match report
score: swai-ji 5 el lobos 4
scorers: yuxian 2, zhipeng 1, jiaxuan 1
attendance: 14.000

report: it's not about the loss that we should be worried about. i think everyone gave a fair effort, and though contribution wasn't effective on some parts, i think a draw would have been a desired result. tay's injury was nerve-wracking though, a very severe blow to our team aspirations. this is how the match went: (please forgive for inaccuracies)


the players who turned up were all forwards. no specialised defenders, no specialised dms even.
clearly a defensive effort was needed.

the team started off with leonard in goal, congjing and yewtze in a makeshift defence, tay and jx as the holding midfielders behind zhipeng. a cautious approach, to cover any defensive inadequacies. which backfired somewhat, due to tay instinctive forages up court and zp's sudden defensive mentality.

within minutes the team was two-nil down. the first, a moment of indecisiveness from jx, which allowed the opponent to chase a ball that should have been cleared sooner. despite the acute angle forced by the player, the opposition forward manage to get a shot in, a powerful one which leo could not save. the second, was a one-on-one chance. due to lack of understanding between the players, the ball was allowed to run, and the oppo striker made no mistake. as we feared: clinical and physical.

tay pulled one back, doing his trademark move of twisting past the attacker, turning the other way around before blasting the ball with his left foot. however, this served little to stem the tide. the ongoing midfield battle between yewtze and a pissed-off looking fellow was not going our way, due to superior height and size. hence, the team was left with nothing but long balls.

one goal a piece from tay and the opposition brought the scores to 3-2. by now, the formation had reverted to tay and zp forwards, jx in the middle, with the behind intact. with half time approaching, the team tried to muster any source of energy available. to no avail. pressed back, only some last ditch defending by cj, and some safe keeping from leo kept the score down.

after the break, a play of genius brought the team level. a long punt from leo was unintentionally hit to perfection, finding zp at the edge of the box. even so, zp needed composure and astute control to bring the ball down, before turning and finishing past a startled keeper. having missed 90% of his chances so far, this goal brought the team level, albeit rather undeservingly.

then disaster struck. just when everything seemed to be going our way, tay challenged for a stray ball, and as he missed, fell awkwardly. twisting his knee, it was three minutes before his teammates realised that this injury was for real. the shock barely settling in, both sides were reduced to five.

tay came back hobbling to be the keeper some ten minutes later, thus someone tall from our side was finally allowed to defend. suddenly, the guided long passes from the opposition were cut off, as leo started to impose himself. 'heheh i bet u guys are happy now. got defender behind liao.' leo, you don't know how true your words were la. at any rate, yewtze was freed to play in his usual role. jx and zp on the wings, and the play started to open up. however, a mix-up between cj and new keeper tay allowed another forward to sneak through. 3-4. this doesn't mean the defence was less steady; mistakes are made anyway. and cj was already playing the game of his life. life's just unfair sometimes. anyway tay reinjured his knee due to some ill-advised return to outfield duty, the situation looked bleak again. in all, leo was out for some ten minutes, headed away a dozen crucial balls, but yea it looked sad again.

jx, who had been struggling due to a bout of food poisoning, chose this moment to spring out of anonymity. the defender had obviously not been expecting anything out of him, and thus was stunned when the foward turned and cut past him. a quick burst of speed, and a decisive finish which leveled the score(s).

the lack of substitutes was taking it's toil though. due to fatigue, the players were not able to cover as effectively, especially jx, who had spent all his energy wastefully chasing defenders. a lapse from his side, and the opposition full back was able to chest the ball into an empty net after a mix-up back in defence.

anyway it's a damn long report. damn tired. good game. but i need to say this: if sum and weetheng were here, even bob, or tay had stayed healthy, don't think we would have lost.

manofthematch: congjing
he wasn't a defender, at least not for our team. but he sure played like one. tenacity, and a grit seldom seen in a lobo. spirit there cong.

moanofthematch: some-very-angry-player
wah lan eh, really need to be so serious. not only excessively physical, but somehow the whole world seemed to be against him. cool it dude.

quoteofthematch: 'i've never beaten my senior in two years leh. i'm sure i can do it now la.' a stressed zp on winning headers. and grounders.

conclusion: with tay out, we might still have enough firepower. defensively, it would be better if those two came back. rematch one day.