Despite the gloomy weather and the change of colours, it was hard to ignore the level of confidence FC Phenom had as they prepared for their final friendly match before the resumption of fixtures in the MOF Sunshine Division. The confidence came from the knowledge of securing four convincing wins in a rows since the 25th of August 2013. After finding their rhythm and touches, it did not take long for FC Phenom to start the goals flowing.
A rush of goals, killed off the opponents before they could get in their strides. On the 13th minute mark, Team Captain,Muhammad Hafidz Taib, flicked on a low cross on to the path of on-rushing winger, Mohammad Danial Ali, to put FC Phenom in the lead. A combination of a long punt upfield by stand-in goalkeeper, Mohamad Fadhil Fathlan and constant pressure from the forwards caused a defensive error leading to another goal, doubling FC Phenom's lead within two minutes. To round-up the 4-minute chaos for the opponents defence, Mohammad Danial Ali delivered a low cross from the left to pick out right winger, Thamilarasu Sabapathy at the far post. Thamilarasu Sabapathy made no mistakes with a tap in as the team raced to 3-0 lead in the first 17 minutes of the match.
Minutes before the half-time whistle came, Thamil capped off a fine first half performance when he laid a precise through-ball for central midfielder, Suhairi Suhaimi to break the offside trap and slot the ball past the helpless goalkeeper with ease. The players walked off the pitch at half time four goals up.
Ten minutes after the second half started, nifty forward, Muhammad Rhazaly Ridhuan, who had been a thorn in the opponent's defence, was brought down by a clusmy tackle in the box. Azhar Shah gave no chance as he dispatched the awarded penalty to the far side of the goal, leaving the goalkeeper frozen on his line.
In the next three minutes, the experience of defender turned stand-in winger, Teo Kok Keong put the game out of the opponent's reach as he linked up with Suhairi Suhaimi. In the 51st minute, an early cross to the box from Teo Kok Keong, allowed Suhairi Suhaimi to score his second goal of the game with a simple tap in. Suhairi Suhaimi secured his hat-trick and the man-of-the-match award two minutes later, with delicate lob over the keeper after Teo Kok Keong's quick throw-in had released him into space.
In the 70th minute, Muhammad Rhazaly Ridhuan rolled a through ball into the path of energetic midfielder, Hakim Halim to end the scoring that morning with yet another tap in.
The cherry on top of FC Phemon's cake was not only the 8 goals scored but also the overall gameplay. It was another dominating defensive performance by Muhamad Fadhil Fathlan, Ang Thiam Foo, Josh Shaun Lim, Aliff Mohamed and James Soh, that gave the attackers the drive to push for more goals despite being four goals up at half-time. FC Phenom's consistency in finding the back of the net and keeping their goal safe has been one of the key successes for this season so far. Their newly restored confidence will be tested in the remaining fixtures of the season.
The message from Team Captain, Muhammad Hafidz Taib, to the team during the team's post match debrief was clear. Continue with the flowing football and keep scoring.
Prepared By,
Dharman Norms
