Some heavy showers earlier in the day did not deter players from turning up at St Patrick's School's astroturf field to take on CMC on their homeground. By kickoff, it was not the weather, but illness that had deprived the team of Sean and Damien, in addition to Steve, who had to travel for work. This was already in addition to defensive mainstays Mark (injured), Jeremy Sin (family commitments) and Daniel (National Service) being unavailable. With only 14 players available and a completely changed backline, it was a good thing that Jeremy Tan called to see if he could get involved and his presence was very much welcomed.
Kickoff was prompt at 5pm, without even devotion, as the referee had called the players to the pitch for the game to commence. Kevin briefed the players on the speed of the pitch and the need to play our own brand of passing game, instead of long balls. The team selection had to call on the versatility of many players and the 11 lined up in this fashion:
Yi Jun - Lincoln
Jingzhong - Kevin - Kee Min - Jacob
Maurice - Andrew - David - Dominic
Michael
It was clear from the first whistle that CMC was going to capitalise on its speedy forward Iskandar to wreak havoc on PMC's defence. A number of early balls found him marauding into Michael's penalty box and it took timely interventions from Dominic, Andrew, David and Michael himself to clear the danger. On the occasion that he did get a clear shot on goal, he shot wide, and also hit the bar. PMC had almost no play on the ball at this stage, with play being broken up in midfield with lots of interventions and players being closed down quickly. In trying to utilise the wings, the final ball into our attacking third did not bear much fruit. It was thus not surprising that CMC drew first blood. Another one of CMC's quick balls to Iskandar found him being able to turn both Dominic and Andrew, leaving him with only Michael to beat. He did this, but the ball hit the post. However, he was quick enough to be first to the rebound, and even though Jacob had tracked back to the line to defend, Iskandar made no mistake from close range.
From there, it looked like it was going to be CMC all the way, but PMC tried to move the ball quicker into attacking positions, and finally a clear-cut opportunity fell to Yi Jun when he had only the GK to beat, but fired high instead. PMC was getting a bit more play of the ball, especially on the wings, but was caught out by a 'sucker punch'. A break in PMC's momentum and concentration was caused by a 'silly' incident involving Iskandar kicking the ball away after the referee blew for offside, and Michael's verbal dispute with CMC's Adrian Tan. From the ensuing play, Adrian himself was able to capitalise on the lapse in concentration by firing a long range shot past Michael from the left wing. It was 2-0 to CMC and things were not looking too good for PMC.
Credit to PMC at this stage to keep plugging away and making a positive change by bringing Weijie on as an AM for Lincoln. Shortly, Jacob had to limp off, and Neil returned to competitive soccer at RB, with Dominic pushing up to RM. It did not take long again for Weijie to make an impact, as he had done in the previous 2 matches. Working well with Jingzhong and Yi Jun, Weijie closed down CMC's last man, robbed him of the ball and was one-on-one with the GK, who managed to parry his shot, but only in the path of the onrushing Jingzhong, who made no mistake with the goal empty. It was a timely end at to the 1st half, with the score at 2-1 in CMC's favour.
The sky was dark, but it did not rain
The referee directs traffic
The half-time team talk focused on getting everyone on the same page with regard to communicating and playing more of the ball to feet, and using the triangle approach to breakdown the CMC defence. Jeremy Tan came on as CF for Yi Jun and Nigel started at LB, in place of Maurice. The start of the 2nd half was more even, with nothing much to show for each team in the 1st 20min. Much of the danger to PMC was cleared well by Andrew and David in the middle. From defence, Neil played a number of good balls forward for half chances and nothing more. From a freekick, everyone (including CMC) thought that PMC would equalise as Weijie beat the offside trap to find himself one-on-one with the GK, but he did not shoot early enough and was harried off the ball by the recovering defence. At this time, Jacob returned to the fray, replacing Kevin, with Dominic moving in the centre of the park and Jacob resuming his duties at RM. It seemed that PMC would be made to pay for wasting the earlier chance when a flowing move down CMC's right flank saw the ball float beautifully to Iskandar, who crept in between Andrew and Neil to nod the ball into goal for his 2nd of the match. Being 3-1, it seemed that PMC had only pride to play for, but the most amazing comeback took place.
Yi Jun came on the field to replace Weijie and with a 2 pronged attack, PMC started to give more problems to CMC's backline, especially in closing down their defenders. The comeback started when Jacob, Jingzhong and Yi Jun pressured the defence into giving up the ball, and Jingzhong made CMC pay for their mistake from a tight angle. The final substitution saw Lincoln return for Jeremy Tan, and his swap with Jingzhong was a masterful move. With Jingzhong playing up front and using his speed to capitalise on tired legs, he was able to take a through ball by Jacob in his stride to again beat the GK in a one-on-one situation. With the score at 3-3, everyone was happy to take the 1 point, but increased confidence led to a sweeping move, started by Lincoln on the left, who played a cross field ball to right. The move then involved Kee Min and Jacob, leading to Jingzhong again being played into space to complete the most impossible of comebacks. With still 5min left to play, it took some steely defence, concentration and commitment from everyone to make sure that PMC held on for all 3 points when the referee blew for full-time.
It was a most remarkable game with many learning points about commitment to the cause, communication with one another, confidence in team work etc.. etc... We thank God for the victory and for bringing us to the next stage of our development as a Soccer Team.
Our 4-goal hero, who should have taken the match ball home!
