ATTACK AT THE COSTS OF DEFENCE

31 May 2007

LAS HEARUTSUSU F.C. 2
KAWABANGA F.C. 7
(*last minute arrangement)

Starting Line-up: Ka Shing, Zhi Yuan, Kelvin Lin, Joel, Kelvin Goh (c), Matthew, Shu Heng, Hak Liang, Jack, Jerry, Valentino

Match Highlights
-Highest ever attendance by team with 17 players turning up for the match. New player Shu Heng immediately plunged into Defensive Midfielder role to replace the absent Yen Sun.
-Slow start by the team allow opponent to sneak in and tuck away 2 goals.
-Matthew run down the right flank and with a cross into the box, found the opponent's defender who deflect it in for a GOAL! 1-2
-A surging run forward by Kelvin Lin was followed by a cross was met by the onrushing Valentino who chipped the ball over the goalkeeper to equalise for the team. 2-2
-Another cross by Matthew into the area was deflected out to Jerry whose shot was blocked down!
-A miscommunication in defence allow the opponent's striker to go one-on-one with Ka Shing! Another goal conceded. 2-3
-SECOND HALF! From a corner-kick, Hak Liang flick on the ball from the near post but the attempted bicycle kick by Valentino did not made enough contact with the ball.
-A solo-run by Samuel down the centre of the midfield took him past 4-5 players but the resulting cross/shot back into the box was disappointing!
-From a through ball, Kenny was about to round the keeper only for his outstretched feet to toe-poked the ball away for a throw-in.
-A cross in from the right by Valentino reached Kenny, but his 1st touch returned the ball to the goalkeeper.
-The substitution of Sheng Jie instilled more attacking options into the team.
-A sublime lob from Sheng Jie found Samuel, who's 1st time volley went inches wide of the left post.
-1st corner kick from the left was headed out by the opponent but Sheng Jie managed to have a shot only it to be sky high!
-2nd corner kick, headed on by Raymond into the path of Sheng Jie ended up in the same manner!
-For all the chances we created, we allowed the opponent another 4 goals to hand us an underserving 7-2 defeat!!!
-MAN-OF-THE-MATCH: KELVIN LIN

A GAME OF 2 HALVES

27 May 2007

LAS HEARUTSUSU F.C. 1
SONY TEAM 5

Line-up: Kar Shin, Kai Pin, Joel, Kelvin Goh, Vincent, Samuel, Raymond, Jun Xiang, Yen Sun, Kenny (c), Valentino

Once again, many of our players were absent due to injuries or other commitments and that left us with a selection problem. With a crisis emerging, Rui Feng, Kar Shin and Valentino were invited to join the team in our quest for our 1st victory. The lack of defenders meant that we started off with a 3-5-2 formation, ready to strike the opponent on the counter attack.

After some early exchanges in the midfield compartment, the opponents soon send waves of attack into our defence. However, they were to be denied time and again as our new goalkeeper, Kar Shin came to our rescue on many occasions. We sat back for most of the 1st half but when the opportunity arise, we gave the opponent a sucker punch. A ball out wide to Valentino was sent back into the box and with a "Pippo Inzhagi" finish, Jack send the ball rolling in between the goalkeeper's legs to give us a surprise one-nil lead. We went into the break with that lead, for the 2nd consecutive game.

2nd half was a different story altogether. The re-arrangement at the back result in some confusion and we soon concede 2 soft goals in quick succession. To make matter worse, a terrible back pass by Samuel was intercepted by the opponent's striker and soon we were 1-3 down. Our strikers had a couple of 1-on-1 chances but they failed to convert them while at the other end, our opponents scored 2 more goals to condemn us to our 2nd successive defeat.

I wont say it was a poor performance, I understand that our workload during our work week played a part in our tiredness. I'm glad that everyone pressed on and I'm sure with this attitude, we can only move forward! The safe pair of hands in goal today is our Man-of-the-Match. Without Kar Shin, we might even have suffered a double digit defeat!

BACK TO EARTH!

14 April 2007

Las Hearutsusu F.C. 1 CF F.C. 3

Line-up

Guo Yong, Kelvin Goh, Kelvin Lin, Joel, Sheng Jie, Matthew, Kai Pin, Raymond, Samuel, Kenny, Daryl

Kenny and Sheng Jie made their 10th appearance for the team and we also welcome a new face, Matthew! We wanted that 1st official victory so badly, but in the end, we were left to rue the chances we missed in the 1st half. Here was how the match went...

KICK OFF! CF F.C. started off with only 8 men but that soon turned into 11 as their players arrived 5 min late for the game. However, that gave us a psychological edge as we managed to attack them and pressed them deep into their half! Samuel came close to giving the team a lead as his shot from outside the box flew inches wide! Kenny's and Daryl's pace were a constant threat to the opponents and like it always happen, Kenny took advantage of a back pass from the opponent and toe-poked the ball passed the onrushing goalkeeper to give our side a lead. We continue to search for more goals, with shots from Daryl, Raymond and Samuel going wide. With a watertight defence at the back, it ensured we went into the break with a 1-0 lead!

2nd half was an entirely different story. CF made a few changes while we had to played on with the same 11 players and it was apparently tired legs were appearing. A miscommunication in defence allow our opponents to equalise shortly after the restart. Unlike the 1st half where our passing was fluent and our attack were with intent, that was not to be in the 2nd half. All we could do were pump long balls hoping that Kenny could capitalise on them but that failed. We had a few chances from the set-pieces, but were denied by the CF's keeper. As the match progress on, our drop in fitness level allowed the enemy to score again and again and the match ended 1-3. We did all we could, but it was not enough.

We were magnificent in the 1st half, but disorganise in the 2nd. The fighting spirit was there so we cant fault anyone for the loss, rather, we should appreciate all the hard work that we put in today as it was never going to be an easy match against an amateur league team. So, for today's Man-of-the-Match, it goes to the calm and compose Raymond! He orchestrated the midfield well today and also stayed back deep in our half to defend during the dying minutes! Congratulations!

"Players need to show more commitment. There's always no substitutes." - Sheng Jie