CRC2014 Match Report #4: PMC vs FMC (4th May)

Scorching hot weather greeted both teams as they arrived at Hai Sing Catholic School for a showdown. PMC players were cautiously optimistic, as we were playing on our home turf against last year's 4th place team. However, as the CRC fixtures would have it, it was FMC designated as the home team, even though they had to travel all the way from Commonwealth to our backyard. PMC's pre-match anxieties were heightened when no one was able to contact Rusydi before the start of S&S, which started without him, leaving him ineligible to play even if he had turned up later. A quick change of the starting line-up was needed once S&S was conducted by FMC. 

Combined pre-match team photo of FMC and PMC

After S&S, the PMC team got organised and lined up in the following manner for the match:

Jeremy Tan

Jingzhong - Kevin - Isaac

Sheldon - Kee Min

Daniel Chen - Jeremy Sin - Daniel Low - Samuel

David Lim

There were many 'firsts' in the above line-up, due to some players being away and Rusydi not turning up, but the mood amongst the players were positive, looking forward to a good result. It was clear from the outset that PMC was up against young, fast and direct opponents. In the first 10min, PMC was already defending wave after wave of attacks from FMC. PMC's 1 or 2 balls in FMC territory were from some counter attacks led by Jingzhong. On one such quick breakaway, a 50-50 ball was challenged by Jingzhong, which left the FMC player on the ground, likely from how he fell. He was not able to play any further part in the match, making FMC field its only substitute for the match. 5min later, it was PMC's turn to lose its first player. The fast pace of the game and heavy defending caused Daniel Chen to limp off. Justin came on in his place, moving to RM with Isaac moving down to LB. Somehow, this series of changes stabilised the team, and even though the approach to counter-attack was the same, the results were very different for the rest of the half. One early big boot from David Lim started things going at about the 20min mark. The long ball was allowed to bounce by the FMC defence, and Jingzhong was first to it in the box, volleying the ball past the stranded FMC GK for PMC's first goal. Being ahead for the first time this season encouraged PMC to defend stoutly and counter for the next goal. All these came after the 25th min, when David Sng had come on to replace Jeremy Tan. The 2nd goal came from a quick breakaway after defending. An early ball from Sheldon found Jingzhong racing down the left, who beat the defender and planted a firm shot that the FMC GK could only parry into David Sng's path, who made no mistake with the put away. The 3rd goal came in similar fashion, but the roles of scorer and assistant were reversed. This time, the early ball from Sheldon was to David Sng, who crossed low into the box. Jingzhong was there to hold off the defender and slot the ball through the FMC GK's legs to put PMC 3-0 up before the half. There were some close shaves in defence before the break, but by and large, PMC had played well to take the lead at halftime. 

The second half team-talk focused on playing the same way and not sit back. The team went back on the field, unchanged to continue pressing for more goals. However, within the first 5min, PMC had to make another enforced change, with Kevin pulling his back and being replaced by Cheng Qian. FMC was committed to getting back into the match and posed a threat, mainly from the right flank. On one occasion, a shot by the winger stung the fingers of David Lim, who reacted well to tip the shot over the bar. The match result was put beyond doubt when Yi Jun (having replaced David Sng), crossed early to Jingzhong, allowing him to sprint and beat the GK with a low shot to complete his hat-trick. There was even a 4th goal for Jingzhong, when Cheng Qian played him in again through the middle. His shot went into goal and came out of the side netting. The referee, Shah, inexplicably waved play-on, despite protests from everyone, including FMC players and COS players warming up behind the goal, who witnessed that it was legitimate and tried to tell the referee so. Nonetheless, the disallowed goal did not dampen PMC spirits, being 4-0 up. However, a clear area of improvement was the lack of discipline in the final 10min, when too many players decided to abandon their positions in search of personal glory. This left gaps in the defence, allowing a speculative effort from an FMC winger to sail into goal, robbing the PMC defence of a well-deserved clean sheet. 

The match ended 4-1 in favour of PMC, its first victory in CRC2014. This was certainly an encouraging result, given the unavailability of key players and last minute changes to the team. Certainly having played together all season has helped to bring the team to a higher understanding of one another and this bodes well for the upcoming matches.