A Cure for Insomnia Anyone?

McLucky 0 Marist Seniors 1


Match Details
Date: 20th Aug 2006, Sunday
Time: 9am - 11am
Venue: Punngol Sec School
Weather: Dry conditions

Starting Line-up:
Kelvin(GK), Chunwei(RB), Da Hao(LB), Weide(CB), Zhangwei(CB),
Xin Cheng(LM), Benny(RM), Bingde(CM), Rayner(CM),
Khee Yong(AM), Alvin(ST)

Substitutes: Eeyang, Nicky, Siu Chun

Formation: 4-4-1-1


Drab. Bore. Dull. Jaded. Stale.

Adjectives to describe the largely listless, uneventful, low-scoring and at times uninspiring match. Both teams lack the cutting edge and the extra motivation to lift the game or to take it a higher octave. In short, even Tohari Paijan will have trouble keeping his eyes open on this early Sunday morning kick-off!

It was unusually odd as this was a match much anticipated and awaited after the hustles of orientations and hall activities. It was perhaps due to this very reason that also contibuted to such an insipid display. Even the Marist Seniors, which fielded familiar faces like Zhirui(not again!) Kelvin and some others whose names i can't remember, were off the pace and poor. Well, the previous night exertions on EPL could be a factor too, but certainly not to such an extend; where quality was nowhere to be found on a completely lack-lustre performance!

Moreover, even the preparation and warm up was non existent for some. Pig in the middle? One touch passing? Just start the match.

I'm struggling to recall and piece out any exciting moments of the match...and even that requires serious brain avtivity involving thought processes more complicated than the limit of tanx. 1/x. But before we know it, we "settled" ourselves in familiar territory and senario- we went 1-nil down!

A battle down (our)left flank between Kelvin(Marist Seniors{MS} right winger) and Da Hao ended in the former overpowering the rueful full-back before cutting the ball back into the danger zone for an onrushing striker bombarding his way forward to sweep the ball into the gaping net. "ZAI concede goal in the first 5 mins!!!!!" was our common exasperated reaction as we found ourselves once again on the backfoot early on.

Misplaced passes, pathetic first touches, lousy control and poor decision makings were strewned throughout the match as the game soon evolved into a scrappy and dismal affair. Even the few chances that fell McLucky's(Mclys) way, was spurned in the form of Alvin Lee but he too was clearly not match fit with his already Chuix knee as mentioned in an earlier report.

At the other end, little or no action followed after the goal as the only eventful event was probably the soft free-kick given away at the edge of the penalty box which the foul was actually committed inside the penalty area and thus it should be a spot-kick and not a free-kick but it should not be given as it was not a foul at all in the first place!(Phew...get it?)

Half time approaches...

Team Captain Ong WeiDe encouraged comments by fellow Mclys and to speak up to express their views. Play passing, play balls into space, opponents closing down in double quick time were just several issues raised as we believed we could get something out of the game as our opponents were neither superb nor at their best.

If you think the first half was bad, the second half that followed certainly encouraged Wang Meng Meng or Edwin Yeo to continue snoring their heads off, or snore even louder!

The only highlight worth mentioning was the penalty awarded to MS conceded by Chunwei. However, that should NOT be a penalty in the first place as contact was made OUTSIDE the penalty box but once again the dubious referee awarded a rather controversial penalty. As Weiwei later explained, he ensured that the opponent was outside the box before committing himself to the sliding tackle which warranted a yellow card.

HAHA! The MS striker side-footed the ball onto the right-hand post from 12 yards and fortunately the rebound fell to me which i was able to hack it away from danger! Penalty missed by MS!

As the match draws to a conclusion, MS resorted to some dirty tactics like shirt-pulling on the "tu lan" Bingde(who was surprisingly quite on this particular day...the loudest he shouted was probably this incident when his shirt was pulled!) And Weiwei was almost sent off as the shirt-pulling episode irked him off and he vented his frustrations out loud but his swearing was unfortunately overheard by the referee who gave him a last warning. -_-"'

The referee blows for the final whistle!

5 games in a row now that we've lost! With this streak continuing, we'll probably face the likes of Ipwhich and Wolves instead of Chelski or Liverpoot...just to quote an analogy. As said earlier, this was a match where both teams deserve to lose and a nil-nil scoreline would be a better reflection of the actual proceedings of the match. We can only hope things look up from here!


Players Ratings


Kelvin, 6.5: confident in catching high balls, but has to speak up more to communicate with the
back four and to be alert when dealing with onrushing strikers.

Chunwei, 6.5: Did improve on previous match but can still curb on emotions..haha zai yellow card! And get accustomed to the right midfield role again.

Da Hao, 6.0: did his job rather competently. can try supporting attacks next time if possible.

Weide, 7.88: a few misplaced passes but otherwise another stable display(well i can only give 1 mom so that explains your score ya)

Zhangwei, 7: did reasonably well to clear his lines...be wary of long balls too and also communicate more with back four.(Communication for the defenders are of utmost importance!)

Xin Cheng, 6: Didnt reali get to the play as he was injured half-way. have to show more consistency.

Benny, 7.5: made some intelligent runs and did provide telling crosses to the strikers. your dm role was full of running but try not to drop too deep

Bingde, 6.5: the commanding(literally) mildfield maestro was not at his loudest and lack the extra confidence up front.

Rayner, 5.5: many misplaced passes. perhaps the long break shattered my confidence. certainly disappointed at my own contributions.

Khee Yong, 8.0: full of running and hard tackling. however must be aware of team's level and it quite diff for every1 to play the passing game especially at such high tempo and uber-fast closing down by opponent.

Alvin, 7.0: again shows wonderful Mclys spirit coming down for a game! once u fully recover, u'll be a force to be reckoned with once again!

Eeyang, 7.5: never let the team down with his committed displays and bombastic surges into opponent's half. can work on control of ball though.

Nicky, 6.5: hardworking closing down opponents defenders, but as strikers must anticipate balls and to hav the ability to ks!

Siu Chun, 6.0: perhaps too tired after the Gao Lung game...but showed enthusiasm and spirit coming down for the game. was not reali at ur best though!


Quotes of the day

"eh...hows Uni life?"

"Do NOT let ego get in the way of a simple backpass!"

"The fundamentals of a CHEE HONG KIA!*"

*Only meant for those surviving the aftermath of the match(i.e. lunch)