Soccer Training + short game on March 22nd 2008

The sky was rather gloomy but it was a good weather for training. After doing our stretches, 18 of us started on our training to bolster our skills. First up, Ronnie taught us how to "trap, turn and pass". We were asked to simulate two different scenarios - A grounder and a high ball. We then had to practice our high passes. There were laughter all round as we tried our best to put our best foot forward, but at times, that best foot saw a few misplaced passes.

After that, more drills on ball control. We were told to dribble the ball in a confined space and not lose control. We were also tasked to control the ball and make our way around the cones.

As we end our training, the rain came as a drizzle but then, very quickly turned into a downpour. But being brave warriors, we trodded on. The veterans in red jerseys and the youth in blue jerseys.

Both teams were equally matched but the youth's speed were largely curtailed with the soggy pitch. Even so, Damien and Joel continued to threaten from the flanks while pacy Jingzhong put pressure on the seasoned legs of the Red defence, ably marshalled by Ronnie.

The water-logged pitch saw many "stuck" balls and tumbling bodies. But the Reds took the lead after Kevin made a nice sliding pass to John Chia who struck the ball pass the goalkeeper. Manchester United 1-0 Chelsea. erm, I mean Reds 1-0 Blues.

The downpour soon turned into a thunderstorm and a call was made to end the game, but not before another goal. Samuel Eyo received the ball from Kevin, rounded the goalkeeper and slotted the ball home for a two-goal cushion for the Reds. Not the best day for soccer, but at least God held off the rain until we finished our training.

Score: Reds 2-0 Blues
Scorers: John Chia and Samuel Eyo

S.A.V.E. the Day, Soccer Training and Singapore .vs. Australia!

Just a reminder that S.A.V.E the Day (this year's TGIGF programme) happens tomorrow at Pentecost Methodist Church. The programme starts at 2pm and there'll be board games, an academy award nominated movie as well as food. See you there!


This Saturday (22 March), Uncle Ronnie will be taking us for another Soccer Training session, a reminder that ALL Soccer Community members are welcomed to join and improve their skills, even if they are not interested in competitive soccer. We will be doing some conditioning and technical work in the 1st hour, followed by a game for the 2nd hour. Veterans (25 years and above), please come in a RED kit and Youth, in a BLUE kit.

Finally, at the National Stadium this Saturday, our Singapore Lions will take on the Australian Socceroos in a re-match of last year's game. Kick-off is at 7pm and tickets cost $6 (adults) and $2 (secondary & ITE students). If you are interested to go as a group either after Soccer Training or to meet there, just drop a mail to pmcsoccer@gmail.com

Hope to see you at least at one of this week's activities. Pray for good weather and Blessed Good Friday and Easter...

Soccer Fellowship Report [15th March]

It was a really sunny afternoon and by 3.15pm, people were still trickling in so we decided to begin with devotion led by John. John shared on the topic of forgiveness, about Christ's forgiveness of our sins and how, as Christians, we should freely forgive one another just as God, in Christ, had freely forgiven us.

After devotion, as there were only 14 of us, we started off with 7-a-side on half-field to give the others who were just arriving time to kit-up andwarm up. It was a good 15 min kick-about which ended with the Blues scoring 2 goals against the Whites courtesy of Jingzhong and Daniel.

The 11-a-side match duly kicked-off with the red-hot sun beating relentlessly upon our backs. The first half only yielded 2 goals from the Whites before everyone almost unanimously trotted off to the shady portion of the field to get some reprieve from the heat. The first goal came when Ronnie burst down the left flank and while the Blues defenders tried to close him down, Ronnie coolly stroked the ball past the goalmouth to a waiting John, who could not miss from that distance. 1-0 to the Whites. The second goal came when a through ball found Joel at the edge of the penalty area. A fierce drive forced the ball under the diving body of the Blues goalkeeper. The Whites were 2-0 up.

The Blues fought back in the second half with 2 goals in quick succession from Jing Zhong and Damien but Damien's goal had to be the highlight of the afternoon (almost doing a Jermaine Pennant against Newcastle). A scuttle around the penalty area saw a weak shot towards goal which was easily controlled by the Whites goalkeeper, who took too much time to redistribute the ball. An on-rushing Damien saw the Whites goalkeeper trying to clear the ball quickly only for the ball to hit the backside of Damien and rebound into goal. 2-2.

The Blues' joy was short-lived as John slotted home from an inch-perfect cross from Joel to restore the Whites' lead. Two more goals from Damien and a goal from Joel once again leveled the score at 4-4. As the game wore on, it was clear the pace of the game was slowing as the heat took a toll on the players. 2-3 Blues players had to retire from exhaustion. The Whites' 5th goal came when some poor marking allowed John to unleash an angled shot which a sliding Daniel could only guide into his own goal. Soon after, an inspired pass from John through the middle allowed Kevin to beat the off-side trap and go 1-on-1 with the Blues keeper. With still some work to do, Kevin confidently converted the chance for the Whites' 6th goal.

Final score:

Whites [6] - John (2), Joel (2), Kevin, Daniel (OG)

Blues [4] - Damien (3), Jingzhong

Soccer Fellowship [15th March]

Soccer Fellowship is ON this Saturday, 15th March at East Spring Secondary School. The session will be from 3 - 5 pm.

Please be reminded that the entrance to the field is next to Block 362. If you are driving, the multi-storey car park you should park at is at Block 359A. If unsure, please check the street directory map.

For team identification this week, please bring / wear a BLUE AND WHITE jersey.

Also, we'd like to thank Isaac and Rusydi for writing the last 2 Soccer Fellowship/Training reports. If you would like to contribute to the Community in this way, please drop me an email to let me know.

See you on Saturday and please pray for good weather!

S.A.V.E. the Day...

Youth, we really hope to see you there!

Soccer Training + short game on March 8th 2008

It was a sunny Saturday afternoon - very nice for soccer!
Turnout was pretty good (about 26 players!) and we started quite promptly.
Nice to have 2 new players with us this week, Luke and Calvin.

After the usual warm ups, we proceeded on for the soccer training proper by uncle Ronnie.

First up was running round the field. We formed up into a line a jogged along the field. At the signal "Go!", the last person in the line would have to run zig-zags through all the others jogging, to become the 1st in that line.
*The secret to complete this activity well is to constantly keep yourself fit during the week.

After that was done, we played "monkey" in groups of 4 and then had some ball trapping and passing training.

After the training phase, we split ourselves into our individual colours and played a match to practice our skills in-game. (blues and reds)

The first 2 goals were by the blues in quick succession.

Within the first minute of kick off, after through pass down the right wing, Joel scored thanks to a well timed cross by Rusydi.
The second goal was scored by Rusydi 3 minutes later, who's pseudo-cross toward the goal befuddled the keeper who let it in.

However, the Reds did not give up just yet. They pressed on and about 10 minutes later, Luke scored due to a fumble by the Blue's keeper.
Not long after, uncle Ronnie equalized with a brilliantly struck kick outside the box which hit the post and went in.

After the equalizer, the teams became more compact and the pace of the game slowed slightly with a few shots and mostly missing the goal.

One shot stood out from the rest. Bryan's well taken shot from the right, outside the box, broke the deadlock after about 20 minutes!

Soon after, Rusydi scored again thanks to a cross from Damien and after some good possessive play by the Blues.
Joel also scored another which brought the Blues 5-2 up.

The final shot of the game was by uncle Ronnie, who scored outside the box yet again, to bring the final score to 5-3.

Overall, although the training really tired us out before the game, everyone had a great time having fellowship and enjoying the great game - soccer.

God Bless.


Overall score:

Blues 5 - Rusydi(2), Joel(2), Bryan(1)

Reds 3 - Luke, Ronnie(2)

Soccer Fellowship Report [1st March]

The soccer fellowship kicked off on a new ground at East Spring Secondary School as Springfield Secondary is undergoing construction of artificial turf.

At 3pm, the turnout wasn't good as many was still finding their way around.

The devotion was then led by Maurice touching on "Encouragement". Giving an example as when he was running a 2.4km run and the sight of his mates gave him an extra boost in his run. So, on the pitch, instead of blaming your teammates on certain mistakes, instead give a tap on the shoulder and give some encourage to obtain a better effort from him. =)

The weather was nice and windy. The match then kicked off at around 3.30pm. Since we started off late and we played the whole match continuously. No half-time, giving a good fitness maintenance for most of us.

The first goal came when an attack from the blues was cancelled out by the white's defence, resulting in a corner. A brilliant in-swinging corner from ex-national Ronnie Liew resulted in Kee Min producing a powerful header to the top-right corner of the goalmouth leaving the keeper with no chance at all.

The blue's midfield was compact and constantly doing triangle passing. The attack goes on. Soon after, a through ball on the left gave Choon Heng a 1-on-1 situation with the keeper. Too much on the ball, gave time for Michael and Maurice to paddle back. Being sneaky on the dribbles, he dribbled past Joel(gk), Maurice and slotted a goal through the legs of Michael.

Continuing in the through ball attack from the blues, gave Uncle John an opening on the right flank, a moment of brilliance from Uncle John's cross lobbed over the keeper giving Jonathan Jong a simple tap-in for a goal. Jonathan is Michael's colleague and it's his first time joining in for PMC's fellowship.

After conceding the third goal, the Whites pulled up their socks and played some better football, showing more passing and a little one-two on the flanks. Time and again, the whites pushed forward but had hardly much luck and some poor finishing.

Soon after, a little one-two on the right flank between Derrick and Rusydi resulted in Derrick driving a powerful shot from a tight angle on the right. Derrick is Kevin's neighbour and also joining PMC Soccer fellowship for the first time.

The goal liftted up the spirit of the Whites and make them more hungry for an equaliser.

The second goal came when David Teong tried to break Kevin's legs in the penalty box. Rusydi then cleanly slotted the penalty to the bottom right corner of the goal.

After a while, a referee for the next match stepped onto the pitch and blows for a final whistle signalling the end of our fellowship.

God bless all.

FINAL SCORE:
Whites [ 2 ] - Derrick , Rusydi
vs
Blues [ 3 ] - Kee Min , Choon Heng , Jonathan Jong

Entrance to East Spring Secondary Field

After yesterday's Fellowship session at East Spring Secondary, we can now confirm that the entrance to the field is next to Block 362. If you are driving, the multi-storey car park you should park at is at Block 359A. Please take note of this for the upcoming sessions at East Spring Secondary. If unsure, please check the street directory map.

Extra training session this month...

We just found out that we have made an additional booking made at East Spring Secondary School this month. This means that we have the field for the 1st 4 Saturdays of the month. After some discussion, we have decided to have a Soccer Team training session this Saturday, 8th March, 3 - 5 pm.

All Soccer Community players are welcomed to join and improve their skills, even if they are not interested in competitive soccer.

Veterans, please come in your RED kit and Youth, in your NAVY kit.

Soccer Fellowship [1st March]

Soccer Fellowship is ON this Saturday, 1st March at East Spring Secondary School. The session will be from 3 - 5 pm.

For team identification this week, please bring / wear a BLUE AND WHITE jersey. As mentioned, we will standardise these 2 colours for Soccer Fellowship every session.

For the car park situation, please follow the instructions from the previous post. Do get their early to familiarise yourself with the place and come early for devotion led by Maurice.

Please pray for good weather!