Scorers (assists)
Yongsheng (Huang)
Yellow card:
-
Wilson (GK)
Shafi - Rashid - Shahril - Akim
Omar - Huang - Muhammad - Rafeeq
Yongsheng - Jurino
Subs:
Farid
Salleh
Sham
Karim
Farhan
Having played more games than most teams in the D2D league, Kambing FC took a league break to play this friendly on an excellently laid-out turf at Victoria School. Our opponents were an alumni Victorian team. The expected recall of our main players did not materialize as we handed debuts to 3 players instead. Still, we managed to field a familiar starting line-up apart from debutant Jurino and Yongsheng who made his 5th consecutive appearance.
Both teams started cagily having never faced the other before. We started to gear ourselves up however and Huang almost broke his goalscoring drought when his header from Omar's corner thundered off the crossbar. Huang was again the main perpetrator as his assist for Yongsheng gave KFC the lead. Huang made a similar wonderful dribble to the one against Total Football but it was towards and inside the penalty box this time as he cut back a pass for Yongsheng. Yongsheng matched Huang's superb work with an excellent piece of footwork to elude his marker and smashed a powerful shot into the top corner of the net to score his 1st goal for the team.
That goal should have allowed us to control the game as our opponents were still looking unsure but they found a second wind instead. Looking dangerous on the counter-attack, our opponents had us scrambling defensively at times although clear-cut chances were at a premium. We were struggling to find an attacking groove ourselves as some dodgy refereeing had us scratching our heads to say the least. When we conceded the equalizer, it came unnaturally. Wilson got his hands to an indirect freekick that would have been disallowed if he had let the ball sail past him. As laws of the game go, however, the goal stood. Wilson, at the same time, would have been disappointed with failing to catch the ball at the least. The fresh faces were also introduced to the game with Sham in particular looking like a real deal. Yet we could have found ourselves 1-2 down just before half-time but the opponent could only struck his shot straight at Wilson and his follow-up sailed over the bar.
The second half saw more questionable refereeing decisions but we had enough chances to kill off the game too. Yongsheng could have scored his 2nd goal when a Farhan low cross was drilled across the goal. Our burly striker could only astonishingly shoot over the bar. KFC could blame themselves when the opponents took the lead. Rashid had ill-judgedly decided to let a loose punt go over his head for Wilson to collect. He failed to track the run of the intended recipient however and Wilson was caught in no man's land as the said opponent headed a looping header over our custodian. Credit to the opponent who continued his run but it was far too soft a goal for us to concede.
Omar could have levelled the score when his pressure caused the GK to be caught in possession inside his own box following a backpass. The opponents manage to recover as Omar failed to capitalize. The match was effectively over when the opponents scored their third goal from a corner. Indecisive defending at the near post allowed the ball to be granted a free pass across goal to an opponent who took it first time to drill his shot into the roof of the net.
It was a disappointing result that was equally frustrating due to some of the referee's decisions. Nevertheless, we could and should have taken the game by the scruff of the neck, having had some good chances to score. Still, given the circumstances of a team that is recalling certain players who have been out of the game recently, it was nice to see some backbone of the team back and also the new faces as well. Special mention has to be given to 16 year old Farid, the youngest ever player for the team, who is making progress at left-back and defended well today. Huang too has added a newfound knack of dribbling with the ball past a few players in back-to-back games and assisted our goal today.
Akim
Both teams started cagily having never faced the other before. We started to gear ourselves up however and Huang almost broke his goalscoring drought when his header from Omar's corner thundered off the crossbar. Huang was again the main perpetrator as his assist for Yongsheng gave KFC the lead. Huang made a similar wonderful dribble to the one against Total Football but it was towards and inside the penalty box this time as he cut back a pass for Yongsheng. Yongsheng matched Huang's superb work with an excellent piece of footwork to elude his marker and smashed a powerful shot into the top corner of the net to score his 1st goal for the team.
That goal should have allowed us to control the game as our opponents were still looking unsure but they found a second wind instead. Looking dangerous on the counter-attack, our opponents had us scrambling defensively at times although clear-cut chances were at a premium. We were struggling to find an attacking groove ourselves as some dodgy refereeing had us scratching our heads to say the least. When we conceded the equalizer, it came unnaturally. Wilson got his hands to an indirect freekick that would have been disallowed if he had let the ball sail past him. As laws of the game go, however, the goal stood. Wilson, at the same time, would have been disappointed with failing to catch the ball at the least. The fresh faces were also introduced to the game with Sham in particular looking like a real deal. Yet we could have found ourselves 1-2 down just before half-time but the opponent could only struck his shot straight at Wilson and his follow-up sailed over the bar.
The second half saw more questionable refereeing decisions but we had enough chances to kill off the game too. Yongsheng could have scored his 2nd goal when a Farhan low cross was drilled across the goal. Our burly striker could only astonishingly shoot over the bar. KFC could blame themselves when the opponents took the lead. Rashid had ill-judgedly decided to let a loose punt go over his head for Wilson to collect. He failed to track the run of the intended recipient however and Wilson was caught in no man's land as the said opponent headed a looping header over our custodian. Credit to the opponent who continued his run but it was far too soft a goal for us to concede.
Omar could have levelled the score when his pressure caused the GK to be caught in possession inside his own box following a backpass. The opponents manage to recover as Omar failed to capitalize. The match was effectively over when the opponents scored their third goal from a corner. Indecisive defending at the near post allowed the ball to be granted a free pass across goal to an opponent who took it first time to drill his shot into the roof of the net.
It was a disappointing result that was equally frustrating due to some of the referee's decisions. Nevertheless, we could and should have taken the game by the scruff of the neck, having had some good chances to score. Still, given the circumstances of a team that is recalling certain players who have been out of the game recently, it was nice to see some backbone of the team back and also the new faces as well. Special mention has to be given to 16 year old Farid, the youngest ever player for the team, who is making progress at left-back and defended well today. Huang too has added a newfound knack of dribbling with the ball past a few players in back-to-back games and assisted our goal today.
Akim