Early morning heavy showers threatened to postpone PMC's match against BFEC, but thank God the skies cleared as the players gathered at Bowen Secondary School for the fixture. PMC was intent on getting it's CRC2013 season going with its first points and everyone turned up on time. The teams posed for a combined photo before the start of the Singspiration and Sharing.
PMC and BFEC before the football action
The proceedings started with Nicholas from BFEC leading everyone in a song, and this was followed up with a sharing about the 'free gift' of Jesus Christ. The teams then had their pre-match team talk before taking the field. PMC lined up as follows:
Isaiah
Jingzhong - Rusydi - Daniel Low
Kee Min - Jeremy Sin
Damien - Jacob - Samuel
Mark
David Lim
The match started with PMC enjoying good possession, trying to get the early goal. Rusydi, Jingzhong and Daniel Low all had good touches on the ball but the final ball into the box was still trying to find its mark. Isaiah, as the sole man upfront, tried to boss his way round the defenders and had a half-chance early on but his very hard snap-shot was just above the bar. BFEC's main attacking threat came down its left wing and from their huge #10 who was proving a handful for our defenders. After 20min however, PMC's season went further downhill when a good move by BFEC's left winger allowed him to elude both Samuel and Mark. His pass found its way accurately to the #10 who made no mistake, evading Jacob in the box to fire a stiff shot past David in goal. Completely bewildered by the turn of events, the PMC players tried to rally themselves for an immediate fightback, but despite some good build-up moves and corners, there was often frustration with the final ball, with only half-chances either blocked or cleared. On BFEC's part, they continued to threaten PMC's goal, but their best chance came from a direct free-kick, which David had to tip over while fully stretched. As the referee blew for half-time, the players trudged off slightly downcast, but still intent on getting something from the match.
Anyone's ball with all eyes closed
Jeremy working hard in the middle of the pitch
Isaiah works his way in-between 2 opponents
Rusydi performs his special move
The 2nd half started with PMC trying to pile on the pressure early, but again, was left frustrated on many occasions, in part due to wastefulness in possession, and also due to BFEC's persistence in defence and hard work. BFEC started to clamp down PMC with more men behind the ball, leaving just a lone front man to hit PMC on the break. This almost happened on 2 occasions and needed the robust defending of the defensive quartet to clamp down. With the match running away, Yi Jun was brought on for Jingzhong as an additional front man, and he was soon followed by David Sng (for Isaiah). A 3rd striker was then brought on as Jeremy Tan came on for Mark. With 3 men up front, there were more chances created and one almost bore fruit when David Sng's cross struck the bar of the goal. The final throw of the dice was when Weijie and Wei En were sent on for Kee Min and Damien respectively. The intense pressure on BFEC was finally too much for them to bear, when in the final seconds of the match, Jeremy Tan flicked on a corner to Weijie, who volleyed the ball into the bottom of the net. The BFEC players slumped in disbelief as they lost the 2 points that they thought they had sewn up. Immediately upon the re-start, the referee blew for full-time.
PMC's post-match team talk was a good time to openly talk about areas to improve upon moving forward. Despite only picking up 1 point from a possible 6, the season still has a long way to go, and PMC would just have to 'do it the hard way' in order to qualify for the knock-out stages. Certainly there was much to take away from the match, including the fighting spirit, the impact of the late substitutes, and the belief in one another. Kevin closed in prayer.
