Soccer Fellowship (2nd February)

Soccer Fellowship is ON this Saturday, 2nd February at East View Secondary School*.
The session will be from 3 - 5 pm.


Please bring BOTH a BRIGHT and DARK jersey so that we can split the teams evenly.


Please pray for good weather! If you suspect the session is cancelled, please check the blog/email for more information before you head for the field. Cancellation of session will be broadcast on the blog and by email immediately when we are informed by Sports Council.

*The address of East View Secondary School is 3 Tampines Street 42. There are 2 entrances to the field. 1 is along Street 41 and the other is next to block 420, which is where to park if you are driving. The map of the area around the school can be viewed HERE.

Friendly match vs CMC Report (27th January)

It was a hot day as the PMC Soccer Team arrived in dribs and drabs for the 'usual' first friendly of the year at St Patrick's School. Already missing up to 7 starters from last year's team due to various reasons, the rest of the team presented a rather high average age against a rather youthful looking CMC outfit. Nonetheless, those who arrived early managed to put together a starting line-up in a 4-4-2 formation:

Martin - Steve

Daniel Chen - Samuel Pang - Kee Min - David 

Damien - Isaiah - Jeremy Sin - Jacob

Maurice

The PMC team started very brightly, pressing CMC into mistakes and having some decent possession on the ball. Daniel Chen, belittling his 51 years, was also having some nice touches and within minutes of the start of the match, managed to put PMC 1-0 when his tame shot from inside the penalty box trickled past the CMC GK and into the net. The shot certainly did not warrant a goal, but the PMC players were grateful for the positive start, just as the rest of the team starting streaming into St Patrick's School. The young and fast CMC team tried to get back into the match quickly, playing some nice diagonal passes to their wingers, but more often than not, balls were sprayed too wide or long. Against the run of play, PMC found themselves 2-0 up as the 25th minute approached. A free kick was awarded to PMC just inside CMC's half and Isaiah stepped up to curl a wicked ball into the box. CMC's GK flapped at it as it landed in the top left corner of the goal. The break in play also allowed the tiring Daniel to be replaced by Justin for the 1st substitution of the match. Play was quite even after the restart, although PMC didn't have many forays into opposition territory, with play being broken up in midfield. On CMC's part, they had a few corners which did not bear fruit. PMC's 2nd substitution was for Marc Lim to come on for Samuel Pang, with Isaiah pushing up to midfield and Marc playing as last man. The PMC team still performed solidly as this time, and soon brought on Lincoln for Steve to see if a 3rd goal could be scored in the first half. Unfortunately, the opposite happened when, from a CMC corner, PMC was unable to clear its lines, leaving a CMC player to score from close range. With the half ending, Kevin came on for David, but did not get a touch of the ball when the referee blew for half time.

The half time team talk focused on introducing the players that arrived after kickoff, including 2 guests ST and Ben from Kampong Kapor Methodist Church. After doing some reorganisation, the team returned to their more familiar 4-2-3-1 formation, that served PMC so well in 2012:

Steve

Daniel Chen - Isaiah - ST

Kevin - Kee Min

Ben - Jeremy - Jacob

Marc

Maurice

The 2nd half started rather evenly, with PMC still enjoying some possession, even though most of the match was played in PMC's half with CMC pressing for the equalizer. This did come when an innocuous cross was flapped by Maurice into the PMC goal to bring the score to 2-2. Given the proceedings of the match to this point, it seemed like a fair scoreline. Deciding to sit back a little and allow CMC time on the ball spelled much trouble for PMC. Marc also succumbed to blisters and was replaced by Samuel, who came into midfield with Kevin dropping into defence. The last 20min of the match proved to be rather nightmarish for the defence, as the high line that Kevin played had erratic results, and on 3 occasions, allowed CMC's fast runners to spring the offside trap to score from one-on-one situations with Maurice. To his credit, Maurice did save PMC from conceding another goal by clawing the ball off the line when it trickled past him on the way to goal. More substitutions were made to give more playing time to those who had started on the bench. All in all, the 5-2 defeat was a little bitter to swallow, but looking at the positives, the first pre-season game allowed 17 players to get a run-out in preparation for this year's CrossRoad Cup.

The post-match team talk focused on some sharing of learning points, with good feedback from Isaiah and Kee Min on the need to press opponents more, similar to what the team did early in the first half. Kevin closed in prayer.

Soccer Fellowship Cancelled (19th January)

Soccer Fellowship has been cancelled due to the water-logged pitch.

Soccer Fellowship (19th January)

Soccer Fellowship is ON this Saturday, 19th January at Pasir Ris Crest Secondary School* (yes, the one in Pasir Ris!). The session will be from 3 - 5 pm.


Please bring BOTH a BRIGHT and DARK jersey so that we can split the teams evenly.


Please pray for good weather! If you suspect the session is cancelled, please check the blog/email for more information before you head for the field. Cancellation of session will be broadcast on the blog and by email immediately when we are informed by Sports Council.

*The address of Pasir Ris Crest Secondary School is 11 Pasir Ris Street 41. The entrance to the field is next to the bus-stop along Pasir Ris Drive 4. If you are driving, the car park nearest to the school field is the Multi-Storey Car Park at Block 458A. The map of the area around the school can be viewed HERE.

Soccer Fellowship Report (12th January)

Before devotion even started, the players were greeted by temporary rains as it marked the second Soccer Fellowship of 2013. Again, there were many new faces and they did some brief introductions to the rest of the community. Jacob shared his thoughts after reading the book "Where is God when it hurts" by Philip Yancey and encouraged all to live out the truth of John 9: "Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life."

 Players taking a breather at half-time.

 Some of the 26 players who turned up.

Kris and Jeremy catching up during the break.

With an overwhelming number of 26 players, we were able to start the game over the full field with Whites (WS) against Other Colours (OC). The game started brightly for the OC who consisted of generally more experienced players as they organised the team well from the start. The OC looked to threaten the WS using their flanks and within 5mins, they opened the scoring when a nicely-placed cross from the right was headed in by Samuel with ease. By then, the rain had stopped and the weather had become increasingly hot. However, the OC did not intend to stop adding pressure to WS defence. The WS left huge spaces in the middle of the park and that resulted more and more possession for the OC. By half time, the score was 5-0 to the OC.

After a quick water break, WS looked to reorganise the team and they had managed to keep the possession well for the first 10mins. But that simply did not discourage the OC from scoring more goals as Samuel had claimed his first hat-trick of the year! Eventually, Yijun did get back a consolation goal for the WS through a 'gift' from the opponent goalie and the final score should be OC 10 : 1 WS.

It was a good run for all as the team looked to regain their fitness and also in preparation of our first friendly game of the year in 2 weeks' time. Ronnie closed the session in prayer.

Soccer Fellowship (12th January)

Soccer Fellowship is ON this Saturday, 12th January at Pasir Ris Crest Secondary School* (yes, the one in Pasir Ris!). The session will be from 3 - 5 pm.


Please bring BOTH a BRIGHT and DARK jersey so that we can split the teams evenly.


Please pray for good weather! If you suspect the session is cancelled, please check the blog/email for more information before you head for the field. Cancellation of session will be broadcast on the blog and by email immediately when we are informed by Sports Council.

*The address of Pasir Ris Crest Secondary School is 11 Pasir Ris Street 41. The entrance to the field is next to the bus-stop along Pasir Ris Drive 4. If you are driving, the car park nearest to the school field is the Multi-Storey Car Park at Block 458A. The map of the area around the school can be viewed HERE.

Soccer Fellowship Report (5th January)

The first Soccer Fellowship session of the year saw players blessed with perfect weather at Pasir Ris Crest Secondary School. It took players quite some time to stream in, but eventually about 20 turned up to enjoy the good weather and fellowship through soccer. We welcomed quite a number of new faces from reYAct and look forward to having them again.

Cheng Qian, Jacob and Justin getting ready for the run-out

Players gathering for devotion

Kevin kicked off the session with devotion by elaborating on the Christmas message that was shared on the blog. Using examples of Hurricane Sandy and the recent gang-rape incident in India, to show the bad and ugly of the world, Kevin encouraged all present to turn to the good news of Jesus to see us through 2013.

With only 14 players present at the start of the session, only half the field was used with cones/corner flags used as goal posts. The Blacks/Reds (BR) lined up against the Other Colours (OC) for kick off. The BR were quick to get into top gear with many direct passes for their forwards to chase. It wasn't long before they scored a goal through Cheng Qian, with the OC defence still trying to sort themselves out. Only some wayward finishing allowed the score to remain at 1-0 after 10min. Credit to the OC for trying to play themselves into the match, and did equalise through Joel after about 15min. With more players arriving, the decision was made to have a quick water break and play using the full field with goalkeepers.

With the game now 10-a-side over the full field, there was a lot more space to maneuver and pass the ball. For the BR, they continued to play a very direct approach over the centre of the pitch, with forwards David Lim and Marvin seeing a fair share of the ball, but nothing troubling GK Joel of the OC. Ironically, with little possession to show, it was the OC that scored first, through some mix up at the back for the BR. Jeremy Tan was there for the OC to score through the BR's gift. However, after that, it was almost one way traffic by the BR, heaping lots of pressure on the OC goal. Joel did very well to save shots and claim loose balls. The OC did try to string some moves through long balls and occasional good passing, but often let down by passes in the final third of the pitch. It wasn't long before the BR scored their first goal through Justin.

Play ebbed and flowed, with some decent passing and moves despite it being the first session of the year. A couple more goals were scored by the BRs and the most notable incident for the rest of the match was an incredible 15 seconds of action in the OC penalty box when 4 BR players hit the post/bar while trying to score. It seemed like the OC had a 2nd GK on their side. The BR certainly ran out winners with no one really keeping tabs of the final score.

It was a good run-out and Jacob closed the session in prayer.

Soccer Fellowship (5th January)

Soccer Fellowship is back this Saturday, 5th January at Pasir Ris Crest Secondary School* (yes, the one in Pasir Ris!). The session will be from 3 - 5 pm.


Please bring BOTH a BRIGHT and DARK jersey so that we can split the teams evenly.


Please pray for good weather! If you suspect the session is cancelled, please check the blog/email for more information before you head for the field. Cancellation of session will be broadcast on the blog and by email immediately when we are informed by Sports Council.

*The address of Pasir Ris Crest Secondary School is 11 Pasir Ris Street 41. The entrance to the field is next to the bus-stop along Pasir Ris Drive 4. If you are driving, the car park nearest to the school field is the Multi-Storey Car Park at Block 458A. The map of the area around the school can be viewed HERE.