CRC2013 Match #7 Report: PMC vs COA (14th July)

The PMC Soccer Team returned to Bendemeer Secondary for their 7th match of the season, still looking for their first win, especially without any pressure of having to qualify for the knock-out stage of the tournament. The weather was perfect, overcast with a slight drizzle. The team had been depleted due to a few last minute withdrawals, but by-and-large had enough players to put up a good fight regardless of opponents. COA got the proceedings underway with S&S. Afterwhich, the team had their team talk and lined up in the following manner:

Yi Jun

Jingzhong - Rusydi - Justin

Isaiah - Jacob

Samuel - Mark - Daniel Low

Jeremy Sin

David Lim

The action was fast and furious in the first half, with both sides playing an open passing game. PMC moved the ball quickly on the ground, with the pace of Jingzhong, Yi Jun and Rusydi threatening up front. COA matched that and had the added touch of class with some diagonal balls finding their left winger on more than one occasion. The first clear chance of the match actually fell to PMC, when a series of passes fell to Jingzhong. With only the GK to beat, Jingzhong was unable to squeeze his shot past the GK, who saved with his feet. COA immediately countered and scored their first goal, with a deflected shot finding their winger running from deep, with our defence flat-footed. He gave David no chance and make it 1-0 to COA. However, from a move at the re-start, PMC found itself on level terms. Rusydi and Jingzhong worked together to craft an opening which Jingzhong put away clinically.  The 2 goals set the tone for the rest of the 1st half, as it was end to end stuff. COA continued to exploit Samuel's inexperience, with most of their attacks coming from their right wing. COA's 2nd goal came with the PMC defence flat-footed again. From a long ball to the left wing, COA's winger ran from deep to meet the ball ahead of the onrushing David to prod it into the empty net. Again, PMC responded emphatically, this time through a move from the middle. Jacob took the ball past the COA defence and his shot was saved by the GK, only to have the alert Yi Jun stab it back into goal. With still 20min to play in the first half, 4 goals had already been scored in the match. The final goal of the half however, came from COA. Again, a long ball from deep found a COA player with acres of space, Samuel again having backed off to much. With a body feint and quick feet, the COA player was able to take the ball into the box and fire it past David to make it 3-2 to COA. Tried as PMC did, they were not able to equalise before the half-time whistle. 

 Mark keeping close watch on COA's Jeric

 Rusydi giving Samuel some on-field advice

 Jingzhong helps out on defence against COA's dangerous right winger

The half-time team talk focused on keeping all players in the game mentality, as there was still all to play for with only 1 goal separating the teams. 2 substitutions were made to keep things fresh, with Steve replacing Yi Jun up front and Weijie replacing Justin, with Rusydi moving to RM. These changes allowed the PMC team to continue to press for an equaliser in the early minutes of the 2nd half, but Weijie's over-enthusiasm earned him a booking when he tried to take out a COA player off-the-ball. The equaliser did come within 10min of the 2nd half. Isaiah's accurate ball from deep (ala Xabi Alonso) found Steve in acres of space on the right. Steve's low cross eluded the defence and GK, and gave Jingzhong an easy tap-in to make it 3-3. At the 55th minute, Lincoln came on for Rusydi, who had put on an excellent shift despite being on fast. The intention was to continue to press for the winner, but instead, it was COA who took the lead again at about the 60th minute. The COA forward was able to break the offside trap and find himself in a one-on-one situation with David and made no mistake to bring the score to 4-3. With 20 or so minutes left, Kevin came on to replace Samuel, with Isaiah moving to Stopper and Jeremy Sin to LB. There were some good moves to press for the goal, most notably with Jingzhong finding himself in space but his attempted cross to Weijie was blocked by a defender. Again, COA struck through a counter-attack which caused Daniel no choice but to throw himself at the ball. Unfortunately, the ball came off his arm, awarding COA a direct free-kick which was taken rather quickly and the ball found its way into the PMC net for the 5th time. With only minutes remaining, PMC's valiant effort to find the goals was unproductive and the match ended at 5-3. Despite some frustration, there was still a deeper sense of togetherness amongst most of the team and Jacob closed the session in prayer.

 Master dribbler Rusydi taking the ball forward in the 2nd half

Jacob giving 100% in the challenge