Bobos (GK)
Salleh - Azmi - Alim - Fairuz
Rahman - Azman - Kelvin - Ys - Akim
Khairul
Subs:
Firdaus Masdar
Omar
Shafi
Huang
Jo
Our team in D2D league
Rest of league results
Bowen Sec 3pm - My shocking miss, a lapse of concentration that led to the only goal, a glut of chances coupled with excellent goalkeeping and a series of bad offside calls that went against us; it was a highly-entertaining match that surprisingly ended in a low-scoring narrow 0-1 loss, or as Omar said, "a bad lose (sic)". The latecomers did not help with the initial team selection with the midfield consisting of 5 naturally central midfielders, though it meant we could attempt to play a more compact game similar to the way we ended last week. Alim made his season debut as Azmi's 3rd defensive partner this season and Khairul, also making his season debut, led the attack.
There were a lot of early hard running by both teams but Villagers FC began to control the game and played a combination of fluent short passing and crossfield passes that transited into threats especially down our defensive left flank. We did not crack under the pressure even if I still would like to see more composure on the ball instead of punting it away. Villagers managed shots from range, which we were happy with. Bobos did give us an early scare when he fumbled a routine catch that led to the first corner of the game. We relied on the counter-attacks, though at least 3 bad offside calls went against us and somewhat disrupted our momentum going forward.
The best chance of the game fell to me midway through the first half. Villagers had carelessly given the ball away at the halfway line on the right flank and there was suddenly a 2-on-2 break. Khairul led the break and Rahman was on hand to assist and he finally managed to find me in the box. Despite having time and space in the box, I could only shoot straight at a defender's leg on the goal-line that was just about a most shocking miss as it can get. We were punished for that miss soon after. Bobos, apart from his earlier fumble, had been irrepressible and got down to make at least two excellent saves to ensure the score remained 0-0. There was nothing he could do however when Villagers scored what turned out to be the only goal just as half-time loomed. We lost concentration after conceding a corner and the defence took too much time to organize. The opponents played a short corner and with our defence still all at sea, an opponent rose highest to head the ball into the net. With half-time approaching, it was a very disappointing goal to concede as we had held out impressively before that.
Seconds after the restart, Joharie's header from Khairul's cross sparked immediate life into the team. Joharie then had a glorious chance to equalize, after good work from Khairul again, but the GK foiled his shot in the 1-on-1 face-off. We came close again after Firdaus, of all people, initiated the best attacking move of the game, with the composure that I like to see more from him. The move began deep in our defence and we passed our way upfield to find Khairul, who was having a trailblazing start to the 2nd half, in another 1-on-1 situation but he could not finish off that excellent move after his shot was parried by the GK. Villagers fought back to regain control and we endured some close shaves even if Bobos was otherwise comfortable in goal.
We then suffered our worst spell of the match after repeatedly losing the aerial challenges from Azmi's goalkicks and highlighted our frailty yet again, as Villagers took advantage and poured in shot after shot. That spell was finally stemmed out when Kelvin was brought on to stabilize the team. We looked like we were on the verge of making a breakthrough but the referee was still having a bad day in the office after he made another couple of bad offside calls against us, with Villagers, like they did in the 1st half, playing a risky high line. As the match drew to a close, we desperately pegged Villagers back in search of the equalizer that never came, though by now, our reaction in the 2nd half was generally superb.
The misses in the game, from Jo, Khairul and myself, obviously dented our chances of getting at least a point, with my miss the worst of the lot as we could have taken the lead then. It also meant a record-extending 4th straight game that we failed to score, where previously, we had only played 2 games in a row without scoring. At the other end, our defensive performance, led by another impressive goalkeeping display by Bobos, kept the score down, and this continues to augur well for our league games this season. The manner in which we conceded our goal was very disappointing, and given our positive response in the 2nd half, a typical display of grit and desire, it made the result even worse. We must learn to appreciate that such a lapse might just prove to be the difference in a Div 3 game. Following on last week's draw, and our reaction in the 2nd half, I just cannot help but feel we had wasted our playing time in Div 2 last season, as we are clearly now in our depths and giving a better account of ourselves. At least we are here now. Let's get that first win soon.
Akim
Rest of league results
Bowen Sec 3pm - My shocking miss, a lapse of concentration that led to the only goal, a glut of chances coupled with excellent goalkeeping and a series of bad offside calls that went against us; it was a highly-entertaining match that surprisingly ended in a low-scoring narrow 0-1 loss, or as Omar said, "a bad lose (sic)". The latecomers did not help with the initial team selection with the midfield consisting of 5 naturally central midfielders, though it meant we could attempt to play a more compact game similar to the way we ended last week. Alim made his season debut as Azmi's 3rd defensive partner this season and Khairul, also making his season debut, led the attack.
There were a lot of early hard running by both teams but Villagers FC began to control the game and played a combination of fluent short passing and crossfield passes that transited into threats especially down our defensive left flank. We did not crack under the pressure even if I still would like to see more composure on the ball instead of punting it away. Villagers managed shots from range, which we were happy with. Bobos did give us an early scare when he fumbled a routine catch that led to the first corner of the game. We relied on the counter-attacks, though at least 3 bad offside calls went against us and somewhat disrupted our momentum going forward.
The best chance of the game fell to me midway through the first half. Villagers had carelessly given the ball away at the halfway line on the right flank and there was suddenly a 2-on-2 break. Khairul led the break and Rahman was on hand to assist and he finally managed to find me in the box. Despite having time and space in the box, I could only shoot straight at a defender's leg on the goal-line that was just about a most shocking miss as it can get. We were punished for that miss soon after. Bobos, apart from his earlier fumble, had been irrepressible and got down to make at least two excellent saves to ensure the score remained 0-0. There was nothing he could do however when Villagers scored what turned out to be the only goal just as half-time loomed. We lost concentration after conceding a corner and the defence took too much time to organize. The opponents played a short corner and with our defence still all at sea, an opponent rose highest to head the ball into the net. With half-time approaching, it was a very disappointing goal to concede as we had held out impressively before that.
Seconds after the restart, Joharie's header from Khairul's cross sparked immediate life into the team. Joharie then had a glorious chance to equalize, after good work from Khairul again, but the GK foiled his shot in the 1-on-1 face-off. We came close again after Firdaus, of all people, initiated the best attacking move of the game, with the composure that I like to see more from him. The move began deep in our defence and we passed our way upfield to find Khairul, who was having a trailblazing start to the 2nd half, in another 1-on-1 situation but he could not finish off that excellent move after his shot was parried by the GK. Villagers fought back to regain control and we endured some close shaves even if Bobos was otherwise comfortable in goal.
We then suffered our worst spell of the match after repeatedly losing the aerial challenges from Azmi's goalkicks and highlighted our frailty yet again, as Villagers took advantage and poured in shot after shot. That spell was finally stemmed out when Kelvin was brought on to stabilize the team. We looked like we were on the verge of making a breakthrough but the referee was still having a bad day in the office after he made another couple of bad offside calls against us, with Villagers, like they did in the 1st half, playing a risky high line. As the match drew to a close, we desperately pegged Villagers back in search of the equalizer that never came, though by now, our reaction in the 2nd half was generally superb.
The misses in the game, from Jo, Khairul and myself, obviously dented our chances of getting at least a point, with my miss the worst of the lot as we could have taken the lead then. It also meant a record-extending 4th straight game that we failed to score, where previously, we had only played 2 games in a row without scoring. At the other end, our defensive performance, led by another impressive goalkeeping display by Bobos, kept the score down, and this continues to augur well for our league games this season. The manner in which we conceded our goal was very disappointing, and given our positive response in the 2nd half, a typical display of grit and desire, it made the result even worse. We must learn to appreciate that such a lapse might just prove to be the difference in a Div 3 game. Following on last week's draw, and our reaction in the 2nd half, I just cannot help but feel we had wasted our playing time in Div 2 last season, as we are clearly now in our depths and giving a better account of ourselves. At least we are here now. Let's get that first win soon.
Akim