1st Nov 2008 Saturday

Match confirmed for 1st November 2008 Saturday

Location: Field opposite Temasek Poly
Time to reach : 830am
Time to kick off: 9am
Colour to wear : YELLOW
opponents : blue team

see you all there. pls let jq know about attendance =)

Match Confirmation 26th Oct Sun

Ok guys, this is a bit late but ya here we go

Match Confirmed Sun Oct 26

LOcation : Ping Yi Secondary

Time to reach : 830am

Colour to wear : Yellow

Opponents : Blue Team

See u all there

"We pay you 70 mins ah!" - Unido 3-3 Weird Whites

Our last game at Pasir Ris Crest ended in defeat (2-3 to this uncle team) in the rain. At least this game was played at 5pm, when the sun was less intense. We needed this, given that most of our games had been scheduled at 5pm or were night games under floodlights (read: SAFRA).

Our opponents this time were the White team, which seemed to be made up of a hodgepodge of players. The pitch over at PRC seemed to have shrunken quite a bit since the last time we played there, and SA tried to take advantge of this fact by taking a pot shot at goal straight from the kickoff. Unfortunately the shot sailed over the bar.

The next unfortunate incident resulted in an early substitution. The opponents had kicked the ball out of play. As I went to retrieve it, I stumbled into an ants' nest and had angry red ants all over my head. I had to get off the pitch to wash it all out of my hair. Thank goodness for the changing room facilities.

I returned to pitchside just in time to see a corner being swung over. It dropped at the far post to an unmarked no. 7, who gleefully slammed the ball past Wenwei for a 1-0 lead to the whites. Worse was to follow when their no. 13 was played through and tucked the shot into the net for a 2-0 lead. With that lead, the whites began to sit back and absorb our pressure. JLO looked rather listless on the right, as their no. 21 managed to intercept a few long balls played into the right channel.

Half time and we were 2-0 down. We reverted to a more conventional 4-4-2 for the second half and were rewarded when Leslie scored from an excellently executed overhead kick. However, all that good work came undone when the no. 11 wiggled free in the penalty box and squared the ball. Ben attempted to clear the cross but only managed to slice at the ball, which floated up and bounced over WW to give the whites a 3-1 lead early in the second half.

From then onwards, it was attack after attack as we launched waves forward. This left us slightly more exposed at the back, but their less mobile strikers (like the no. 7) were caught offside almost every time the ball was played forward. The whites began protesting decisions by the referee, and at every opportunity, played dirty.

Our probing paid off when a long ball downfield from WW caught the white defence asleep. JQ sprung the offside trap and courageously challenged the white keeper for the ball. The result was a goal for us, and an injury to the keeper, who was hurt in the clash. The whites again started protesting vehemently, but to no avail.

The substitute keeper was tested almost immediately, but managed to clear his lines effectively. But again, wave after wave of attacks swept towards the white goal. And it was only fitting that Reubs, probably our most comfortable midfielder (by comfortable i mean lazy ;)) stepped up to the plate and delivered a long-range shot into the goal. With only 5 or so minutes to go, we had brought ourselves level at 3-3.

The whites were beginning to lose their focus, and SA should have made them pay. But all he managed to do was shoot straight at the keeper, who gratefully palmed the shot wide for a corner.

The referee blew for full time soon after, but the game was marred by verbal abuse from the whites, notably the no. 21. His remark "Ref, we pay you only 70 mins lah, since you only play 70 mins for us" was totally unrequired and pointless, amid the campaigns around the world to show more respect to the men in black.

Excellent recovery for us, but pity about the quality of the opponents in terms of the emotional quotient.

Comeback: Unido 2-2 Green Team

This was probably our third night game, forgive me if my memory is kinda hazy cos its been a while since I've managed a match report. Anyways, the response was alright, with about 15-16 of us turning up for this one, unlike when the novelty of the first night game drew all of 20 clamouring for the 11 starting spots.

The fact that it was a weekday night probably contributed to the lower turnout. A few regulars were missing from the squad, most notably Jackson, replaced by Bram in goal. Ben was also held up by work commitments, which meant Reubs began the game in the centre of defence.

The game was a scrappy affair for the first 20 minutes, with both teams slugging it out in midfield. Playing under floodlights meant that energy levels were somewhat higher as we did not have to roast under the sun. Both keepers had little to do as the midfields did battle, and whenever the ball was played through, both defences had little trouble in clearing the ball.

However, the game was set alight when Seng finished off a mazy run into the box by tucking an outside-foot shot under the keeper for a 1-0 lead. Not long after, Reubs was adjudged to have held back one of the Green team's players in the box. The referee awarded a penalty to the Green team, whose number 18 stepped up and blasted the ball over the bar.

We went into the half-time break 1-0 to the good, just like the previous game.

The green team came back in the second half, when the referee blew for what seemed to be a ridiculous handball decision. Bram was adjudged to have carried the ball out of the box, and from the resulting free kick, the number 11 curled a free kick beyond Bram's despairing dive.

Not long later, a long ball caught out the defence and the number 11 scored in almost similar fashion, placing a shot beyond Bram. It seemed as though the Green team had carved out the ideal comeback, from being one goal behind to 2-1 ahead.

However, we were not done yet. The guys kept probing at the Green defence, and it was one of our comeback kings, KR, who drew us level once again. A cross from JQ was flapped at by the keeper, who had been in inspirational form all evening. KR arrived at the back post and gleefully slammed his shot home for the equalizer, which was no less than we deserved.

Not long later, the whistle blew for full time, ending our third night game experience.

Final score Unido 2-2 Green Team.

Upcoming match at Safra 11 OCT

Sorry for leaving out some details in the earlier post. Here are the full details.

Time to reach:830am(match starts at 9am)

Opponent: My friend Abel's team

Jersey colour: BLUE

They will be wearing orange jersey. Total cost is $246(include ref) so it works out to be $123/team.

Pls submit attendance to JQ/KS or post on the tag-board. Cheers.