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Scorers (assists)
Akim (Fazli)
Akim (Huang)
Farhan (Imran)
Man Of The Match
Akim (9) - two well-taken goals
Helmi (4)
Imran (4) - very crucial in the two positions he played in
Yellow card:
Fazli (2nd half)
Wilson (GK)
Imran - Calvin - Azmi - Fazli
Kelvin - Azman - Akim - Shafi
Helmi
Huang
Subs:
Mubarak
Omar
Rahman
Azhari
Rafeeq
Farhan
Our team in D2D league
Rest of league results
Season 5 got underway this past Sunday for Kambing FC as we embarked on a third season with D2D. Our opponents were last season's Div 4 champions Kentridge Rangers, who are looking to build on their promotion with a good start. A light drizzle rendered a sleek and fast playing surface on an artificial pitch, promising an entertaining match. It did not disappoint as a total of five goals told a part of the story. I did feel trepidation at the prospect of a daunting game but with a strong squad at our disposal, I was excited as well to show that we can play well and we did.
In the opening minutes, we harried our opponents in their own half and showed determination to win the ball and a willingness to retain possession too. Fazli's long throws were a part of the game that we missed last season and the opening goal highlighted the reason why we did. I rose highest, not literally, among a sea of taller players to head Fazli's throw-in cross just past beyond the goalkeeper's reach to give us an early lead.
That helped to calm pre-match jitters and we got into a settled rhythm of winning and keeping the ball as our opponents look a little unsettled and unsure of themselves. Keeping the ball well was key to our second goal and it came shortly after the first.
From our defence, the ball found its way to Azman in the middle of the park. Spotting Huang's off-the ball run, he clipped the ball forward to our striker on the right flank. More off-the-ball runs from Shafi and myself gave Huang support, who did well to hold off his marker and cut back a pass across the penalty box. Shafi reacted first and as he shaped to shoot, the ball took a nick through his legs and I was fortunate to get the ball at my feet. I brushed past the only defender in my way and struck a low shot past the GK to give us a fairytale 2-0 lead.
Understandably, Kentridge Rangers tried to force their way back into the game. A poor referee's decision against the impressive Imran, who won the ball fairly, led to a free-kick in a dangerous position. Wilson could only palm the shot in front of him towards a couple of Kentridge Rangers players but the ball dropped awkwardly for one of them and he sliced his shot wide.
We then endured a phase of nervous defending when we lost the ball easily in critical areas of the pitch, and often when we looked at ease in possession of the ball. Fortunately, we were not duly troubled by the combination of our lazy passes and lack of communication. Our opponents looked laboured going forward but we were still shuffling our feet anxiously defending an individual opponent's dribble towards our goal.
Farhan made an immediate impact when he came on and extended KFC's lead to 3-0. Playing a one-two with Imran on the right flank, Farhan found himself just outside the box and with a quick turn, he struck a left-footed drive, by all accounts a wonderful strike, that gave the GK no chance.
Imran suffered a dead leg just before we go into half-time with an impressive lead. With minor changes, we made our intentions very clear to secure this result. Imran's injury was a concern but he was fit enough to carry on for the 2nd half.
We made it tough for ourselves after the restart when two quickfire goals narrowed the deficit to 3-2. Another solo dribble immediately had us on the backfoot. The opponent beat two men and finished off his dribble with a shot outside the box that creeped in past Wilson, who had been almost a spectator till then.
The opponents then gave themselves hope when they scored their second goal. An opponent throw-in from the left flank was met by Calvin who unfortunately headed it through the hands of a surprised Wilson into his own goal.
The sudden shift of events leading to the narrow scoreline set the tone for the second half of the match. We had to defend stoutly now while juggling our own offensive duties. We were still anxious and delayed in releasing the ball, often unnecessarily. When we did pass it around, we lacked composure individually and an opponent pressure caused us to lose the ball.
Overall, we did well to maintain our now slender lead as Azman prominently came to the fore in the second half. His link-up plays between defence and attack was pivotal to our strategy as he continually found space in midfield. With the ball at his feet, he was adept at holding it up and spreading the play with his distribution. Our midfield and attack decently played their parts to at least made our opponents worked as equally hard in the attacking half.
Although we lacked either panache or pragmatism in the final third, having had no clear sight of goal for the early part of the half, our opponents were not threatening us either. Tiring legs gave way to fresh ones, Imran in particular, as ever, was a key cog in midfield and later in defence. We finally gained a more assured foothold as the game opened up for a nail-biting finish. We tried to score the crucial fourth goal against a visibly tightened defence but it did not matter. We continued to retain possession very well, impressively even, to sew up the game with our first points of the season.
Before the game, I told the team to make off-the-ball runs to support a team-mate in possession, a basic foundation really, but ineffective unless it is practiced. Hopefully, we can score more similar goals this season while it is also important that we work on such movements on the other areas of the pitch as well.
While we continue to learn to retain possession, which we admirably succeeded in the game, composure is something only an individual can build on his own. In a collective sense, I hope we can built on it by playing together more often this season. Defending is not our strongest suit, shown again when the opponents scored their first goal, but I was pleased that we at least showed glimpses of improvement. Calvin and Azmi, back together after some time away, may lack for pace, but with strengths in their own right, I hope that we can built the defence around them together with Shahril this season.
Akim
*****
Kambing FC started its first league game in our 3rd season in the D2D league. Coming up against last season division 4 champions, we were slightly uncertain of what to expect as we have never seen them play before and they were only “placed” in the 4th division upon their own request. Though there was a slight drizzle before, the game was allowed to carry on as the artificial pitch held on well.
Wilson started the GK, Imran, Calvin, Azmi and Fazli made up the back four, Kelvin, Azman, Akim and Shafi were in midfield, while Helmi played in a withdrawn striker/playmaker role just behind Huang. KFC started impressively, eager to assert ourselves on the opponents and make a good start to the season. Helmi in particular was extremely lively in his playmaking role, running at Kentridge’s defence as well as pouncing on loose balls in the 3rd quarter of the pitch. Shafi and Huang were put through by Helmi’s probing passes but were both denied by the opposition’s keeper who was quick off his line to clear any danger. KFC’s defence too held out well in the face of the opposition’s quick attacks and direct running. The fact that the opponents’ were less keen to play high balls probably played into our hands as we were able to cope quite comfortably with their passing.
An attack down the left brought KFC a throw in which was taken by Fazli. His famed long throws were always a great weapon for KFC and this proved to be another one of it. Fazli’s throw was again long and straight into the opponent’s penalty area, and Akim escaped his marker and was quickest to it, glancing a header to the bottom of the goal, leaving Kentridge’s keeper with no chance at all. His celebration following the goal showed how much Akim was determined to do well in our first game and was also a good recovery after his self-claimed bad performance last week. Save for a few forages forward by Kentridge, KFC was still controlling the game quite comfortably. Our 2nd goal soon arrived as good passing down the right by Huang, Helmi and Imran saw the ball break for Akim in the penalty area. After having his first shot blocked, Akim reacted fastest again and was able to squeeze his shot into goal. We were now cruising and started to fall back and absorb the opposition’s attacks while waiting for opportunities to launch our own counters.
The substitutions then took place as Azhari and Farhan made long awaited returns to the team. Both were soon in the thick of things as Azhari pulled the strings in midfield while Farhan troubled the opponent’s defense with his intelligent running and skill. The 3rd goal came inevitably through Farhan. Receiving the ball with his back to goal, he turned and shot in one swift motion. The ball looped over Kentridge’s keeper and nestled into the back of the net, it was truly a goal of great quality. Near the end of the 1st half, Imran was hurt as the opponent’s striker banged into his thigh while challenging for a high ball. That was the last action of the half as KFC went into the break with a 3-0 lead.
However, that lead was probably too much for our own good as Kentridge raced to score 2 quick goals upon the resumption of the 2nd half. The first was scored after their striker managed to dribble his way to the edge of our penalty area and placed a shot beyond the grasp of Wilson. The second was an unfortunate own goal, which came off the head of Calvin and slipped thru Wilson’s hands.
With their confidence now back, Kentridge were sensing a fightback and began to press harder but it was during this period of time when KFC’s fighting spirit and teamwork shone brightest. Everyone were pulling in the same direction, be it shouting and warning each other of pressure from opponents, tracking back to help out the defence or making off the ball runs. Azman was particularly impressive as he did an excellent job in his holding midfield role, keeping possession of the ball and redistributing it intelligently.
The last few moments of the game was end to end stuff as Kentridge tried their darndest to score their equalizer while KFC looked to expose their holes in defense to score a game killing 4th goal. Solid defending ensured neither side were able to score again as the game ended 3-2. A hard earn victory but one which showed KFC has moved on in leaps and bounds in term of unity and teamwork.
Kelvin
*****
It has became somewhat of a tradition in KFC to underperform at the start of the new season. Though we managed to scrap in a 3-2 victory this time around against Kent Ridge Rangers who steamrolled past the Division 4 'also-rans' last season, our performance was just barely adequate. Having placed ourselves in a comfortable position with a 3-0 lead early on in the game, we somehow let KRR creep in back into a game.
KFC got off to a flyer early on in the game with two quick goals form Akim. I couldn't recollect what happened that led to the first goal as i was far away from action then (and also due to the mass of players in the KRR box of a cross in, which i later found out was a throw from Fazli), but the reaction of the players, referee and the spectators reaffirmed my conviction to what i thought i just saw- a goal. Akim, amongst the crowd managed to get on the end of the throw-in to put us one up. The second goal from KFC came from the same player, whose good movements resulted in him being well placed enough to strike past the opposing GK after a blitz attack down their left flank.
Being two goals down, KRR stepped up their game and they almost got lucky. They almost capitalized after receiving a fortuitous free kick in a dangerous position, when Wilson met the initial free kick with a palm down, which surprised everyone including the three KRR player ready to pounce but luckily enough for us the ball bounced off the unsuspecting KRR attacker's shin to agonizingly whiz just a few inches wide off Wilson's right post. We were lucky to still maintain our two goal lead. Our first round of substitutions took place, and i was a bit reluctant to replace Akim then, knowing that i would be off pace in a quick game that was played that day.
The impact of Farhan's introduction was almost immediate. His first touch of the game was to receive a Huang lay off on the edge of he box, turn and then place it exquisitely beyond the reach of the KRR Gk's left and into the net. It was a goal that screamed 'Farhan' all over. I however was having a torrid time in midfield.
The second half of the game saw Lady Luck switch sides and KFC succumbed to two weakly defended goals. The first was engineered via their left flank, and as their winger broke away, I tried to close him down. He still managed to centre the ball ahead of the run of a deep KRR player with Azman hot on his heels. Alas, both missed the ball altogether and as the ball landed to the KRR right winger. He then threaded it back to their striker who squirmed and squeezed in a shot amidst the attention of our players which trickled past Wilson. 3-1.
They came back into the game through the most bizarre of goals, when on the right-most edge of the six yard box, Calvin attempted to head away a seemingly tame throw-in only to find his header to trace the ball a path to elude Wilson's grasp and into the back of the net. A bizarre goal, but it is still a goal nonetheless. KRR cheered at being allowed a hand back into the game amidst the disgust of some KFC players. KRR began to press on for the equalizer, and it was this time that the KFC players had to make themselves counted. Azman and Helmi, my MoM for the game stepped up well to meet the challenge in midfield and the whole team started to reclaim lost ground. It was only during this time that i managed to give my only meaningful contributions to the team, having took so long to warm up to the game.
Our fight to hold our position was carried on by the second round of players, and we needed to muster up as much spirit to neuter the momentum and new found belief of the KRR team. We met the KRR intrusions with a brave and resolute defence made impossible without the excellent individual and team interventions to thwart KRR advances. In the end we pulled through to record our first victory for the new season taking into heart that we rose up to finish the job that we could have made so much easier.
Rahman
Rest of league results
Season 5 got underway this past Sunday for Kambing FC as we embarked on a third season with D2D. Our opponents were last season's Div 4 champions Kentridge Rangers, who are looking to build on their promotion with a good start. A light drizzle rendered a sleek and fast playing surface on an artificial pitch, promising an entertaining match. It did not disappoint as a total of five goals told a part of the story. I did feel trepidation at the prospect of a daunting game but with a strong squad at our disposal, I was excited as well to show that we can play well and we did.
In the opening minutes, we harried our opponents in their own half and showed determination to win the ball and a willingness to retain possession too. Fazli's long throws were a part of the game that we missed last season and the opening goal highlighted the reason why we did. I rose highest, not literally, among a sea of taller players to head Fazli's throw-in cross just past beyond the goalkeeper's reach to give us an early lead.
That helped to calm pre-match jitters and we got into a settled rhythm of winning and keeping the ball as our opponents look a little unsettled and unsure of themselves. Keeping the ball well was key to our second goal and it came shortly after the first.
From our defence, the ball found its way to Azman in the middle of the park. Spotting Huang's off-the ball run, he clipped the ball forward to our striker on the right flank. More off-the-ball runs from Shafi and myself gave Huang support, who did well to hold off his marker and cut back a pass across the penalty box. Shafi reacted first and as he shaped to shoot, the ball took a nick through his legs and I was fortunate to get the ball at my feet. I brushed past the only defender in my way and struck a low shot past the GK to give us a fairytale 2-0 lead.
Understandably, Kentridge Rangers tried to force their way back into the game. A poor referee's decision against the impressive Imran, who won the ball fairly, led to a free-kick in a dangerous position. Wilson could only palm the shot in front of him towards a couple of Kentridge Rangers players but the ball dropped awkwardly for one of them and he sliced his shot wide.
We then endured a phase of nervous defending when we lost the ball easily in critical areas of the pitch, and often when we looked at ease in possession of the ball. Fortunately, we were not duly troubled by the combination of our lazy passes and lack of communication. Our opponents looked laboured going forward but we were still shuffling our feet anxiously defending an individual opponent's dribble towards our goal.
Farhan made an immediate impact when he came on and extended KFC's lead to 3-0. Playing a one-two with Imran on the right flank, Farhan found himself just outside the box and with a quick turn, he struck a left-footed drive, by all accounts a wonderful strike, that gave the GK no chance.
Imran suffered a dead leg just before we go into half-time with an impressive lead. With minor changes, we made our intentions very clear to secure this result. Imran's injury was a concern but he was fit enough to carry on for the 2nd half.
We made it tough for ourselves after the restart when two quickfire goals narrowed the deficit to 3-2. Another solo dribble immediately had us on the backfoot. The opponent beat two men and finished off his dribble with a shot outside the box that creeped in past Wilson, who had been almost a spectator till then.
The opponents then gave themselves hope when they scored their second goal. An opponent throw-in from the left flank was met by Calvin who unfortunately headed it through the hands of a surprised Wilson into his own goal.
The sudden shift of events leading to the narrow scoreline set the tone for the second half of the match. We had to defend stoutly now while juggling our own offensive duties. We were still anxious and delayed in releasing the ball, often unnecessarily. When we did pass it around, we lacked composure individually and an opponent pressure caused us to lose the ball.
Overall, we did well to maintain our now slender lead as Azman prominently came to the fore in the second half. His link-up plays between defence and attack was pivotal to our strategy as he continually found space in midfield. With the ball at his feet, he was adept at holding it up and spreading the play with his distribution. Our midfield and attack decently played their parts to at least made our opponents worked as equally hard in the attacking half.
Although we lacked either panache or pragmatism in the final third, having had no clear sight of goal for the early part of the half, our opponents were not threatening us either. Tiring legs gave way to fresh ones, Imran in particular, as ever, was a key cog in midfield and later in defence. We finally gained a more assured foothold as the game opened up for a nail-biting finish. We tried to score the crucial fourth goal against a visibly tightened defence but it did not matter. We continued to retain possession very well, impressively even, to sew up the game with our first points of the season.
Before the game, I told the team to make off-the-ball runs to support a team-mate in possession, a basic foundation really, but ineffective unless it is practiced. Hopefully, we can score more similar goals this season while it is also important that we work on such movements on the other areas of the pitch as well.
While we continue to learn to retain possession, which we admirably succeeded in the game, composure is something only an individual can build on his own. In a collective sense, I hope we can built on it by playing together more often this season. Defending is not our strongest suit, shown again when the opponents scored their first goal, but I was pleased that we at least showed glimpses of improvement. Calvin and Azmi, back together after some time away, may lack for pace, but with strengths in their own right, I hope that we can built the defence around them together with Shahril this season.
Akim
Kambing FC started its first league game in our 3rd season in the D2D league. Coming up against last season division 4 champions, we were slightly uncertain of what to expect as we have never seen them play before and they were only “placed” in the 4th division upon their own request. Though there was a slight drizzle before, the game was allowed to carry on as the artificial pitch held on well.
Wilson started the GK, Imran, Calvin, Azmi and Fazli made up the back four, Kelvin, Azman, Akim and Shafi were in midfield, while Helmi played in a withdrawn striker/playmaker role just behind Huang. KFC started impressively, eager to assert ourselves on the opponents and make a good start to the season. Helmi in particular was extremely lively in his playmaking role, running at Kentridge’s defence as well as pouncing on loose balls in the 3rd quarter of the pitch. Shafi and Huang were put through by Helmi’s probing passes but were both denied by the opposition’s keeper who was quick off his line to clear any danger. KFC’s defence too held out well in the face of the opposition’s quick attacks and direct running. The fact that the opponents’ were less keen to play high balls probably played into our hands as we were able to cope quite comfortably with their passing.
An attack down the left brought KFC a throw in which was taken by Fazli. His famed long throws were always a great weapon for KFC and this proved to be another one of it. Fazli’s throw was again long and straight into the opponent’s penalty area, and Akim escaped his marker and was quickest to it, glancing a header to the bottom of the goal, leaving Kentridge’s keeper with no chance at all. His celebration following the goal showed how much Akim was determined to do well in our first game and was also a good recovery after his self-claimed bad performance last week. Save for a few forages forward by Kentridge, KFC was still controlling the game quite comfortably. Our 2nd goal soon arrived as good passing down the right by Huang, Helmi and Imran saw the ball break for Akim in the penalty area. After having his first shot blocked, Akim reacted fastest again and was able to squeeze his shot into goal. We were now cruising and started to fall back and absorb the opposition’s attacks while waiting for opportunities to launch our own counters.
The substitutions then took place as Azhari and Farhan made long awaited returns to the team. Both were soon in the thick of things as Azhari pulled the strings in midfield while Farhan troubled the opponent’s defense with his intelligent running and skill. The 3rd goal came inevitably through Farhan. Receiving the ball with his back to goal, he turned and shot in one swift motion. The ball looped over Kentridge’s keeper and nestled into the back of the net, it was truly a goal of great quality. Near the end of the 1st half, Imran was hurt as the opponent’s striker banged into his thigh while challenging for a high ball. That was the last action of the half as KFC went into the break with a 3-0 lead.
However, that lead was probably too much for our own good as Kentridge raced to score 2 quick goals upon the resumption of the 2nd half. The first was scored after their striker managed to dribble his way to the edge of our penalty area and placed a shot beyond the grasp of Wilson. The second was an unfortunate own goal, which came off the head of Calvin and slipped thru Wilson’s hands.
With their confidence now back, Kentridge were sensing a fightback and began to press harder but it was during this period of time when KFC’s fighting spirit and teamwork shone brightest. Everyone were pulling in the same direction, be it shouting and warning each other of pressure from opponents, tracking back to help out the defence or making off the ball runs. Azman was particularly impressive as he did an excellent job in his holding midfield role, keeping possession of the ball and redistributing it intelligently.
The last few moments of the game was end to end stuff as Kentridge tried their darndest to score their equalizer while KFC looked to expose their holes in defense to score a game killing 4th goal. Solid defending ensured neither side were able to score again as the game ended 3-2. A hard earn victory but one which showed KFC has moved on in leaps and bounds in term of unity and teamwork.
Kelvin
It has became somewhat of a tradition in KFC to underperform at the start of the new season. Though we managed to scrap in a 3-2 victory this time around against Kent Ridge Rangers who steamrolled past the Division 4 'also-rans' last season, our performance was just barely adequate. Having placed ourselves in a comfortable position with a 3-0 lead early on in the game, we somehow let KRR creep in back into a game.
KFC got off to a flyer early on in the game with two quick goals form Akim. I couldn't recollect what happened that led to the first goal as i was far away from action then (and also due to the mass of players in the KRR box of a cross in, which i later found out was a throw from Fazli), but the reaction of the players, referee and the spectators reaffirmed my conviction to what i thought i just saw- a goal. Akim, amongst the crowd managed to get on the end of the throw-in to put us one up. The second goal from KFC came from the same player, whose good movements resulted in him being well placed enough to strike past the opposing GK after a blitz attack down their left flank.
Being two goals down, KRR stepped up their game and they almost got lucky. They almost capitalized after receiving a fortuitous free kick in a dangerous position, when Wilson met the initial free kick with a palm down, which surprised everyone including the three KRR player ready to pounce but luckily enough for us the ball bounced off the unsuspecting KRR attacker's shin to agonizingly whiz just a few inches wide off Wilson's right post. We were lucky to still maintain our two goal lead. Our first round of substitutions took place, and i was a bit reluctant to replace Akim then, knowing that i would be off pace in a quick game that was played that day.
The impact of Farhan's introduction was almost immediate. His first touch of the game was to receive a Huang lay off on the edge of he box, turn and then place it exquisitely beyond the reach of the KRR Gk's left and into the net. It was a goal that screamed 'Farhan' all over. I however was having a torrid time in midfield.
The second half of the game saw Lady Luck switch sides and KFC succumbed to two weakly defended goals. The first was engineered via their left flank, and as their winger broke away, I tried to close him down. He still managed to centre the ball ahead of the run of a deep KRR player with Azman hot on his heels. Alas, both missed the ball altogether and as the ball landed to the KRR right winger. He then threaded it back to their striker who squirmed and squeezed in a shot amidst the attention of our players which trickled past Wilson. 3-1.
They came back into the game through the most bizarre of goals, when on the right-most edge of the six yard box, Calvin attempted to head away a seemingly tame throw-in only to find his header to trace the ball a path to elude Wilson's grasp and into the back of the net. A bizarre goal, but it is still a goal nonetheless. KRR cheered at being allowed a hand back into the game amidst the disgust of some KFC players. KRR began to press on for the equalizer, and it was this time that the KFC players had to make themselves counted. Azman and Helmi, my MoM for the game stepped up well to meet the challenge in midfield and the whole team started to reclaim lost ground. It was only during this time that i managed to give my only meaningful contributions to the team, having took so long to warm up to the game.
Our fight to hold our position was carried on by the second round of players, and we needed to muster up as much spirit to neuter the momentum and new found belief of the KRR team. We met the KRR intrusions with a brave and resolute defence made impossible without the excellent individual and team interventions to thwart KRR advances. In the end we pulled through to record our first victory for the new season taking into heart that we rose up to finish the job that we could have made so much easier.
Rahman