it's never full time...

Another Macullum Mauling?

2012-01-29T23:30:00.000+08:00

An all star Indonesian team pulled out of a friendly as news after our last victory against White Star spread. So a hastily rearranged (re)match saw us face the might of Macullum who had beaten us 3-1 in our first game of the season. Thankfully our goalkeeping situtation had been resolved at this stage with the continued presence of Victor in goal which gave the rest of the team confidence (especially as they knew they would not be asked to volunteer!). The rest of the team was otherwise full of familar faces with a Duncan-Matt-Derek-Yoh backline, a diamond formation of Dani-Jamie-Jamie-Tim and the top striker Deano up front. However it was the first start of the year for Tom who tucked in behind the big man in an unfamiliar trequartista position.

Macullum were confident after their last win and looked to attack us down the flanks as they quickly found at that Liverpool Jamie was shielding the centre back pairing of Matt and Derek. However Duncan was not afraid to get stuck in and use his body to block the opposition on the left and Yoh was being equally stubborn on the right limiting most Macullum shots to various distances from outside the penalty area which Victor was more than equal to. Indeed Macullum created little until the defence started tiring around the 25th minute mark where they started to play one twos to get through the back four. However they failed to find any joy with a lack of accuracy.

Sadly this was also a similar story for the Wanderers strikers. Whilst Dani was able to twist and turn on the left, he couldn't find a pinpoint cross for us to score from although he was able to win us several free kicks where we were able to float the ball from. Jamie Harding was combining well with his midfielders in his usual tidy way but wasn't close enough to the strikers to lend them a helping hand. Tim was pushing on the slow left back in his 'one man pressing machine style' and was able to win the ball in several threatening areas but only had Deano as a target. Sadly he always had 2 markers on his back whilst at times it seemed that Tom was struggling to keep up with flow of the game. Indeed our best chance came to our RIGHT BACK Yoh who fired his shot from a corner just over the bar with his bright blue and yellow Adidas Predator boots.

Half Time: 0-0

The line up for Penang Wanderers saw the same faces on for the 2nd half whilst Macullum was able to make 6 changes. Sadly for the team in black, it wasn't a case of a second string eleven as several first team regulars were late. This saw further pressure by fresh wingers on the gritty, but overworked, back four and it wasn't a surprise to see Macullum take the lead via some skilful penalty box dribbing and a calm sidefoot finish into the corner that Victor could do nothing about. However Victor was able to get his body to save a one on one in another attack but unable to prevent the winger from sticking in the rebound. The third goal was a repeat of this as a low cross got a slight touch from Yoh which wrong footed Victor and allowed Macullum to tap in from 4 yards.

The tactics for the second half had altered slightly with Jamie and Jamie pushing further forward to try to support Deano whilst Tom had dropped to a more defensive role. This meant that Penang Wanderers were able to press on the Macullum defence more but sacrificed defensive stability. However this got brought to a whole new level when Duncan-Matt-Yoh unamiously told Derek to push into midfield. With Macullum taking a three goal lead, they had had enough of rolling with the punches. "Go for broke! What's the worst that could happen?" they said.

With most of the offensive play concentrated in the center and on the right wing, man of the match Tim saw a lot of the ball where he had more players to link up with. With the Sheffield man's relentless energy and comittment plus an additional man in midfield, Penang Wanderers were also able to press from the front for the first time in the game. The black shirts denyed Macullum defenders and midfielders easy ways out and this reaped rewards with Deano scoring his first goal of 2012 from a narrow angle after Liverpool Jamie had forced a complacent goalkeeper to miskick a clearance.

The second goal was nearly identical with another poor pass, this time by the central defender, gifting Derek the ball on the edge of their own penalty area. A burst of pace left the defender behind and when the goalkeeper dived in an attempt to reach the ball, it was a simple task to take it round him too! With the score at 3-2, the Macullum players were rounding on their own whilst Penang Wanderers had their tails well and truly up!

Sadly though time was soon up to complete the comeback and the final result saw a second successive defeat against the Chinese team. However with the scorelines finishing 3-1 and 3-2 , who would bet against another improved performance and a scoreline of 3-3, the next time the two side meet?

A Five Star Performance

2012-01-15T21:00:00.000+08:00

It was a beautiful sunny day and it became even better when we found out that we were playing on Pitch A2 at USM - which had shade! The surface was bowling green smooth screaming for an emphasis on Barcelona style football. Fortunately for this pitch, Penang Wanderers were in town! However our opponents, White Star, forced us to play in our alternative strip of err white whilst they played in black - with pictures of a white star! Player manager Deano decided to line in a 4-5-1 to give us a compact midfield after our defeat in our first game of the 2012 vs Macullum where we struggled to give the back four enough protection. There was also a whole new triangle in defence with the slim line Victor in goal with a new centre back pairing of Vietnamese Viet and Stocky Allen also making their debuts.

The first five minutes was touch and go for The Wanderers as White Star went straight for the gullet and forced our new goalkeeper to palm the ball over the bar from a long range shot. As we dealt with the corner, we thought it was going to be one tough game especially as the sun was in the defence's eyes. But it didn't matter.

Penang Wanderers decided there and then to take so much control of the match that the ball stayed in the shade and went towards the Hill End with relentless ease. As we gained possession of the ball, the ball was constantly fed left to Tim (who was skinning the right back with Regi Blinker ease) and he was the starting point for the constant interplay between the three central midfielders of Jamie A & Jamie H and Derek & top striker Dean. It was the young Chineseman who missed the first chance after a Deano through ball but didn't squander later chances as he side footed one across the keeper and applied a similar touch to a second opportunity after a very tidy sequence of short passes between Liverpool Jamie and Everton Deano (a back heel assist!). Sadly the big man couldn't get on the score sheet himself after a finding himself one on one although Derek came so close to closing out the match after smashing the ball onto the crossbar (cough with his shin cough).

White Star struggled to get anything of note to their forwards with their play floundering on their right flank (where Amin imposed his will, pace and body on the right winger) and central midfield (where Viet kept nipping the ball just as the striker was about to turn). The black shirts of White Star had a lot of discussion in the first break of the match.

1/3 time: 2-0 to Penang Wanderers

Personally I expected to see some changes in the 2/3 of the game as White Star had so little control of the midfield in the first thirty minutes. However the second third saw a lightning start for The Wanderers as Jamie ran straight for the Road End from the kick off and eventually worked the ball to substitute Dani who flicked the ball past the goalkeeper with consummate ease - and within 3 minutes of entering the field of play! Dani was in fact a threat throughout the whole third as the team sought him constantly to use his pace and trickery like Pat Nevin of old.

White Star did manage to penetrate slightly more as the Wanderers midfield pushed up a lot more in search of glory and goals (this writer completing his hat trick after the big Spanish Jorge went for a cross with a defender - leaving Derek with the easiest task to side foot his hat trick from 8 yards) but Victor only really had to keep alert to come off his line. The number of saves he had to make could still have been counted on one glove.

However White Star did give the scoreline a more respectable look as they scored a Theo Walcott-esque goal down the left wing from our own corner. A clearance found their striker on our right hand side and he ran in a straight line from the halfway line to our goal. When we all wondered whether he had enough energy to finish, he drilled it low and hard at the near post - to Allen's disgust. Liverpool Jamie also missed 2 great chances to get on the score sheet: the first a header from several yards out (the sun was behind him!) and a shot from inside the penalty area that was Andy Carroll in its accuracy!

2/3 time: Penang Wanderers had extended their lead to 4-1.

The final 30 minutes of the game saw the whites of the Wanderers heading towards the Hill End again with White Star tiring considerably as they sought to keep the scoreline down. There was only more goal as Tim's delicate through ball to an under-lapping Duncan allowed the latter to touch the ball past the advancing goalkeeper. Tim was also involved in the miss of the match/best clearance you'll ever see as he hit a square rocket of a cross that cannoned off a defender from 5 yards out - with Deano and Jamie also lunging at it. Deano was not having the best of days with another one on one having a rather Tim Cahill 2011-12 ending.

Viet also showed up further of the pitch than you would see a regular centre half but failed with a variety of crosses as the pitch refused to cooperate with him (as he dictated in his post match car interview). However his anticipation to steal the ball away from the striker had made his debut worthwhile as Allen communicated his expectations from behind him. The last man wasn't shy about using his body and legs to block anyone who had gotten past Viet (which made them an ideal combination). Matt, at right back, did the same on the left winger on a variety of through balls / throw ins although to be fair you can't expect him to move out of the way to let the opponent progress!

Full Time: Penang Wanderers 5-1 White Star

The beers after the match were well deserved after a 90 minute winning stint in the balmy heat of Malaysia. A pleasing performance saw photographer Melissa nominate Derek for Man of the Match after his hat trick. Writing this match report was part of the pleasure assures Deano. A mere warning for future recipients of this award!

The 2011 Penang Wanderers: Matt Le Tissier Goal of the Year 2011

2012-01-05T02:29:00.002+08:00

It was a fantastic overcast day to play football (that's all I ever think about on overcast days!) on a Technic College surface that allows the ball to roll true. There was only a slight problem for the Penang Wanderers on this the last Sunday of October. Players. Whilst seven players were perfect for the Soccer Experience sevens, it was somewhat more problematic with our match against an Inpro team who had the advantage of 3 more additional men.

But we played anyway and it was amazing to all of us that we managed to get to the half time break with a one one scoreline. This was due to Inpro's lack of creativity, sideways passing and lack of focus on our Jan Molby left back combined with a tight defensive 3 (including myself) and 2 industrious midfielders who dropped deep and our marathon runner manager pressing their defensive line as much as he could. Black shirted players dripped onto the pitch for us as they arrived every six minutes. Those within the white lines were relieved at each additional body.

With an eleven eleven game situation, we were confident that we could beat this secondary Inpro team. If a team can't score more goals than you with 20% more players, it's inconcievable that they would be able to win with equal numbers with much of the same ability. But the onus of the game had also switched because with an equal number of players, there needed to be attacking verve and style from the black clad Penang Wanderers players and it turned out that Inpro weren't too bad at defending either. With the 1-1 deadlock still remaining, it needed something special to pry the teams apart.

It needed the 2011 Penang Wanderers: Matt Le Tissier Goal of the Year.

With a fair amount of energy stored up after playing with tactical discipline at the back, I decided to step up from centre back. In the first half, I executed a similar ploy where I had intercepted a pass in midfield, accelerated past a defender before cutting it back for Deano to slot home the first goal of the match.

This time I recieved a throw in on the left hand side from tall Jamie just inside the opposition half. With calm yet offensive intent, I ran at the retreating defender bewitching him with my right footed inside outside move. As he continued to back off to the edge of his penalty area, the ball was slightly to my right at which point my implicit football ability took over.

With minimum thought, the right CTR cladded foot drew back and arched the ball into the darkening sky. It flew majestically through the air, swerving, curling from right to left. It avoided the people waiting in the eighteen yard box as it was too high for all - they could only watch the flight from their lowly positions - before the trajectory took it back down towards the goal. Where it landed perfectly in the top corner of the netting without touching bar nor post.

The moment of silence was broken by Jamie's Macclesfield accent. "F-ing hell, Derek." Which he followed up with some words that also involved the adjective "amazing."

What more is there to be said?

It was a decisive goal that put us in the lead whilst dampening the hearts of Inpro who at 1-1 still had pretensions of forging ahead. Shaun's tiny touch from Jamie's inswinging corner put the result firmly into the Penang Wanderers win column. But the second goal shall forever remain something that Matt Le Tissier would have been proud of and that I truly am. Thank you to my teammates who voted for the goal and I'm glad you took as much pleasure in it as I did.

Dare you expect more of the same in 2012?

Match 22: Observations from a Watching Wife.

2011-08-23T20:05:00.000+08:00

It was an interesting match to watch as it was well balanced and played in good spirit. Despite Derek's hat trick, he could have had a doubled that with a variety of misses in the first half but his inaccuracy was balanced by the fact there was a good young ginger haired player, Dan, picking up the slack. His flatmate, Fergus, fell a lot - but scored a very nice goal after bluffing the goal then flicking it past him on the other side as well as getting the killer 9th goal in the second half. Peter looked slow but it was obviously deceptive pace as he had a fantastic run and shot in the first half that just missed the top corner.

A close scoreline at half time, 4-3, meant nothing as the fast opposition strikers took turns to pepper the Kelawei Road goal - but it remained as cursed for them as it did for Derek. Whilst the small Chinese guy (Adrian) was defending well, Intransitive Milan didn't threaten the other side with the three main goalscorers on the bench. But then they came on and 4 goals abruptly adjusted the scoreline in the favour of Intransitive Milan despite the excellent LA Galaxy goalkeeper.

The funniest moment of the match was when the turban headed opposition player started running about. Whilst he was pacy, his high knee style of movement was very amusing!

Final Score: 9-5

Scorers: Derek 3, Dan 3, Fergus 2, Tim, OG

Match Day 21

2011-08-09T21:45:00.002+08:00

Six Days. Four Games. Four Losses.

2011-08-03T21:43:00.001+08:00

Hard work. Lots of Effort. Give 110%. Determination.

The keys to success? Not always.

Friday: KDU 2-4 Polo FC
Lesson 1: Familarisation with your team.

I was tempted to title this lesson as 'ensure a full team come: part II.' Eunic's last minute fitness test left us with 10 players but the coach decided to be bold and go with 3-4-2 without having to give up numbers in midfield.

However Polo FC were able to pick off our weakness (the space behind in our full back areas) with their diagonal through balls. But we were able to slice similar spaces and a little one two saw me lob the Polo FC keeper from 25 yards after he decided to advance 22 yards from goal! The Polo FC goalkeeper was either very confident, highly energetic or very disrespectful as he came up for 2 of his team's corners in the first half - must remember to accidentially trip/pull shirt next time a keeper does that!

South African Shaun was playing his first game in several years as centre half and did a commendable job of quieting their attack despite his yellow card on a very fast striker (and a possible sending off offence when he was the last man!). Chris made some great stops in goal and was particularly unlucky with their third goal (got a hand to it but was moving out of the way) and their fourth (saved the first shot but the striker followed up the rebound). Seng deserves a notable mention at right centre back for his tenacity in hunting down left wingers!

However it was probably a fair reflection on play that Polo FC won as they were the more fluid of the two teams in their play and build up. The Polo FC central midfielders were the key to opening up their game whereas our attacking instincts were based very much on whatever our professional player, Chun, could do on his own up front! (Yes, I didn't know he was a professional player until Belvin told me at half time but it did explain why he looked pretty handy!). We also badly tired in midfield with no substitutes (although a random college guy joined us just before half time to fill in at left back to good effect).

It was a mighty good workout and I was proud of the effort everybody put in - especially as we had never played together before! And the result could have been different if Penang Shaun hadn't missed those 2 open goals...

Sunday: The Wanderers 3-4 IJM Land
Lesson 2: Central midfield partnership.

The management team were hoping that IJM Land were tired after a league game the previous day but it seemed that this might have been a different shift team! The second game was very similar to the KDU game. I played in central midfield and found myself chasing two figures in similar positions to me on the opposite team - again!

Fortunately we had South African Shaun in goal who dominated his penalty area like no keeper I've seen in Penang and Liam in central defence who mopped up after him on the odd occassion they managed to leak through. Indeed the defence had been that effective that IJM's first proper shot on goal resulted in their one goal half time lead. However I was not creating chances from my position with my misplaced passes (with the exception of one flick on). This lack of sharpness was possibly due to tiredness from Friday's match so I swapped with Belvin who was playing in the unusual position of left back. It wasn't too unfamiliar for me - it was my old school team position when I was 12 years old!

I was a bit concerned that Manager Dino might not have liked my tactical swap without consulting him but with a goal and an assist for two goals in the second half, Belvin helped us back into the game. Unhappily this was in vain as IJM always managed to stay ahead of us - one with a cracking top corner shot, the third after Mark missed a clearance - on the edge of his penalty area and the fourth scored whilst the referee was shouting at a disgruntled Dani! However The Wanderers never quit trying and after the keeper tipped my delicate lob over the bar, Dino 'scored' a goal from the resulting corner in the last minutes of the match.

But IJM Land deserved their win with their accomplished midfield display and their linkage of play left us/me grasping at players to catch up to. Whatever lungbusting effort we put in the searing heat, they were always one pass ahead of us and clinically took home the three points in the sixth team decider.

Monday: Intransitive Milan 8-11 House Team
Lesson 3: Technical ability.

I was tempted to entitle this lesson as 'ensure a full team come: part II.' With 10 players confirmed on Monday lunchtime, it quickly dropped to 7 by 6pm, 6 by 6.20pm and then 5 players when Raj just didn't show up at all. Martin knew we were top of the league too so had arranged a good team to give us a challenge. Their 11th placing meant nothing!

Whilst we started off with 6 vs 7, the Scotsman graciously gave us another player and went in goal himself - his first soccer experience for the first time in 6 months! We weren't individually or collectively good enough to beat the House Team (despite referee's Vijay's encouragement!).

With Martin in goal, it was merely a case of putting the ball where he wasn't but the House team were technically good as individual players and moved together as a unit offensively and defensively to deny us easy opportunities. Steve, Jimmy, Alan, Mark, little left winger and myself put in the effort (and fair enough 8 goals!), it was eerily similar to the IJM match. However close Intransitive Milan got to the opposition's scoreline, the House Team always pulled away when we were within touching distance - especially when we were just plain knackered at the end!

The boys gave it their all - look at the sweat - and that's all you can ask for!

A special mention has to go to The Special One: South African Shaun - we thought Rick was pretty damn good but I think we've found ourselves a rival to his reflex actions! Without Shaun, I honestly think we would have gone down by twenty goals!!

PSC Wednesday 2-3 Waterfall Veterans
Lesson 4: Positive Mental Attitude.

We play 3 twenty-five minute thirds at Penang Sports Club on Wednesdays so we can rotate our huge squad and give everyone a minimum of one half...err third. The only problem is that that sometimes people think certain players are stronger than other individuals and then when they are put in the same team as those other individuals, they moan, try less and in their hearts - give up. I find that a strange sentiment for two reasons.*

I honestly didn't think that the people next to the worriers were weaker than maybe for instance. They would also have more energy than those of us who had already played the first two thirds of the game. They might have a less energetic style than myself but again, they compensate in other ways - usually by being able to actually dribble past players and keep the ball!

The way around it is to know that you are going to be going on with those people and perhaps have a chat before you go on to organise tactics, partnerships and positions. If you are concerned about certain things, take the option to talk to the manager or to the players directly in a calm polite manner. Giving up before going on the pitch usually only garners one result - losing!

And when we went 3-2 down in that final third against experienced opposition (I was off the pitch for this part), I knew that the team's spirit would make a comeback unlikely.

*although if I was Vidic, Rio, Carrick and had Gibson besides me...

Match Day 19

2011-07-25T21:21:00.000+08:00

Squad: Rick, Big Steve, Drew, Adrian, Liam, Oilrig Steve, Jimmy, Derek

Shoulder charged in the back. Grabbed in the throat by a half naked Malaysian man. Headlocked and verbally abused by a very large Indian man. Screaming women. No, this was not a night out with Fergus & Dan but Liam's second half experience of playing against Mois Club!

The blue touch paper was lit early in the half when Liam was going for a header and overheard a Mois player telling another one to injure him. After getting shoulder charged on his previous back injury and being shouted at whilst lying on the floor, the tall Canadian went straight after the culprit with various verbal threats and warnings. Ten minutes later, Liam apologised after a hard tackle but the Mois posse needed little excuse to wade in through the net, onto the pitch and into Liam's face.

The weak refereeing had not helped in a first half but with nothing being done after this incident - no cards were shown to the players and managers who came in to attack Liam - it was merely a license to continue the aggression. It smacked very much of little man syndrome or an inferiority complex when in fact, there was no need as Mois were a good footballing side - with the exception of their goalkeeper who made several catastrophic errors in the first half.

Not only did he fail to narrow the angle for a fantastic first time cross shot by Derek to the far post (I know the Joanna and Rahma loved it!), he totally misjudged a high ball from Jimmy with Derek coming towards him. And to put the third layer on the mountain of mistakes, he caught the ball half a yard outside the area under no pressure - the free kick from which Drew put us ahead. We were just as generous defensively after gifting them their first 2 goals but with Drew's double deflected goal, Derek's tidy finish after a Liam Giggs run & pull back down the left and Adrian's outside of the right foot free kick, we went into the break quite happily.

Half Time: 5-3

Aside from the flash points, the second half saw Mois Club trap Intransitive Milan in their defensive third. They employed a striker to stand in front of Rick which Adrian dropped to mark. However this left a large gap in midfield that Drew didn't fill and it was a wave of red shirts on blue and black rocks. A crazily busy second half after a quiet first half saw an ill Rick flicking shots onto bar and post at least three times with those lightning reactions (he must be a good table tennis player!). He was ably helped out by a defensive quintet of Adrian, Big Steve, Drew, Liam and Otilrig Steve who blocked more shots than a bulletproof vest in a SWAT mission. 5 shots off the line, shots charged down with the legs, shots off the backside - it was pure survival at various stages in that 2nd half.

With the Mois midfield pushing so high, Derek and Jimmy found themselves in several breakaway situations but the Preston-Telford connection was found wanting with barely any shots troubling the opposition goalkeeper. Derek's speedy run on the left wing, drag back and curling shot wide of the top corner was the closest Intransitive Milan came in the second half so it was no surprise when Mois scored their fourth and then the craziness.

Looks easy with no pressure on.

However this was not the end of the drama. Adrian's nudge on a striker saw Mois Club awarded a debatable penalty in the dying minutes of the game. With players pushing for position on the edge of the D, the Mois goalkeeper ran up the pitch as he saw a chance for redemption. Intransitive Milan were not disappointed when he blew it! His low shot went wide of Rick's right hand post!

There was enough time left for a 50/50 Liam challenge to keep the atmosphere lively but not enough for Mois to grab an equaliser. When the final whistle blew, Big Steve let out a huge roar of victory! One that probably wasn't deserved on chances created but a victory that was won on clinical finishing, defensive determination and the ability to take and not react to sh*t with no protection.

Better than reading a book eh Joanna?

Final Score: 5-4

Scorers: Derek 2, Jimmy, Drew, Adrian

Match Day 18

2011-07-12T01:28:00.001+08:00

Intransitive Milan vs Dragon Heart F.C.

The manager was concerned. Fergus and Dan were out due to late night activity and injuries whilst Rick was staying in for an early night. The squad looked healthy until Liam and Jimmy pulled out with last minute back problems and flu symptoms. In addition to this, Adrian, Tim & Peter had played a full 11 a side match on Sunday and the thought of tiredness was at the back of the player-manager's mind against Dragon Heart F.C. who were looking to cement a Europa League place.

However we were able to welcome back Q - as our adventurous dribbling genius and Thomas - to provide a protective shield in front of Adrian. This was also our German defender's last game for Intransitive Milan as he was set to return to his homeland for work.

Squad: Adrian, Thomas, Drew, Derek, Tim, Peter, Jason, Q

But none of this mattered as Intransitive Milan took apart Dragon Heart F.C. with aplomb in the first five minutes!

The blue and blacks painted the metalwork with the same colour with Q flicking a cross/shot against the bar and smashing a shot against the post. Derek joined in by curling a shot onto the bar after a lovely Tim roll back. The flood of attacks was only going one way and it was no surprise when Q used his elastic limbs to jink his way past defenders to rifle two goals past the 2nd choice goalkeeper.

With high balls raining in on the Dragon Heart F.C. goalmouth courtesy of Jason, Drew and Tim, the opposition showed no sign of fear when challenging for them. Or communication. Or indeed intelligence. This was obvious when the defender and the goalkeeper collided for a cross that none of the Intransitive Milan players went for. Sadly this lack of control proved painful for Peter as another high ball was challenged by 4 people and he was the unlucky one to be punched - in the head! - by the now 1st choice goalkeeper in this crowd. This bad luck was further compounded when they went straight up the other end and scored with their first attack of the match in a 2 vs Thomas situation.

This goal seemed to galvanise Dragon Heart F.C. and they went on the offensive looking for goals to equalise. Whilst they had quite a few shots on goal, most of them didn't concern Adrian as Jason, Tim, Drew and Thomas did the hard work to deny the opposition any clear close range opportunities.

However the first penalty in any Intransitive Milan match the 2011 season was awarded - against the team. Thomas clearly wanted to be remembered and it was his hand that jolted the memory - and ball. Despite Adrian's dive to his left, the ball was powerful enough to reach the netting and the game was all square. Fortunately Derek was able to strike back with his left foot to the same effect and whilst this sent the Penang Nerazzurri into the lead, the manager and players were most concerned about the concussed Peter during the half time break.

Half Time: 3-2

The second half saw Dragon Heart F.C. come out stronger mainly because Intransitive Milan had tired at this stage and with 'an out of this world' Peter on the bench, there were not any options for changes! However the pattern of attacks were similar to the first half. With Tim and Jason dropping deep to help out Thomas and Drew, (the lazy/tired/overconfident) Derek and Q looked to strike on the counter.

With the defence doing their share of the hard work, the latter two combined to score a quite bizarre fourth goal. The Thai played a straight pass to Derek who five yards outside the area. However the keeper had come charging out to pressure him but didn't notice the deft touch/lucky toe poke that the player-manager had got on the ball whilst turning.....which trickled over the line in slow motion!

Four two up and in relative control although when Dragon Heart F.C. pulled a goal back after a pull back from a corner, nobody was sure what the score was! Thomas & Derek thought they were winning by a big margin, Q thought it was a draw and poor Peter didn't know what was happening. However this didn't stop him from coming back on (rather forced by a tired Q) and he did manage a lovely dribble past two people in his heightened state - but completely swung at the ball after attempting a pass to Tim. In the post game interview, he admitted that he felt like it was not his body and his mind kept thinking "what would a professional footballer do in this situation?"

Intransitive Milan looked to increase their advantage but they too were reduced to speculative shots from long range with Thomas having the closest effort with his Veron-esque shots using the outside of his feet. Tim was also close with an overhead kick prompting quote of the match from Drew. "Who does he think he is? Fergus?"

After a goal line clearance from Derek (who thought it would have been a consolation!), the Penang Nerazzurri took home the three points to consolidate their position on the top of the league in a competitive game that was played in good spirit (although Q was lucky not to be sent off for encroachment after already collecting 1 yellow card!).

Final Score: 4-3

Scorers: Q2, Derek 2.

Post match, Peter went to Adventist Hospital for a check up but with no fainting, blood or vomit, the doctor declared him good enough to return home. His 'out of body experience' was probably caused by the vibration of his brain rattling about in his skull and he was given some 'happy drugs' which, disappointingly, weren't as effectively as he had hoped. On Tuesday, he felt like he had downed a whole bottle of whisky (Dan might be able to relate to that) but was healthy enough to drive by Wednesday.

Match Day 17

2011-06-27T23:25:00.003+08:00

Intransitive Milan vs Shohoku

Squad: Rick, Adrian, Drew, Derek, Tim, Fergus, Dan, Raj

It was a threadbare squad due to the mid-season break that half the squad gave themselves. With Steve (various countries), Peter (Thailand), Liam (HK & Puket), Jimmy (Indonesia), Otilrig Steve (Ghana?) and Thomas (injury), it meant that were down to the bare bones. However our situation was better than our 14th placed opponents for the evening, Shohoku, who only had 3 players for the start of the match. I was a bit worried that their borrowed players would give them an edge and it didn't help when they hit the bar in the first minute!

Fortunately Dan put us off to an even better start by going straight up the other end of the pitch and scoring! This streak continued where we added 3 more goals fairly quickly via Fergus (2) and Dan again. Shohoku, however, weren't shockingly bad as they hit the bar again and had two shots that flew across Rick's goalmouth before finally putting one in. But Intransitive Milan showed why they were top of the league as they crushed their red opponent's spirit with a further two goals, this time player-manager Derek's eyebrow and Tim's lovely outside of the right foot lob doing the damage.

Half Time: 6-1

The second half whizzed by in a blaze of goals with a further 10 goals hitting the back of the net in an exhibition for the crowd. With the game already won, it was up to Shohoku to repair damaged egos and they managed to put another 2 goals past Rick and 1 past Derek (after they swapped positions). Unhappily for them, Fergus and Dan completed their double doubles (4 goals apiece) with the latter also generously setting up Raj for his only goal of the match.

Much to Adrian's chargain, Derek also scored a goal - whilst playing as goalkeeper! After blocking a shot on the edge of his own area, he saw the opportunity for a break and strode forward, feeding the ball to Rick (or was it Tim?!?) and receiving it from Fergus. The Shohoku keeper looked very surprised to see a man wearing a bib bearing down on him and really should have saved Derek's shot with his feet. Nay bother - our lovely lady supporter of the night, Melissa loved it! Big Steve would have hated it!!

With KDU drawing 3-3 with Mois Club later in the evening, it meant that Intransitive Milan were top of the league with the same number of games as the aforementioned teams. Whilst ExtraOrdinary F.C., Team Forza & particularly Potato could catch us with a run of wins, it's better to have the points in the bag than the games in hand. This result also saw us break the 100 goal barrier in the goals scored column, the first team in the Championship league to do so.

Top of the League. Top Scorers. How long can this continue?

Final Score: 12-4

Scorers: Fergus 4, Dan 4, Derek 2, Tim, Raj

Match Day 16

2011-06-13T23:23:00.000+08:00

Intransitive Milan vs Islander Boys

Squad: Rick, Liam, Adrian, Jimmy, Derek, Peter, Tim, Raj

A member of the Islanders Boys said after the match, "I can normally run a lot but you guys passed it around so much that I was exhausted." A compliment to sum up any team - especially ours - but it was a match in which Islander Boys pushed pretty hard throughout the whole match, pressing with the front four whilst leaving two at the back to mop up.

With no Fergus up front, there was constant rotation of the front man with the return of the Raj, player coach Derek and vice-captain Peter filling in. However it was left to Tenby's Tim to open the scoring with not one but two goals. Derek finished the half off with a beautiful team goal built all the way from the back. Indeed the back was solid with the return of Liam partnering Adrian and whilst the skilful youngsters cut through the Inter centre, they couldn't get past little and large (and I guess another little in defence!).

Half Time: 3-1 up.

The second half was a similar pattern to the first with Intransitive Milan counterattacking whenever the Islander Boys pushed high up the pitch. However it seemed inevitable that Intransitive Milan would find themselves top of the league come the end of the night because the advantage from the first half was just too big for the young team to pull back. Their pressing yielded little whilst goals from Peter and Derek (2) doubled the Intransitive advantage.

Although Drew couldn't silence the many Islander Boys's critics after his chance to volley home after a long Liam diagonal pass, he could have done a big song and dance "We are top of the league, we are top of the league!" after the game. Whilst he sensibly didn't, the song still rings true and to the shock of the everyone, the Italian themed side imitated their 2009-10 cousins to proudly sit atop of the table for the first time this season. How long can they stay on top of the perch?

Final Score: 6-2

Scorers: Derek 3, Tim 2, Peter

Match Day 15

2011-05-30T23:20:00.000+08:00

Intransitive Milan vs G.Y.M.

Squad: Rick, Adrian, Steve Hall, Drew, Peter, Jimmy, Tim, Fergus, Q, Nawrung

The largest squad of the season showed up for this game which meant Derek sat himself out with his dinner filled stomach. However there were not many adjustments needed by the managerial mastermind as memories of the Barcelona-Manchester United final were obviously still in mind with tika taka football taking centre stage for a slick Intransitive Milan first half. Despite conceding a shock first minute goal to G.Y.M. via a Stoke-like long throw, the Penang Nerazzurri didn't panic and Peter soon equalised after a slick passing move down the left. Jason followed that up with a beautiful curler to the top corner before Drew nabbed the third with a header.

Fergus came on with the words of Steve in his ear 'play one touch and don't mess it up' and the young/middle aged Londoner grabbed a goal - with his first touch! Tim then put the Milan team way out in front as the manager put his feet metaphorically up with a double, the first after a glorious wall pass with his Tenby colleague Fergus and then his second was a left foot finish through the keeper's legs for Intransitive Milan's sixth.

Half Time: Winning 6-1

It was obviously game over by now and the Intransitive Milan team went in search of more goals - with obvious consequences at the back. The defensive lapse(s) meant that G.Y.M. managed to claw 3 goals back by the end of the game although the half finished equal with a Drew (?) goal, a low drive from Fergus and an outside of the foot finish by Q. Steve did his best to add his name to the scoresheet with two rasping drives from distance but it appears that the veteran defender will have to wait for at least another month before another opportunity to join the goalscorers list.

It was all over in the first half and unlike Arsenal-Newcastle last season, the Penang Nerazzurri saw it through to the end. Three points and the Champions League places are firmly in sight.

Final Score: 9-4

Scorers: Fergus 2, Tim 2, Drew 2, Peter, Jason, Q

Match Day 14

2011-05-16T23:18:00.004+08:00

Intransitive Milan vs Garuda

Squad: Rick, Steve, Drew, Peter, Derek, Jimmy, Tim, Fergus

Man On Fire.

I'm not talking about the Hollywood blockbuster starring Denzil Washington. I'm not talking about Johnny Flame from the Fantastic Four or a bad David Blaine publicity stunt. I am, of course, talking about Fergus playing up front against the Indonesian team Garuda and his spectacular fourth goal that was so good that it earned him a yellow card.

This came mid way through the 2nd half when a beautifully clipped ball from Jimmy split the defence diagonally and found Fergus on the edge of the D. With only the keeper to beat but bags of time, we all expected him to control the ball and lash it past the goalkeeper as he had with his previous 3 goals. Instead he jumped off the floor (I know it's difficult this part is already difficult to imagine), turned his body perpenticular to the ball and scissored the match ball across the dumbstruck goalkeeper into the far side of the goal.

Actually I think we were all dumbstruck by the moment of genius but he had already attempted such an effort in the first half - which makes the volley even better. How many players would risk looking an idiot twice in a match?!? I would argue that he scored a goal of equal quality with a Bale-esque run in the first twenty five minutes, straying left then right as he made his way from his own half before smashing a shot past the large Indonesian goalkeeper.

But Bale would be nothing without Van Der Vaart, Modric, Lennon, Gallas, Dawson, Assou-Ekotto and Gomes. Peter weighed in with usual goal haul from midfield sticking two low drives past the big man in the second half. Drew and Steve Hall returned to their young man-old man rock solid defensive partnership (which was validated when Drew subbed himself in the 2nd half and we promptly let in 3 goals!). Derek and Tim continued to be the oil which greased the juggernaut that is Intransitive Milan, linking the play and grabbing a goal apiece - the latter celebrating his goal with his lady friend, Melissa, whose view was sadly obstructed with a large beam!

Jimmy had another Nasri performance (it was an Eboue comparision earlier in the season!) sneaking through balls for many a goalscorer unexpectedly (or just pushing defenders out of the way for my goal!), shuttling up and down his wing with vibrancy and energy, putting the pressure on attackers by unexpectantly coming up from behind as well as grab his now customary first half goal with an unexpected Ian Wright poaching ability in the D.

Rick was his usual brilliant self flinging himself to where the spiders live and weaving his body into a web that strikers can't find their way past in one on one situations - rather like Peter, his brilliance needs new eyes to see it because it becomes expected by his teammates after a while.

A rather swish performance against a team who had skilful players but floundered on our team solidarity and counterattacks.

Final Score: 9-5

Scorers: Fergus 4, Peter 2, Jimmy, Derek, Tim

Incidentially Fergus didn't get booked for scoring such a good goal. It was for showing his English style tan and waving his XL shirt about in the air afterwards. I did like the Diego Forlan way of playing without the shirt afterwards!

Match Day 13

2011-05-10T23:12:00.000+08:00

Intransitive Milan vs K.D.U. College

It was the students against the teachers. The determination and energy of youth against the experience and authority of older men. It was a chance for rebellion to revel or authority to dominate. The previous meeting between the two teams saw the teams share the points in a 2-2 draw but both teams had bolstered their squads for round two.

An extraordinary match saw Intranstive Milan ship NINE goals after only conceding seven goals in the last three games but also equal their top amount of goals scored in a match this year - eight. The two teams slugged it out like Manny Pacquiao and Shane Mosley on Saturday night with neither giving an inch and both thoroughly intent on attacking and punching the ball into the opposition goalnet.

The first half saw KDU breeze into a 4-2 lead as The Omani Sandstorm aka J.J. aka Muneer did an very passable version of Dani Alves on the right hand side of the Intransitive Milan team. Whilst the blue and black did well to pressure the fluorescent bibbed yellow KDU team in their own half, it failed to react quickly to Muneer's runs from deep despite the prior e-mail warning. And when the odd black and blue player stood in front of him, he had the footwork and acceleration to destroy them. From a tactical point of view, it really needed someone to get tight to him the moment he got the ball to stop him accelerating and another man to back him up in case he got 3 steps ahead.

All four goals came down that side and it was only Rick's quick feet who got anywhere to giving him any difficultly. The young Manc lad was out on the pitch as Adrian looked to guard the Milan net and Rick was outstanding as he recovered from an early kick to his leg to help pressure all over the pitch as well as secure his first hat trick of the season. However his and ??2??'s first half goals were not enough to leave a tidy hill to climb.

Half Time: Four goals to two down.

Intransitive Milan showed they were up for the challenge coming out of the break with both fists firing and equalising the match early on with two quick fire goals by ??3?? and ??4??. This was due to a continuation of the high pressing game which reaped some success in the first half.

However this meant that Derek and Steve were left at the back to deal with individual battles with the strikers Belvin and Max/Jeeves and neither covered themselves with any glory as they struggled to cope with the tenacity and strength of the young strikers. Derek played like Paul Scholes if you ever put him in defence whilst Steve was feeling his way back to tournament action like Stevie Wonder looking for a piano.

With this sort of protection, Adrian was left exposed and he could do nothing about any of the goals which were all of high quality from Neoh's top right corner shot to Belvin's Drogba impression where he held off Derek and lashed a hammer-like-Thor-shot past our keeper before Steve could step to close him down. Despite this humilation of the old men, Adrian did fantastically well to stop a one on one against Max which would prove crucial in the final minutes.

During this time of luxurious goalscoring for KDU, Intransitive Milan were actually creating many chances at the other end. But it was incredible Arsenal-esque finishing that let us down. The keeper did well with some of the shots but there were some impressive misses from inside the 'D' and an open goal that was begging to accept a ball from 10 yards. After Heng missed a one on one from Derek's backheel and the accumulation of goals by the young men, it seemed like it was game over.

Then a pivotal moment came - Derek took himself off! Jason came on and (in the spirit of The Wanderers match!) he and Tim, Fergus, Rick and Heng did an amazing impression of the Barcelona midfield swam that saw 4 goals come in 5 minutes - despite Muneer playing in the centre of defence the entire half! (Anyone have any ideas who the 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th goalscorers were?)

It was unbelievable viewing from the sidelines. Max was doing an Arsene Wenger impression on the side with his kicking and throwing of various items whilst all the Milan subs were updating the players with the score with every goal driven in.

Eight Eight. With one minute left.

However nobody had a clue how much time was left but neither team was happy with a point so both teams went for the knock out blow. With seconds left on the clock, Muneer found himself up against Fergus and brushed past him like Kaboul on Bellamy (as Dan put it) and struck a hard, low shot inside the near post - which turned out to be the last kick of the game.

The knock out blow.

Final Score: 8-9

Scorers: Rick 3, Fergus 2, Jimmy, Peter,

Match Day 12

2011-05-02T11:08:00.000+08:00

Intransitive Milan vs Potato

Squad: Adrian, Drew, Derek, Jason, Tim, Fergus, Heng, Wan

The result of the weekend wasn't Barcalona's passage to the final (they were already two goals up and at home). It certainly wasn't ManUtd's win against Schalke (see previous brackets). It wasn't even Arsenal's 1-0 win over ManUtd (already out of the title race with no pressure). It came in a late night kick off at Kelawei Road as Intransitive Milan stopped the vegetable juggernaut that is Potato. With an unbeaten 8 game streak since the league began, it was with some apprehension that the black and blue team stepped on the pitch. Indeed the player manager insisted that the team tried to keep it down to a minimum of 2 goals by half time. He certainly didn't expect his team to race into a 2 goal lead - courtesy of his Candian floorball defender.

The first of Drew's goal was a thunderbolt from 20 yards (or as Kaz would describe it a 1994 Tony Yeboah special and by the way not this special) whilst the second was more Robbie Fowler-esque as he lurked in the penalty area. We were dreaming of a fish and chip supper before Potato reminded us how dangerous they were with a shot straight from kick off that pinged off the bar. However that was the closest they got as they failed to get warm up against The Triple Ds (Derek-Drew Defence). Jason, Fergus and Tim were also holding a deeper line as we sought to see what they could create - and they didn't create a lot. In the end it took a special shot to beat Adrian as a small man struck a low shot that sweetly skimmed into the far side netting.

Intransitive Milan had their tails up and looked to persue their offensive advantage and it was debutant Heng (who had played in a table tennis tournament against a backup reserve player in KL and won in the afternoon - then travelled 4 hours up to Penang!) who came up with the goods after a shield, turn and deadly left foot shot to the keeper's left hand side. The game now had an ebb and flow to it as Potato decided to get out of the deep fat fryer and into the retaining tin. They served the team in fourth a lesson in concentration as they reacted quickly to a blocked shot from a corner but Heng was equal to Drew's feat and stuck his second away with a right foot finish after pounching on a rebound. The slice and dice nature of the game continued after failure by Derek to clear the ball on the side was matched by the 2 Intransitive playes in the middle and Adrian saw a third goal drilled past him.

Half Time: 4-3 up

The advice given by the manager was to play exactly the same way - with hopefully the same goal ratio! However Potato came out to roast their opponents and looked to serve them on a plate. Curiously our tiring midfield repeated the same pattern as previous games - they pushed to the wings and about 10 yards further forward than they previously were - leaving the centre open and The Triple Ds more peeled back. Intransitive Milan held them at bay, debutant Wan was especially energetic when he came to firm up midfield, but it was obvious where the threat came from - the combination of Kenny and small guy on Potato's right wing. It was no surprise that they equalised from that side although Drew was unlucky as the shot caught his elbow which took it past Adrian in goal.

The man in black was called into action as the half wore on and the Milan defence was stretched and sliced but the spritely keeper made several tremendous reaction saves. My favourite was one to his bottom right when the shot was going straight as an arrow smack into the corner. He was helped out by Jason who had dropped a bit deeper and made one goalline clearance but it wasn't just one way traffic. We looked to Heng to fry the defence as our goalkeeper looked long which allowed their large keeper to show some of his ability. However it was Potato who grabbed the next goal as a pulled back corner was converted with a first time strike. Intransitive were energised and retaliated by bombarding them with long throws via Jason and Drew and all that pressure eventually paid off with a very strange goal.

The goalkeeper tried to initiate a quick restart but in his haste, kicked the ball against Heng who was walking away! He turned around and promptly put it into an empty net. Both teams went for the winner (although Fergus and Derek thought they were already winning at this stage after both heard the referee say we were 6-5 up - where are the electronic scoreboards?!?) and Potato's frustration saw a player booked after continual arguments with referee Shaun about accidential handballs. The closest chance that either team came to securing a winner was Derek's Bale-esque run from his own D which saw him swerve a shot a foot wide of the bottom right hand corner.

Nevertheless a fantastic game, played in good clean fashion, saw both teams come away with a point. This meant that Potato consolidated their title winning position and Intransitive Milan leap over Mois Club into that vital third European position.

Final Score: 5-5

Scorers: Heng 3, Drew 2

Match Day 11

2011-04-25T23:06:00.001+08:00

Intransitive Milan vs Segi College

Squad: Rick, Derek, Kaz, Tim, Peter, Fergus, Dan, Raj, Jimmy

Desperation meant that a friend from England, Kaz, who was visiting Penang for one day was slotted straight into the squad without a kick about, trial or fitness test - despite the fact that he hadn't been played for 2 years! However his presence proved invaluable as he formed a 2 man defensive wall with Derek at the back. This was a solid foundation that the rest of the team were able to build upon as attack after attack after attack assailed the Segi College goal. The destined goal finally came through an unlikely source - Jimmy!

The young Telford player was feeling his way back to full fitness before he pounced on a short corner cross to put Intransitive Milan 2-1 up. Raj then sprung the second surprise on us (& them!) by cutting in Pat Nevin-esque from the left hand side to curl his opening goal for the season too! Segi College had showed very little up except long balls up to this point and this allowed Kaz to push up a lot on the left hand side. Despite the odd misplaced pass, he added an extra man in midfield and pushed up far enough to play a lovely ball to Peter - who would have sent the Intransitive Milan crowd wild (if they existed).

Dan struck a rocket that would have broken a wooden post yet even without that, the game was already over. Any semblance of hope was denied by the young Mancunian keeper, Rick, who pulled off an amazing triple save when faced with a one on one, a rebound and strong hit from outside the 'D' - all within the space of 5 seconds.

Half Time: 3-0 up.

Segi College came out with much more force in the second half. I don't know if their stronger players eventually arrived or they decided to play for pride after such negativity in the first half but there was certainly more pressure on the Intransitive defenders when in possession. Although this put us under more pressure, the Intransitive Milan midfield continued to push onto the black shirted college team and soon found themselves with another four goals added to the 'For' column in the league table. Peter thrilled his wife and daughter by completing his third hat trick of the season but declining to do the Romario baby swaying celebration. If Dan's third goal (with another strike off the metalwork) was merely giving the young team a telling off, Tim's screamer after Barcelona-esque one touch passing was a lecture for the Indians to observe, study and salivate.

Sadly Derek's only goal of the game - to keep a clean sheet for the first time this season (and thus use the pun 'the Great Wall of China) - was not to be realised as Segi desperately sought to score. Their constant pressure yielded more shots on goal without Rick needing to do anything but a breakaway after a Fergus penalty shout left the player-manager and then goalkeeper outnumbered saw them put away their solitary goal of the match. Rick thwarted them once again in a similar situation but Segi weren't content to just strike the ball. After a first half nip at Rick's shins and a sliding tackle on him again early in the second half, they finally clattered a blue and striped man. Triathletes everywhere will whince after their fellow athlete was caught in mid-air with 'a challenge' that was no-where near getting the ball. A heavy landing ensued with a swollen knee and a broken rib coming up the next day. Fergus also complained of having a sore back after being shoved on multiple occasions but whether this was due to poor falling technique or vicious hands/elbows needs to be video reviewed!

However the manager was very satisfied with a rock solid performance from the team and enough goals in the last two games to take Intransitive Milan into third place! Next up - the league leaders, Potato, in a very late night kick off!!

Final Score: 7-1

Scorers: Peter 3, Jimmy, Raj, Dan, Tim

Match Day 10

2011-04-18T23:03:00.002+08:00

Intransitive Milan vs Shohoku (7 a side league match)

After a solid training match against the referees' team of last week, it was back to league action against a team whose name has shared similarity with a shower gel, Shohoku. Their early foray in the league has been somewhat slippery with 2 league outings ending in 2 defeats and one of them was to the youngest team: Islander Boys. Confidence flowed through the veins of the manager but he must always remember the lesson of Team Forza.

Today's Missing Intransitive Action (MIA) list managed to supass that of the previous game with Rick adding to the list of pull outs (ankle) and a mental fitness test for Peter. After frantic smsing, Intransitive Milan welcomed Adrian and Mynn back into the fold as debuts were given to Jason and Henry. With Adrian (knee), Jason (knee), Peter (shins) all not at 100%, it was a risky strategy that the player-manager took.

Squad: Adrian, Drew, Henry, Tim, Peter, Derek, Raj, Jason, Mynn

Amazingly enough, it wasn't Intransitive Milan who were short of players for once! Shohoku's red shirts were limited to 4 players and we saw the familar faces of KDU's Neoh & Adrian Koay and football mercenary Shaun on the bibbed team. Ex-KDU player, Cher Wei featured against us and I knew from past experience how dangerous he was. Unfortunately for him, the rest of the team were not of his quality and they suffered their worst defeat to date.

Fearing for Adrian Lok's goalkeeper knees turned out to be misplaced as he barely had to brace them in the entire fifty five minutes to make a save of any sort. This was partly down to a standout performance by the late arriving Drew (despite my 6.15pm phone call!) together with a determined display by Henry and a midfield that dropped to cover in the first half. Intransitive had the best of the opening minutes with neat passing opening up the Shohoku defence and forcing the red shirted goalkeeper into several saves. This pattern continued after the first goal by the Tenby shirt wearer, Tim, (running onto a through ball, cutting inside a defender and slotting it past the keeper) as the opponents either over-hit passes or struggled to fashion a clear sight on goal.

Jason slotted into the team perfectly showing no sign of knee impediments and matched Tim's reliability and work-rate with a debut goal. With Adrian passing the ball short from goal kicks, it meant that we could build from the back whilst forcing Shobuku to pressure us - which would eventually relieve due to their lack of substitutes.

Raj was looking energetic on the flank but was unable to reproduce the masterful Ruel Fox performance of last week - his best chance to break his scoring duck was after a Derek run and low cross at the far post (although he would argue that the ball was behind him!). Fortunately we were three goals up at this point. And Raj didn't even get miss of the match - amazingly a Shohoku player missed a Berbatov semi finalesque chance after a sneaky Cher Wei free kick found him 2 yards from goal - with no pressure and running in! Sliced wider than a beef teriyaki sandwich.

Half Time: 2-0 up

The emphasis on the half time team talk was to keep the ball as Shohoku would surely tire after playing a half with no substitutes and it turned out to be true - well until a few of their regular players came! However their goalkeeper was more than welcome to help out his defence in that regard, patrolling his half in a way that Rene Higuita would be proud of! His long punts didn't do his team any good although his bolts from the back kept our strikers continually under pressure. However leaving your goal so many times is a risky strategy (which Raj nearly capitialised on the 22 minute) and it proved so as the Kuytesque Peter won the ball in midfield and fed Derek to slot past the man in red - who was on the centre circle half way line. Unsurprisingly he stayed in his 'D' after that!

Two more regular looking defenders arrived at this point - a tall black clad man must have been their hard man - I can't believe he didn't get yellow carded after a sliding assault on Peter and I presume was also the guy who gave me a good whack on my calf.

However by this time Mynn had already slotted his 2nd goal of the game (across the keeper into the far side netting with unerring accuracy) securing us the three points and leaving us with only one record left to break - keeping a clean sheet at the other end. There was a slight void in the middle of this second period - a prerequisite for an Intransitive performance - as the midfielders who came on as sub seemed to play wherever they wanted! (Please ask the person who came off which side of the pitch he was patrolling!!) Shohoku had managed to fill this vacant space with their own players and crafted pretty patterns around Drew and Henry's territory. Whilst shots were aimed in Adrian's direction, he was confident to let most of them fly wide of either post without even diving. Sadly the law of averages dictate that one of their shots must eventually find the target and when it did, nobody could stop the side foot finish.

However this didn't mean that the scoring had stopped and Intransitive Milan managed to starve off the disappointment of their Italian cousins by equaling their highest goal tally of eight as Derek and Mynn completed their hat tricks.

Final Score: 8-1

Scorers: Mynn 3, Derek 3, Tim, Jason

Despite taking one wrong Croc home, it was a pleasing evening out at Soccer Experience. My memorable moment was finding out at half time that one of our new players was called Henry - I had been calling him George throughout the entire first half! I did wonder on the 18 minute mark why he wasn't listening to me when I was shouting at him to come off!!

Match Day 9

2011-04-04T22:56:00.003+08:00

Intransitive Milan vs LA Galaxy (7 a side league match)

Monday’s 8pm game against LA Galaxy with a Played 2, Lost 2 league record wasn’t a match that we should have taken lightly (despite no Beckham, Donovan and Juan Pablo Angel) after our previous league loss to Team Forza and their infamous played 4, lost 4 record. There was also a late pull out with Dan falling sick to post alcoholic fever meaning that we only had one substitute with the absences of Thomas (shoulder), Liam (lower back), Jimmy (rib), Raj (mystery), Drew (Thailand) and Steve (Europe). However a new defender, Adrian was invited to make his debut and we welcomed Oilrig Steve’s return from Africa to bolster the backline.

Squad: Rick, Adrian, Oilrig Steve, Peter, Tim, Fergus, Derek, Q

The first 10 minutes of the match saw a dominant display by the Milanese team as they were able to press LA Galaxy all over the pitch but without quite mastering that final shot on target. There were several chances fashioned with the closest being Derek skimming the road end crossbar from a Tim throw in. Adrian also understood the meaning of 'our Ronaldo' after a Fergus free kick award! The American franchise threatened little due to lack of possession and Adrian and Steve allowing the strikers little time on the ball. It wasn’t until the first two goals by Peter (…the second was a usual screamer into the top corner…) that LA Galaxy started to push forward and Rick had to pull out his usual yet still fantastic one on one save as well as tipping shots round his top right hand and bottom left hand corners. By this stage LA Galaxy had started their 15 metre artillery offensive – which proved effective. Long range howitzers caught Rick (and the rest of the team) by surprise and soon after we added goals 3 and 4, LA Galaxy also had their first two goals of the match.

Half Time: Winning 4-2

The second half saw LA Galaxy come out stronger than they had at the start of the match but they struggled to penetrate the midfield of Fergus – Peter – Tim whilst Steve and Adrian comfortably mopped behind them. They looked to move the ball about but found themselves prone to counterattacks although Intransitive were starting to tire leaving Q more isolated than he was in the first half – especially when Rick looked to throw the ball long to the Thai striker. This cagey middle part of the match saw few goals although Rick was beaten once after Derek was dispossessed for a second time in his own half possibly doing some fancy stuff. However goals were not a problem as Intransitive wrapped up the match with a flurry of goals towards the Evergreen Kop in the last ten minutes notably Rick scoring his first as an outfield player (Derek was then goalkeeping but had let one in goal after possibly doing some fancy stuff after 2 point blank saves) and Tim scoring a corking low drive after dispossessing a midfielder and waltzing past a Kanu lookalike.

Final Score: 8-4

Scorers: Peter 2, Q2, Fergus, Adrian, Rick and Tim

It was a strong display by the blue and black shirted players after a Saturday derby defeat with lots of control and good support all round. However my highlight of Matchday 9 was even before the start of the game – Fergus’s surprise and delight at the comfortable fit of the Cambiasub XL shirt! It’s all yours mate!

Sneijder Meets Sneijdez

2011-03-06T20:40:00.000+08:00

Match Day 5

2011-02-21T21:46:00.002+08:00

Guest Appearance: Scott Hanger vs Cap Aye F.C.

One man is in severe pain. One man scored on his debut.

Final Score: Intransitive Milan 2 vs 6 Cay Aye F.C.

Scorers: Drew, Scott

Match Day 3

2011-02-07T21:53:00.003+08:00

Full Squad vs K.D.U. College (7 a side league)

Final Score: Intransitive Milan 2-2 K.D.U. College

Scorer: Derek 2

2010 World Cup Round Up

2010-07-12T10:37:00.003+08:00

Match of the tournament

Many choices such as Brazil-Holland (why did the Brazilians implode in the 2nd half), England-Germany (managing to pull level after playing like cr@p - oh no, not given), Spain-Holland Final (tense if nothing else especially at 2.30 in the morning!) but for some reason, I really enjoyed Brazil-North Korea! Best team in the tournament vs 'worst' totally unknown team - and the Koreans gave them a game and a half. You could tell after 30mins, the Brazilians were thinking, "I thought this lot were supposed to be pants," and they weren't. Three great goals too.

Player of the tournament

David Villa got Spain through the group and early stages with his goals when no-one else was putting the ball in the back of the net but he had Inestia and Xavi behind me. Muller was great for the Germans - top scorer when he hadn't scored for the senior team until the thumping of Australia but for pure drag the team by the t3sticles into the latter stages, it has to be our old Diego. Not Maradona. Forlan was so energetic that it looked like there were two of him on the pitch at times - I expected him to get on the end of his own free kicks! (Note: I think Eto and Drogba also tried to play that sort of role for Cameroon / Ivory Coast but to a lesser degree).

Goal of the tournament

Van Bronkhorst's semi final goal wasn't too bad, Villa's lob against Chile seems to have been overlooked but I'll go for that Maicon outside of the foot from impossible angle goal vs North Korea.

Biggest disappointment

England's naive defending against Germany, their 'performance' against Algeria, Wayne Rooney (at least Messi hit the woodwork and forced the keeper into saves), not seeing a Brazil-Spain match, drawing Honduras and France in the office sweepstakes, not finishing my World Cup Panini album (I'll be happy to have any spare stickers anyone has).

Personal highlight

Watching the games with work colleagues. Seeing my daughter laugh when the name Shabalala cropped up whilst watching Lego recreation of the first goal. Ben actually showing some interest in football by asking about results. Spain winning the World Cup - they deserved it especially after those cheating Italians last time round.

Lesson for 2014

Saving up to be there now! Don't get your hopes up for England (which I should know after reading the excellent 'Why England Lose' book but then I had also read 'Capello'). Play as a team unit instead of relying on individual skills (goodbye James, Terry, Heskey, Gerrard, Lampard - thanks for the memories). Have a decent plan B (Heskey on when needing to score against Germany? And we pay Capello 6m a year??).

Lesson for Fantasy Football 2010-11

Don't buy any players from teams that made it to the 2nd round and beyond. They'll be knackered or injured by Christmas. 10m on French players from Arsenal it is (and Walcott)!

Vuvuzelas?

Only if I have one too.

Snap!

2010-03-09T20:36:00.007+08:00

Ramblers vs Penang Sports Club

So it was another blazing hot day at a Penang Sports Club whose field had turned brown from weeks with no rain. I turned up very early - enough to see Cherk's bargain priced F30s and to do a little pre-match barefooted running (it's the only place you can try it - you never know what people throw on the polo field!).

I was slightly disappointed not to start in the team but could understand the coach's decision to go with the players who were in the squad for the upcoming Sungai Dua league. However I wasn't going to waste the first half and with a camera in hand took rare 'isometric' shots with the help of some scaffolding left over from the PSC Sevens tournament at the weekend.

The grass is more thirsty than a Brit without a pint in a desert. Possibly.

Whilst watching the match upfold I also took the opportunity to chat with a very few guys from the sports club on the halfway line. I always say to my students that you should take advantage of any opportunity to speak to native speakers and I took my own advice!

Australian, Scottish and English accents!

Martin is the most enthusiastic retired pro I know (red shirt on the left) whilst Bob was one of the coaches that I got to know on the fantastic Premier Skills course in 2009. Martin also has this disturbing habit of coaching me whenever I play against him! He'll never dive on you so he urges you to take him on - which I never do because I always think he'll read whatever you try. However I got talking to a very big Dutch guy called Bart about how difficult it is to get a work permit in Malaysia, the differing nationalities of P.I.S.S. and the standard of amateur football in the Dutch League. Little was I to know that he would play also play a big part in my 2nd half?!

My casual impression of the first half was that Ramblers only had a single threatening attack in the whole of the first half. I vaguely remember a lot of long balls subsequently cleared up by the PSC back line and wing play that involved passing to a congested centre when Keon was obviously outnumbered. Offensively PSC managed to penetrate into the penalty area slightly lot more although Michael had very few real saves to make. However the red shirts were able to go into the half time break - thanks to spanking left footed volley from Seang.

I was on for the 2nd half. Max's instructions to the team regarding me went something along the lines of "Derek's a good midfielder, go and play." Thanks for the compliment man! He probably expected me to play a part in any goals we scored and I did that to full effect - intercepting the ball twice and starting the moves that led to our two late consolations.

However most of my own teammates (especially Adrian!) will only remember me for my part in conceding a pivotal goal when I hesitated for a split second whilst trying to decide whether to head the ball for a corner or to shield out for a goal kick. Big Bart was onto me like a flash, nudged his 6 foot frame past me and, despite my half hearted effort at pulling his shirt, calmly side footed past Michael at his near post.

But even before all that, and what most Penang Sports Club players remember me most for, was my flying kung fu / karate kick... on Bart! In my defence, I jumped up for the high ball with my right foot reaching for it - with no-one in my range of vision. A millisecond later, the big Dutchman is there, my right foot connects with him on his chest, my whole body spins in mid-air due to this interruption in flight, I heard a snap and another second later, I land on the ground.

I thought I did something bad because I remember hearing a similar snap when I partially tore my lateral meniscus and one of my collateral ligaments two years ago but when I got up my legs felt alright. So I continued to run around the rest of the match in central midfield, helping both teams to goals!, before ending it with a 4-2 defeat. I thought losing was the worse thing of the day...

However the next day, my knee swelled up like a beast.

But despite that, I still went to stand at a KDU football match. On the pitch. In central midfield. Against a young vigorous Butterfly team. I even had a shot (off target) but was side shuttling my way around the pitch, avoiding anything remotely dangerous and this wasn't the sort of game where you could get away with it. Three quickfire early goals meant problems for KDU and by half time, it was obvious that my appearance was a gamble that didn't work. I learned that reputation alone can't scare the opposition into giving the ball to you!

Sadly my problems were only just beginning:

Spot the swollen knee!

A cursory examination with Dr. Aaron Lim & an MRI scan 2 days later meant

Operation time...

...and six months out of any football kicking activity on lush green pitches.

When I heard the news, I was disappointed for the KDU players as they had lost their coach but even more downcast about not being able to play with C.C.F.C. in the Sungai Dua league this year after Lee & I had put in a lot of effort to recruit a wealth of talent. We had just played so well and got such a positive result against C.R.C. in our last game and we both had high hopes for the season ahead. Now I had no part to play in that. Gutted.

Victorious on Jalan Padang Victoria!

2010-03-08T22:45:00.000+08:00

On Sunday 7th March, I was walking to get ready for a match vs a mixed CRC team and someone shouted my name. So I went up the stairs to the cafe area and one of the opposing players asked me, through an interpreter, "how many teams do you play for?"

The veteran striker asked me because this was the third time I was going to play against him in two weeks!

The first time was on Friday 26th Feb and it was a hastily arranged game representing my PSC Veteran team. I had the choice of two games and decided to pull Peter from work with me to make up the eleven - with no subs. It was also a week I was supposed to rest after pulling my groin in a futsul game on Monday but I ended up persuading myself to play gingerly. It was a veterans game - how hard could it be? Just take it easy at centre back, right?

There was also a slight blast from the past as we wore a black Timoran outfit against the reds of CRC and it also took a blast from our star central midfielder Hilme to put us in the lead. We over ran them but failed to build on our lead with Barath getting most of the curses from my fellow centre back Kok Beng.

The second half was a completely different kettle of fish as we had no subs and this showed most obviously in our midfield which struggled to hold onto the ball to relieve any pressure on the backline - most likely due to tiredness after a hot first thirty five minutes. CRC battered our goal and we combined good defending with their bad finishing to win the game. It wasn't a satisfactory performance - I got shouted at for not crossing early enough after a break via the sidelines (didn't I tell you guys about my groin strain?) - but it was a performance that just about crept over the finish line.

The next time I saw the veteran striker was exactly a week later after CRC found themselves without opponents and they, via Boon, asked KDU College to step in at the last minute. After smsing, e-mailing and Facebooking a dozen players on Thursday night, I was able to accept the game with the hope that at least 9 players would show up. 14 players showed up!

The people who confirmed the earliest were rewarded with a place in the starting line up and we romped to a huge 5-1 lead by half time. Ali had already hit the post early in the game but was not to be denied a goal as he converted a chance several minutes later. Max was pushing the back line as hard as he usually does and was rewarded with two goals and a near fight with the keeper. With the keeper having already made a mistake by not holding onto the ball with the Turkman in close proximity for one goal, he made another...

...by allowing my new boots to score! The right boot took a pot from outside the box and it flew low and not too hard towards the near post. But the goalkeeper failed to get his body fully behind the ball and the ball hit his body and bobbled over the line! Fajar completed the rout with a neat finish inside the penalty area and whilst CRC pulled one back with a lobbed finish over the impressive Matrizal, it was supposedly game over at half time.

It was thus time to change the team around with our formidable defence, Golf - Drew - Chan - Shamil, coverting to a Prashant - Drew - Chan - Karthee outlook. And CRC soon found our full backs were not too fast and with Michael & Hoong replacing Max & Ali up front, it was a very different 2nd half. CRC tore into us and soon pulled two goals back quickly making the KDU coach very nervous indeed. It wasn't until a hard working Keon unleashed an unstoppable blockbuster from the right wing (with his new boots too!) that the KDU coach felt that the game was wrapped up and with the late quality additions of Mass Comm students Muneer & Bill, it surely was. After our 6-4 win, one of the opposition players said to me that we shouldn't bring Munner, Fajar and myself for the next game because it wasn't fair!

And two days later and finally to Sunday 7th March. I was representing C.C.F.C. in a new position that I was a bit wary of.

Have you ever seen a centre-half wear number 7? Well I did that day - because our 2nd half defensive display in our last friendly against Impro was an absolute disaster! So it was Kenny and me in the centre of defence, Koon and Aik flanking us and a midfield center of Roy and Wei with the ever energetic Samson and Max ahead of them. It wasn't a bad team but I got off to a bad start after being fed the ball from the goalkeeper twice and on both occasions, got the shout of 'man on' but having no awareness of where he was coming from.

Fortunately the team and I settled down after that with the defence having little do despite CRC playing the pacy Ah Han up front and the midfield getting stuck in and controlling the game. Max was able to get into the faces of the CRC defence once again and managed to stab 2 goals home but failed with two other opportunties. However Koon kept getting caught tracking inside (instead of passing the man on) and despite several warnings, the goal did indeed come from his side which he had vacated. A cut back inside, a Georgie parry and an Ah Han reaction meant we didn't really have the lead we wanted at half time.

The second half was similar to the second of the PSC Veterans vs CRC Veterans game in that Roy & Wei had given up so much energy in 35 minutes that there was less to give in the next thirty five. This, of course, meant more pressure on the back line but unlike the PSC Veterans, I elected to continually push up so that the midfield would have less space to cover. Sadly our only outlet was Max and he was getting kicked from pillar to post whenever he got the ball. Samson was dragged towards our weak left midfield and was just too far to support his Turkman striker. And CRC gradually put on their first division players with Ah Han joined by Jen up front. Then Shairal and Eng Hock in midfield (+ 1 other guy whose name I don't know!). Roy was having fun tackling his old teammates!

However it was comforting to know that I was still able to control the English speaking back line as I desired and that I had enough experience to read through balls for Ah Han and Jen + enough speed to challenge/beat them to it. Of course, there was the odd FerdinanDez mistake but overall I felt that this match made me think that I could actually play in the centre of defence and not concede 2-4 goals a C.C.F.C. match as our previous defences had done. However with 6 hours worth of teaching and continual shouting through the match, the most stress was on my voice!

Whilst we went on to concede a dubious offside goal (in my eyes), it was a reassuring performance after our capitulation to Impro seven days ago. A 2-2 draw against a mixed CRC team was a very positive result and one which we hoped to build on in the upcoming Sungai Dua League.

And that would be the last time, the veteran Chinese striker would see me for a while!

The White Line

2010-02-12T21:38:00.000+08:00

KDU College vs Indonesia Eleven

I think Fajar was the most excited player after finding out he was playing a team of his countrymen although KDU were definitely in trouble if they were all going to be like Fajar!! Fortunately we had a resilient midfield with Najib, Derek, Samson and Fajar stifling and breaking through the Indonesian midfield and when their strikers got through Golf, Drew and Adrian didn't have many problems dealing with the red team. A special mention must go to Chern who I fielded at left back and showed the tenacity, tackling and fighting spirit that I wanted to see from him. Georgie only had one full length save to make with several corners unable to trouble him.

Indeed most of the attacking traffic went towards the red team's goalkeeper. The man of the half certainly went to the Indonesian goalkeeper who kept out one on ones with Max, Najib and Heng, a header from Derek and a snap shot from Samson. The red team were certainly able to breathe a sigh of relief to only go into the break one nil down - a thunderbolt volley from Max which would have hurt anyone who got in the way!

The guy in orange thwarted our many efforts in the first half!

However to give everyone a game, I had to take off many of the key players after 10 minutes and hoped that we would have a lead for them to hang onto. I was seriously concerned about the speed and stamina of players like Nury and Karthee with a less effective striker in Hoong up front. Yet strangely it was one of our most experienced players who let the nippy Indonesians back into the game. The red's first goal came from a pass back from Adrian which Tony (who is probably the most experienced footballer in the KDU team behind Adrian, Heng and myself) didn't boot up the pitch. I'm not sure if he tried to dribble past the oncoming striker and got tackled or if the striker got a touch to the ball ahead of Tony... but either way it resulted in their equaliser.

But what was worse when the way they went ahead. Drew touched a long back to Tony with his head but a moment of misjudgment which slowly turned into madness and then tragedy came about when he tried to protect it over the dead ball line whilst under pressure from the striker. His shouts that the ball was over the white line came to no avail when the red shirted player tackled the ball back and put it into an unguarded net. It was a horrific mistake and if Sir Alex Ferguson was in the dressing room, there would probably be cuts above both his eyes!

I threw myself back onto the pitch at this stage in an effort to give Samson a break and promptly found myself facing the goalkeeper to take a penalty after Hoong got caught in a high Indonesian sandwich. Heng and I were psyching each other out to take the penalty - and he didn't want it so it was me vs a goalkeeper who wanted a break because of chest pain!

So what does a guy think about before taking a pressure penalty?

Well don't give any clues to the keeper as to which direction you want to hit it so keep your run up straight. I'm one of those guys who doesn't have a preference for sides - as long as it's low and not down the middle (I feel amateur goalkeepers don't dive as much as the pros & don't quite have the balls to do the chip down the middle... yet!) - so it was a question of which side. And I decided to go the side of the cameraman Norman - who was next to the keeper's left hand post. There was a little argument about if I could place the ball to the side of the sunken spot and after getting the ref's approval, I ran up and fired to the keeper's left...

...who dived that way! Fortunately the ball was low and hard and whilst it hit the body of our nemesis, the pace made it bounce off the underside of his body and into the side of the net! The ball crossing the white line was 100% certain this time - and resulted in another goal.

Two two and whilst it was game on, I felt it was going to be difficult to pull ahead with the substitutes just not being as strong as the first half players. A four four two became a four three three but that didn't make a jot of difference when an offside trap failed for KDU and a delightfully curled ball from Prashant's side was slotted away by the Indonesian striker. Another goal came but this time down KDU's right hand side and the game was over. However it was game which showed that a KDU team can compete with a team full of Fajars!

Putting the Boot into Kickers

2010-02-10T22:28:00.004+08:00

So this is how tense my face looks whenever I take my kids to Penang Sports Club! Whilst I'm playing I always wonder where they are and (more importantly) if they are messing around with any PSC property - which I have been told off for which subsequently leads to me telling the kids off and then Ben blaming his sister for everything - which is usually true. Can't you tell by that cheeky face?!?

I think my face was similarily tense on the pitch when we had to work very hard against an Indian team called Kickers who are not as violent as their name suggests. They are actually a very good footballing team who like to pass and keep the ball until the right moment strikes - and they struck with the first goal of the game. Fortunately they only hit the cross bar later on whilst Katty kept his head and put an equaliser into the top left corner with a confident finish before half time.

The second half was more of the same with Ming, our lone striker, being double and/or triple marked leaving Hilme and myself to do a lot of support work. With no Nara or Barat, there was precious little pace in the team and when a Kickers, who had continued to dominate, midfielder leapt to connect emphatically with a cross, I thought it was game over. I really wasn't sure how/if we were going to get back into the game.

Fortunately Boon had one last joker in his pack and he threw on a sprightly young Indian who didn't really get much of the ball but was willing to hare it up and down the pitch. I felt that this gave us a bit of a lift and an example to follow. Whilst Kickers tired, Ming teed up the most accurate cross of the PSC match onto Hilme's head. Although the defender on the line got his hand to it, he was only able to punch it into the roof of the net!

I finally decided to go for broke and played further up the pitch in the last 10 minutes as Ming was getting close to zero support. But it was a superb ball from my centre back replacement, Wasu, who released me in a race against the opposition centre half. I beat him to the through ball by nodding the ball ahead of him and with only the goalkeeper to beat, I managed to prod it past him and inside the near post. Milliseconds later, he managed to punch me in the chest in an attempt to ummm I don't know what? The ball was already on the ground so I don't know what he was aiming for - but I didn't really care as I had scored the last minute winner!

In fact, I probably felt like this...

...whilst lying on the floor prostrate with pain!

A Hard Fought Victory

2010-02-08T21:58:00.001+08:00

KDU College vs Hard Rock Hotel

This is was the match which showed how tough Muneer's legs really were!

We were up against a solid team in our first game vs the newest hotel on the island and had a tough first half against surprisingly experienced players. We also had to throw two 'old' players into the starting eleven as we didn't have enough players at the beginning of the match which gave a lot of pressure on Enrique (or Henrik as I kept shouting at him throughout the match!) and Mervyn who were at right back and centre midfield accordingly. It has to be said that I didn't have a very good first half as I kept looking for Fajar (but inaccurately) or kept caught on the ball (although I didn't realise I had 'a shadow').

This left a lot of the grunt work to our Omani international with Vincent and Enrique looking a little shaky and he did his usual shift - covering other players, slide tackling, shifting people off the ball with a burst of pace and all in all intimidating the Hard Rock players! My favourite moment of the match was when he had the ball, he managed to ride out three full on tackles consecutively whereas every other team member would have gone down clutching his ankle/calf/shin/thigh in pain - and later in the 2nd half, he told the striker to tackle fairly as this was merely a friendly, after a late challenge!

I also managed to get the views of a guest assessor and these were his notes re: the first half.

First off... I thought Dayrion was exceptionally hardworking that day. Given the ability (or lack of) of his right back in the 1st half, he scurried up and down that right side non-stop. Unfortunately, he hasn't got that cutting edge to his game and it was a pity that his touches let him down when he was in good positions.

I thought your midfield looked lost and your strikers were just wasteful in the first half! I think we'd agree that Fajar is one of your most technically gifted players. But he tried to impress that day and he over did it. Their left back was keeping a very close eye on him. I thought he should have passed more. Although he did get pass their right midfielder and fullback on numerous occasions, they were tenacious, hunted him down and dispossessed the bloke ruthlessly. In short, he just held on to the ball too long!

Muneer was just struggling at the back because Vincent was simply not at his best. Vincent should have provided better cover for Muneer. I think the fact that it was the big Omani he was partnering made him overconfident (or over-reliant on the guy!). Your strike partnership of Hoong and Chern was totally ineffective.

Derek's final ball wasn't as good either. Was it because he used up more energy chasing the ball without any sufficient cover in midfield? I thought he was badly exposed! And Hard Rock sensed that so they had this Indian guy shadow him wherever he went! It didn't help when there was no one near to pass to either!!

Fortunately Hard Rock came with a group of 22 and their 2nd eleven wasn't as umm hard as their first and we were able to make strides into the red & blue half which were infrequent to non-existent in the first half. Two goals came with the pressure - a quick free kick from myself found Fajar who didn't waste his chance to cut a low ball back for Max to drill past the keeper, and a Samson (who had a decent game at full back) curling cross was gingerly nodded in by Ali as the hotel team screamed for offside.

We were holding onto our lead as Hard Rock rotated in an effort to regain control of the match again and whilst Enrique was impressively aggressive for someone who hasn't played for KDU for years, it was Vincent who found himself in some pain after a 4 rush for a loose ball. Vincent managed to get there first but unfortunately found Muneer's fast moving leg a close second! All in all, it was a painful game but I was pleased that we managed to ride it out for our 2nd college win of 2010.

A Burst From the Past

2010-02-04T20:20:00.002+08:00

KDU College vs Seri Mersing

It was another blistering day in Penang but this time we were reinforced with one of our old blistering players in our Thai player Q. He was one of the key players in KDU's first run to the College Championship title and I hadn't seen him for years. The team persuaded him to delay his return to Thailand by 24 hours in order to play this match and we had to loan him a whole kit - and we weren't sure if he was even match fit!

The Q of old was this beast of a machine who would dribble like crazy and occasionally drive his teammates just as crazy with his lack of passing but would tackle like a madman too and nod in with a well timed headed goal. And Q hadn't changed. His languid running style was there although he played a very short team passing game in the first half with Samson and Dayrion on the left. With Derek, Jimmy and Max hustling in the middle, it was a KDU combination that surely couldn't fail.

However this Seri Mersing team were not a walkover. They too had their talented players - the bald headed number 10 pictured above was one - and they soon found where their strength matched our weakness. The orange boots of the striker soon found himself permanently matched on the left and when he or the left midfielder got the ball, Q's Thai teammate, Golf, found himself in a stickier situation than Tiger Woods. With Nury/Hoong unable to provide cover, orange boots guy found himself accelerating past Golf like a golf cart past John Daly and duly supplied two goals by calmly finishing past our goalkeeper for the day, Vincent.

However the blue team didn't go into the break with their heads down. We played very well and although they limited us to shots from outside the area, one conversion from our Turkman striker meant a fightback from 3-1 wasn't insurmountable. After all, it only needed a goal to make the white shirts of Seri Mersing nervous - and with Q pushed further forward, they certainly were - and with good reason!

After the break the Thai legs went into overdrive in the first 20 minutes and he put in a startling 20 minutes which resulted in two goals and two should-have-been goals. The first was a close range rebound finish after I had blasted the ball at the goalkeeper from 2 yards and the second a typical header from a corner. And Max should have got another two after Q's long mazy runs from the halfway line and down the left saw two crosses that found the Turkman striker charging in but unable to finish on the volley. And all KDU hands were in their heads when Q ran in one on one with the goalkeeper but wellied the ball high over the bar when we would have all bet our match fee on him completing his hat trick!

With these missed chances it wasn't going to be a fairytale return and Seri Mersing showed their superiority with another 3 goals in the last 15 minutes as KDU tired and with our substitutes not being as strong as our first teamers. Miscommunication and lack of concentration by our new goalkeeper will be harsh lessons to learn but when you see professionals make the same mistakes (Dirk Kuyt's headed goal vs Tim Howard in the Mersyside Derby 2 days later was scary in that it was nearly a replica of Seri Mersing's corner goal!), you realise how difficult goalkeeper can be.

A 6-3 defeat was not what I had in mind when I welcomed back our old friend but it was a great match which showcased Q's talents once again. And what fun it was too! Thanks Q!

Good Players don't make a Good Team Shock!

2010-01-30T20:59:00.002+08:00

Ramblers 7 vs 3 Tanjong Tokong

With Thaipusum falling on a Saturday, it meant I was free to attend a Ramblers game since my appearance on New Year's day. However I was approached by my KDU player, Norman, to wear the white shirt of the opposition as they were short of 2 players. He did say that they were the best team he played for out of all the teams on the island (and he plays for a lot)! so I thought it was going to be nothing if not an interesting experience.

And they were a very skillful team. It's just a shame that they couldn't blend the individual skill of the players into a cohesive defensive and attacking unit. True, they were missing their a lot of their regular players and their central midfield was obviously injured but there were still 9 other quality outfield players (including myself). I've never seen such a team play so many nutmegs and little 5 yard give and gos against Ramblers - even the last defender was at it (and successfully too!) - but the diversity and hard work of the Ramblers play overpowered Tanjong Tokong by the end.

The half time score of 2-2 probably didn't reflect the number of chances that Ramblers had in comparison to us (they had 6, we had 2) but our green booted striker was clinical with his only two chances whereas Ramblers wasted their opportunities (new striker Ben at fault for the most spectacular one from 4 yards out). However the biggest waste was our penalty miss by Norman when it still tied at 3-3 (I think) early in the 2nd half and whilst I was desperate to take it, he seemed confident. Adrian was not at all unhappy when it sailed a foot wide of his right hand post!

And then Ramblers poured down our left where Aaron (1st half) and Jerome (2nd half) were positioned which was where 5 of the goals eventually came from. I was happy that nothing was conceded from my side but it was a frustrating afternoon for me as I only received two passes in the whole of the 2nd half. I must have had a shocking 1st half for them to stop passing to me!

It was also a surprise to me that they moved me to the right when they had a immobile number 10 as I could have covered both sides more defensively whilst leaving him free on the right. On a personal note, it was obvious to me that Norman wasn't working as a top striker for the team as they kept playing long balls from back to front (mainly left and mainly away from him) and it would have been better for him to drop a little deeper where I think he is more effective. Or maybe they didn't just want the Europeans to interrupt their little passing game (what I'd imagine a team of Poay's to be like!) which was nice to watch...

...but with no end result...

...it just meant they got hammered!

I also had a bet with Heng at half time that he would score 2 goals (and only 2 goals) which he duly did. Next beer is on him!

Creating Hard Work for Nothing

2010-01-29T15:37:00.002+08:00

This is what happens when you don't stand close enough to the team, Jimmy!

It was KDU's first friendly game against CRC Veterans and playing against veterans always means 2 things - they won't run around like crazy and they will attempt to keep possession for as long as possible. So I decided to compress their space to hold possession even more by playing a 3-4-2-1 formation with Max, Ali and Hoong pressing straight from the front line. And it worked wonders for the first 20 minutes as they harried and forced defenders into mistakes, creating chances for themselves and onrushing blue midfielders like Jimmy and myself. It was just that the final shots tended to lack accuracy which was a crying shame because after 20 minutes, Ali and Hoong got tired which meant CRC Veteran defenders and midfielders now had time to pick their passes without being harassed.

Whilst Max had set us on our way to a win with an early shot, CRC gave fair warning of their quality with a glancing shot striking the inside of the post. Another breakaway from the red team saw their speedy experienced striker make it to the byline before cutting back and tangling with Samson's legs. He was looking for the penalty and promptly got it with the appropriate conversion. The legs were starting to go in the KDU side with some of the team having played yesterday and several other players plainly unfit (Nury, Ali) whilst Chern was struggling with an early knock with Boon with many of these players happy to hear the half time whistle.

Half Time: Winning 2-1

The second half was memorable for a few reasons and not all of them good. The first was how Mikez and Samson were unable to pass the ball accurately from 8 yards several times. I was on the right hand side with both of them and it was incredibly frustrating for me as coach to see possession wasted so easily - especially when the old men of CRC were not doing anything to put them under pressure. Whilst they might have been tired and or unfit, it's the most basic thing to do in football and that was very frustrating to see.

I had also brought on Cherk at half time to solidify the defence with an extra player in a 4-4-2 formation and it was strange to see that Adrian was exposed to several one on one situations when there was supposed to be more cover! I think the centre backs got rather drawn out of position with the full backs not tucking in to cover which left a humongous hole in the middle. The rather cheeky striker had already dinked a little chip over Adrian once to score and did try to do it again but when you don't get enough elevation on it, it looks rather silly!

However in a rare spate of KDU attacks, we did manage to plunder a large number of goals. Jimmy firing the third, Hoong and Max passing neatly and unselfishly in the penalty area to allow the former to score and the Turkman put the icing on the cake to shoot us to six. However the 6-3 scoreline felt like hard work when it was not a difficult match to win but conceding possession sometimes left Adrian more exposed than a Playboy centrefold.

What I probably will remember the most though was my fantastic goal to put the 2 on the KDU scoreboard. It happened in the first half when Hoong and Max were pressing the keeper from either side on the edge of his area. The white shirted keeper was reluctant to hoof it and tried to play his way out by passing to the right midfielder - but I was ready to pounce and summed up the situation in an instant - get the ball over his head and on target and it's a goal! A burst got me to the ball, a first time lofted sidefoot chip saw the ball rise steeply and high enough for me to whisper 'come down, come down' before it bounced on the goalline and into the back of the net. It was rather Bergkamp/Cantona stuff and it was just a shame that I couldn't think of a decent celebration at the time! An early contender of Derek's goal of 2010.

A Friendly Semi-Final!

2010-01-20T22:59:00.005+08:00

PSC Wednesday vs Youngsters

Surprisingly for a veteran game, Youngsters actually brought a team of youngsters! They were a very experienced group with 3 Timoran players scattered throughout it and a whole host of other skilful players. The second surprise was when I was told to go and play in the middle with Drew. They felt my workrate was better than Wasu or his tackling was better than mine - both counts are probably true. However all of Orange were doing the running and we knew it was going to be a tough game as soon as Youngsters created their first chance on our goal - and we hadn't touched the ball yet! Our keeper, Surin, made several excellent saves to keep the against column on 'zero' come half time (and again in the second half!).

However we did manage to create the odd chance on the counter. Hilme came the closest by hitting the post after sticking his leg out to a Nara cross whilst I caught the centre half with the ball but Ming just couldn't beat the last man to get a clear shot on goal. However Ming did beat the keeper with an inswinging corner but again there was a man on the line to deny him!

The second half saw a slightly different pattern as we provided a more defensive base that Youngsters found more difficult to penetrate. I think they got tired after pressing so much that we found more time and space to hit back once we got the ball (or else they actually played their veterans in the 2nd half!). Nara was causing havoc on the left in a man of the match performance as he Roberto Carlos-ed his way up and down firing, curling, zipping all manner of crosses once he got in the danger area but Ming, Kattie and myself were all unable to get that finishing touch.

The longer the game went on, the more both teams felt nervous. You know nerves are showing when the usual dependable Hilme lashed a shot high over the bar! It really did feel like a cup semi-final with both teams going at each other with all their might (although with none of the Manchester acrimony!). PSC Wednesday were really all playing for each other today - covering, encouraging, battling in their respective positions - in a way I've not seen for a long time.

It had never really affected me before, but probably because of yesterday's tough game for KDU, I found myself quite leggy towards the end and whilst I could cover defensively, I wasn't doing much useful with the ball. After an embarrassingly cross that I completely sliced with my left foot, I found myself with the opportunity to clinch the match in the last minute. However instead of taking on the last defender, I ended up trying to set up Hilme - which was easily read, cleared and booted away. In hindsight, I should have just gone straight at the defender both times, done a few step overs and attempted to get in behind the defence for a decent opportunity to cross, instead of taking 'the easy way out' by looking for a hopeful cross/pass.'

A nil nil draw was probably a fair result but the scoreline doesn't give the pulsating match the credit it deserved!

A Coach's Influence

2010-01-19T20:28:00.005+08:00

KDU College vs P.Y.F.C.

Who says managers have little influence on the game?

When you are the guy who does the warm ups, set the team strategy, play centre midfield and figure out which subs come on and off - you have a lot of influence!

We had two new debutants too - one of them a colleague from my work place and another player from Turkmenistan who strangely didn't have to do the English course but didn't seem to understand a word I was saying! And it was a rough and tumble game against a team who were widely experienced in the nuances of the Malaysian game... and Malaysian heat!

The first blow went to the team in yellow after a mere 3 minutes when a straight ball from their back broke through the offside 'trap.' Adrian has little chance although it did leave his near post open. However KDU did well to recover from the early setback with a rallying spirit in midfield that pinned the P.Y.F.C. team back into their own half - but without ever creating a clear goalscoring chance. Fajar had 3 shots from outside the area after the ball kept dropping to him after consecutive corners.

A lot of play was going through the right, via Peter my colleague, and Samson too but the inevitable equaliser actually came down the left with Norman threading a through ball for Dayrion... which he misjudged... leaving the ball for me to face the sometime KDU keeper, Tony, one on one. The big man was hesitant which left me with the corners to aim for. A really calm pass into his bottom right gave him little chance and drew us back into the match.

With 6 substitutes to field, the whole team and in particular the front line was revamped but the strikers never really got going against experienced, physical defenders. I didn't think they helped themselves by going for the same ball time after time although Chern did well to drop deeper and play one twos with midfielders. Hoong was also a bit unlucky not to find himself at the end a scoring opportunity after dispossessing a defender and the goalkeeper on two separate occassions. But both players had few (none?!) opportunities as the midfield couldn't convert their domination into goal scoring opportunities.

So it was a match that I will probably remember on a personal level for 3 reasons. The first is the goal. The second was a slalom run from my own half that ended up on the opposition goal line after bursting past five P.Y.F.C. players. It was rather strange because one I had burst past the first P.Y.F.C. player, I remember Muneer's words from memory 'if you are a centre half, you should dribble deep into the other half!' which was why I carried on. Sadly there was no midfielder to pick up my cut back on the edge of the box which left the spontaneity of the run rather to waste.

And the third thing I will remember is the height of the offside trap. Fajar and I had traded positions (central defence and central midfield) and I was playing a line right up to the middle of the pitch - which in hindsight was suicidal when all the opposition did was lump the ball through the middle as Najib and Vincent had completely frustrated them down the flanks! Both goals came from long punts which the strikers ran onto - Bill and Adrian were unlucky with the 2nd goal as they both tackled the striker but couldn't recover to clear the ball and Adrian was left completely isolated in the last third vs their one striker, Ee Vern. He did well to delay him but a cool finish into Adrian's top left corner left KDU with no chance of getting any sort of result. This was twice as maddening for KDU's custodian because he didn't have any saves to make apart from the three opportunities which turned into goals!

Whilst I always extol my players to learn and improve, it's always the same for KDU's player - coach - manager. I got turned far too easily as a centre half and I mustn't push so high up as last man (unless Adrian employs sweeper keeper tactics) against what essentially turned out to be a long ball team.

Now off to play for Penang Sports Club...

...at centre half!

A Weekend's Worth of Wins

2010-01-02T20:41:00.003+08:00

I nearly decided to retire from football for the year at half time in our match against Penang Panthers (U17 Penang team). With Ramblers wanting to claw back a result after a defeat in the last week of 2009, it was left to returning teacher me! to put them in the lead by half time. It was Michael's turn last year to start the year with a 3 goal plunder. It was my turn in 2010!

With young fit teams, they usually lack experience in focusing on opposition players and I exploited their flaw with deadly Dez effect. I didn't dribble past three players or outrun and outmuscle defenders and slide the ball through the keeper's legs. All my goals just required one touch - the first: a run to the near post connecting with Wei's cross with a diving header, the second: a simple run to the penalty spot and when the goalkeeper missed Heng's inswinging cross, it took a simple side foot volley to finish the chance. I think sometimes team can overplay on the edge of the area when a simple decent cross will create a goalscoring chance in half the time.

The third goal came from Pei generously assisting the ball to me via the crossbar after another inswinging cross, this time from a corner, which needed another side footed volley. And it wasn't a hat trick in an easy game as they turned out to be our only goals of the match.

The Panthers's frustration was matched by their aggression and whilst we created a few more, they looked to hit the forwards quickly with long balls. We were perhaps unlucky after the ball hit the crossbar and fell to a striker who converted - who was in an offside position - but there was nothing lucky about Chris's vital save when I would have put my money on the young striker to slot past him. Vital because at 3-2, the Panthers would have gained confidence and Ramblers might have crumbled under the pressure. But we tamed the young Panthers with a 3-1 scoreline to start 2010 happily.

Strangely I hit my hat trick with my only three shots on goal but on Sunday, I played for C.C.F.C. in a friendly against Aik's team and had far more shots but with no success in the whole game! The old men were determined to protect their home territory and they did so with aplomb with goals from Johnny and Dennis (2) against a team who had been reinforced with Adrian and Max (my teammates on Saturday!). I was surprised Aik's team didn't do better but they didn't hit their forward line with any pace and struggled to cope with the lack of offside and a bumpy pitch (although that was the best I've ever seen the Pykett pitch!).

Second Half Suicide

2009-12-12T02:44:00.004+08:00

Penang Sports Club vs KDU College

Tony
Viet - Cherk - Aik
Mikez - Adrian - Derek - Samson - Hoong

Chern

Heng

I went with an idea that I had been carrying around in my head since the last time KDU played Penang Sports Club that is - we knew that PSC's main strength is basically two main strong strikers up front and a midfield that generally looks for them without getting up there themselves. So I opted to play a three man defence with two centre halves staying tight on the strikers and the spare center half sweeping up behind them. A five man would strangle the supply line on the sides and the central midfield trio would pick up any PSC runners. Or so goes the theory.

The game nearly started off disastrously as a minute into the game, Aik was given a loose ball to control and having not warmed up, nearly lost the ball straightaway! However it was to be a rare foray for PSC into our half as we turned up the heat and started imitating Barca's midfield. Playing man to man in midfield gave them few options but to hit the ball long whereas KDU's movement and communication was superb with the ball flowing freely from man to man. Derek and Adrian were doing a passable impression of Xavi and Iniesta and whilst Hoong never really got into his stride (apart from one neat little juggle in the penalty area), we had Mikez playing neatly and providing width on the other flank with an overlapping Viet doubling up on their left midfielder. The team in blue (that's us) were knocking on the scoreboard door with neat interplay and patient passing.

Sadly the game took a turn for the worse as KDU attempted to pass their way out of defence. Samson's pass wasn't accurate and the ball went straight to an opposition player on the edge of our area. Tony couldn't do much about the lobbed shot except pick the ball out of the net. However it was against the run of play and I felt that we could get back into the match as we were controlling the game and I tried my luck with several booming shots from outside the area. We also earned several corners and Adrian surprised us all (or just me?) with some excellent inswinging corners with his right foot. I never knew he could do that!

The second goal of the match came and frustratingly enough, it was to the yellow shirts again. PSC's right midfielder launched a crossfield ball and it looked suspiciously like the striker on the far side was offside. However the referee didn't blow, Viet wasn't close enough which left Tony picking up the ball again after being beaten at his near post. It was only PSC's 2nd shot of the match!

But KDU spirit's didn't drop and we continued to carve out chances - Heng swung his left foot but couldn't get the right connection and Chern was gifted the best chance after an interception in midfield but as we all thought he was going to score with a one on one on the edge of the area, he took too long to pull the trigger and was stopped by the leggy Marcel Desailly of the PSC team. A surging run from Iniesta/Adrian didn't allow anyone to get close to him and he showed me how to score - unleashing a low shot from 20 yards that the keeper could only touch into the back of the net. I wasn't too displeased with the scoreline as I felt if we played the same way in the 2nd half, we would score more.

Half Time: Losing 2-1
Substitutes: Michael, Julius, Ewen, Hong

What I was not able to predict was the calamitous second half that saw us ship in 5 goals. After the fourth goal went in, I think I was in deep shock at how badly KDU were playing. It felt that whatever I did as a player had no effect whatsoever and only after several hours of contemplating, did I come up with any sort of conclusion(s).

1. Cherk elected to be last man and as he is wont to do, he drops deep ( - if you compare the amount of times the defence pushed up to the halfway line in the first half and second half, I think you'll get what I mean). This meant that Viet and Aik had to follow his lead and drop further back as well which mean the forwards were able to play a lot nearer our goal. (I deliberately told the tall defender to man mark to avoid this situation in the first half.). This in turn lead to the KDU midfield having to cover more space and somewhat disastrously giving the PSC midfield more space too...

2. Whilst I can give myself credit for playing Adrian in midfield, credit can also be taken away for not telling Hong and Ewan's role as wide midfielders. The whole point of playing 5 in midfield was to stifle their wide midfielders (after all we had no full backs) but when Hong (in the first 15 mins) and Ewan didn't do that, it meant that the Derek and Adrian were dragged out wide to cover for them which in turn meant the defence was just plain overloaded. Samson not helping to cover much (whilst doing good work going forward) meant a nasty 4 vs 2 midfield situation and one (vital) battle we couldn't possibly win.

I said to Mikez that maybe taking him off was the worst thing I did! Whilst he is not the most gifted of players, he does do two things. a) He sticks to the touchline to open up the pitch and makes himself available for a short 10 yard pass. b) He can be tenacious, stick close to the opposition midfielder and give him hassle. Dayrion also plays like this now - you have to be able to attack AND defend in midfield. If it's good enough for Messi, it's good enough for KDU midfielders too...

3. Heng just being too nice. He wanted his friend to play and volunteered to substitute himself. I foolishly agreed to that and whilst Ewan generally wasn't very good, the loss of Heng's experience, close control and calmness was of a greater consequence compared to Chern's control (although you can't fault his effort) and Julius's lack of positioning. If you are losing, you shouldn't take off your best striker.

4. I just played a sh*t second half. The damn boots were giving me blisters but I just never felt as comfortable with the ball as I did in the previous 35 minutes. Getting kicked in the back and the back of the head wasn't nice but it probably did help get my aggression rate up! Any other player might have just turned round and chinned the Indian keeper - I was mighty tempted too!!

5. People making substitutions without telling me. I don't mind if you want to go off but it would be handy to tell me you've gone off so I don't look like a complete ass when I talk to the referee. I know I had shifted myself to striker and I was further away but crikey guys...!

However after I reunited the Heng - Derek strike partnership, we did manage to forge a few very good chances for ourselves. Heng literally passing/crossing/shooting the ball agonizingly a yard across the goal line... twice! Samson surging past defenders to get into a one on one situation with the goalkeeper but firing it at his big fat body. Hong completely miscueing his free head when only 12 yards out.

6. The referee. I really put this in just for Mikez as I feel that if you just go round blaming the referee for the loss, you absolve yourself of all blame when in fact there's a lot of other things that can be improved in our team's performance. However I think the decision to disallow Heng's goal after the keeper kicked me in the back/head seemed unusual. Surely we should have had a goal and the keeper should have been sent off for violent conduct?

7. PSC actually had better players on the pitch in the 2nd half and coupled with the team problems we had, it made for a horrible mess.

It was really strange that I should find this video as soon as I got home. I feel like it's speaking directly to all of us!

Penang Sports Club 6 vs 1 KDU College

Adrian Lok-ed Out

2009-10-04T02:52:00.000+08:00

KDU vs P.S.C. Wednesday

(played on Wed 16th Sept)

Adrian
Manee - Viet - Chong - Prashant
Dowlet - Derek - Norman - Samson
Dayrion
Chern

It wasn't going to be great when only 8 KDU players showed up for the match and I had to abandon my own orange shirt for the blue of the KDU FC. I also had so ask two of the opposition players to swap shirts too and we found ourselves with the experienced right hand side of Manee and Dowlet. This experience also spread throughout the rest of the team with Chong coming for a rare game pairing Viet in central defence, Derek, Samson and the energetic German in front of them with possibly the only weaknesses being the small Chern and slight Dayrion up front.

KDU College got straight into PSC from the kick off and the midfield dominated the orange shirts with Norman harassing everyone and Derek sticking close to their playmaker Hilme. Unfortunately they found it difficult to link up with the strikers and whilst Dowlet continued to push the ball for Chern to run onto, the young striker didn't have the pace or power to reach or shield the ball. It turned out that long shots from outside the penalty area were the order of the day and Derek managed to hit a rasping one from the edge of the box to warm the keeper's hands. The best chance of the half actually fell to Dayrion who should have at least his diverted a great cross from Samson goalbound.

However this was strictly not true. PSC had the best chance of the first half. Actually the best three chances. And they were all one on ones!

Whilst Manee was providing experience (and a body) at right back, he wasn't pushing up and this proved to be a problem when his centre halves were! This meant that Ming and Barat were constantly played onside. When Adrian saved from Ming's first chance, we were relieved. Then the even more experienced Nara broke through and Adrian smothered his shot. Barat then ran through our 'offside trap' - which was only trapping ourselves! - and we thought he must score but Adrian again laughed in the face of adversity by managing to block his effort. PSC thought they had taken the lead when Barat managed to get the ball past Adrian - only to see his shot bounce off the crossbar and Adrian pouncing on the loose ball. It was safe to say who our man of the match was!

I was mighty relieved to go into the break at half time goalless! I was disappointed with our strikers and our defence but couldn't make any chances and decided that losing my temper would be counterproductive.

However it was no surprise when PSC took the lead early in the 2nd half. A corner from the left, a mistimed jump from Derek and Drew did with his head what none of his strikers could do in the first half with their feet - put the ball into the back of the net from 6 yards out. However Derek was determined to make up for his mistake and pounced on Drew after a short goal kick to sidefoot the ball past the keeper and inside the near post. Dowlet made it even more better with a second goal soon after and then great interplay between all the midfielders put Norman on the scoresheet. Samson put the icing on the cake with a fourth goal which PSC really didn't like the taste of - they were soon bickering amongst themselves.

But PSC managed to channel that energy towards the KDU goal (which now had a weaker Derek instead of Viet who was desperate to play in midfield) and Adrian had already made another one on one save before Hilme unleashed a rocket from the edge of the box. Whilst Adrian slightly misjudged that one, he was unlucky with Ming's cross shot - the keeper got a hand to the ball but only managed to divert it onto the inside of the post!

KDU managed to hang onto the lead when perhaps they should have seen the match through more comfortably after leading by a 3 goal deficit. But arguably PSC could have been 3 goals up in the first half if it wasn't for the heroics of our goalkeeper - Adrian Lok.

KDU 4 VS 3 PSC Wednesday

You Never Know What You've Got Til It's Gone

2009-09-28T11:00:00.004+08:00

KDU College vs PSC Tuesday

Adrian
Prashant - Ryan - Derek - Fajar
Kumar
Dayrion - Norman - Jimmy - Vincent
Raouf

(played on Tuesday 1st Sept)

It was a bit of a shock to see so many players come - especially some guys who I've not seen since the ICG such as Gim Wei and Kumar! Sadly though we lacked Muneer who has always been at the heart of the impressive KDU performances at PSC and it showed. With Ryan looking out of shape and unable to keep a hold of Alan it meant a very early first half change with Fajar coming inside and Ryan swapping to full back - but that was not until we were 2 goals down!

Kumar trips Alan as a posse of blue shirts gather around him inside the penalty area.

We had started off reasonably well but after Adrian just failed to push out the spot kick, it was always going to be difficult. I always feel you have to keep PSC down to as few goals as possible if you want a positive result because they give so few chances away at the other end.

Alan makes the near post run at the corner but it's Ah Tong at the far post who scores by
running to the middle - which makes me ask "what was his marker doing?"

Now we were 2 goals down but strangely we managed to get back into the game as we managed to gather enough energy to muster some long range shots on the PSC goal. A lot of play went through Norman and he showed tremendous spirit to push on and pressure the defence - but this meant Jimmy was marginalised in the first 35 minutes.

But the defence let the team down again. Adrian has already made some great stops before Derek (who needed to be a lot tighter and more aggressive) capped a bad half by losing possession with a backheel to Kumar... who wasn't there - and PSC took advantage to make it 3. Fajar had impressed in central defence against the Bosnian but Alan had the last laugh after a wonderful step over allowed him inside and he neatly put the ball past Adrian in goal.

Derek wonders why he has 2 Hoongs on his paper...

Tony
Prashant - Adrian - Drew - Karthee
Viet
Gim Wei - Jimmy - Samson
Hoong - Jay

It was a completely new team for the 2nd half as he gave 10 new players and 1 old Jimmy a chance to redeem the KDU name. The half got off to a tricky start for Viet and Jay as they were told to change glasses and Hoong told to wear a proper navy blue shirt!

However PSC were a lot quieter in the 2nd half although Adrian gave them a helping hand with a sliding tackle in the penalty area without touching the ball. The penalty taker also took everyone by surprise with a very quick kick once the whistle went - Tony hadn't even had time to set himself!

But the spirit of KDU strode on (without Viet as he looked to adapt after 10 minutes of playing with no glasses!) despite the 5 goal deficit and it was encapsulated in a wonderful strike by Jimmy from all of 30 yards! His rocket of a shot into the top right hand corner would have been something Steven Gerrard would have been proud of!! Samson also showed off a nice piece of dainty footwork on the right side of the penalty area to set up Hoong for KDU's second goal of the match.

The guys applaud Jimmy's wonder strike.

We needed to be more aggressive, stronger and tighter in our next match vs the Tuesday branch of Penang Sports Club. Alternatively we could just ship the Omani brick back in our defensive wall... Baby J.J. come back!

KDU College 2 vs 5 PSC Tuesday

Playing The Best.

2009-09-10T01:35:00.007+08:00

It's not quite 'Welcome to Anfield' but it was the venue for our big game.

Ramblers Orange vs Penang Chinese
(played on Fri 21st August)

This was a good test for Ramblers. It would give an indication of how good Ramblers really were against the best that Penang Chinese had to offer. It was a test for some of Jit Sin youngsters after their Tuesday baptism. It was a test for Kenny making his debut for the team in black and an extremely good test for Adrian who the management were thinking of putting in for the vital quarter final match of the Penang Chinese League.

The first surprise in this test for me was to see Pei attacking us in the Penang Chinese sky blue shirt! After warming up with Ramblers, he proceeded to go to the other side and played as striker for them. It was like Heng: KDU vs Chinese Wanderers again! Fortunately for Ramblers, Pei didn't shine too brightly for them which isn't surprising as I don't think he's lethal as a top striker. Fortunately their other striker, Wai Loong, was also more of a creative midfielder so it was a curious situation for the defenders although I suspect Man and Kenny didn't mind or care!

In the end, I found myself being tested the most of all the back line. I was fielded as left back to add some experience behind a young Jit Sin left midfielder called Dennis but found myself facing a very pacy and tricky right winger who liked to hug the touchline. After 20 minutes of staying inside and allowing him space outside, Kenny ordered me to stop him from putting in crosses. So I abandoned my position, stayed man to man on him and lo & behold, he was less effective.

Kenny's orders were given after the one goal we had conceded came from bad play from myself. After losing the ball, the little winger had floated in a teasing cross into our penalty area. This was bad enough but with defenders marking fresh air, we had allowed their tallest player - all 6ft 2 inches of Tai, to attack the ball unmarked. With Adrian exposed and unable to adjust his feet, the ball was directed past his left hand and into the back of the net. It was a lead that Penang Chinese probably deserved with Adrian previously making a point blank save and several other chances squandered from inside the box.

Whilst Kenny was giving as good as he got on his debut, Man was revelling as his centre half partner, confidentially bringing the ball out (past opposing forwards!) and distributing it as he saw fit. Dennis was also playing well on the left - his link up play with Keon saw the best early chance flash wide of the top corner. Heng also had a shot pushed wide for a corner but it was a rare opportunity for Ramblers.

Ming on the right hand flank was receiving far less of the ball but his pace proved to be vital as he raced upon a long diagonal cross from Derek on the left flank. With the ball far out enough to tempt the keeper and a defender, the young Jit Sin superstar bravely nipped in between both of them to nod in an equaliser for Ramblers. This gave the young man a surge of confidence as several minutes later, he then played a give and go with the right back, to cross for the hip of Heng to put the black team into a shock lead!

A pitch with a slope - a rarity in Penang!

Whilst the blues were gathering their senses at half time, Michael and Max decided to rotate the playing squad. I found myself shifted into central midfield with Jason, with Adrian, Kenny, Man, Ming, Heng and Keon all taken off. The second half saw Ramblers with even fewer chances than the first half! However we probably had the best one - after Wei found himself in front of an gaping goal in the first few minutes of the second half - but with only a split second to react, he was unable to get a strong enough touch to push the ball towards the coffee corner goal.

And it was very much one way traffic after that miss - even with the arrival of Wes Brown on the right wing. Wai Loong had dropped deeper and started showing his quality by laying on chance upon chance for the newly arrived Penang Chinese strikers. The small compact forwards were constantly being played onside by the full backs, who were both too deep and wide, but despite hitting the ball clean enough but they struggled to keep the ball on target. With the young 2nd half keeper parrying all the other shots away, I thought we might be able to hold on for an unexpected win.

Yes, the match was still going on in this fading light!

However with darkness looming, I was taken off the pitch to an (imaginary) standing ovation, Siang was put on and seconds later, Penang Chinese had forced an equaliser. A corner was swung in from the right, the ball bobbled around the penalty area and eventually the ball was put into the back of the net. Both teams seemed content with the final result - Ramblers happy to have pushed Penang Chinese all the way to the finish line and the Sky Blues happy to not lose face to Michael and Max's team!

Lacking Passing but not Passion.

2009-09-08T23:55:00.008+08:00

KDU College vs Chinese Wanderers

(played on Thurs 20th August)

Adrian
Prashant - Fajar - Viet - Mikez
Lam
Acik - New Guy - Karthee
Ali - A2

It was going to be an interesting first half with 4 debutants (Acik, New Guy, Ali, A2 - sorry forgot your name) and 2 fairly new players in Prashant and Karthee. However with the experienced core of Adrian, Fajar, Viet and, even, Lam in front of goal, I thought it was worth seeing what the new guys could bring to the KDU tactics table.

Yes, that's the tactics board. Now with missing magnets!

As it turned out, it was a fairly neutral game - KDU College couldn't break down Chinese Wanderers and Chinese Wanderers couldn't break down KDU College. Of the two goalkeepers, Adrian certainly had more to do but I don't think there was anything for him to consider as a serious risk to goal. The red team also had the better passing by along way whilst the blue team really struggled to combine anything together - I don't think they managed to make 4 passes in a row in the whole 35 minutes.

However the highlight of the first half was the near brawl on the pitch between Mikez and the Chinese Wanderers player manager. Nobody had a clue what triggered it but there was a lot of shouting going on between the little and large man. We thought it was all over but after the Wanderers number 9 kicked out at Mikez after he had tackled the big guy, the shouting started again - and coach Derek had to walk Mikez out before the match was abandoned. However the coach also felt that the referee should have sent off the number 9 for a very deliberate attack on Mikez's heels.

To Mikez's credit, he apologised and talked to the referee at the half time break - during which the whole outfield team was turned around too.

Second Half Team:

Adrian
Bill - Chong - Mou Kheng - Sam
Derek - Muneer - Ren
Samson
Hung - Jay

It was a more solid side in midfield but a more inexperienced back line. However KDU College were actually able to make the keeper worried about the security to his goal - which actually wasn't that hard after a lacklustre first half. Indeed KDU got the first goal of the match after a run and cross by Derek down the left actually caused some danger in the Wanderers penalty area. After bouncing around the edge of the box, Hung lashed out at the ball and it flew past the goalkeeper's right hand with no chance of him saving it.

During the first 15 minutes, there only looked to be one winner. Derek had 2 snap shots from outside the area but both lacked the necessary curl and accuracy. Muneer was also put through by the left winger and if he had left his legs on the floor, he would have been given a penalty. Being a sensible man though, he elected to jump and not have any of his legs damaged.

However the game petered out for the KDU attack after this - for some reason, more long, high balls were being played up to Hung and Jay (and later Derek) whose game didn't really suit it - especially on a small bumpy pitch where the defence left little space behind them to exploit. Vincent did find himself in excellent crossing areas but failed to supply anything like a decent ball both times.

Bill seemed a bit preoccupied at left back (possibly thinking about German girls?) and generally there seemed to be a lack of communication (i.e. no shouting / talking) between Chong, Mou Kheng and Sam despite them all playing for the same junior team. This all led to Adrian being brought into action. He had to make 3 great one on one saves - one after Bill inexplicably passed to the centre forward, the other two were in quick succession after a long ball caught out the young right back, Sam, in the last minute of the game.

Heng (red shirt) was invited to play for us but he ended up on the red team instead!

Adrian might have broken the Wanderers hearts but Heng broke the deadlock for the maroon shirted team. The one thing any team should ever ever ever be wary of when Heng is on the ball is his left foot. Obviously the youngsters had never played against him before and obviously didn't know this. The 30 year old striker wriggled his way free from Bill before curling an inviting ball into the centre - which one of our young defenders sliced past our own goalkeeper!

Whilst one one was a fair reflection of the match , the KDU coach was quite worried about how bad the passing of the blue shirted players was - especially in the first half. It really truly showed how much training everyone needed - both individually and as a whole group. How can you expect to have good interplay between players when you've never seen your fellow team mate play before? It is impossible to come for matches, play well together immediately and be happy with your own performance - which is what KDU players have been doing in the last few matches.

Final result: KDU College 1 vs 1 Chinese Wanderers

Ball to Hand!

2009-09-08T23:42:00.003+08:00

PSC Wednesday vs Kickers

(played on Weds 19th August)

You know it's not going to be your day when the ball hits you on the hand and the referee gives a penalty. Added to the fact that, that this was the 2nd goal of the first half after a blistering midfield run caught out our covering midfielder - well it wasn't going to be an easy 2nd half. However we dominated the mainland team (as we usually do in the 2nd half) but just couldn't find anyone who could score - Raju being the biggest culprit as he missed Nara's 'pass' from 6 yards with no goalkeeper! Post-match, he said he wanted a bigger challenge!

Mixing Young and Old

2009-09-05T00:27:00.006+08:00

Penang Sports Club vs Ramblers Orange

(played on Tuesday 18th August)

There was a surprise in store for Ramblers players as there were quite a few teenagers making their debuts for 'the senior team' after playing several rounds for the 'junior team' Jit Sin School. The most intriguing partnership was in central defence with playmaker Pei sitting at the back with a youngster whose name I've forgotten (many apologies). With other youngsters featuring at left, right back & goalkeeper, it was an experimental backline but with the match only being billed as a friendly, Michael was happy to give the Jit Sin boys a run out against an experienced line up.

Ramblers started very well with Jason and Derek forming a solid partnership in central midfield, frustrating the opposition with intelligent positioning and decisive interceptions. Ramblers scored to put the black shirted players ahead - with justification but then the injury that changed the game - the left back went down and struggled to continue. He was taken off, a central midfielder was put on with Derek moving to left back. Mustapha identified this as the moment where the game changed and I wouldn't disagree with him!

I got this lovely set of stud marks from Jason 30 seconds before our goal but
unbeknownst to me, I gave him his own set in the 2nd half!

Penang Sports Club then managed to find a bit of freedom in midfield and started to break into the attacking third which they previously failed to do. It wasn't long before an equaliser came - from a bad catch from the goalkeeper. A high ball was lofted in towards the far post, the young man caught it but with the wet conditions, the ball dropped out of his hands when he landed and trickled over the line. The second goal we conceded came from a bad clearance as a ball whipped in from the left was half cleared by Pei's partner - straight to their deadliest striker, Alan - a mere 18 yards from goal. The third goal (and probably nail in the coffin) came from a bad decision by Derek as he tried to step up to play Ah Tong offside. When the yellow flag didn't go up, the experience of the striker made sure the left back paid for his lack of judgement.

The second half saw a reshuffle with many of the substitutes given a run out and Derek partnering 'Vision' in midfield. They and Jason (and later 'Makelele') all linked up well in a 5 man midfield with there being many neat passes between them. The best combination saw the youngster and Derek playing a one two allowing the latter to hit a first time shot past the PSC keeper - straight into the middle of the post! The lanky midfielder also had the second best chance of the match when a great cross from the left found Derek alone on the penalty spot. Sadly he couldn't twist his head enough to steer it into the side of the goal and out went the second best and last chance of the match for Ramblers. Despite all their hard work to put pressure on the back four, the black team struggled to create any notable chances in the last 20 minutes.

This was possibly because the backline had a lot to cope with! Penang Sports Club created a lot of chances stretching the defence and were playing their own combination of passes in front of our defence. We were fortunate to get away with just one goal in the second half.

However it was a great workout in fantastic drizzly conditions and more importantly a time to blood some youngsters. They were impressive - they could control and looked extremely comfortable on the ball, they looked for simple passes, they were athletic and worked hard when Ramblers didn't have the ball - basically all the attributes Derek wished all his KDU players had! It was obvious that they had played together and trained well under Eric for several years. With such potential, Ramblers Orange could be strong for another few years yet.

Penang Sports Club 1 vs 4 Ramblers Orange

Superstars Doesn't Equal Super Win.

2009-09-02T12:51:00.006+08:00

C.C.F.C. vs Synergy

(played on Sunday 16th August)

It was the perfect meteorological conditions for football. Gray overcast skies to block out the sun, a well watered pitch to allow for a passing game, light rain to keep us cool. It was the last game of the season and we had a full compliment of high quality players to pick from although we did lack a fit goalkeeper. It was a makeshift defence with big Hong, Koon, Derek and Viet hoping that experience and speed would cover for the lack of playing time together. However that was no excuse for the rest of the team - Roy and Jason know each other's game inside out and they were paired together in central midfield with fleet footed Fajar on the right and industrious Swee King on the left. Up front our Brazilian hulk, Leo, paired our top scorer, Hasrul in a partnership that was sure to create chances... and hopefully score enough goals for our first win of the season!

C.C.F.C.'s early pre-match preparation saw them fly out of the blocks in Usain Bolt style as they completely dominated Synergy so vivaciously in the first 10 minutes. The strikers combined to create two easy chances which they missed - and I thought that our failure to convert would come back to haunt us. However a goal from Hasrul and another from Leo led me to think that it was going to be C.C.F.C.'s day especially as Synergy seemed completely stunned.

However after waking from their stupor, Synergy showed why they were able to beat Ramblers by three goals. Their pair of speedy flankmen proved to be so much of a problem for Viet and Hong, that Derek swapped first with Viet to go right back and then with Hong at left back in an effort to shadow the very fast lime-green booted winger. However that was after a foray down their right saw a clinical finish past J.J. and our defence started to look decidedly nervous despite their goal advantage. Then a debatable free kick was given on the edge of our box and the Synergy striker struck the ball so well that our ex-Omani U21 keeper could only flail at the ball - sometimes you have to applaud the technique of the opposition player.

Hong and Fajar didn't make life easy for the left midfielder.

But Fajar was giving the Synergy left back and left midfielder 'twisted blood' with his runs and Hasrul soon knocked in another to keep C.C.F.C. on course for those ever vital three points. Vital to save face!

We swapped goalkeepers in an attempt to bolster the defence - J.J. came out, Kee (?) went between the sticks and we opted for a Brazilian 4-2-2-2 formation. This tactical ploy was given credence with our second Brazilian import, Jaino, making his season debut in Lee's boots! Roy + Jason were supposed to continue their covering positions in front of the defence, Jaino would play in front with Fajar supplying width down the right and Leo + Hasrul continuing their partnership up front. The lack of a wide left midfielder was counteracted by the Cafu like left back, Derek, working the whole touchline. Our youngest player Timothy came on for Hong who had tried his best but obviously found it difficult to deal with the pace of Synergy's wingers.

I had expected us to control the 2nd half with the amount of experience and just downright quality players loaded in our team but I was sorely mistaken! The second half was a crazy end to end game with both teams having more than enough chances to capture all three points.

C.C.F.C. once again started the brighter but Synergy obviously had a new game plan: Hack down Fajar at every attempt! What I saw in that match reminded me of the cynical Italian tactical ploy of systematic fouling - however I didn't see the referee give a card once despite the constant barrage of kicks on the young Indonesian's legs. However Synergy hadn't realised that Jaino was another ball player and he attempted to set Hasrul and Leo away many times with cute passes after strolling through the midfield with the ball apparently glued to his feet. The small Brazilian managed to get himself on the score sheet with a neatly taken lob over the goalkeeper and had a perfectly legal goal disallowed when he was level with the ball when it was given square to the man.

Timothy's injury put our loss into perspective.

Like I said though, it wasn't all one way traffic. Synergy saw our keeper had become less athletic over the halftime break and sought to put more pressure on him. The main victim was Timothy who came over to attack a ball in central defence but fell awkwardly after jumping. Scans later at the hospital revealed a broken fibula and a period of several months out for the young C.C.F.C. player.

The best Synergy chance actually came after a C.C.F.C. corner when Derek had pushed up from left back leaving space open behind him. The striker was able to run the ball all the way from the half way line to the penalty area unopposed but left his composure 10 seconds behind him when he blasted over the crossbar. Our second goalkeeper of the match, Kee, also made a good stop when one on one with another striker but all that pressure was sure to yield something. Sadly it came from our own mistakes - the first when Derek's pass to Jason was intercepted in the middle of the pitch before the striker unleashed a wonderful shot from outside the area. The second saw a corner half cleared and whilst some of the players rushed out to catch standing Synergy players offside, it only takes one to play them all onside. They were able to stand up a cross and the striker applied the correct direction to take it past Kee.

Muneer came out of goal in attempt to solidify our defence. We still let in two goals!

After the match, Roy was incandescent with rage that we hadn't sealed the game. A team full of 'superstars,' our best players, were still unable to grind out a winning result against a mid-table team who hadn't qualified for the next round of the competition. Several players also looked the worse for wear after a heavy night's activity and I think this added to the lack of running and match sharpness. And of course, there were the individual mistakes too. In a way, this one match encapsulated the story of our season - we came into it with confidence, scared the life out of the opposition, defended awkwardly and ultimately came away with very little with respect to the league.

We live. Will we learn?

C.C.F.C. 4 vs 4 Synergy

Penalties

2009-08-11T20:40:00.004+08:00

Penang Sports Club vs KDU College

The referee checks his watch but Penang Sports Club make one last foray into the KDU half in a desperate attempt to pull back that goal that they've been chasing all match. The Indian PSC midfielder, Chris, gets the ball to feet just inside the KDU half and accelerates in a straight line towards the arc of the blue's penalty area. Our Omani strongman, J.J., is shoulder to shoulder to him every step of the way but the Indian guy is fast. He slows down 10 yards outside the box, then puts on another burst of speed - J.J. now his hand to Chris's shoulder to him pursues him, half a step behind. J.J.'s centre half partner, Derek, reads the situation and sprints across to block the shot that will come and then the final whistle will surely blow, his first half penalty conversion being the winning goal.

But then everything happens so fast. The referee's whistle is heard. There is no shot. There are only bodies on the floor, a blur of action a second before. Chris is lying on the grass within the boundaries of the 18 yard box. J.J.'s voice said it was outside but everyone's eyes are only drawn to one thing. The referee's arm. It is horizontal, pointing towards the white spot twelve yards from Tony's goal line. The same small circle where KDU had taken the lead is now the same spot for Penang Sports Club's redemption.

It seemed cruel.

The young legs of the blue shirts had done so much to deny the swarming attacks of the yellow shirts for so long in the 2nd half. Pressured. Denied. Followed. Blocked. Saved. Viet. Bill. Lam. Au. Dayrion. Tony. All conscious of their movement, all straining every sinew to prevent the ball from passing them and ultimately Tony. Keon aiming to do the same to the Indian PSC goalkeeper, Jimmy and Samson being the link men, but the slim striker failed with shots missing their target, with shots too close to the custodian. But with his legs pounding the grass and chasing every of the 30 balls directed it at him, it was a wonder that Keon had any energy at all to fire the ball at all.

However it was Hoong's legs that proved to be the 1st half downfall of Penang Sports Club after quick feet brought him and the ball to the penalty area. A rash challenge, a cut in his running stride, the ball on that spot. And now Penang Sports Club found themselves with the ball on the same spot. A large portly man in a yellow shirt stepped up - Steven. Fifty years of age and feeling every day of it as all eyes were drawn to his run up. The KDU goalkeeper dived early to his right in anticipation but the ball was driven high into the roof of the net. And down went the hopes of a first win for KDU FC against the experienced and talented players of Penang Sports Club.

A draw that felt like a loss. But a coach proud of all his players that wore the blue shirts.

Eight is not always a Chinese Lucky Number...

2009-08-09T02:14:00.004+08:00

My latest MSN status reads:

I told my team that it is vital not to concede any more goals during the half time talk. They let in 5...

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

First goal - right wing cross to centre, goal

Second goal - left wing cross to centre, goal

Third goal - attack down left, ball breaks to centre, goal

Half Time - I tell them not to let in any more crossed goals. "Compact the centre, let Georgetown have the wings. But protect the middle."

Goal 4 and 5 - two headed goals from crosses despite outnumbering the attackers.

Goal 8 - penalty after Bill wrestles man to the floor from a corner.

Goal 7 - Keeper doesn't jump on a loose ball despite having the opportunity to.

Goal 6 was comedy goal from corner!!! Keeper saves, another shot, off the line, bobbles around 6 yard box, no one clears, striker stabs ball home GOAL!

Leo and I didn't know what to say after the 4th goal went in.........!

Read the match report here.

Doubles

2009-07-29T21:50:00.002+08:00

PSC Wednesday vs Trade & Industry Dept

The game started off on a friendly note when our opponents presented us with a pennant at the kick off and we were nice enough to let them have the first decent shot on goal. However that was when our friendliness stopped as we ran into a 5 goal lead with Nara and Ming grabbing two goals apiece making me think we might break through the double figure goal barrier.

However we lost the 2nd half one nil thanks to a Kok Beng mistake when he tried to dribble past the striker when he was the last man and our strikers/midfielders who were having 'a competition to see who could miss the most chances.' After Nara had taken the ball past the goalkeeper and fallen over him, Raja took the prize for the best miss when he blazed the ball over a completely empty net from 5 yards.

Thursday Night Lights

2009-07-23T22:57:00.001+08:00

Friendly: Ramblers vs CRC

It was dark but would we sleep through the match?

A night under the floodlights for two teams preparing for Saturday's division one matches. They were looking to salvage pride after a season of midfield injuries and managerial changes. We were looking for spirit and hope in our battle for survival. The team in red always give every opponent a test because of their spirit, their fitness and their teamwork and we needed a through examination of our abilities and our spirit before the true test of Saturday.

We started the first half in bright sunny daylight and the game got even sunnier for us when a CRC player slipped whilst attempting to pass the ball out from defence. Sheik accepted it without hesitation and the red team's young goalkeeper could do nothing about the goal. Ramblers then replicated their first division tactics and allowed the opposition to probe and twist and turn and this they did but they never struck viciously or accurately. Neither did I when a floated cross from Sheik found me empty at the far post - I was already thinking, "it's a goal, there's no-one there, just put it on target," but as the ball flew over the bar, my hands reached for my face in disbelief.

Yet CRC continued to search and switch, Jason stepped into midfield, Roy and Chi-gu probed down the right side, my side and found nothing but stubborn resistance. They had fleeting chances as a team as CRC ought to but nothing, no goals, no celebrations. And there was little celebration from Hilme after his free kick. The ever energetic, always hard working Faulzee had shouted after falling in a CRC sandwich and Manee generously awarded Ramblers an opportunity from 20 yards. The bald captain stepped up and as he looked for the envelope above the wall, he struck a head with his shot and the ball dropped right when the goalkeeper went to his left.

Two nil at half time. A time to rehydrate our glistening, sweating bodies, to refresh our minds and my miss, to ponder if we will squander this opportunity as we did against Medical or if we will remain strong - mentally, physically, tactically. Had we learned anything from that game, that draw? The floodlights came on as promised but would the lights go out in the Ramblers players?

As the sunlight stretched over the horizon, the game at the Victoria Ground got longer too. Both teams duelled with the opposition defence with pace, never allowing for the midfield to settle and slow the ball. CRC used Roy to hit the ball to their left wing as they discovered that the left back and I were working in tandem to limit opportunities on their right. But our left back is a man of determination and whilst he was severely tested by the searing pace of the left winger, he stood up and hassled as well as he could. But it turned out to be the opposing left midfielder that would have the next decisive touch on the precarious scoreline.

A Ramblers break on the right, the desire from Derek to get into the penalty area, the desire to get on the end of the cross, the ball missed by the defender but anticipation and a stooping header secured the match after only 60 minutes. The delighted Englishman patted his head in celebration and found himself on a match game high running in cool Malaysian air, stopping, thwarting and stifling all CRC chances, all CRC possession, all CRC hope.

Sheik's replacement, Fazli (?), polished the game off with a typical pacy, cool, controlled finish to seal an astonishing result for the team in orange. Ramblers first win over CRC for several years gave us confidence & hope to go into the vital match against Sri Nibong... and to come out with three points.

***more Ramblers / KDU / CCFC / PSC Weds match reports to come***

The (nearly) Comeback Kids

2009-06-11T21:33:00.001+08:00

KDU College vs Seri Mersing

My memories of this match are vague but I remember it was a really hot day and that Ramblers were playing two pitches away from us. It was also going to be my last game before I went to England so I wanted to leave Penang with a bang and score lots of goals so I settled with two goals in the 2nd half.

However they were two very necessary goals after the KDU team offside trap went horribly wrong in the first half after Vincent decided to switch with Viet (centre midfield for central defence) thus totally ignoring Neoh's instructions. Viet's speed was lost in the back three and with Vincent not being as mobile as the Vietnamese defender meant that the Sri Mersing strikers were able to sprint through our backline without fear because they knew that Vincent couldn't catch them. He wasn't protected much by two new debutants (Katee and another guy) although the equally new Ling looked half threatening on the left.

Fajar managed to pull a goal back for the blues with an astounding 5 man dribble on the edge of the box which, if caught on camera, would be a contender for polo goal of the year. And this was our overlapping left back! The goal meant that it wasn't game over for us as Neoh sought to make some tactical changes to claw back the 3-1 deficit. The young president decided to revert to a more normal back 4 and shift Fajar to centre midfield with Derek on the right. KDU were also helped with Sri Mersing having little to no substitutes whilst we were energised with 5 young legs.

And what a switch by the young coach as Derek continually found myself up against a full back who didn't know how to handle him. The old man should have added to his interception and blast and side foot finish with a header and a one on one with the keeper which would have clinched the game. Hong's (?) chipped goal also put us in the lead but Seri Mersing had decided two of their more senior players had had enough rest and decided to shunt them on the pitch in order to reverse the tidal wave that was pounding their defence.

In the end, it was so close because after Derek had pulled the ball back from the byline for Chern to score what would surely be the winner turned out to be anything but... the keeper caught his shot easily... threw it out to a midfielder who surged up the pitch... released the striker... who showed the young man of KDU how it should have been done. A winning goal to conceding an equaliser in less than 30 seconds! It was heartbreak for the blue team and Chern in particular!!

KDU College 4 vs 4 Seri Mersing

Statistics for the Day

2009-06-06T21:05:00.004+08:00

Derek wonders where his next win is coming from.

Games: 2
C.C.F.C. vs F.Rangers 'B' @ U.S.M.
Ramblers vs DHL @ P.S.C.

Wins: 0
Draws: 0
Losses: 2

Goals: 0
Shots: 3
Shots off target: 2
Shots off target after mazy dribble: 1
Shots off target from 5 yards out with empty goal yawning: 1
Backheeled shot that wouldn't have crossed the line as it had no power: 1

Injuries: 4
Sore right ear: 1
Grazed right knee: 1
Sore right quadricep: 1
Sore tendon behind the left knee: 1

A Missed Opportunity

2009-05-31T20:17:00.001+08:00

It was another beautiful sunny day at USM

Ramblers vs Medical

If you had asked Ramblers players before the game, I'm sure we would have all snatched your hand off if you had offered us a point against Medical - a team that finished in the top 3 of the league last year. So it was a big surprise to come off the end of the pitch incredibly disappointed with that exact scenario. Indeed one of our advisers was so worried that he offered us a 5 goal head start if we wanted to bet with him after acknowledging Medical's firepower with their 9-0 thrashing of Penang Port.

With our new kit and new tactical set up which caused many problems for league leaders Kampung Seronok in our last game, Ramblers look set to do another 'Chelsea vs Barcelona' against the high flying Medical. With only 3 points on the board, Ramblers were by no means out of the relegation zone so every point was crucial with only 6 matches left to play.

At kick off whilst we were shaking hands, I was astonished at how small the Medical team were! There was only one outfield player who was equal to my height and I swear every single player was shorter than my shoulder! With players like Hilme, Min and myself of similar height, it made sense to play a direct game with crosses coming in from the wing. Our goal in the first half actually did come from a corner but wasn't powered in via a bullet header from Hilme as most people might think. It was half cleared to the edge of the box where Fauzi hit a miscued shot which in turn bounced off my shin and found our striker who couldn't believe his luck. We couldn't believe ours either as he slotted the ball past the defenders and goalkeepers on the line to put Ramblers in the lead!

The (short) Medical players were obviously going to play a short passing game with incisive through balls for their nippy strikers and onrushing midfield players. However it was to the midfield and defense's credit that Medical hardly looked like breaking through our defensive wall as each Ramblers player hustled and harried and covered for each other. The team in white started to get desperate and fired shots from outside the penalty area (2 of which hit me!) but the keeper had little to actually save in the first half. Ramblers played much better than in previous matches too - we passed the ball out from goal kicks which meant we were able to control more of the ball and dictate (to a degree) the pace of the game. It was a lot better than hitting it long and defending continuously as we had done against Jelutong!

I think most of the players couldn't believe that we were winning but the emphasis of the half time team talk was to concentrate in the first ten minutes of the second half to deny any hope to a clearly frustrated Medical team. We had given away goals just after half time to Jelutong and Kampung Seronok and I thought this was good wisdom by our coaches.

Amazingly we listened and absorbed their advice! Medical continued to pour forward in attack but to little avail as the defensive line mopped up everything whilst we hit on the counter attack via Fauzi on the left. I nearly missed our second goal as I was screaming at our left back to return to his position (!) but was in time to see Fauzi had a shot saved in the penalty area. However the little man has nothing if not speed and his quick reactions secured a second goal from a narrow angle. Surely an upset was on the books!

Medical took this second goal as a handy hint to attack even more! They were already swarming towards our goal and despite their lack of height, had given up trying to thread neat passes through small gaps and opted to hit the middle of our defence quicker via higher balls and from the wings. The constant defending had also taken its toll on our players too and our energy level was decreasing as their pressure increased. Our senior defender was taken off with cramp whilst Rajiv was tired from flying up and down the right hand side.

They were starting to get closer with their long range shots too - they had already hit the crossbar once before it was cleared. However they hit it again - but this time, a Medical player managed to react to the rebound, quicker than I did, to head the ball in. It was now GAME ON with 10 minutes left and a one goal lead to protect. The tension throughout the Ramblers squad was palpable and there was 'a crazy' incident where our big centre, Min, reacted to what can only have been an insult by a Medical player when our defender went down (somewhat theatrically) with cramp.

I thought it was going to end in a fight as Min was really pumped up to hit Medical's number eight and the shouting went on between them for a good 5 minutes. It's not quite the frame of mind you want your centre half to be in when you are trying to defend a one goal lead! The young referee did his best to calm both players down (whilst FAM assessors were observing!) but the rage in Min's eyes never really died down - as after a sliding tackle several minutes later, he gave a shout of defiance at the player he had tackled!

Kenny had come on at this stage and he tried to push the line up which proved to be a very bad idea as our team had done well up to this stage by defending from the 18 yard box. Our offside trap obviously wasn't working because the nippy Medical players accelerated onto through balls over the top of our defence whilst our defenders weren't quick enough to turn and catch them. Fortunately our keeper made a couple of vital interceptions whilst several other shots missed the target.

And as the game moved into added time, it looked as if we had done enough to secure our 2nd three points of the season and starve off relegation. I even had a chance to overlap the centre forward because he had dropped so deep but Hilme was unable to make the end of the attack count although his shot was well struck. However the disappointment that I mentioned in the first paragraph struck in the 90th minute.

Another shot from outside the penalty area rose high into the air, sailed above our goalkeeper and... thudded against the crossbar... only to bounce in front of a Medical player! He dived and put the ball into the back of the net with his head, breaking our hearts and giving his team a lifeline when they were all but dead and buried. It was a traumatic moment for our team after amassing a two goal lead and many of our players were disappointed after the game.

On paper, the draw result was extremely good for us but as we had scored the first two goals of the match and with our sustained level of defending, the initial reaction was one of failure to tally up our points total to six. Strangely this disappointment to get what we thought we deserved against good quality opponents was in stark contrast to our devastation of our earlier results against Barhol Alam and CRC which showed how much we (and our expectations) had improved since March 8th. Now we must live up to our own expectations and get the results we know we can get!

Ramblers 2 vs 2 Medical

A Game of Truly Two Halves

2009-05-30T20:05:00.001+08:00

C.C.F.C. vs Macullum Street

The squad...at the end of the match!

It was a crazy first half after I drove down crazily from work down the coastal highway. I was very excited by our manager's remarks about who was going to be there at the start of the match and had multiple permutations in my head regarding positions and formations. However when I got there, none of the players who I expected to be there were present - not even some of my KDU College players! Whilst this was disappointing, it was incredibly heartening to see Roy there ready and prepped for his debut - and he too was disappointed with the punctuality of our key players.

We decided to start with 10 players as the people who we had rung said 'they were on their way' and 'nearly there.' Viet was the first of the defenders to arrive and promptly found himself partnering Roy in the centre - with no warm up. And he probably could have done with one too as Macullum attacked very quickly straight from the start. The team in orange were a team that could move and pass very well - before the match, I had warned our players that they were rough but we were probably more physical! - and I found myself running around in circles as my debut making central midfield partner, Zul, was a carrying a knock to his thigh. We never gave ourselves any respite with long balls out of defence that were quickly lost as Hasrul was isolated and never got into any sort of fluid passing game as Macullum pressured us quickly once we had the ball.

It was no surprise when Macullum scored and that it came down the left. They had obviously targeted Foo, our oldest defender, as a weakness and ran the ball down his side frequently. A short pass from his side found their striker all alone in the penalty area who made no mistake. The big surprise was that we leaked another two goals despite our Dutchman's presence but all this shows was how much we need our strong players to come to every game at the start of the match. Looking back at the match, having just 3 experienced players in an 11 man team against a young hungry Macullum Street was never going to go well.

However the second half was truly different. Whilst Jimmy and VJ came on for Macullum, we were able to call on the services of Muneer. and Leo for the first time this season as well as the experienced Kenny to bolster the back line.

And what a second half it was. Macullum might have been tired after all their attacking in the first half but J.J. bossed the midfield around by himself aided by replacement flankers Samson and Derek. The centre of defence looked much stronger with the tough tackling duo of Kenny and Roy although our keeper, Johnny was still called to make a few vital saves. With the back line looking more stable, the C.C.F.C. team was able to give more energy to attacking. As usual the main attacking threat was Hasrul although Macullum's offside trap was able to ensnare him a lot of the time.

However there was Leo! Running from deep, he was able to keep onside and despite his earlier pre-mature apologies, he showed the true touch of a Brazilian. We all wondered what he was going to do, after he was put through by Muneer with loads of time and space, and he elected to delicately lob the goalkeeper - twice! His own variation on the goalscoring theme was after he played a one two with Derek, he shot low and more importantly - accurately - to give the goalkeeper a 2nd half nightmare.

His goals completely shocked the Macullum team after such a one sided first half. Each goal put a huge dent in their confidence but they were not so inexperienced that they would simply panic and fold. With the score at the tentative 3-2 to the orange team's favour, Macullum were able to finish off the match via a swift counterattack on the inside left channel. With Roy having pushed further up front, there was a big gap in the centre that neither Kenny or Viet filled and Jimmy blasted through it before squaring the ball back for his fellow striker to tap into an empty net.

That was the killer goal and blew our chances of taking a point from this game with Leo's hat trick goal ending up as nothing more than a consolation. Despite our team's lack of points in the game, the 2nd half prompted a change in spirit and confidence throughout the whole C.C.F.C. squad with other teams (hopefully) now shaken.

It's time to get some wins.

Manager/Photographer's Man of the Match: Roy - He commanded the defence, timed his tackles perfectly and organised the counter attack when we were behind. An inspirational figure for the day and probably the days and matches ahead.

2009-05-28T09:58:00.003+08:00

KDU 3 vs 2 Kg Makam

Off to another kick off...

***Match Report to come soon***

An Overlapping Centre Half's Woes

2009-05-27T20:53:00.003+08:00

PSC Wednesday vs Waterfall Rangers Veterans

It's a tough match when we play these experienced guys and this day was no exception. My reputation as a centre half took another beating after I tried and failed to cut out a cross with my knee - the ball skinned off it and the winger at the far post took it past Boon and slammed it across the keeper. However Hilme managed to fault Kok Bing for not initially clearing the ball so maybe neither centre half covered themselves with glory!

The second half was a battling affair as we managed to draw ourselves level and I found myself partnering Reebert for the first time in central defence. I also found myself trying the new position - centre half overlapping striker - and found myself in a supreme goalscoring situation after the ball bounced to me off the crossbar. Someone like Alan would have calmly stroked it into a corner but I gave it a good powerful blast. The problem with rockets is that they lack accuracy and all mine found was the backside of a Waterfall Rangers guy on the line!

Hilme also delivered a peach of a cross to me from the right which I could have taken first time but I tried a side foot lob over an oncoming defender to Ming on the penalty spot instead . Next time it'll be a Jurgen Klinsman scissors kick horrifically executed and over the bar! So my goal scoring drought for PSC continues - eight months and counting...

No Shame In Defeat

2009-05-21T22:21:00.003+08:00

KDU vs USM

A match at USM's stadium is always a pleasure because of the mint condition of the pitch and the feel of professionalism with stadium overlooking the green turf. Sadly the running track makes every long clearance difficult to recover but it turned out to work in our favour as it turned out our opponents were Malaysian Cup competitors - otherwise known as a fully professional squad!

With this in mind, it was a good thing that Ramblers players (and our Butterfly goalkeeping coach, Tony) were there to bolster the playing squad because USM were the real thing. Their two touch passes left us feeling dizzy and they attacked both sides of our defence with vigour and energy. Whilst Viet was 'coping' on the right, his fellow Vietnamese player Duc was struggling on the left with the absurd pace that the right winger had. This meant that Fajar had to work overtime to cover his fellow international player. However the international coach, Derek, was doing his own share of hard work in midfield with the Langkawi boy, Poay alongside him. Whilst they were able to string a neat set of passes together, they were unable to get near striking distance of the goal.

Whilst Vick and Henrik were unsuprisingly struggling up front to get any service, it was less of a surprise to see USM take the lead. A poor clearance saw the ball curled back into the centre for the striker to sidefoot from the penalty spot with plenty of space. It was a soft goal to concede and it didn't get any better when the left winger hit the accelerator to move past the speedy Keong and Adrian to cut the ball back for the deep running midfielder to slot home after the coach was caught standing and shouting. However a two goal loss after 35 minutes against a team of such quality was nothing to be ashamed of. Indeed they should have had more were it not for inaccurate finishing and excellent goalkeeping.

The second half saw Heng & Jimmy join the fold upfront and for the first time in the game, we were able to make headway into the USM defensive third with some element of control. After neat interplay between Jimmy, Heng and Derek, the best KDU chance of the match fell to our right winger Chern (see photo above). Sadly he put the ball wide and with it our only decent chance of the match.

With more changes than an England friendly, the match saw a completely different team finish the game but strikingly with only one more goal conceded. A corner was swung in and Jimmy's attacking instincts were switched on to nod the ball past his own goalkeeper! Whilst the rest of the match was concentrated in the navy part of the field, the boys in blue were able to hold on for a very credible three goal loss as they defended for their lives.

KDU 0 vs 3 USM

Off the Back, Into the Net.

2009-05-20T21:25:00.001+08:00

PSC Wednesday vs Kickers

It was a gorgeous day to play on a gorgeous surface against a team that didn't threaten to do so much against us. Sadly with their two only chances they were able to go into the break with a lead that first saw the striker get onto my soft clearance and surge past Kok Bing to slot the ball away whilst the second resulted from a corner that wasn't cleared.

The striker hit the ball from the edge of the box and in the photograph above, you see the ball strike my turned back before going past the keeper. Our best chance fell to our Indian midfielder but he struggled to keep his composure after controlling a cross from the left in front of the goalkeeper.

The second half didn't get any better (nor any worse) as Kickers added a further two goals to their tally. A cracking strike from the edge of the box curled into the top corner whilst Kok Bing miscontrolled the ball to allow their striker to finish the fourth with aplomb. Sometimes the luck just doesn't go with the Orange flow of juice, it ends up spilt all over the floor.

PSC Wednesday 0 vs 4 Kickers

Ramblers turn Orange!

2009-05-19T23:33:00.003+08:00

Ramblers vs Kg. Seronok

Ramblers in our new Orange kit!

The manager reverted to a 4-5-1 deep lying formation to stifle our opponents and preserve some sort of defensive protection for our goalkeeper. Of course, this failed straightaway as Kg. Seronok struck via the left from the kick off only for the right winger to totally miscue the cross err across the box with the goal at his mercy. However a minute later, it was Kg. Seronok's turn to be lucky as Chi had all the time in the world after our mini Henry, Fazlee, set him up after the defender slipped on the glob like surface. Like the first chance, Chi failed to make the goalkeeper work too when it was easier to keep the shot on target!

The game steadied a little after that with our hyper defensive plan keeping our goals against column happy until a foul in the area left the referee no choice but to award a penalty. However our goalkeeper (sorry I don't know your name) flung himself to the side and to make a precious precious save. Several minutes later, he flew to his right to tip a free kick over the bar and I was beginning to think that this might be our day to cause an upset.

However on a personal note, I did realise how out of my league I might have been when I trapped their striker near our corner flag thinking "I must not give a corner kick away, I must not give a throw in away." Whilst I was consciously thinking that, the ball suddenly disappeared and ended up in our penalty box. Even now, I have no idea how the ball past me and in the area! A proper defender would have just put that striker and/or the ball into touch!!

The second half saw Kg. Seronok dominate the start of the 2nd half as they looked to beat up on our lowly status and they were cheered on by, I think, everyone in their village on the sidelines. The sideline which I was patrolling as a left midfielder. After several clearances from our penalty box, I jumped to block another pass towards our goal but the ball struck me on the arm. From the free kick, a high lofted ball was caught by our goalkeeper who dropped the ball/was hit as he landed, spilling said ball to 4 different Kg. Seronok players waiting like sharks.

A minute later things got worse as our left back got caught in possession and a long range shot saw our keeper caught off his line and the ball nestle in the back of the net. Their fans went wild, our keeper went down and was subsequently substituted after continual treatment failed to help his injury. Strangely we managed to put a little bit of pressure after this point after Kg. Seronok thought the game was up. Fazlee and I worked a little opening for him to attempt a scissors kick but otherwise that was the closest we got as crosses failed to reach the danger zone. However we were given a lifeline after Hilme headed the ball from a deep free kick and the goalkeeper completely fumbled and could only help the ball over the line. Sadly though we were unable to kick on from this bit of fortune and Kg. Seronok managed to run the clock down to claim the three points and go top of Division One.

However our team was not too depressed after losing (for once!) as we felt we gave a determined performance against a solid team with our deep lying counter attacking strategy giving us a solid base to build on. Sometime along the way, we're going to have to score goals though and I'll predict it'll be either via a Fazlee run past the last defender, a Hilme header from a cross or a long shot from outside the area...

...on another note, there's been some strange coincidences. I started playing with Orange (in those great Holland shirts) at Penang Free School, essentially switching from Black Falcon (who played in orange shirts). Then Orange turned into Ramblers so I was playing for Ramblers but then Hilme recruited me to play for Ramblers in Division 2 after he saw my performances for P.S.C. Wednesday (who also play in orange shirts). Then I left Ramblers Orange for Ramblers Division 2 (which most people would probably recognise by the fact that I voted for Hilme's agenda in the Ramblers election) who I helped get promotion to Division One last season. And now I find myself wearing...

Predators on their First Hunt

2009-05-18T20:39:00.003+08:00

I was curious how this match would turn out as we had 3 Ramblers players, Fajar, Bill and Samson which for me is half an experienced team. Sadly it didn't turn out well as CK was forced out of centre half with an injury whilst Kenny requested to be substituted in the 2nd half which left us thin in all positions. Is the middle of defence becoming a cursed position?!?

It turned out that the Malay players held the key - with no Hasrul, we had no threat up front and our new goalkeeper Khairil had a bit of a nightmare - giving away a penalty with the first FBN attack, a goal from a corner at the near post and letting the ball slide under his body for the fourth. I like big Johnny because he gives us confidence and voice behind the defence and he demands his defence to be solid which is something that younger (and especially Malaysian) goalkeepers don't tend to do.

Whilst we were fairly solid in defence (goalkeeper notwithstanding) and midfield, players at each end (whilst doing their best) were not able to give the team that little bit of quality that we needed for a win. If one other decent player, like Viet, had turned up, I would have been able to put someone up front with a more goalscoring threat than (chubby) Hong.

The match report can be found on this link.

On another note, it was a debut for my discounted but still expensive Adidas Predators. They did alright, felt comfortable despite the big half size difference but the rubber predator technology were still unable to produce a decent shot - my one effort from outside the area still went wide of the goal - or do you just look at the player?!? Ok ok, don't answer that!

The Future's Orange... Oh it's the Past!

2009-05-13T20:12:00.004+08:00

PSC Wednesday vs PDC

With 2 astonishing goals by Melvin (bottom row - middle - looks very happy!), it was going to be an easy game as PDC had rarely threatened in attack. Sadly Kok Beng (bottom row, second from the right) and I were unable to dispossess their striker as he tricked his way into the penalty area and sidefooted into the far side of the net. The most astonishing thing was that Melvin should have had his hat trick but he missed a penalty... twice... and the 2nd by a long way!

Happily Ming (bottom row, white shorts) grabbed a goal barely 20 seconds into the 2nd half to make his presence known and with a 2 goal lead, it was going to be difficult for them to get back in the game. However with Samson playing for them (after a swift introduction by me!), they were able to threaten on several occassions - he put the ball in the back of the net but was ruled offside (incorrectly he claims!) and he set up the striker for a one on one - only for him to slip. However the next team to score was PSC and it was Ming who grabbed his second but despite several other chances, he was only unable to overtake Melvin's goal total.

The future might not be orange but looking at the legs & birth certificate of our team, most of the past was most definitely orange!

Missing Midfield

2009-05-10T12:33:00.001+08:00

Super Chinese League Game 2: C.C.F.C. vs AIA

With a full team unavailable for the match (all of whom would have walked into the first team), it was always going to be an uphill struggle against AIA - even if they were not one of the most highly rated in the competition. After struggling to find parking in the very busy USM car park, I got down to the pitch, threw down some registration cards to select my first eleven and walked onto the pitch where the ref had to wait for me to put on my shin pads and tie up my laces. It wasn't the best start in the world.

And it got worse. Five minutes into the game, our first choice speedy centre half Koon pulled up with a hamstring injury and another minute later our right back pulled up with another muscle strain. Our left back and centre half remained but it meant that I had to drop back to provide some pace in the middle of the defence because we were totally devoid of it. Amazingly though, the first real chance came to our new striker who burst through on goal and agonisingly struck the upright but then traffic flowed in the opposition direction after that!

Long ball after long ball was struck over the defence for the strikers to run onto - and they were wise enough to hit it over the slow left back which meant it was further for me to run. However the referee was incredibly kind when my centre half partner knocked over the striker through on goal but only awarded a direct free kick when I braced myself for the inevitable red card. Maybe justice prevailed in the end as the striker curled in a wonderful free kick over the wall just inside the post.

Sadly the space that I vacated in midfield didn't seem to be occupied which mean the defence were constantly under pressure when we weren't clearing the ball and after stopping one cross with my testicles (not recommended!), AIA literally jogged through to score another goal. A lifeline was given as our new striker proved his worth by being felled in the penalty.

Our manager called me up to take it but when I got to the penalty spot, Johnny had already placed the ball and was ready to shoot. The keeper dived to his left, Johnny struck the ball that way but it beat the keeper and was sailing into the top right hand corner... until it struck the post! Crucially that miss turned out to be our chance to get anything out of the game and any momentum we could have had slipped away.

I was staggered at half time. Not only with how bad everything was going but that on my bench, I only had two players available - a rather rotund young man and an untested teenage boy. If I could have just sat down and put my head in my hands I would have done - instead I stood around, looked at the ruins around me and attempted to analyse the situation but failed to come up with any analysis or indeed direction. I would have loved to see what Ferguson or Mourinho had done!

Anyway the second half was similar to the first half with our goalkeeper making a string of impressive saves / AIA's strikers making a string of impressive misses when they only had the keeper to beat. The far side of USM pitch D had also turned into a mud bath which made it very precarious for the feet of all defenders but the sides of the pitch were much more stable. However this stability didn't spread to our defence who were non-existent in the 2nd half. I thought our more experienced players might have used their knowledge to provide some cover for the defence but I was sorely mistaken.

AIA only put away two goals in the 2nd half - fortunately for us - whilst our new striker Mohd hit the post once again! I hope that doesn't become a habit together with losing four goal scorelines! I was furious after the match and vented much of my frustration in the post match blog write up (see C.C.F.C. link on the right).

We Outnumbered but they Outscored

2009-05-05T20:11:00.005+08:00

KDU College vs Bayview City Hotel

First Half Team:

Hung
Katiee - Viet - Ryan - Lam
Vincent - Jimmy - Gim Wei - Fajar
Samson - Hong

The first half team had a very solid look to it with a strong spine of Viet, Jimmy and Samson ably accompanied by experienced players such as Lam, Fajar, Vincent and Hong. We are able to give a debut to Katiee at full back after his previous game was rained off several weeks ago with our only problem position being goalkeeper. Hung was gladly volunteered by the coach for the said position. It should have been a fairly easy match for the team in blue but it turned out to be anything but that.

Samson spent most of his time like this - i.e. without the ball as the midfielders struggled to provide any service to one of the number 10s and his partner Hung. Whilst he was attempting to make runs and drift into open areas, a very energetic City Bayview team managed to stifle the passes from the centre to their defending third.

Fajar provided most of the attacking highlights, from the left wing, with his usual mazy runs whilst Vincent looked for more direct through balls from the right. The Indonesian came closest through a direct free kick which was on target but it was easily gathered by the goalkeeper and whilst he managed to get the ball in the net on another occasion, he was given offside by the referee.

Jimmy also had his chances as he just failed to beat the goalkeeper to this through ball when running from midfield. Indeed most of the attacking threat came from runners coming from the middle third of the pitch whilst the strikers tired to play them in. But for all their hard work, the KDU team in the first half struggled to make the orange clad goalkeeper worry about the ball crossing the line.

Sadly the red shirted Hung had more work to do as he bent down to pick the ball out of the net three times in the first 35 minutes. Twice the offside trap failed and the third goal came straight through the middle of the defence as City Bayview exploited the lack of understanding between Ryan and Katiee. Strangely the KDU goal wasn't under immense pressure but they were able to take their opportunities when they came.

2nd half team

Hong/Vincent/Ryan (yes, 3 goalkeepers!)

Adam - Derek - Bill - Mikez
Henrik - Feri - Ren - Vick
Hung - Chern

The second half team saw a slightly concerned coach as he changed the whole of the first XI and put in a weakened second XI. However it turned out that a combination of tired opponents and fresh legs were able to pile on the pressure on the green shirts. Chances came thick and fast as Hung and Chern worked tirelessly to put pressure on the defensive line and their efforts were rewarded with the interception of several passes and tackles.

Chern managed to grab a goal back for the blue shirts but was unable to add to his tally despite two other excellent chances. Other exciting opportunities also fell to Hung and Ren but they were unable to keep the ball on target despite being free in the penalty area. Vick played well on the right to combine with Feri and Chern/Hung to open up the defence but the lack of another goal to inspire an Istanbul-esque comeback just wouldn't arrive. Bill and Derek were aghast at the back as they saw chance after chance spurned in front of them.

However that wasn't the only thing that they had to do as City Bayview decided to play a 5-0-5 strategy which meant when they weren't defending horrifically, they were outnumbering the defence. When at first, they realised they couldn't get past a determined Mikez on the right hand side, they decided to overload a tiring Henrik and inexperienced Adam on the left. Fortunately when Adam couldn't deal with the situation, he had Bill & Derek sliding in to save the day.

Indeed it seemed to be turning into a mini competition between the two centre backs but Bill managed to come out on top with a 3:1 tackle ratio although Derek might have got the award for the best slide tackle as he slid in, knocked the guy over and still managed to keep the ball - all in the penalty area. The unnecessary hack from behind after the award winning tackle nearly sparked a fight but KDU players were to control their emotions well. Sadly a bad clearance from the coach several minutes led to the striker expertly lobbing goalkeeper Vincent from the edge of the penalty area.

However this wasn't the worst fate to befall a goalkeeper - Hong collided with a striker whilst going for a 50/50 ball and came off with grave concerns about his knee. Happily he was able to walk and drive home later on in the evening but it was not a happy scoreline for the college team.

Final Score: KDU College 1 vs 4 Bayview City Hotel

Three Debuts

2009-05-05T00:55:00.005+08:00

Saturday saw me debut for C.C.F.C. in the Super Chinese League as player coach at Technic Institute. Today saw me debut on their blog as match-playing reporter. If you are interested, the link can be found here.

I also went to train the KDU guys today but only found my goalkeeping coach Tony present. whilst Vincent came at 6pm to make up the magic triangle. However instead of doing any training, I found myself making another debut - this time for a random team with horrifically coloured blue, white and blue patterned shirts with not enough players against RapidPenang (the transport company).

We were not very good but Rapid Penang were slow at the back and the number of through balls that we managed to get through to were ludicriously high. Despite my positive positioning I didn't get many passes from my attacking teammates but you know when you are appreciated when experienced players come up to introduce themselves to you. Sadly I couldn't get on the scoresheet even though I felt a goal for me was in my bones but it was a nice run out in a non-stressful situation. For once!

In action vs Bang City

2009-05-02T00:08:00.000+08:00

For more photos, click on the C.C.F.C. link on the right hand side.

The Kat Put it in the Bag

2009-04-29T19:59:00.003+08:00

PSC Wednesday vs Chinese Wanderers Veterans

Katty scored a first half hat trick after the Chinese Wanderers defense completely collapsed. The 2nd half was a lot harder because we played all our players over 50 years of age! It wasn't the most pleasant time to play in centre midfield! We were fortunate to just concede one but the opposition must have missed the target with their outside of the box shooting about 15 times!

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

This is possibly one of the most dumbest things I've read for a while.

Football fan fined RM20 for foul language

KUALA LUMPUR: A magistrate's court here yesterday fined a Kelantan football fan RM20 in default a day's jail for uttering foul words at a Selangor fan after the FA Cup final on Saturday.

Magistrate Nazran Mohd Sham passed sentence after Ahmad Hamiduddin Ab Wahid, 24, pleaded guilty. In the match, Selangor lifted the trophy after defeating Kelantan 4-1 through penalty kicks after regulation time ended in a draw.

Ahmad Hamiduddin of Kota Baru was charged with using foul language in Parking A, Stadium Bukit Jalil, Cheras, at 12.15am on April 26. - Bernama

(from The Sun, Tues 28th April 2009)

Tired Tense Thriller

2009-04-26T21:00:00.000+08:00

Rambers S.C. vs Timoran

Frankly the only thing that mattered was the scoreline as both teams fought to starve off relegation and found themselves coming into this match pointless after 3 games. I also found myself coming into this evening match really tired after 6 hours of Sunday afternoon classes, 5 hours sleep after watching Manchester United's late win over Spurs and my full working Saturday together with the game against Citibank. However it wasn't a surprise to find myself on the teamsheet as I was the only guy who turned up for all 4 training sessions over the last 2 weeks. Indeed I was the only player who turned up on Friday!

Whilst the sun was out, blazing its radiance all over USM pitch C, the game itself wasn't pretty as both teams struggled to make more than 3 consecutive passes - which probably showed why both teams were rooted to the bottom. Neither team created a clear opening with the best chance falling to Timoran but their free shot on goal from the edge of the penalty area was safely gathered by our goalkeeper. Shockingly I can't remember a single Ramblers shot on target in the first 45 minutes - I think our best chances came from swirling high free kicks but without Hilme's timing and height, they came to naught. I featured on the right wing and played like a tired man - as spotted by the coach at half time! - but they left me on for the 2nd half but on the wing of the great man - the newly crowned PFA Player of the Year, Ryan Giggs. (Boy, I wish he was here to play for us.)

The second was far more eventful as Ramblers took the lead after Timoran's goalkeeper jumped up to catch a high ball and DROPPED it when he landed under no pressure at all! Fauzi stroked it into an empty net and we were beaming. We weren't several minutes later after the goalkeeper had blocked a shot from their striker which promptly bounced off our covering defender leaving the aforementioned striker with an empty net! We got lucky as a towering header from their midfield general thudded against our right hand post and an onrushing midfielder failed with his lob when he found himself on goal alone.

The relegation six pointer opened up at this point when both teams realised that they might as well go for it as a single point wouldn't do anyone any good and a lot of space opened up in the middle. However that space became even more open when our captain Sega was punched by a Timoran player after a 50/50 challenge. Being the man that he was, he punched back and fortunately most of the players were sensible enough to not get embroiled in the situation and managed to pull both players away. The resulting red cards did nothing to lower the urgency of the match and one team was able to take away all three points.

A Ramblers move that started on the left soon ended up with the ball ping ponging around the penalty area where our left back had ventured forward to assist. The ball fell to him and he shot low and hard inside the near post which the keeper had failed to cover. A Brazilian commentator would have screamed "GOOOOAAAAAAAALLLLLL!" at this moment and we immediately retreated to defend our lead. Several minutes later, the referee blew for full time and we found ourselves with our first three points of the season much to everyone's relief!

Many people (well ok, two) pointed out that this could be our turning point as our next game would be against the other relegation candidates, PPCRC, who were also pointless coming into this weekend. With all three teams struggling to even draw a first division match, it seems that if we win our next match against PPCRC, we might even be able to remain in Division One by only attaining a mere 6 points! On a personal note, I've been playing pretty bad bordering on close to averageness - when will the management drop me?

All league results, fixtures and tables can be found here and on the link in the sidebar to the right.

Failing to Break Through the Vault

2009-04-25T20:35:00.001+08:00

Orange vs Citibank

The match report as written by libero Adrian can be found here.

The Running Man

2009-04-22T20:39:00.003+08:00

PSC Wednesday vs Mystery Team

I came late and after yesterday's tough game at the same ground, it was probably a blessing in disguise that I only played the second half. When the 2nd half started, I was supposed to be at centre half but Wasu had tired himself from his first half midfield meanderings and I soon found myself running like a box to box midfielder. Jonathon Wilson - we are alive! Well I almost wasn't after running such distances continuously! The half finished in a 1-1 draw but after Barat and Ming's first half goals, it meant two wins in two for the team of elders.

It's a Numbers Game!

2009-04-21T23:07:00.001+08:00

KDU College vs Penang Sports Club

15 players represented KDU FC in their blue shirts

In a match littered with 10 goals, 8 international players (not all from KDU!), 4 left backs, 2 goalkeepers, a one armed man and a penalty, it's difficult to know where to start! Women always say size isn't important when we all know it is so let's start with the largest number first.

10 goals meant this match managed to reach the rare two digit mark. Sadly most of this number were conceded by the blue defence, some of them laughably so, some via neat play by PSC but all of them pierced our collective heart. Sadly PSC scored with their first TWO attacks of the game. This pierced our collective hearts because up to this point, KDU had amassed more shots and had better offensive play with Fajar bending a curling shot just over the bar, Hong volleying a chance just wide, Jay glancing a header too softly and Mahir firing shots from outside the penalty area.

Sadly PSC's Alan didn't have as much problem with his accuracy as he did his usual dance around defenders combined with his usual deadly finishing. That the defence gave him time and space to punish us didn't make the coach any happier although Mahir's diving header from a floated Fajar free kick did. Coach Derek got slightly happier when he fired from the right hand side after Mahir's big chest put the ball into his path but these goals were in vain as PSC put a total of 5 goals past Adrian in the first half.

Two CRC international players found themselves on opposite teams!

8 different people of varying nationalities featured in this match. Muneer & Mahir represented Oman, Viet & Duc showed off the skills of the Vietnamese with an Englishman in Derek & Jason on each side. However it was probably the Indonesian (Fajar) and Croat (PSC's Alan) who were their respective teams' man of the match as one worked tirelessly along both sides of the pitch and the other just shot the blue team to pieces.

4 KDU left backs saw Vick, Duc, Adam and Sunni play the Roberto Carlos position. Vick saw the most time there as he managed to feature for the full first thirty five minutes & whilst he got caught out positionally, he showed true fighting spirit with the odd sliding tackle. Duc featured for about twenty minutes before the referee told me to pull him off (more of that later) whilst Sunni managed to run aimlessly for the last ten minutes. Adam managed the least amount of time as he got kicked in the foot in his first tackle and was replaced after roughly three hundred seconds of 'playing' time.

2 red shirted men filled the 24 foot wide gap between the posts. If both of them featured at the same time, our goal against tally might not be as disastrous! It was always going to be difficult when our first choice goalkeeper, Michael, didn't turn up for the first half which meant our Alan-man-marker, Adrian, had to try to stop him with his hands and Viet had to try to stop him with his feet. Adrian won the bending over award as he had to pick the ball out of the net five times whilst Michael managed half of that total with just two.

A one armed man appeared on the pitch for the first time in KDU history. However he didn't actually have one arm. Duc just tucked one hand under his shirt as he was playing with a shoulder injury after a recent futsal accident. However the sight of a one armed man made the opposition protest - not because they were scared of him but because they were scared for him! After referee consulted with Duc, he allowed him to play but later told me to substitute him. I guess he thought it would be better for me to pull him off than a doctor to pull his arm into his socket again!

1 penalty was won by our ex-KDU player, Keon. The man from Dell had a rather quiet game as a left midfielder in the first half but excelled in the second as nearly lone striker with two defenders constantly chasing his imaginary tail. Keon steered two shots wide, had one header narrowly miss the post and managed to 'tempt' the defender to snap at his ankles in the eighteen yard box. Along with Fajar and Derek, he was one of the best players on show for KDU on a gray Tuesday afternoon.

Mahir was also one of the best performers in the first half and managed to double his goal tally in his farewell match for KDU College as he coolly converted Keon's penalty foul to add to his first half diving header. However his farewell dinners finally caught up with him in the second half as he dropped deeper and deeper towards his own goalkeeper! Whilst Coach Derek will not remember him for his final fired 'pass,' the coach will miss Mahir's football experience, his powerful right foot, his crazy sense of humour and most of all his unwavering optimistic spirit that sought to encourage everyone on his team.

Final Score: KDU College 3 vs 7 Penang Sports Club

Ming's Magic Show

2009-04-18T22:38:00.001+08:00

Orange vs Kampung Makam

It was supposed to be a difficult game for Ramblers Orange as they faced a team from their own division in a friendly match on a sunny day at Penang Free School. With no Heng or W.Brown present, it was left to Michael to strike forward up front aided by an advanced Siang. Derek & Fajar returned from senior Ramblers duty to bolster the spine of the team aided by the brothers Au & Cherk. Ex-KDU student Keon and young Penang player Ming added pace to both flanks whilst Seng and Michael slotted in behind them.

It was a tight first half with most of the play in the middle of the pitch. Kampung Makam proved that they could play with midfielders pulling the ball back with the soles of their feet and moving past opponents but they couldn't cut the strings of our defence. Whilst they could make pretty patterns in the front of their defence, they floundered on the rocks of Cherk and Fajar when they tried to link with their strikers. Chris had no serious shots fired at him whilst their keeper proved to be more active as Ramblers Orange made less pretty patterns but used pure pace to strike back. Ming was in scintillating C.Ronald0esque form as he held off the attentions of defenders whilst running at pace - twice forcing saves from the keeper and the last man - whilst Keon had more open chances from the right but was unable to secure a lead for us. It was up to Michael's replacement, Wei to latch onto a great Au pass and dink the ball above the advancing keeper to give us a one goal lead.

The second half saw us face the sun but allowed us to field a late W.Brown but with all these changes the pattern of the game was still the same. There were even more glorious chances for our strikers with Wei & W.Brown (I think) missing one on ones with the goalkeeper.

However the youngster Ming continued to be Merciless as he obviously benefited from Coach Mustapha's advice to rest for the week. His first goal of the match saw him run from the half way line battle with one defender, jink past another and smash the ball at the near post. His second came from the benefit of Au's block on a defender's clearance - Ming collected the loose ball, raced past another defender and fired another shot past the staggering goalkeeper.

Kampung Makam never gave up and continued to search for a goal. The Ramblers defence was dropping deeper and deeper as the match progressed which allowed them to get nearer our goal. The referee did give the team in red some free kicks around the edge of the box but it was a day of little work for the big man Chris. However they did make him bend over and pick the ball out of the net once after neat build up play on the right saw the ball come to the centre. The onrushing midfielder hit the ball first time and struck it sweetly as it swerved away from the keeper into the far side of the net.

Au did ask me to push up in the second half but I was reluctant to do so as his older brother Cherk had dropped deep as he sometimes does. I felt that if I had pushed up, I would have left a 15 yard gap in front of the defence which a good team like Kampung Makam are liable to exploit with their intelligence. Whilst I realised that this left the space further ahead a bit open, I was willing to sacrifice it for the sake of providing an extra man to shield the defence. The right midfielder certainly gave Max no cover in the 2nd half for instance which saw me shifting over to the right a lot.

I felt it worked well - Kampung Makam made little headway in our defensive third whilst we managed to puncture their defence six times. However we had to settle for just half of those clean cut chances taken and a final score of 3-1.

A Five Goal Star Performance - just not from us!

2009-04-13T21:58:00.003+08:00

Ramblers vs Jelutong

It was essentially a West Brom vs Hull City match after both teams' recent promotion from division two. Sadly we were the taking the mantle of the blue and white team after finding ourselves at the bottom of the league table after 3 games hence it was vital for our team's security to get our first points of the season against prospective relegation candidates.

The major surprise for me was when I rushed to the ground with Fajar and was told I was playing centre half. My Ferdinandez performances at centre half for PSC Wednesday were obviously recalled by Hilme on a day when we were short of Ferdinandesque figures. Personally I feel it was a risk with my inexperience in that position at this level - but if your coach asks you to play in a position, you just do your best. Fortunately my fellow centre back, Buji spoke good English so one of my main worries - communication - was alleviated straightaway!

I thought as a defence in the first half, we did ok - not great - otherwise we wouldn't have conceded the first goal! I went to the left to shadow one of the strikers but he turned me enough to find half a yard where one of the 2 strikers managed to evade the attention of the 3 defenders. They looked at me as if to say "why didn't you stop the cross?" and I looked at them as if to say "why can't you mark properly?" Fortunately we stopped short of shouting at each other.

Strangely though it wasn't a difficult game at all and Ramblers soon got a foot back into the game. Our gameplan for our strikers seem to be high through balls and it was as a result of one of these that our striker won a penalty. Hilme dispatched the ball to the goalkeeper's right and drew us level in the match. In a stunning turnaround, Ramblers soon found themselves with another penalty after a rash challenge in a similar situation to the first one.

The question was - would Hilme put the ball in the same place? He sure did and we were two goals up until we realised that the referee had ordered him to retake it again! This time he changed direction but he had put it too close the goalkeeper who blocked the goalbound ball. It wasn't the end of an eventful half for our captain because five minutes later, Hilme found himself given a second yellow card (harsh in my opinion) for what the referee deemed 'a tackle from behind.' Strangely he didn't send off a player who was already booked, was verbally abusing him and who actually kicked out at him. Indeed I found it strange that certain Jelutong players were unable to control their emotions at certain decisions when they were obviously in the driving seat.

We managed to see out the rest of the half without conceding any more goals but with 45 minutes to play and 1 player less, it was going to be one heck of an interesting 2nd half.

Strangely Jelutong had done nothing to impress me and I thought we might be able to get a result even though we only had 10 players. We just had to defend well and take the odd chance that would inevitably fall our way. My optimism was washed away after one minute when a through ball cut through our defence, the winger squared a ball and the other totally unmarked winger side footed into the net.

And that was the story of the half. Wave after wave of Jelutong attacks onto our goal. Buji missed his tackle next to the byline, I wasn't nasty enough to slide tackle the striker and the keeper left his near post open for the third. The fourth was when I got turned after pressing on the half way line. The player then threaded a through ball to a striker who warded off the attentions of two defenders to bury his shot into the back of the net. The fifth was a high ball contested by Fajar, the goalkeeper and the Jelutong striker ending in two despondent Ramblers players and an excitable orange one.

Needless to say, the mood after the match was particularly downcast as every member of the squad and managerial crew didn't know where to look. Sega said profound words in "we tried our best and we weren't good enough. Let's try to learn from our mistakes and improve." I find that the problem is that there is little guidance from the managerial staff regarding these and other matters. I find it worrying, for example, that KDU College train far more times that the top amateur team that we aspire to be.

Jerome, a member of the Ramblers S.C. committee, provides many other succient and precise points on the Ramblers Orange Blog regarding our plight. I do hope we will learn - there's certainly time - but hoping is not going to keep us in the top flight.

A Torrent from the Sky & a Tear through my Heart

2009-04-05T23:03:00.002+08:00

Ramblers vs Waterfall Rangers

Having lost the first two games it was imperative that we got a result against a strong Waterfall Rangers pink wearing outfit. The sun was out and we were scheduled to play on pitch A1 so all should have be wonderful - except that I was rushing from work and got stuck in a jam right before Penang Bridge! So I missed the first half and was able to take the wonderful scenic photo above...

...and it didn't get any better for me. Sometimes you wonder if you are a jinx on a team. I wasn't playing, Ramblers were 1-1 with 10 minutes played into the second half and I come on. Within 30 seconds, we were 2-1 down!

Our goalkeeper took a goal kick, I was going to go for it but heard a 'leave it' by Hilme at the last minute so I did! He headed it back into the direction it came from - towards our goal! - their striker latched onto it and dispatched it past our advancing goalkeeper! I wished I was anywhere but on the pitch at that moment - absolutely gutted.

Ten minutes later - a thunderstorm took over the sky and released so much of its contents that our game was stopped by the referee. I don't know what will happen to our result but I know that I found it hard to look anyone in the eye whilst we were sheltering in the USM stand...

Bang Bang Bang - You're Dead.

2009-04-01T03:43:00.001+08:00

Ramblers vs CRC (played on 22nd March)

This was the match I looked forward the most when we were promoted to the first division. A chance to play a full strength CRC team, against a lot of players I know and a chance to show them what I could do. Hilme hit the nail on the head before the match when he said to treat it like a cup final which was exactly what I wanted to do anyway!

Sadly we were playing on the lower pitches of the USM (not A1!) and the pitch cut up very quickly after 10 minutes with players slipping as they tried to turn with the ball in the muddy central area. We started off quite evenly and indeed we had the best two early chances with one shot sprayed wide and one over the bar. But it seemed that we were going to commit the defensive mistakes that led to our nail biting 2nd team finish and CRC simply lofted the ball over our onrushing offside 'trap' which led to the ball being caught in the back of the net. When two goals are conceded in this way - it is disappointing and whatever the outcome of the 2nd half, a three goal deficit is difficult to make up - especially against a very fit and experienced team.

I got lambasted at half time for not being defensive enough in midfield but I think it's difficult to shut down two players at the same time by myself!

Strangely with 'our first choice' players on the pitch and CRC perhaps overconfident, Ramblers pulled up their socks and had a go at the red team in the 2nd 45 minutes. We really put them on the back foot and were rewarded with an early goal which helped to give us belief that there might be something for us in this match. If Hilme had got his header on target several minutes later, the complexion of the game would have changed dramatically but as it drifted over the bar, I sensed that it was a chance we would regret.

CRC hit us on the break as we pushed forward to reduce the scoreline but we managed to survive most of their attacks by hook, crook or just plain luck. Indeed I had to hook Ming Gui's shot off the line and nearly collided with the post in the process! Sadly though a Wai Loong free kick sailed over the wall and into the back of the net several minutes before the end of the match - after a CRC counterattack when I had slipped on the mud with possesion of the ball - and whilst the second half scoreline flattered us a little, it was the first half mistakes that cost us the game.

Four-play @ G-Hotel

2009-03-26T20:31:00.001+08:00

KDU College vs G-Hotel

Duc
Vick - Kugan - Viet/Bill - Mikez
Lam - Vincent - Bill/Viet - Ren
Arjen - Hung

It was a strange game really. At the end of the match, it felt as if KDU had really given G-Hotel a good thrashing but whilst watching the first half, the coach felt that G-Hotel dominated with possession and attacks. The defence was unbalanced with the centre backs playing a good distance between each other which allowed G-Hotel to break through the middle twice - only to miss their one on one dual withDuc . The centre midfield were having the same problem as the central defence - they didn't seem to be working together & they weren't protecting the central defence despite the obvious penetration that they sought through that gap.Mikez was battling hard in the left back slot but G-Hotel overwhelmed his isolated position to put in dangerous crosses - one of which they missed from 5 yards - so it was a mystery thatKDU managed to go into the half time break one goal up.

The foul that changed the game was when Lam was rushing down the right hand side and kicked in the stomach (ouch!) which led to him substituted for Derek. With the player coach on the pitch, the team seemed to look a much better team - whether it was down to his physical presence, his psychological boost to the team or just the fact that G-Hotel had tired out after 25 minutes - and this soon led to a rather bizarre goal.

Kugan floated in a free kick from the halfway line, four KDU players rushed in on it, the keeper caught it and under no pressure, dropped the ball when he landed! Hung was the grateful recipient and slotted his first goal of his KDU career. It should have been two nil minutes later when Derek intercepted a ball but he inaccurately toe-poked the ball from inside the penalty box. The game had swung by now and it was time for the G-Hotel players to look grateful after the referee blew for half time - although the players didn't hear it properly and continued playing!

Half Time: KDU leading by one goal.

Duc
Vick - Kugan - Bill - Feri
Hong - Derek - Viet - Vincent
Heng- Hung

The second half saw a continuation of the end of the first half as KDU continued to dominate G-Hotel in a most emphatic fashion. It must have been a hard day at hotel as KDU pushed, pressurised and harried the opponents to make mistake after mistake with the H-bombs up front eventually punishing them by netting more goals.

With the RAF helicopters passing overhead, the G-Hotel went a further goal behind after Hung slotted his second of the match after which the orange team missed their last/best chance of the match - a clear run on goal from 40 yards seemed to give the striker too much time to think and he pushed the ball wide ofDuc's far post. After this the rock solid pairing of Kugan and Bill gave G-Hotel no more chances - Bill in particular looking mean and vicious with his impression of Vidic.

Another victim of a (perfect legal) Bill tackle lays prostrate on the floor.
Kugan shows some sympathy. Bill doesn't.

KDU continued their dominance with Derek thrusting through the stringy G-defensive line, collecting Vincent's clever back heel and hitting the post with the rebound going in off the goalkeeper's backside! WhateverMikez tells you, it was an own goal. The other senior in the team, Heng , had already had a goal disallowed before he (and three other blue shirts!) were in the right place at the right time to celebrate his birthday week in style. The blue boys werecruising by the end of the match and were genuinely disappointed when the referee blew his whistle for full time with several minutes of daylight left.

A happy Hung with his two goals

It was a very comfortable scoreline after 70 minutes but if G-Hotel had put away half of their fairly easy chances in the first half, it would have been much more uncomfortable for the college team.

Final Result: KDU College 4 vs 0 G-Hotel

Ferdinandez Permanently?

2009-03-18T22:21:00.003+08:00

PSC Wednesday vs McCullum Street

Dez says:
Yeah, it seems that the leader likes me as centre back so I might be forever destined to play there every Wednesday.

Dez says:
Not much good though - we have 4 old midfielders - in front of me.

khangheng says:
derek as centre back?????

khangheng says:
haha

Dez says:
After 50 minutes, we were FOUR nil down.

khangheng says:
haha

khangheng says:
wat team was it?

Dez says:
...after 60 minutes, the guys pulled it back to 4-3!

Dez says:
So the last goal was going to be the killer and...

Dez says:
...we were up against the young guns of McCallum Street...

Dez says:
...and...

Dez says:
...they scored it. My fault too. No protection in front of me so it was a choice of go forward to the man on the ball running at me or stay with the man behind me near the penalty area.

Dez says:
I elected to go forward and he just slipped in a pass and the striker scored.

Dez says:
Final Score: 5-3.

Dez says:
Yeah - you should come and watch me do my Rio Ferdinand impression.

khangheng says:
i c

khangheng says:
haha

Dez says:
Or maybe I'll get Adrian to - he was always curious in a Ronaldez centre back too!

Dez says:
Ferdinandez?

Dez says:
The question is Rio or Anton!

khangheng says:
haha

khangheng says:
it is derek

Champions League 2nd Round, 2nd Leg - KDU Style!

2009-03-12T22:29:00.000+08:00

KDU College vs Air Force (2nd leg)

It was the second leg of the Champions League and after a 1-1 draw the previous week in stormy conditions, both teams were happy to see the sunshine come out for this match. There was a shock with Viet, Duc, Hong and Derek dropped to the bench because they returned to the team hotel at 2am but the squad was strengthened with the availability of the Kuganesque Vidic to fill the void left by late night Viet.

Chris
Mikez - Kugan - Chong - Lam
Bill - Vincent - Fajar - Ren
Jonathon - Hung

The first half was a somewhat scrappy game as neither side really took control of midfield. Air Force were very wary of Jonathon after his showing his ability in the first leg and kept close tabs on him so it was left to Fajar and Vincent to drive the midfield on whilst Ren and Bill seem to struggle to find momentum on the wings.

However what worried coach Derek was the haphazard nature of the defence. The defenders seemed to lack communication and this left the positioning of all of them in rather dubious positions. This led to the first goal being scored as 1 KDU defender (Bill), 1 KDU goalkeeper and 1 Air Force striker going for 1 ball. Bill got it ahead of Chris but was only able to slide the ball to the side to another Air Force player. He in turn returned the ball to the centre where there was absolutely no cover by Chong or Lam which rather pleased the Air Force striker - but not the coach - and he steered the ball past the invisible defence.

KDU were lucky not to concede another after Kugan was caught with the ball and the striker was able to carry the ball past the onrushing goalkeeper but only able to hit the post. However an unexpected equaliser came for the blue team as Vincent and Bill made a nice succession of passes down the right for the number 6 to cut it back for their Indonesian import to finish clincially. Many neutrals would say it wasn't deserved but it kept this European Cup tie in the balance.

The three musketeers return to position after piercing the enemy's defence

Half time score: 1-1

The coach was hoping Lam's energy would work the left side of the pitch more with Duc tucking in behind him whilst Derek partnered Viet, who had replaced an injured Vincent, in the centre of midfield. The right saw the introduction of Subway Jien whilst both Hung and Jonathon were replaced by Hong and a young Korean Arjen making his debut.

Tony
Fajar - Kugan - Chong - Duc
Subway Jien - Derek/Jonathon - Viet - Lam/Derek
Hong - Korean Arjen

The experienced duo of Viet and Derek took the game by the scruff of the neck and KDU were able to build and control more of the ball in the 2nd 35 minutes as the Air Force tired with no reinforcements at half time. With Duc launching the ball as high as he could into the sky and better organisation between Kugan and Chong, there was little trouble at the back. But despite this solidity and several corners, KDU couldn't spark that clinical goal and the coach decided to throw on all his creative talent in the shape of Jonathon and Fajar (acting as a Rafael De Silva right back).

It turned out to be an inspired move by the coach as a maurading Fajar fed Jonathon the ball inside the box. Henson took the ball, shuffled forward & fired it low past the goalkeeper and a second before the last defender took his legs away. It could have been worse - Tony made a series of 4 consecutive saves and nearly killing Kugan in the process. It could have been better - Derek had a curling shot cleared off the line in the last minute but the blue team beat the big bullies to qualify for the next round in the Champions League.

KDU College 2 vs 1 Air Force

Identity

2009-03-11T14:50:00.003+08:00

I didn't write this but came across it on one of the Guardian discussion boards and found it very insightful when musing over the history and culture of a football club - especially in a time when most owners are just looking at the bottom line and the big dollar.

Silverflash

10 Mar 09, 11:29am (about 5 hours ago)

Trophies may tell the story of a club's success, but when a club depends on said trophies for its identity, something is broken. Perhaps the management of RMCF need a training session in karmayoga?
"karmanyaevaadhikaarasthae maa phalaeshu kadaachana" - Bhagavad Gita
Rough Translation - "Your authority is only over your action, and never over the fruits of the action".
The truly great football clubs created an identity based on the football they played before they were associated with the trophies they won. When RMCF started identifying themselves solely with trophies, the seeds of their downfall were sowed.
When trophies don't come - as will happen so often in elite European company - then what? Does a club make sweeping changes and throw away an identity built over years of development? RMCF did that when del Bosque was sacked. The most ridiculous decision ever in club management was the starting point of the long road to decline.
And now - after 4 trophy-less years, RMCF win two league titles back to back, and the turmoil and confusion remain. If this is not proof that Real's footballing roots have been lost in a deep self-inflicted amnesia that mere trophies will not banish, nothing is.
The best clubs today have this distinct identity, and don't abandon it when facing temporary setbacks in the quest for European glory.
What is Real's identity today, its philosophy of football? Direct attacking football based on dribbling and Hollywood passes? Lightning pace on the counter resting on watertight defense? Wide play on the wings supported by target men in the center? Nobody watching their schizophrenic performances on the pitch is sure any more. They seem to have settled at an unsure medium.
Not possessed of the creativity or pace to unlock a top-class team that sits back in defense all game long, AND lacking the defensive mettle to sit back and absorb punishment safely while displaying serious menace on the counter.
Real Madrid need to define their ethos as a footballing team first, and as winners later. I've been a Real fan since 1988 and Hugo Sanchez. Why? - whether they were winning or losing, entertainment was guaranteed. They may lose, but they would more likely score than not against any defense.
No supporter today knows what he/she is going to get when the team runs out, and some uncertainties are far from glorious.
Being unsure of how a game is going to turn out is magnificent, thrilling, it is why I watch football. Being unsure of what team is coming out to play is just plain crap.
The day RMCF realize this, la Decima will be on its way. Until then, they will continue to thrash blindly in the darkness of their identity crisis. Flailing arms will sometimes strike silverware, but will not move them in any coherent direction.
Hopefully, this presidential election will result in some stability, some humility, some consistency of action in the quest for the club's identity. As a supporter and admirer of the club's unmatched European history, I can only pray that it does.

An Unexpected Debut

2009-03-11T04:10:00.004+08:00

I was running a passing-crossing-shooting drill with the KDU guys before two teams needed the pitch for a 6pm match. So when our goalkeeping coach Tony ran over, I was ready to move everyone off the pitch to allow the match to progress. Little was I to know that he wanted to 'facilitate a one game acquisition' of several of my very best players - including myself!

Penang Youth F.C. vs Belia Gelugor

It turned out to quite an enjoyable game despite the hot sunshine and the lack of familiarity with my teammates. It tickled me pink to realise that I was supposed to call my fellow central midfielder 'Liverpool.' I gave him that look, 'are you serious?' and he didn't give me another option so 'Liverpool' it was! He was more a Mascherano than a Alonso although he did a passable Gerrard in the second half. The name game got even more confusing when I realised that there were two Jimmys on the pitch and they were both hanging around the same position up front!

I was struggling to get into the game against a team that actually turned out to be quite good - they had several second string CRC players and were going to participate in the local third division. They attempted to slice us to pieces with their rapid passing and movement but our defence held resolutely with Kugan dominating every ball in his area, both full backs mopping up and Beng Chye sweeping everything up behind them.

However all their good work was undone after a horrific mistake by our young goalkeeper who looked to have enough time to pick up a through ball but he seemed to fall over it and the striker was literally able to walk the ball into the net. He was also lucky that the referee blew late for a foul after a corner wasn't cleared because he seemed to make another blunder and allow the ball bounce past him into the net!

Seconds previous to the goal, I had swapped my central midfield position with right wing KDU Jimmy and minutes later, a give and go from a throw in allowed me to play a curving ball for KDU Jimmy who ran in and squared it for Ang to equalise for (my) team in blue. It was perhaps undeserved with our only other decent effort - tipped over the bar from Fajar's seventh minute free kick.

The second half was incredibly open as neither team's midfield wanted to protect their defence! Or maybe the Penang sun had just got to everybody and Brazilian skills started to show - Ang trying to shuffle his feet to fool defenders, PYFC Jimmy flicking a marvellous through the legs ball to me, KDU Jimmy rampaging past 3 opponents and, of course, a Ronaldez step over! But it was a lapse in concentration from Lam which presented an opening for the Belia Gulugor team - which they finished off with an impressive sharpness.

Strangely though they allowed us to strike back straight from kick off as Ang's incredibly simple diagonal ball allowed me to run to the dead ball line and cross but his shot went over the bar. The left back looked incredibly young and his inexperience showed as I was again allowed space and time to cross for KDU Jimmy to miss from five yards and Juan to miss from 12 yards out.

Fortunately Juan was able to grab a goal ten minutes earlier after controlling a lofted free kick and steering it past the advancing goalkeeper but unfortunately the offside trap was unable to catch the speedy red shirted striker who made no mistake despite facing the Penang Chinese State goalkeeper. Despite the 3-2 defeat, it was was quite fun to play in because every good footballer enjoys playing equally good footballers against opponents who were also good but fair. I can even say that despite being kicked in the face in the first half!

You can also read the longer match report on the official P.Y.F.C. blog.

Welcome to the First Division!

2009-03-08T21:53:00.003+08:00

Ramblers vs Baharol Alam

On a day that started with optimism and team photos ended somewhat downbeat and with no money. Our first half against the team in white wasn't anything that was exceedingly difficult. They were fast, looked for balls over the top to their nippy strikers but there was anything extraordinary in their armory. Whilst they did have the best chance of the half with a one on one with the keeper (as well as hitting the bar with a long range cross/shot) - the striker stunningly elected to pass instead of shoot - we too had our chances against a defence that defended deeper than us. Our version of Michael Owen was taken down 5 times in the first half - one leading to a yellow card, two leading to free kick chances from the edge of the box although our best chance was saved at the near post when the keeper looked as if he went down too early.

I also had what I thought was a penalty on my only foray into the penalty area only for the referee to make the wrong decision and wave my appeal away. The referee said he didn't push me - I said, "yes you are right but he kicked me and didn't touch the ball!" However I wasn't the only one to be unhappy - the referee had already shown their temperamental number 10 a yellow card for voicing his displeasure on several occasions. It was at times like this that I wished I understood Malay!

The half finished goalless and we were confident at the break of scoring one goal in the second half as they appeared to be losing momentum towards the end. Our team talk seemed to be about me positioning myself in front of the defence to repel their attacks! We continued our energy into the 2nd half and strode forward on several occasions but failed to create clear goalscoring chances. About 20 minutes into the half came the turning point of the game - my substitution. I was having a schizophrenic performance - when the opposition had the ball, I was there to deny and pressure their central midfield but when Ramblers gave me the ball, I swear I must have competed a mere 10% of my passes - which is why I fully understand the coaches' decision to take me off.

However Hilme saw it a totally different way in that whenever I was on the pitch, I was able to apply pressure in the middle and only when I was off, were the opposition able to break through. The first ten minutes after I was off, I actually thought we managed to build on the performance with my Indian replacement passing accurately and building the ball from his position better than me. But we seem to tire towards the end of our first 90 minute game and thus conceded killer goals in the last 20 minutes.

The first goal came through the middle of the defence leaving the goalkeeper with no chance. And whilst our yellow clad keeper saved a one on one earlier in the half, everybody forgot about his heroics after he seemed to react slowly to a quickly taken free kick and then allowed the ball to bounce off his chest after a long range effort - right into the feet of the opposition striker.

Our captain still saw it as interference by the Motorola coach - who advised it to the other coaches - and smsed me with "The coaches have agreed...big mistake taking u out. Nobody takes out Roy Keane at the 60th min and at 0-0 as well. Worst decision ever." Personally I think you should ask Fajar and Michael, who were both there, for their opinions because I can see both sides of the argument incredibly clearly.

But nevertheless, we need to learn quickly from our mistakes (fatigue & concentration in the last 20 minutes of the match?) because the learning curve is steep and it will affect our confidence in future matches. It's like Tony Mowbray complaining about his team's defensive errors and lack of concentration whilst applauding their style of passing football. Either way, mate, you're still bottom - and I don't want to be there with Ramblers at the end of the season.

Full Time: Ramblers 0 vs 3 Baharol Alam

They Didn't Need Messi

2009-03-07T22:51:00.002+08:00

Barcelona vs KDU College

Chris
Tony Heah - Derek - Viet - Vincent
Chern - Fajar - Fery - Lam
Hung

On an ideal day for football, t'was grey and cool with a pitch that had drained through most of the water, there was just two problems. The first was that there was a sticky patch right in the middle of the penalty area. The second was that there were only 10 players for the start of a match against a team that had vanquished far more experienced teams than us - and they had a full complement!

Derek set the scene for a first half that was disjointed and disorganised for the team in blue with his first pass back to the goalkeeper. It went about 10 metres too wide and out for a corner! The rest of the 34 minutes didn't get any better - Viet's boots slowly literally crumbled, our midfield were hopelessly outnumbered whenever they were in possession, Lam was stranded on the left as was Hung up front and I've not even mentioned the goals yet! We were fortunate that Barcelona failed to take their opportunities after rounding Chris twice - the first time, he shot in the side netting and the second needed a brillant clearance from Vincent.

Both Barcelona goals turned out to be very simple (no Messi magic needed!) - a high cross dropped into the six yard area, nobody challenged an unmarked striker for it - and well strikers don't tend to miss empty goals from six yards out. The second goal was a fatal mistake too - Chong had come onto the pitch by now but one of his free kicks went straight to an orange shirt who promptly returned the ball into our goal. Our best chance fell to our overlapping stand-in right back Tony (usually a goalkeeper) but he kicked mud instead of the ball and injured himself in the process.

Half time: KDU College 2-0 down.

The coach lambasted the team at half time and made several changes in the hope of clawing themselves back into the game. Viet saw himself dropped to the bench, Chong in the centre of defence with Derek and a combination of Lam and Ren on the left wing. Tony was to be our Didier Drogba up front and give the defenders something big to think about with the fleet footed Hung alongside him.

Well there was a dramatic improvement in the 2nd half from KDU with the defence having a blend of speed, tough tacklers and experience along the line. It wasn't quite Manchester United clean sheet material but it was a lot more steady that in the previous 35 minutes with a more effective offside trap - although there was still the need for the odd goalline clearance! Sadly we unable to completely shut out Barcelona as the striker beat Chris to a long ball and round him to add to their earlier tally.

But this time it wasn't all bad news for our one and only spectator Rebecca. Her near namesake, Ren had a flying start to the half, culminating in a great goal after pressuring the defender and looping a shot over the Chinese Cech from the edge of the area. Strangely Ren's performance completely nosedived after this goal but then he wasn't the only one.

Barcelona had noticed that whilst Fery had neat dribbling skills, he couldn't release the ball to anyone in a blue shirt and swarmed him every time he had the ball. With one of the central midfielders marked out of the game, it was left to his partner Fajar to control the game. And the young Indonesian nearly scored the goal of the season with a now characteristic mazy crossfield dribble that culminated with a shot that went right across the Chinese Cech and into the bottom corner - only for the defender to clear it off the muddy line!

Even the positional switch of an experienced/old Derek and tired Fajar couldn't draw another goal for the blue shirts of KDU. Chern & Fery came close to connecting with a deep cross and the latter also had a long range shot but the second half ended in a satisfactory 1-1 result.

Final Score: Barcelona 3 vs 1 KDU College

However I would like to point out one thing that occured several times in the second half and was concerning for me. I think it happened primarily on the left but there were definitely times when players seemed to be totally daydreaming whenever the ball was in their part of the pitch. There were times when players got a simple pass from a teammate but they were really slowly to react to receive it and I'm sure it wasn't a physical thing - it was just lack of concentration and nothing more.

Please concentrate 100% on the match when you are playing.

Fighting Rain & Soldiers

2009-02-26T20:18:00.002+08:00

KDU College vs Air Force

Chris
Vick - Viet - Chong - Lam
Qayuum - Derek - Fajar - Ren
Jonathon
Hong

A storm was gathering as the team line up was announced from the very large KDU turnout. Once the referee blew his whistle, the downpour of water from the sky fell - as did the goals! KDU took advantage of their excellent warm up against a still cold Air Force team.

Hong headed Derek's cross against the far post which then rebounded in off the covering defender for the opening salvo and it was again the young striker who was hacked down for a free kick at the edge of the box. Our young Indonesian dead ball specialist rushed forward, smashed the ball low and hard past the goalkeeper to give us an astounding two goal lead after 5 minutes! Needless to say, KDU thought it was going to be a very easy match for the remaining 65 minutes.

It turned out to be anything like that because once the Air Force warmed up, they struck back with their own aerial bombardment. They decided to add to the deluge from the sky by dropping long high balls into our defensive third. The coach was somewhat unnerved by the combination of rain, high balls and Viet's need to wear spectacles and whilst he claimed it didn't bother him, the high balls were not dealt with very well by either the Vietnamese or his partner Chong. Vick was also being overrun on the right hand side of the defence with Qayyumm providing limited assistance in that department. However it turned out to be a goalkeeping mistake that lead to the Air Force opening goal as a slippery ball went straight through Chris's gloves and over the line. Whilst he did well to save at his near post and save in a one on one situation, he was unable to stop their equaliser after they ran in on goal after Lam miscontrolled the ball in midfield.

It had by now turned into a difficult game as the conditions made the pitch very unpredictable. The ball would zip quickly along the surface in some parts but get held up in other parts and this made our passing game even harder. A great example of this was when Jonathon saw Hong unmarked in the middle and played a fantastic through ball for him with only the keeper to beat. Sadly the ball never made it to him because it got stuck in the mud!

In addition to this sticky/speedy ball was the venomous tackling of the Air Force team. It was difficult to know if they were deliberately targeting our players or if they were thrown off by the unpredictability of the ball too but most of the KDU legs were sure sore by the end of the match.

Half time: 2-2

The storm had ceased by the start of the second half but the number of goals hadn't. Air Force continued to dominate after the break and it was a moment of hesitation by Derek which allowed the striker to steal the ball off him, beat Kenny and slide the ball past Chris to put the government team ahead for the first time. However KDU had consolidated most of their attacking via the Lam / Ren side and this was to eventually pay dividends as several corners were won. As a result from one of them, Lam held off the defender to create enough space for Fajar to smash another goal past the goalkeeper. The match had now gone into manic mode as both teams looked to exploit the other's weaknesses furiously.

KDU weathered more Air Force raids, with Kenny and VJ now operating as our full backs, but the blue team conceded a corner. Whilst Chris was able to connect with the ball with his fist, it only went 5 yards - to their striker in the penalty area! He didn't hesitate to drill it past the goal line defender for yet another goal.

However the scoring was not over! Jonathon didn't get the ball as much as he did in the first half but late into the half he raced to recover a hard cross and was cynically hacked down near the goal line and penalty area. Fajar stepped up again and assess his options before making eye contact with his coach. He played in a short pass which allowed Derek to atone for his earlier mistake by sending another bullet past the Air Force goalkeeper!

By the end of the match both teams were very wet, muddy and had enough sore legs to tire a masseur out! It was a game that Air Force physically dominated but with KDU spirit in the house, the team in blue were able to wrestle a draw in this pulsating match.

Final score: KDU College 4 vs 4 Air Force

A Bright Win Over the Dark Shirts

2009-02-24T00:44:00.001+08:00

The best performance for the Orange Ramblers team ever?

Read the match report:

Ramblers Orange vs Timoran

Valentine's Day Massacre

2009-02-14T20:02:00.000+08:00

Ramblers Orange vs Butterfly

A fairly rough first half nearly erupted into a fight when Wes Brown kicked out the centre half who had been hounding him. It was that sort of game. Butterfly completely failed to live up to their name as they went around flapping their legs at anything. I really don't think they cared whether they got the ball or the opponent's legs - as long as they got one of them, they were going to be happy. Butterfly played at a frantic pace to match their tackling and it obviously put the Ramblers team off their stride and didn't allow them to settle.

The long balls to W.Brown weren't paying off (or should that be Pei-ing off!), Pei wasn't finding any space in between the defence and the midfield, Derek tried too many diagonal balls to Keon that didn't come off and Wei tucked in too much to be effective. Meanwhile at the back Chard and Adrian had to deal with the aerial bombardment that girlfriends can only wish that their boyfriends dish out on them but they repelled most of the predictable attacks.

The second half saw the onus on Ramblers to attack but Butterfly defended very deep in their own half as they lacked substitutes and probably the stamina to persist with their crazy pace. Their numbers around the penalty area consistently numbered eight which meant that both Heng and W.Brown were double marked any time they got the ball. We were told to use the wings more by the Ramblers advisor but neither Ming nor Or could find their way around the full backs to deliver a threatening cross. However they did win lots of corners and throw ins and from one of the former dead ball pieces, Pei was able to direct a header goalwards but Tony was able to push over the bar.

The persistent attacks eventually paid off as Ming cut inside the left Butterfly wing from Derek's pass and let a low hard shot to the bottom right hand corner fly. Tony, the goalkeeper, looked to have it covered but as he crouched down his legs opened up slightly and Ming had another long range goal to add to his tally.

It wasn't a pretty performance but then it wasn't a pretty match and Adrian's head, Pei's leg and my shin weren't feeling too beautiful by the end of this Valentine's Day match.