Wilson (GK)
Rahman - Imran - Fazli - Firdaus Masdar
Huang - Farhan - Rafeeq - Hafiz (debut)
Syafiq - Syaifudean
Subs:
Akim
Omar
Shafi
Kelvin
p48 w17 d11 l19 f102 a120
Rahman - Imran - Fazli - Firdaus Masdar
Huang - Farhan - Rafeeq - Hafiz (debut)
Syafiq - Syaifudean
Subs:
Akim
Omar
Shafi
Kelvin
p48 w17 d11 l19 f102 a120
finally! back in action after 2 weeks of washout weekend, the kambings are back in action!
dunno about the rest of the team on how they managed to find the place but I got lost (again) in the vast open space of woodlands.. haha.. the taxi driver and I drove past the school and ended up at Woodgrove PRIMARY school at 815am. thinking that i was early, i proceed to have breakfast and was wondering why the crowd at the school gate was not going in. turn out it was not the right school! so i quickly asked direction like a lost tourist and walked 15 min to get to the right school pitch.. hence "warm-up" completed... -.-''
the oppenent started the ball rolling with out midfield putting in a typical robust hard work. Hafiz, fren of Farhan started on the left with Huang out on the right and Rafeeq and Farhan holding the fort in the middle. the opening minutes was like a sparring match between two boxers, with both side trading possession as each team tried to slip past the opposite defences. the opponent continuously tried to launch raid down our right while we tried to carve out opening through their middle. hence, it was no surprise that they were the first to test the keeper. after a attack on their left broke down, they managed to string together a couple of passes before releashing the ball for their striker past our offside line. tracking back quickly, our central defenders managed to force him to shoot from a angle from the right. i managed to beat the ball away and we cleared our line but minutes later, the same thing happened again, another quick releash saw their striker rushing into the box and from almost the same angle, shoot for goal again. i managed to get down in time to catch the ball but this was a warning for us in reality.
why are they constantly able to raid down our right side? this should be asked and pondered over. in truth, our attack usually dun managed to break into their penalty box as a combination of poor control and overcrowding force our attackers to give away possession, enabling them to counter attack us with our players out of positions. their defence was superbly marshalled and their keeper was confidently pucking out our crosses and attempted passes not that ours defence was sleeping. the KEY difference, i see, was in their wing play and their weighted pass that managed to slice up our offside line. firstly, their wingers and wingbacks are in good communication with one another. speeding down our flanks, their wingers have the support of their wingback BEHIND them who can releash them pass our committed players and this caused plenty of nervous moments as our left and right backs are out of position and our central defenders have to cover, therefore exposing the middle. secondly, the weight of their pass was just enough to elude our midfield cover and yet not too heavy so as to roll straight into the box but just nice near the edge. this is a valuable skill that WE should be practicing considering that we have been caught out before by this type of attack in previous matches where our line is breached again and again.
their control of the balls was also better than us as their strikers managed to dance around our players in our box.. good defensive work saw us managed to get away scott-free but it a another lesson to be learn. if i say CLEAR the ball, i mean CLEAR the ball, not try to dribble out or pass out. it might sound simple to say this but when i shout CLEAR, it usually because i saw danger coming if we lose possession. that being said, another perfectly weighted pass saw them galloping through our center this time, with their striker running into the box and hiting a rising shot which i managed to palm over for a corner.
our attacks on the other hands, lies in the few free kicks and corners that we managed to win. Fazli tried his luck on a couple of occasion but their keeper have no problem making the saves while our best chances of the half come from a corner from the right which was met by ?( i couldnt see properly from the back) and the keeper beat the ball away from the top corner. half time soon came and the weary players march off the field for some needed rest.
2nd half started in a more positive note for us. our changes at midfield saw us dominating and controling the midfield more but once again, our attack were broken down in the final third of the field as we are unable to shoot. on the other side, they changed their style with their attacks more frontal by trying to go through middle. this time too, their play is concentrated on the LEFT side, which is constantly in a open state as Shafi ran up the field to join in the attacks, leaving behind Hafiz and Imran to cover more for his attack. not that joining the attack is not a good thing but when their attack is concentrated down the left flank, i think it common sense not to go too far up, especially when their winger is fast too..
from one such opening, their winger managed to square the ball to the middle and their striker burst through and luckily, only managed to shoot straight at me again. I had already shouted to my defenders to COVER the middle but due to injuries, Fazli was unable to cover in time but the main thing here was: try to come into the position that i was shouting for. their angels are limited at the side so our priority should be in the MIDDLE. crowding out the middle meant less shooting opportunity for them.
our attacks were also beganing to bore fruits. once again our chances come from setpieces and a corner from Omar from the right saw Dean head toward goal with the keeper beaten! but unfortunately, their man on the line managed to head the ball over.. good try! another corner saw the ball bouncing all over the box which fall kindly for Syafiq unmarked in the six yard box. surely goal this time, but his weak connection meant that the keeper managed to save yet again.
as the match goes on, the heat was taking a toll on both parties and the tempo dropped abit. Imran, after a good performance was feeling the heat and a rare lapse of concentration saw him miss the ball, allowing the striker to nip in. as i rush out of the box, he pulled the trigger and fortunately, it went wide this time. the final piece of meaningful action saw them attacking a throw in which was looping. not looking at my position, i jump up and promptly crashed into the goal pole with the ball alr behind the line for a goal kick and soon the ref blew for full time.
it is my opinion that the result was a fair one althought the other team might felt that they had more chances than us. nontheless, considering that this was our first game after 2 weeks, we did very well and we can look forward to the league in great confidence. that speaking, i had a few observation about our players which i want to make.
syafiq: his best position shld be as a second striker, playing in the hole and not wide on the left as in the 2nd half.
Kevin: his workrate meant that he will be running around chasing down ball but let try to use his height more.
Huang: in my observation, his most effective position is in the role of the striker, not on the right as in the 1st half.
Dean and Farhan: shoot abit more from the edge of box. it better to shoot rather than trying to get into the box and get crowded out as evident today
Shafi: his attacking instinct is bigger than his defending instinct so as such, why not use him as a left mid instead of left back?
good luck for our next match!
dunno about the rest of the team on how they managed to find the place but I got lost (again) in the vast open space of woodlands.. haha.. the taxi driver and I drove past the school and ended up at Woodgrove PRIMARY school at 815am. thinking that i was early, i proceed to have breakfast and was wondering why the crowd at the school gate was not going in. turn out it was not the right school! so i quickly asked direction like a lost tourist and walked 15 min to get to the right school pitch.. hence "warm-up" completed... -.-''
the oppenent started the ball rolling with out midfield putting in a typical robust hard work. Hafiz, fren of Farhan started on the left with Huang out on the right and Rafeeq and Farhan holding the fort in the middle. the opening minutes was like a sparring match between two boxers, with both side trading possession as each team tried to slip past the opposite defences. the opponent continuously tried to launch raid down our right while we tried to carve out opening through their middle. hence, it was no surprise that they were the first to test the keeper. after a attack on their left broke down, they managed to string together a couple of passes before releashing the ball for their striker past our offside line. tracking back quickly, our central defenders managed to force him to shoot from a angle from the right. i managed to beat the ball away and we cleared our line but minutes later, the same thing happened again, another quick releash saw their striker rushing into the box and from almost the same angle, shoot for goal again. i managed to get down in time to catch the ball but this was a warning for us in reality.
why are they constantly able to raid down our right side? this should be asked and pondered over. in truth, our attack usually dun managed to break into their penalty box as a combination of poor control and overcrowding force our attackers to give away possession, enabling them to counter attack us with our players out of positions. their defence was superbly marshalled and their keeper was confidently pucking out our crosses and attempted passes not that ours defence was sleeping. the KEY difference, i see, was in their wing play and their weighted pass that managed to slice up our offside line. firstly, their wingers and wingbacks are in good communication with one another. speeding down our flanks, their wingers have the support of their wingback BEHIND them who can releash them pass our committed players and this caused plenty of nervous moments as our left and right backs are out of position and our central defenders have to cover, therefore exposing the middle. secondly, the weight of their pass was just enough to elude our midfield cover and yet not too heavy so as to roll straight into the box but just nice near the edge. this is a valuable skill that WE should be practicing considering that we have been caught out before by this type of attack in previous matches where our line is breached again and again.
their control of the balls was also better than us as their strikers managed to dance around our players in our box.. good defensive work saw us managed to get away scott-free but it a another lesson to be learn. if i say CLEAR the ball, i mean CLEAR the ball, not try to dribble out or pass out. it might sound simple to say this but when i shout CLEAR, it usually because i saw danger coming if we lose possession. that being said, another perfectly weighted pass saw them galloping through our center this time, with their striker running into the box and hiting a rising shot which i managed to palm over for a corner.
our attacks on the other hands, lies in the few free kicks and corners that we managed to win. Fazli tried his luck on a couple of occasion but their keeper have no problem making the saves while our best chances of the half come from a corner from the right which was met by ?( i couldnt see properly from the back) and the keeper beat the ball away from the top corner. half time soon came and the weary players march off the field for some needed rest.
2nd half started in a more positive note for us. our changes at midfield saw us dominating and controling the midfield more but once again, our attack were broken down in the final third of the field as we are unable to shoot. on the other side, they changed their style with their attacks more frontal by trying to go through middle. this time too, their play is concentrated on the LEFT side, which is constantly in a open state as Shafi ran up the field to join in the attacks, leaving behind Hafiz and Imran to cover more for his attack. not that joining the attack is not a good thing but when their attack is concentrated down the left flank, i think it common sense not to go too far up, especially when their winger is fast too..
from one such opening, their winger managed to square the ball to the middle and their striker burst through and luckily, only managed to shoot straight at me again. I had already shouted to my defenders to COVER the middle but due to injuries, Fazli was unable to cover in time but the main thing here was: try to come into the position that i was shouting for. their angels are limited at the side so our priority should be in the MIDDLE. crowding out the middle meant less shooting opportunity for them.
our attacks were also beganing to bore fruits. once again our chances come from setpieces and a corner from Omar from the right saw Dean head toward goal with the keeper beaten! but unfortunately, their man on the line managed to head the ball over.. good try! another corner saw the ball bouncing all over the box which fall kindly for Syafiq unmarked in the six yard box. surely goal this time, but his weak connection meant that the keeper managed to save yet again.
as the match goes on, the heat was taking a toll on both parties and the tempo dropped abit. Imran, after a good performance was feeling the heat and a rare lapse of concentration saw him miss the ball, allowing the striker to nip in. as i rush out of the box, he pulled the trigger and fortunately, it went wide this time. the final piece of meaningful action saw them attacking a throw in which was looping. not looking at my position, i jump up and promptly crashed into the goal pole with the ball alr behind the line for a goal kick and soon the ref blew for full time.
it is my opinion that the result was a fair one althought the other team might felt that they had more chances than us. nontheless, considering that this was our first game after 2 weeks, we did very well and we can look forward to the league in great confidence. that speaking, i had a few observation about our players which i want to make.
syafiq: his best position shld be as a second striker, playing in the hole and not wide on the left as in the 2nd half.
Kevin: his workrate meant that he will be running around chasing down ball but let try to use his height more.
Huang: in my observation, his most effective position is in the role of the striker, not on the right as in the 1st half.
Dean and Farhan: shoot abit more from the edge of box. it better to shoot rather than trying to get into the box and get crowded out as evident today
Shafi: his attacking instinct is bigger than his defending instinct so as such, why not use him as a left mid instead of left back?
good luck for our next match!