Scorers (Assists)
Syaifudean (-) 1st half
Helmi (pen) 1st half
Man Of The Match
Muhammad - 4 (great passes and vision, high workrate, excellent job controlling the midfield)
Akim - 4 (a rock in defence who dominated all the aerial challenges)
Dean - 2 (4th goal in 6 league games)
Helmi - 1 (great 1st half and well-taken spot-kick)
Shafi - 1 (great attacking and defending on the left)
Wilson (GK)
Shahid - Mubarak - Akim - Fazli
Shafi - Azman - Muhammad - Helmi
Farhan - Huang
Subs:
Alan
Azhari
Kelvin
Syafiq
Syaifudean
2-2 draw - what are we doing?
sunday 07/07/09. Astro Turf at Meridian JC
this might be the best dominating display the Kambings have ever put up so far in our maiden season..
starting with a 4-4-2 line up, the Kambings started out the play with an energetic display or slick passing, professional composure, stout defending and superb link up plays to stun the league leader Ultras, back into their half..
the midfield lineup of helmi, muhammad, azman and shafi cooly slotted the ball around the park, with midfield releasing helmi down on the left a couple of times with a series of great crosses.. one good cross found helmi scampering down the left channel and after beating his man, went down to the byeline before delivering a wicked low cross that keeper had no chance of touching.. alas... luck is not on our side as Shafi ballooned his chance high up for a RUGBY conversion 3-point penalty kick..
on the other side of the pitch, the Kambings were firmly lead by the defensive central duo of Akim and Mubarak, with Fazli and Shahid patroling the flanks.. their first foray into the box was a punt down the left channel but i was able to slide in and collect the ball in a messy entangle at the edge of the box.. soon, the Ultras got bolder and i had to be quick off my line again to slide in again to clear the ball.. not that the Kambings arent attacking but despite our myriad of passes, the final cross into the box was not up to mark except for helmi cross in the opening stages and one good one which found Huang near the far post.. having watch Rooney executed the swiveling side kick that sealed England 4-0 victory over Kazakhstan, Huang attempted the same maneuver but his lack the power to beat the Ultra's keeper who make a good catch..
A long punt by the keeper bounced our our offside trap and as our defenders look at the ref for his whistle, play continued and i had to rush up to the box to confront their striker who was advancing first.. here i must explain what i was tinking despite the shouts for me to rush out faster.. i was waiting for him to push the ball further in so as the ball left his feet, he had no real control over it.. blindly rushing in while he had the ball at his feet could allow him to pick his spot once i committed.. hence i choose to delay till the last moment before spreading my side wide.. luckily it paid off as the ball left his feet and all he could do was to poke it with his toe wide.. a real let off..
soon after.. a series of substitution by the Kambings take place and the Kambings renewed the effort to breach the keeper goal.. from one good cross down the left (again), a melee for the ball started with the Ultras keeper, one defender and Dean, Helmi and Huang, all of whom twisted and turn in an attempt to get at the ball.. in the end, Dean got the final touch to score for the Kambings and we know have the lead!! 1-0 to the Kambings!
another subsitution saw Shahid leaving the field and Alan taking his place on the right back.. and i dunno.. i really dun wan to say anything.. let just put it that I was shouting at him all the way... one mis-attempt by him to clear the ball after a cross in almost saw the Ultras leveling the match but their striker blew the chance by smashing his shot skyward instead of downward..
den all of a sudden, the Kambings scored again!! neat play by the midfield saw the ball collected by Shafi down the right and his cross in was handled by the defender.. the ref blew for a penalty much to the anger of the Ultras strikers who were muttering that it was ball to hand.. Helmi took the spot kick and the Kambings were celebrating a shock 2-0 lead against the leaders!!
a bone crushing tackle in the middle of the field saw Fazli having to leave the field for Nurse Ezann to give the kiss of life back to our injured player and shortly after that, the ref blew for half time..
it was a good dominating performance by the kambings in the first one and we thoroughly deserved to lead the Ultras.. if only we could do the same for the 2nd half..
the 2nd half saw a reversal of fortune as the Ultras began to coordinate their attacks and pass around the ball more smoothly.. despite the Kambings hard working midfield trying to chase the ball down, it was almost as if we were playing with 10 men as our right wing was none existent.. dun believe? think hard and see if u can spot our right winger making any runs down the right channel..
nontheless, the Kambings managed to hold them at bay despite being pegged in our own half for most of the time..the occasional forays by the Kambings were let down by our re-occuring problems of holding the ball too long.. where was the fluidity of the 1st half? where was the interlink that so devastating and open up the Ultras defence line?
their attacks were getting more and more potent and from one such attack, their striker managed to swing a shot in despite the attention of our defenders and among the legs.. diving down to the left, i managed to claw the ball away from the line, but only as far as to the legs of the 2nd Ultras striker who had a simple task of tapping the ball in.. i should have done better, no excuses.. 2-1 to the Ultras..
from there, the game took on a frenzied pace as the Ultras kept attacking.. their outlet was our left channel where they repeatedly launched crosses into the area for their left winger to cross into the box.. one incident saw the Ultras gaining a free kick.. lining up my wall, i saw the ball sailing and dipping in.. i got my glove to the dipping ball but it spun away and toward goal.. time stood still for many of us i believed as i crawled on the ground and managed to claw the ball into my chest for safety.. heart-stopping moment and i apologise for the poor handling..
shouting at my defenders to clear the ball become a constant things as they flirted with danger by attempting to dribble their way out.. i said it alot of time and i will say it again here.. when i shout "CLEAR THE BALL", i mean to HACK IT AWAY.. not to dribble it out... any mistake at this area would result in the opponent charging into the box or crossing to an unmarked player in the middle and present them a opportunity to score..
as it is.. one such incident on the left wing saw our defender mis-passing the ball after taking a deflection of a player.. the loose ball was bouncing near the semi-cicle with both set of players charging for it.. i was off my line to in an attempt to get to it but.. the Ultras got to it 1st and slotted into a empty net for the equalizer..
the Ultras pressed hard for the winning goal but soon after, the ref blew for full time and it was a heart-wrenching moment as we reflect on what could have been... we played really well today and i believed that we deserved more than a 2-2 draw.. our first half display was superb and if we could reproduce this form weekly, i see no reason why we cant challenge for a top 2 finish in our maiden season.. our mistakes in the 2nd half could be boiled down to lapses of concentration.. if we can eliminate that, who know wat the results might have been?
GK Wilson
sunday 07/07/09. Astro Turf at Meridian JC
this might be the best dominating display the Kambings have ever put up so far in our maiden season..
starting with a 4-4-2 line up, the Kambings started out the play with an energetic display or slick passing, professional composure, stout defending and superb link up plays to stun the league leader Ultras, back into their half..
the midfield lineup of helmi, muhammad, azman and shafi cooly slotted the ball around the park, with midfield releasing helmi down on the left a couple of times with a series of great crosses.. one good cross found helmi scampering down the left channel and after beating his man, went down to the byeline before delivering a wicked low cross that keeper had no chance of touching.. alas... luck is not on our side as Shafi ballooned his chance high up for a RUGBY conversion 3-point penalty kick..
on the other side of the pitch, the Kambings were firmly lead by the defensive central duo of Akim and Mubarak, with Fazli and Shahid patroling the flanks.. their first foray into the box was a punt down the left channel but i was able to slide in and collect the ball in a messy entangle at the edge of the box.. soon, the Ultras got bolder and i had to be quick off my line again to slide in again to clear the ball.. not that the Kambings arent attacking but despite our myriad of passes, the final cross into the box was not up to mark except for helmi cross in the opening stages and one good one which found Huang near the far post.. having watch Rooney executed the swiveling side kick that sealed England 4-0 victory over Kazakhstan, Huang attempted the same maneuver but his lack the power to beat the Ultra's keeper who make a good catch..
A long punt by the keeper bounced our our offside trap and as our defenders look at the ref for his whistle, play continued and i had to rush up to the box to confront their striker who was advancing first.. here i must explain what i was tinking despite the shouts for me to rush out faster.. i was waiting for him to push the ball further in so as the ball left his feet, he had no real control over it.. blindly rushing in while he had the ball at his feet could allow him to pick his spot once i committed.. hence i choose to delay till the last moment before spreading my side wide.. luckily it paid off as the ball left his feet and all he could do was to poke it with his toe wide.. a real let off..
soon after.. a series of substitution by the Kambings take place and the Kambings renewed the effort to breach the keeper goal.. from one good cross down the left (again), a melee for the ball started with the Ultras keeper, one defender and Dean, Helmi and Huang, all of whom twisted and turn in an attempt to get at the ball.. in the end, Dean got the final touch to score for the Kambings and we know have the lead!! 1-0 to the Kambings!
another subsitution saw Shahid leaving the field and Alan taking his place on the right back.. and i dunno.. i really dun wan to say anything.. let just put it that I was shouting at him all the way... one mis-attempt by him to clear the ball after a cross in almost saw the Ultras leveling the match but their striker blew the chance by smashing his shot skyward instead of downward..
den all of a sudden, the Kambings scored again!! neat play by the midfield saw the ball collected by Shafi down the right and his cross in was handled by the defender.. the ref blew for a penalty much to the anger of the Ultras strikers who were muttering that it was ball to hand.. Helmi took the spot kick and the Kambings were celebrating a shock 2-0 lead against the leaders!!
a bone crushing tackle in the middle of the field saw Fazli having to leave the field for Nurse Ezann to give the kiss of life back to our injured player and shortly after that, the ref blew for half time..
it was a good dominating performance by the kambings in the first one and we thoroughly deserved to lead the Ultras.. if only we could do the same for the 2nd half..
the 2nd half saw a reversal of fortune as the Ultras began to coordinate their attacks and pass around the ball more smoothly.. despite the Kambings hard working midfield trying to chase the ball down, it was almost as if we were playing with 10 men as our right wing was none existent.. dun believe? think hard and see if u can spot our right winger making any runs down the right channel..
nontheless, the Kambings managed to hold them at bay despite being pegged in our own half for most of the time..the occasional forays by the Kambings were let down by our re-occuring problems of holding the ball too long.. where was the fluidity of the 1st half? where was the interlink that so devastating and open up the Ultras defence line?
their attacks were getting more and more potent and from one such attack, their striker managed to swing a shot in despite the attention of our defenders and among the legs.. diving down to the left, i managed to claw the ball away from the line, but only as far as to the legs of the 2nd Ultras striker who had a simple task of tapping the ball in.. i should have done better, no excuses.. 2-1 to the Ultras..
from there, the game took on a frenzied pace as the Ultras kept attacking.. their outlet was our left channel where they repeatedly launched crosses into the area for their left winger to cross into the box.. one incident saw the Ultras gaining a free kick.. lining up my wall, i saw the ball sailing and dipping in.. i got my glove to the dipping ball but it spun away and toward goal.. time stood still for many of us i believed as i crawled on the ground and managed to claw the ball into my chest for safety.. heart-stopping moment and i apologise for the poor handling..
shouting at my defenders to clear the ball become a constant things as they flirted with danger by attempting to dribble their way out.. i said it alot of time and i will say it again here.. when i shout "CLEAR THE BALL", i mean to HACK IT AWAY.. not to dribble it out... any mistake at this area would result in the opponent charging into the box or crossing to an unmarked player in the middle and present them a opportunity to score..
as it is.. one such incident on the left wing saw our defender mis-passing the ball after taking a deflection of a player.. the loose ball was bouncing near the semi-cicle with both set of players charging for it.. i was off my line to in an attempt to get to it but.. the Ultras got to it 1st and slotted into a empty net for the equalizer..
the Ultras pressed hard for the winning goal but soon after, the ref blew for full time and it was a heart-wrenching moment as we reflect on what could have been... we played really well today and i believed that we deserved more than a 2-2 draw.. our first half display was superb and if we could reproduce this form weekly, i see no reason why we cant challenge for a top 2 finish in our maiden season.. our mistakes in the 2nd half could be boiled down to lapses of concentration.. if we can eliminate that, who know wat the results might have been?
GK Wilson
to download more click on the links
part 1
part 2