Bay (GK)
Shahid - Fazli - Imran - Shafi
Kelvin - Helmi - Azhari - Farhan
Huang - Syaifudean
Subs:
Rahman
Akim
Omar
Rahman C4
Muhammad
Azman
Syafiq
Karim
Scorers:
Farhan
Syaifudean
p52 w18 d11 l23 f108 a131
Shahid - Fazli - Imran - Shafi
Kelvin - Helmi - Azhari - Farhan
Huang - Syaifudean
Subs:
Rahman
Akim
Omar
Rahman C4
Muhammad
Azman
Syafiq
Karim
Scorers:
Farhan
Syaifudean
p52 w18 d11 l23 f108 a131
We lost for the 2nd game running, this time against a typically strong group of people from Thailand that even Imran was commenting their lone striker is very tough to play against. But I was immensely proud of our team performance that even a very rare yellow card for me, my 1st ever since I started to play for this team, failed to take the gloss of the more positive bigger picture.
We probably had our strongest ever squad today (it could have been the same for the D2D league game a couple of weeks ago that was postponed) and the 2nd half performance, much more than the 1st, told us why. We stepped up our intensity in that half, close to the frantic last minutes of our game on Friday, but this time it was for almost the entire half.
I felt that the substitutions right after our equalizer at 2-2 may have disrupted our momentum, because right about then, it's quite fair to say that we had one of our best teams ever and that team could have destroyed the best in the business.
I mean no disrespect to the rest of the squad, especially for those who came today, those regular players who have been with the team for the main part of our short history, because whoever we field on the pitch has the potential in them to work hard and shine brightly for the team. Also, such substitutions have always been the way our team operates and I would like to think it is better for the team that way as a whole because in the end it is all about the players getting to play soccer and strives for a good individual and team performance irregardless the results.
That is why I am not disappointed with today's defeat.
When Farhan gave us the lead in the 1st half, we had started the match very well. True, Dean should have scored at the 1st attempt but he would made up for it later with the equalizer.
We could have doubled our lead minutes later. The referee, however, (I'm not going to dwell too much on him) chose to blow for a foul in our favour when we clearly had the advantage as Farhan got through on goal.
For some reason, the tide began to change as our opponents made use of their pace and strength to get the better of us, especially in the 1st ball challenges. Admittedly, I always felt we are weak at that aspect of our game and I hope the players know that it only takes a step or two to suddenly find themselves challenging for that ball, especially aerially. Imran is a prime example of how to win that 1st ball ala Vidic. Then again, he has the leap of a panther.
When our opponents suddenly got their striker playing one-on-one with Imran close to our penalty area, Imran had, perhaps unwisely, chose to take the ball on, instead of clearing it out at the earliest opportunity. That striker he talked about proved to be his nemesis as he beat Imran very well to draw the score level.
Imran would get it right on most other occasions since he does possess that ability to play with the ball at his feet but, and this could just be stereotyping, Thai players are notoriously not as lazy, maybe not the apt word to use, when it comes to such one-on-one challenges compared to our local players. In fact, they probably thrived on it, as shown in video.
Another interesting thing to note from that equalizer was how that goal had started with our free-kick in their half. A long punt from their goalkeeper led to that one-on-one challenge. It took about only 6 seconds!
Just as suddenly we found ourselves 1-2 behind. It was unfortunate that Imran was again the centre of attention for the wrong reason. As the opponent's shot struck the upright, it bounced towards our star defender who could only bundled the ball into his own goal.
The flurry of substitutions took change midway in the 1st half but we kept ourselves in the match, desperately resorting to long balls. Bay also manfully rose up to challenge to the pressure that was being exerted upon him, by both our players and the opponents, to keep the score at 1-2 at half-time.
I tweaked our 2nd half formation to experiment with what I felt was close to our strongest team. For a long while, the experiment failed to pay dividends. Our opponents were pressing us very well. We did eventually get into a rhythm of good passing, Helmi and Muhammad, our newest recruit, combined decently with each other as Omar and Farhan provided much more than auxiliary support to play off these 2 central midfielders. Syafiq, in a withdrawn role this time, also dropped deep to play off Dean.
Our opponents were relying on their counter-attacks, and they went close on a few occasions. Our offside trap was fairly successful even if it gave rise to one controversial call that earned me the yellow card.
We gradually got into our stride and our fighting spirit come through as Dean finally scored the equalizer. The intensity had been building up and while the goal came from almost route one that started with Shahid's throw-in, we probably deserved the equalizer for our industry.
There was also a sideline show when one auntie stormed the pitch naked stalking one of her favourite players. Eventually our match organizer sorted it out but not before Huda recorded it on video.
Soon after that goal, just when we looked capable of securing victory, (it does not seem to be so from the 2nd half videos, actually), the waves of substitutions took place. Fresh legs brought energy and a little more steel in midfield in the form of Kelvin, Azhari and Azman. Even in attack, the ever livewire Huang and lively Karim were running their socks off. Rahman C4 was at times the 3rd striker as well. Fazli came on at right-back and added more physical presence to his side of defence.
One good move of the match involved Azman, Kelvin, Karim and Huang. Karim did exceptionally well with a touch that is most admirable (watch the video for that move). It was therefore with such disappointment that we fell behind yet again after Shafi had fluffed his clearance from a long ball and allowed an opponent to sneak behind him who headed the ball over a helpless Bay.
Another controversial call from a very dangerous situation got the team pumped. Syafiq, coming from deep, had been through on goal as the ball took a hefty challenge of a defender. The referee however wrongly ruled him out for offside.
As the result began to slip away from us, tempers almost flared again as Omar was not given a foul in a threatening area. Farhan got hearts racing when his shot just scuffed the ground wide off the goal. The poor pitch condition also cost us when Dean failed to just contol Helmi's pass when a much level pitch may have been seen him in a better position to attack the ball.
We showed plenty of potential today. With a better pitch and God willing, if the players can respond well from these back-to-back defeats, we can hopefully head into the restart of the D2D league match next week with much confidence.
We probably had our strongest ever squad today (it could have been the same for the D2D league game a couple of weeks ago that was postponed) and the 2nd half performance, much more than the 1st, told us why. We stepped up our intensity in that half, close to the frantic last minutes of our game on Friday, but this time it was for almost the entire half.
I felt that the substitutions right after our equalizer at 2-2 may have disrupted our momentum, because right about then, it's quite fair to say that we had one of our best teams ever and that team could have destroyed the best in the business.
I mean no disrespect to the rest of the squad, especially for those who came today, those regular players who have been with the team for the main part of our short history, because whoever we field on the pitch has the potential in them to work hard and shine brightly for the team. Also, such substitutions have always been the way our team operates and I would like to think it is better for the team that way as a whole because in the end it is all about the players getting to play soccer and strives for a good individual and team performance irregardless the results.
That is why I am not disappointed with today's defeat.
When Farhan gave us the lead in the 1st half, we had started the match very well. True, Dean should have scored at the 1st attempt but he would made up for it later with the equalizer.
We could have doubled our lead minutes later. The referee, however, (I'm not going to dwell too much on him) chose to blow for a foul in our favour when we clearly had the advantage as Farhan got through on goal.
For some reason, the tide began to change as our opponents made use of their pace and strength to get the better of us, especially in the 1st ball challenges. Admittedly, I always felt we are weak at that aspect of our game and I hope the players know that it only takes a step or two to suddenly find themselves challenging for that ball, especially aerially. Imran is a prime example of how to win that 1st ball ala Vidic. Then again, he has the leap of a panther.
When our opponents suddenly got their striker playing one-on-one with Imran close to our penalty area, Imran had, perhaps unwisely, chose to take the ball on, instead of clearing it out at the earliest opportunity. That striker he talked about proved to be his nemesis as he beat Imran very well to draw the score level.
Imran would get it right on most other occasions since he does possess that ability to play with the ball at his feet but, and this could just be stereotyping, Thai players are notoriously not as lazy, maybe not the apt word to use, when it comes to such one-on-one challenges compared to our local players. In fact, they probably thrived on it, as shown in video.
Another interesting thing to note from that equalizer was how that goal had started with our free-kick in their half. A long punt from their goalkeeper led to that one-on-one challenge. It took about only 6 seconds!
Just as suddenly we found ourselves 1-2 behind. It was unfortunate that Imran was again the centre of attention for the wrong reason. As the opponent's shot struck the upright, it bounced towards our star defender who could only bundled the ball into his own goal.
The flurry of substitutions took change midway in the 1st half but we kept ourselves in the match, desperately resorting to long balls. Bay also manfully rose up to challenge to the pressure that was being exerted upon him, by both our players and the opponents, to keep the score at 1-2 at half-time.
I tweaked our 2nd half formation to experiment with what I felt was close to our strongest team. For a long while, the experiment failed to pay dividends. Our opponents were pressing us very well. We did eventually get into a rhythm of good passing, Helmi and Muhammad, our newest recruit, combined decently with each other as Omar and Farhan provided much more than auxiliary support to play off these 2 central midfielders. Syafiq, in a withdrawn role this time, also dropped deep to play off Dean.
Our opponents were relying on their counter-attacks, and they went close on a few occasions. Our offside trap was fairly successful even if it gave rise to one controversial call that earned me the yellow card.
We gradually got into our stride and our fighting spirit come through as Dean finally scored the equalizer. The intensity had been building up and while the goal came from almost route one that started with Shahid's throw-in, we probably deserved the equalizer for our industry.
There was also a sideline show when one auntie stormed the pitch naked stalking one of her favourite players. Eventually our match organizer sorted it out but not before Huda recorded it on video.
Soon after that goal, just when we looked capable of securing victory, (it does not seem to be so from the 2nd half videos, actually), the waves of substitutions took place. Fresh legs brought energy and a little more steel in midfield in the form of Kelvin, Azhari and Azman. Even in attack, the ever livewire Huang and lively Karim were running their socks off. Rahman C4 was at times the 3rd striker as well. Fazli came on at right-back and added more physical presence to his side of defence.
One good move of the match involved Azman, Kelvin, Karim and Huang. Karim did exceptionally well with a touch that is most admirable (watch the video for that move). It was therefore with such disappointment that we fell behind yet again after Shafi had fluffed his clearance from a long ball and allowed an opponent to sneak behind him who headed the ball over a helpless Bay.
Another controversial call from a very dangerous situation got the team pumped. Syafiq, coming from deep, had been through on goal as the ball took a hefty challenge of a defender. The referee however wrongly ruled him out for offside.
As the result began to slip away from us, tempers almost flared again as Omar was not given a foul in a threatening area. Farhan got hearts racing when his shot just scuffed the ground wide off the goal. The poor pitch condition also cost us when Dean failed to just contol Helmi's pass when a much level pitch may have been seen him in a better position to attack the ball.
We showed plenty of potential today. With a better pitch and God willing, if the players can respond well from these back-to-back defeats, we can hopefully head into the restart of the D2D league match next week with much confidence.