After slightly a year of friendly matches, we finally decided to take the step to participate in a league at D2D's invitation in April 2009. The main objective was to have fun and give it a go as best as we could. In Division 4, our rookie season saw us finished in a creditable 4th place. That, in itself, did not warrant us automatic promotion but as some teams above us dropped out or in one case, dropped down, from the entire league, we were promoted to Division 3 this season that began in October 2009.
The promotion did not faze me. I was nervous but looking forward to playing against what we would naturally perceive to be stronger teams. Looking at the players we have and from our spirited performances in our rookie league season, I am sure most of us would agree we only needed strengthening in defence, which has more or less proven to be our downfall this season.
However, for most of our matches, we did not have the ideal strongest starting lineup. That is not an excuse for our eventual relegation. However, I am always one in favour of the spirit of competition. What is the point of turning up each week for a match only to get beaten down. It would not only be bad for team morale but our opponents would not have their money's worth. Nevertheless, we were not thumped badly and in fact, we ran it close in some matches too. Schoolboy defending, to say the least, undid us. More on that later.
October/November 2009: Our 2nd season in the 4th of its kind started with a record-equalling 5 game losing streak including one in a friendly that began with Sarcofargo (0-2). Ultras (1-2) and Forza Ze East (1-3) were our next league opponents and defensive calamities were starting to take shape. Kelvin was our first league scorer with a stunning effort against Ultras. Bay suffered a recurrence of his shoulder injury in the latter game and this was his first of only three games for the entire season. The next match marked the gap between the best and the worst in the division as 1980s gave us a footballing lesson in a 2-6 defeat.
December 2009: The unwanted streak was finally snapped with a morale-boosting draw when we fought from 0-2 against Samalongkok to snatch our first league point. Kelvin narrowed the scoreline with another contender for the goal of the season, finishing off a brilliant team move. Farhan secured the comeback with the last touch of the match via a header. Muhammad continued his fine form from last season and had a hand in both goals. We then began our first cup tie in a unique qualifying campaign in our first group match against Div 2's FC Tempastella. Despite having numerical superiority, we failed to capitalize in a high-scoring 4-4 draw. Back to the league, and we finally got our first win. This time, we made our numerical superiority count against Ultras in a 6-2 victory. Having scored in his last two games, Farhan made history when he became the 1st player to score two hat-tricks.
January 2010: We started the New Year in a 3-3 draw in a friendly. In the next game against Redbacks, Danial made his debut in goal and impressed. We could only draw 1-1 despite taking the lead. On the back of a five game unbeaten run, with one win in that sequence, we faced the second of the title favourites against Tohari Paijan's Total Football. Despite a superb defensive performance by the entire team led by Danial and Imran, we finally broke down to narrowly lose 0-1. We then played Div 4's Casanova XI in the final game of the qualifying cup competition. Due to its format, with all due respect to our opponents, we had to score big and hope that FC Tempastella did not outscore us so as to automatically qualify for the 2nd round. However, we could only secured a 2-1 victory, yours truly grabbing his only goal of the season to net the winner. Casanova XI did very well to raise their game and we may have a good game should we face each other in the new season. We would still qualify for the 2nd round of the cup competition by being one of the four 2nd-best placed teams. The month ended in a 2-4 defeat against Macheda, the last of the 3 automatic promotees from last season, the other two being champions Samalongkok and 3rd-placed Ultras.
February 2010: The pin finally dropped when we claimed our first and only major scalp against the then 3rd-placed team Industmarine Football. Having fallen behind in the first half, we clawed back to win 2-1. Another friendly win on Valentine's Day meant we were on a fine form of 3 wins in 4 games. The reverse fixture against Redbacks turned out to be a farcical affair for me personally. For the first game in a long time, we had a line-up with no substitutes. In a deja-vu like game, we led again only to be denied victory by Redback's wonderful equalizer as we shared the spoils. Having managed most of our games, it has been a tedious affair to get our players to commit early but never have I felt the tediousness until this game. The feeling did not go up till the final game of the season. The draw against Redbacks also virtually sealed our relegation.
March 2010: The title race was getting tighter with each week that goes by as we found ourselves in an admirable position to play the top 6 teams in the 2nd half of the season. That was motivation enough for me. However, 3 consecutive losses to genuine title challengers (1-2 to Macheda, 0-2 to Samalongkok, 1-3 to 1980s United FC) again highlighted the gap in quality between the best and worst of the division. The plus point was that Shahril made his comeback after a 6-month school trip in Norway in the game against 1980s.
April 2010: We put some distance to cement our 10th placing out of 12th with a convincing 3-0 victory against Sarcofargo. This was also our first clean sheet in a while, in which Danial kept goal. However, another disappointing turnout for the 2nd round cup game at KB United (1-2), including the lack of a goalkeeper, made it a one-sided affair. Two glaring errors by me, standing in goal yet again, meant we exit the tournament on a limp and further cemented our need for a true goalkeeper. We ended the month with another entertaining draw (3-3), this time against Forza Ze East which featured Singapore Idol winner Hady Mirza. Not being starstruck, we should have won the game but Danial's rare mistake meant the points were undeservedly shared.
May 2010: We had another less than sterling turnout against Total Football. Under sweltering heat conditions, we lost 0-3, but it was the form of the returning Wilson in goal that kept the scoreline down. I, for one, am looking forward to see him in the team more often next season. We then played in a friendly loss against an alumni Victoria JC team that saw us feature with 3 debutants before ending the season in another loss that was riddled with more defensive mistakes against Industmarine Football (0-3).
This has been the toughest set of games for Kambing FC ever since we were founded over 3 years ago. We were guilty of conceding far too many goals from defensive, suicidal lapses. I wonder if the games would have been tighter if we had not been so prone to unconvincing defending. Having played in all but one of our games, I struggle to recall more than two or three well-worked goals created by an opponent, apart from both games against 1980s. Our opponents took their chances, no doubt about it, yet we will try to curb our kamikaze defending next time around. Watertight defence is definitely high on the agenda.
It is perhaps an encouraging sign that we had failed to score in only 5 of the 21 games we had played, the last two being non-consequential, typically end of the season drab affairs. As for the individual players, Muhammad was again the main player for us, top scoring with 7 goals, assisting 7 others and collecting 3 man-of-the-match accolades to complete another all-around footballer's performance. His future is uncertain at this juncture as his old team has reformed but in light of the expected standard of competition in the new season, I feel we can put up a far better fight this time around. I do not regret us competing in Div 3 but I do regret we did not have our best players for most of the games.
Far too often, I feel I have not quite had the support from our main players but I can understand the lifestyle, commitments and responsibilities of a young adult, having gone through the phase myself. I was, however, very pleased I could rely on a number of other players who have been with us almost from day one including the likes of Karim, Kevin and Firdaus Masdar. I hope they can continue to be a part of the team and I am inclined to give them more opportunities next season. We have also got a raw potential in Karim's younger brother, Farid, who is the youngest ever player to play for Kambing FC at the age of 15, and has acquitted well with the demands of playing with much older boys and men. Shiva, who made his debut this season, was another potential gem but he had gone off the boil without notice.
I have felt my age this past year and not merely to the headache from managing the team. However, I aim to start the new season, which expands to 5 division, with fresh vigour and perhaps fresh perspective. We have now acclimatized to two seasons of league football and perhaps, it is time the team take brand, new steps forward in terms of progression. I do expect some rebuilding process but on the whole, I hope that we have the core players still available for the team.
Akim
The promotion did not faze me. I was nervous but looking forward to playing against what we would naturally perceive to be stronger teams. Looking at the players we have and from our spirited performances in our rookie league season, I am sure most of us would agree we only needed strengthening in defence, which has more or less proven to be our downfall this season.
However, for most of our matches, we did not have the ideal strongest starting lineup. That is not an excuse for our eventual relegation. However, I am always one in favour of the spirit of competition. What is the point of turning up each week for a match only to get beaten down. It would not only be bad for team morale but our opponents would not have their money's worth. Nevertheless, we were not thumped badly and in fact, we ran it close in some matches too. Schoolboy defending, to say the least, undid us. More on that later.
October/November 2009: Our 2nd season in the 4th of its kind started with a record-equalling 5 game losing streak including one in a friendly that began with Sarcofargo (0-2). Ultras (1-2) and Forza Ze East (1-3) were our next league opponents and defensive calamities were starting to take shape. Kelvin was our first league scorer with a stunning effort against Ultras. Bay suffered a recurrence of his shoulder injury in the latter game and this was his first of only three games for the entire season. The next match marked the gap between the best and the worst in the division as 1980s gave us a footballing lesson in a 2-6 defeat.
December 2009: The unwanted streak was finally snapped with a morale-boosting draw when we fought from 0-2 against Samalongkok to snatch our first league point. Kelvin narrowed the scoreline with another contender for the goal of the season, finishing off a brilliant team move. Farhan secured the comeback with the last touch of the match via a header. Muhammad continued his fine form from last season and had a hand in both goals. We then began our first cup tie in a unique qualifying campaign in our first group match against Div 2's FC Tempastella. Despite having numerical superiority, we failed to capitalize in a high-scoring 4-4 draw. Back to the league, and we finally got our first win. This time, we made our numerical superiority count against Ultras in a 6-2 victory. Having scored in his last two games, Farhan made history when he became the 1st player to score two hat-tricks.
January 2010: We started the New Year in a 3-3 draw in a friendly. In the next game against Redbacks, Danial made his debut in goal and impressed. We could only draw 1-1 despite taking the lead. On the back of a five game unbeaten run, with one win in that sequence, we faced the second of the title favourites against Tohari Paijan's Total Football. Despite a superb defensive performance by the entire team led by Danial and Imran, we finally broke down to narrowly lose 0-1. We then played Div 4's Casanova XI in the final game of the qualifying cup competition. Due to its format, with all due respect to our opponents, we had to score big and hope that FC Tempastella did not outscore us so as to automatically qualify for the 2nd round. However, we could only secured a 2-1 victory, yours truly grabbing his only goal of the season to net the winner. Casanova XI did very well to raise their game and we may have a good game should we face each other in the new season. We would still qualify for the 2nd round of the cup competition by being one of the four 2nd-best placed teams. The month ended in a 2-4 defeat against Macheda, the last of the 3 automatic promotees from last season, the other two being champions Samalongkok and 3rd-placed Ultras.
February 2010: The pin finally dropped when we claimed our first and only major scalp against the then 3rd-placed team Industmarine Football. Having fallen behind in the first half, we clawed back to win 2-1. Another friendly win on Valentine's Day meant we were on a fine form of 3 wins in 4 games. The reverse fixture against Redbacks turned out to be a farcical affair for me personally. For the first game in a long time, we had a line-up with no substitutes. In a deja-vu like game, we led again only to be denied victory by Redback's wonderful equalizer as we shared the spoils. Having managed most of our games, it has been a tedious affair to get our players to commit early but never have I felt the tediousness until this game. The feeling did not go up till the final game of the season. The draw against Redbacks also virtually sealed our relegation.
March 2010: The title race was getting tighter with each week that goes by as we found ourselves in an admirable position to play the top 6 teams in the 2nd half of the season. That was motivation enough for me. However, 3 consecutive losses to genuine title challengers (1-2 to Macheda, 0-2 to Samalongkok, 1-3 to 1980s United FC) again highlighted the gap in quality between the best and worst of the division. The plus point was that Shahril made his comeback after a 6-month school trip in Norway in the game against 1980s.
April 2010: We put some distance to cement our 10th placing out of 12th with a convincing 3-0 victory against Sarcofargo. This was also our first clean sheet in a while, in which Danial kept goal. However, another disappointing turnout for the 2nd round cup game at KB United (1-2), including the lack of a goalkeeper, made it a one-sided affair. Two glaring errors by me, standing in goal yet again, meant we exit the tournament on a limp and further cemented our need for a true goalkeeper. We ended the month with another entertaining draw (3-3), this time against Forza Ze East which featured Singapore Idol winner Hady Mirza. Not being starstruck, we should have won the game but Danial's rare mistake meant the points were undeservedly shared.
May 2010: We had another less than sterling turnout against Total Football. Under sweltering heat conditions, we lost 0-3, but it was the form of the returning Wilson in goal that kept the scoreline down. I, for one, am looking forward to see him in the team more often next season. We then played in a friendly loss against an alumni Victoria JC team that saw us feature with 3 debutants before ending the season in another loss that was riddled with more defensive mistakes against Industmarine Football (0-3).
This has been the toughest set of games for Kambing FC ever since we were founded over 3 years ago. We were guilty of conceding far too many goals from defensive, suicidal lapses. I wonder if the games would have been tighter if we had not been so prone to unconvincing defending. Having played in all but one of our games, I struggle to recall more than two or three well-worked goals created by an opponent, apart from both games against 1980s. Our opponents took their chances, no doubt about it, yet we will try to curb our kamikaze defending next time around. Watertight defence is definitely high on the agenda.
It is perhaps an encouraging sign that we had failed to score in only 5 of the 21 games we had played, the last two being non-consequential, typically end of the season drab affairs. As for the individual players, Muhammad was again the main player for us, top scoring with 7 goals, assisting 7 others and collecting 3 man-of-the-match accolades to complete another all-around footballer's performance. His future is uncertain at this juncture as his old team has reformed but in light of the expected standard of competition in the new season, I feel we can put up a far better fight this time around. I do not regret us competing in Div 3 but I do regret we did not have our best players for most of the games.
Far too often, I feel I have not quite had the support from our main players but I can understand the lifestyle, commitments and responsibilities of a young adult, having gone through the phase myself. I was, however, very pleased I could rely on a number of other players who have been with us almost from day one including the likes of Karim, Kevin and Firdaus Masdar. I hope they can continue to be a part of the team and I am inclined to give them more opportunities next season. We have also got a raw potential in Karim's younger brother, Farid, who is the youngest ever player to play for Kambing FC at the age of 15, and has acquitted well with the demands of playing with much older boys and men. Shiva, who made his debut this season, was another potential gem but he had gone off the boil without notice.
I have felt my age this past year and not merely to the headache from managing the team. However, I aim to start the new season, which expands to 5 division, with fresh vigour and perhaps fresh perspective. We have now acclimatized to two seasons of league football and perhaps, it is time the team take brand, new steps forward in terms of progression. I do expect some rebuilding process but on the whole, I hope that we have the core players still available for the team.
Akim