Team Goat 2 Dynamites FC 0
(Kiong, YongJie)
Well well.. Aren't I smiling to myself now. Finally a clean sheet in like how many matches.. :) And players that I had mentioned in the previous definitely rose up to the occasion and showed the team what they had been missing in the past - Committed man marking and excellent positioning at the back!
Well, upon receiving the news that we're going to play at MacPherson sec, I became totally un-motivated from head to toe. Seriously, talking about lousy pitches, one should play there at least once. Totally once in a lifetime experience. To be honest, I wasn't really expecting any neat plays and passes and all..
However, little did I know that I'm in for a shock.. Totally shocked that the gates wasn't open till 3 -_- Guess the field warden was expecting us to abandon the field and look for a new one.
START!
With little warm up, the match was started abruptly.
We started off brightly by winning almost all of the challenges in the central part, credits to our central midfielders, going in bravely for all the challenges. Strings of nice passes were made and from the back, I could see that the level of understanding within the team has grown significantly higher. Support were given almost immediately too, especially the Kiong-Jin Chuen-Yang Shan combination. Chances were in abundance too, where either we squandered it too easily, or their goalkeeper was more than equal to the challenge (Seriously good). And today's long through balls were amazing and pin-pointed, credits to Kiong and Derek and Tin.
After pressuring the opponents for quite some time, GOAT was finally rewarded for a hard earned goal. It came from none other than our dead ball specialist - "Xiao Qiang". After a few attempts on goal from the free kick spot, he finally got one in and it floated nicely above the defense and landed just beneath the goal post at such speed that was quite impossible to even touch (Even their awesome keeper couldn't reach it! Good or not..) He's not new to such goals already though, as we can from his famous "helicopter" goal celebration :x 1-0 GOAT
Knowing that how brittle our defense could be after leading, GOAT did not let their guard down and continued to look for that chance to increase the lead, however, 2 one-on-one attempts from Joe and Torres were expertly saved by their keeper, noting in particular the "coolly" attempted "LOB SHOT" by our dear Torres that incurred some rage among the team, but that's ok. We still love him. Chances from corner were also aplenty but we just couldn't convert it as Jin Chuen forget to bring his helmet along. However, we did came close to extend the lead where the ball fell in between Kayabed and Jin Chuen in one of the corners and from a rather awkward angle, Kayabed decided to be selfish and did a half-shit left-footed volley which spun away from the goal. Note to Kayabed: Never attempt what you can't do, especially when you have a natural left-footer at a better position to score.
There were a few occasions where the defense switched off and allowed Dynamites to conduct their quick counter but they were smothered rather nicely by our LEADER-IN-DEFENSE FOR THE DAY - Ren Jie. He showed real composure at the back, eliminating all possible threats as soon as they came.
Nearing towards half time, when GOAT seemed to have problem penetrating their defense, our long-lost Ariel appeared from nowhere to unleash a potential screamer, well, which was, you know, tipped over the
bar by the keeper somehow.
Along with these wasted opportunities, the half was ended with intercepted square balls by the defenders and miscalculated jumps for crosses. The most frustrated figure would very well be Joe, where luck just wasn't on his side where he had seen numerous attempts flashed by the goal line by inches.
GOAT also had a few scares at the back though. A memorable one would our dear partyboy Ren Jie decided to up the pace of the game by miskicking a clearance (POWER LAH), which was very luckily gathered by the rest of the defense and Jun Guang.
Their most notable attempts would be coming from dead ball situations where their bulky striker posed problems for the defense. However, with Mr Safe Hands around, there's nothing to fear :) Well, that concludes much that happened during the first half.
SECOND HALF!
With a change in the defense line system, we started the second half. However, be it complacency or the spirited play by the opponents, GOAT suddenly found themselves at the receiving end of a numerous strings of relentless attacks conducted by Dynamites. The opponents nearly got the equalizer where a mix-up in the defense allowed the opponent to latch onto a nice header which went narrowly wide. (Scared the shit of the whole defense.) However with the John Terry style of defense by the whole team (especially Ren Jie and Benny), we managed to get past those tough 10-15 minutes unscathed. Finally, we got back on our feets and started to build up attacks from the back and showed Dynamites that the game is far from over. We started our 1-2 passes again (notably from Jin Chuen-Yang Shan and Kiong-Tin) and forced our way into the goal but late touches and poor condition of the field made us struggling for that second goal.
Finally, after all these hard work from the attacking department, we finally got the goal that we craved for so much. Thanks to the build up of the attack from the left side and Joe's determination to work his into the penalty box. An last ditched tackle seemed to have stopped the game where the ball was on the loose and our "Thief" Yong Jie decided to sneak in from the right side and helped himself to the goal where he skillfully placed in to the left corner of the goal, leaving the keeper with no chance. To me, it was really a stroke of luck as everyone was caught up with the commotion in the penalty box and no one really saw Yong Jie doing his stuff (LOL), even our own team mates (CHAMPION). Well, a goal is a goal. 2-0 :)
After that goal, GOAT's play was more stabilized and we played with more confidence. And the introduction of SGT Kenny into the game was a wise move as he really kept their target man at bay and many of the attacks were already neutralized before they even reached our defense.
Both sides grew more anxious as the final whistle is approaching and the pace of the play started to increase and tackles came hard and fast on both sides of players, showing their determination to play their football.
However, the clean sheet nearly missed us again when the opponents well-taken free kick was initially held firmly by our Safe Hands but as if he's pleased with how the match is going, he decided to loosen his grip and push the ball away from the goal line in the nick of time. Well, I know it sucks to be taken for granted for your excellent goalkeeping skills, but next time do it at a more safe place can? Like the edge of the box or something like that (LOL)
Point to note:
- As usual, our creative spark not only did defence splitting passes, he also showed us his new moves he learnt during clubbing - his twisting skills. He actually twisted his way away from Dynamites' tough tackles and at one time, I remembered seeing him taking on 4 defenders at one go. How sick is that.
- Good teamwork by Joe and Torres today, providing all the "harassment" they could for the Dynamites' defense, it's a pity they didn't feature in the score sheet today, but if every week let you strike 4D, not fun anymore! I'm sure during the next match you guys will put on an even more impressive performance for GOAT! Till next time!
- Yong Jie's relentless running up and down the right flank is really insane. Sometimes I wonder did he fake his age??
- During the start of the second half, when we are being attacked left right centre, the gap in the midfield was rather big, Effectively splitting the team into 2 halves. So I urge all GOATees to take note, don't let complacency set in at all times, let's stay compact when we need to! We attack as one, defend as one!
Motm: Derek and RenJie
Well, the predecessor of Shebby Singh finally got his predictions correct! These 2 guys indeed rise up to the occasion and showed GOAT their importance in the role of not only defense, and also the start of our attack! Derek's determination and eye for a vital pass has really impressed everyone present and it seems that he's dead serious about cementing his role in the central park! Watch out you guys :)
Holy shit, our LSB king finally got the recognition he deserves!! Initially thought to be someone who's rather flippant and shaky at times, he had shown his rise in maturity level (IN THE GAME NIA), and as a fellow centre back, I can say that his presence really calmed my nerves a lot. And he showed a more dynamic playing style by introducing tactical play into his game. There were a few occasions that his well-timed line caught Dynamite's pacy attackers offside. I'm sure that he's only going to get better!
Signing off,
Intern with dirty boots
Signing off,
Intern with dirty boots
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