/using the ball well, and to be aware of the abundance of space the synthetic field offered. Mostly importantly, all players were encouraged to play with heart, for the team and one another. The starting line-up comprised of:
Martin
Jingzhong - Timothy - Rusydi
Isaiah - Dominic
Damien - Andrew - Daniel Low
Weijie
Maurice
Referee Shah started match proceedings and gathered the starting 11 for attire checks and blew for kick-off. Immediately from the get go, the players realised how much space they had, with both teams have time on the ball and using the space well. Rusydi in particular, seemed up for the challenge, taking the ball down the wings early and causing some havoc down that flank. Within 5min, the first goal came with both Jingzhong and Rusydi instrumental in the build-up. With space down the left, Jingzhong squared the ball, which Rusydi narrowly missed in the box. Recovering well, he returned the favour by crossing low in-between the CMC defence and GK. Jingzhong had the simplest of tap-ins to put PMC 1-0 up early in the match. Not content with their early lead, PMC continued to press for the 2nd goal, which arrived quite quickly. Martin's flick-on from the throw-in was met by a CMC defender, but Dominic was quick to rob him and face the CMC GK one-on-one. Dominic made no mistake by placing the ball into the corner of the net to notch his first goal of the season. Credit to CMC that they tried to climb out of the hole they found themselves in so early in the match. With Jansen orchestrating moves in midfield and winning balls, CMC started to foray into PMC's half, with some chances coming their way when Andrew took too much time on the ball, and the PMC players caught out on a swift counter-attack. On the latter occasion, it took a flying save by Maurice in a one-on-one situation to deny CMC a goal which would surely have changed the complexion of the match. PMC continued to use its direct approach via the wings to grab its 3rd goal. Rusydi again being key, he dribbled deep into the CMC half before releasing the overlapping Daniel on the right, whose stiff shot could not be handled by the CMC GK. The goal looked like a carbon copy of the 2nd goal from the MHC match. The front 4 of PMC was working well, just as they did against MHC, with Martin and Timothy being key pivots, allowing the wingers to find space and take on defenders. At 30min, Rusydi signaled the end of his run-out, fatigued from the running and fasting during Ramadan. On came Jacob to take his place and within 8min, made an immediate impact when Jingzhong again found space on the left, crossed the ball low for Jacob to place the ball into the back of the net after his late run into the box. At 4-0 up, it looked like it would be PMC's match to lose at half-time.
Rusydi in full flight on his way to assisting for the 3rd goal
Jansen slides in on Isaiah to try to win the ball
Martin tries to hold off Joshua to win the high ball
Rusydi poised to take a free kick from just outside the box
The half-time team talk focused on keeping composure and making sure the substitutions would not disrupt the shape of the team. With CMC having nothing to lose, PMC knew that they would need to put in a stout defensive performance in the 2nd half. Timothy came off, replaced by Yi Jun and Damien off for Mark. It was CMC who started much brighter in the 2nd period, trying their best to get a goal back early. It took some good defending by Mark at CB and Andrew at LB to clear dangerous balls. The defensive midfield duo of Isaiah and Dominic were also putting in the extra defensive shift, with Yi Jun up top chasing the long balls. After 10min, Steve came on for Martin to be the link man between midfield and attack, but with the ball mostly in PMC's half, he was left with a tough task for the match. On the odd occasion that he found space, there were few options for him to utilise, with Yi Jun isolated. With fresh legs needed for defensive duties, Kee Min came on for Isaiah and did well by winning balls. Next to come off was Jingzhong, for Jeremy Tan, whose clear instruction was to chase long balls and put some pressure on CMC's defence. Both he and Yi Jun did that a bit too zealously, picking up 2 yellow cards in quick succession and incurring the wrath of the CMC players in the process. To prevent any unnecessary incidents, Jeremy Tan himself was taken off for Wenbin in the final stages of the match. Certainly it was rear-guard action for the remainder of the match, and as referee Shah blew for full-time, PMC took pride in their 2nd victory of the season and their 1st clean sheet. There were automatic hand-shakes all around, with CMC showing the grit to play hard in the face of being 4-0 down and giving their all during the match.
Maurice with the big boot. A safe pair of hands for the clean sheet!
Weijie marking Mark, who saw plenty of the ball after coming on in the 2nd half
The full-time team talk was an encouragement of the things the team did well, especially in the 1st half, using speed and width to good effect. Having taken all 3 points, the only downside of the victory was chalking up another 6 demerit points which hopefully would not come back to haunt PMC when the league stage closes. As with all matches, the team continued to learn and grow together. David closed in prayer, thanking God for the victory and for keeping the team free from serious injuries.
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