Bay (GK)
Akim - Amir - Rashid - Fazli
Omar - Farhan - Azman - Muhammad - Helmi
Rafeeq
Subs:
Wilson (GK)
Firdaus Masdar
Kevin
Joharie
Kelvin
Amin
Rahman
Huang
Karim
Scorers (assists):
Huang (Rahman)
Rafeeq (-)
Akim - Amir - Rashid - Fazli
Omar - Farhan - Azman - Muhammad - Helmi
Rafeeq
Subs:
Wilson (GK)
Firdaus Masdar
Kevin
Joharie
Kelvin
Amin
Rahman
Huang
Karim
Scorers (assists):
Huang (Rahman)
Rafeeq (-)
D2D League Season 4 kicks off 11 Oct. Welcome to the new season ppl... However, it is likely we will not have a league match this 11 Oct due mainly to uncompleted fixtures from the previous season which overlaps the new season. Stay tuned!
This was expected to be our last friendly game before the league starts, which was arranged to have a decent semblance of match fitness. The festive and fasting months would definitely have taken a lot out of our Muslim players, myself included. On a side note, we have shown our team has a good strength in the number of players that turned out today and also managed to field 2 GKs. We welcome debutant Amir who played at centre-back.
To my pleasant surprise, I felt we started much brighter than our physically taller and well-built opponents, having spent more than a fair share of possession in their half.
When we conceded a corner about midway through the first half, it was only the first corner for the opponents. And we were punished for our lack of height. Bay opted to come out to claim the ball but he was never going to get there. The seemingly soft header at the near post flashed across the goal to the other end into an empty net despite Fazli's attempt to handball it on the goal-line. 0-1 to the opponents.
Minutes later, we found ourselves 2-0 down. A long punt upfield was latched onto an header by their striker despite Rashid's challenge. His team-mate tracked down the header and he outpaced myself and the covering Rashid to beat Bay in a one-on-one situation.
There was then a moment of controversy when the referee wrongly ruled out our goal which could have made the scoreline tighter at 1-2. Fazli's long throw into the penalty area bounced over Rafeeq's and his marker's and Farhan was able to lob it over the GK into the net. But despite Rafeeq's insistence that he did not touch the ball, we were left wondering if there is an offside from a throw-in because the referee did not really make it clear to us why the goal was disallowed.
Disappointingly, the opponents stretched their lead after I made a huge gaffe down the touchline when the danger could have been cleared earlier. The opponent out-muscled me and took a shot immediately having spotted Bay out of his goal-line. The finish was brilliant as he lobbed it over Bay but the circumstances leading to that goal was a sinner. I will try to wake up my idea guys... Although I made a mistake again later in the 2nd half.
The 2nd half began evenly as our opponents knew they had the game sewn up. For us, I told our players at half-time to push their fitness as far as they can. And enjoy the game of course...
We were finally celebrating a goal when Rahman's lung-bursting run with the ball into the net took a series of ricochet into the penalty box and found an unmarked Huang. His finish was as cool as it can get. 1-3.
Our opponents regained their 3 goal advantage. I cannot remember how the goal came about though. 1-4
The mass substitutions took place midway in the 2nd half and I was again at fault when the opponents scored their 5th goal. Again I could have cleared the ball earlier but the opponent pressured me into a mistake and a run down the left flank saw him at the byline. His low cross across goal forced Firdaus to make a clearance but it crawled into the net instead. 1-5
Rafeeq gave himself and the team some cheer when we scored our 2nd goal. It was a messy goal but the ball, as it did with Huang's goal, took a moment to get into the penalty box. An unmarked Rafeeq finished as coolly as Huang did earlier and before long it was the final whistle to end a very open game of football where we disregard the scoreline in favor of enjoyment.
This was expected to be our last friendly game before the league starts, which was arranged to have a decent semblance of match fitness. The festive and fasting months would definitely have taken a lot out of our Muslim players, myself included. On a side note, we have shown our team has a good strength in the number of players that turned out today and also managed to field 2 GKs. We welcome debutant Amir who played at centre-back.
To my pleasant surprise, I felt we started much brighter than our physically taller and well-built opponents, having spent more than a fair share of possession in their half.
When we conceded a corner about midway through the first half, it was only the first corner for the opponents. And we were punished for our lack of height. Bay opted to come out to claim the ball but he was never going to get there. The seemingly soft header at the near post flashed across the goal to the other end into an empty net despite Fazli's attempt to handball it on the goal-line. 0-1 to the opponents.
Minutes later, we found ourselves 2-0 down. A long punt upfield was latched onto an header by their striker despite Rashid's challenge. His team-mate tracked down the header and he outpaced myself and the covering Rashid to beat Bay in a one-on-one situation.
There was then a moment of controversy when the referee wrongly ruled out our goal which could have made the scoreline tighter at 1-2. Fazli's long throw into the penalty area bounced over Rafeeq's and his marker's and Farhan was able to lob it over the GK into the net. But despite Rafeeq's insistence that he did not touch the ball, we were left wondering if there is an offside from a throw-in because the referee did not really make it clear to us why the goal was disallowed.
Disappointingly, the opponents stretched their lead after I made a huge gaffe down the touchline when the danger could have been cleared earlier. The opponent out-muscled me and took a shot immediately having spotted Bay out of his goal-line. The finish was brilliant as he lobbed it over Bay but the circumstances leading to that goal was a sinner. I will try to wake up my idea guys... Although I made a mistake again later in the 2nd half.
The 2nd half began evenly as our opponents knew they had the game sewn up. For us, I told our players at half-time to push their fitness as far as they can. And enjoy the game of course...
We were finally celebrating a goal when Rahman's lung-bursting run with the ball into the net took a series of ricochet into the penalty box and found an unmarked Huang. His finish was as cool as it can get. 1-3.
Our opponents regained their 3 goal advantage. I cannot remember how the goal came about though. 1-4
The mass substitutions took place midway in the 2nd half and I was again at fault when the opponents scored their 5th goal. Again I could have cleared the ball earlier but the opponent pressured me into a mistake and a run down the left flank saw him at the byline. His low cross across goal forced Firdaus to make a clearance but it crawled into the net instead. 1-5
Rafeeq gave himself and the team some cheer when we scored our 2nd goal. It was a messy goal but the ball, as it did with Huang's goal, took a moment to get into the penalty box. An unmarked Rafeeq finished as coolly as Huang did earlier and before long it was the final whistle to end a very open game of football where we disregard the scoreline in favor of enjoyment.