Chairman
#6 Goodfellas 0; #2 Wing Luen 0
Match Details
Date: 9:30pm, Thursday, March 18
Place: Happy Valley #12
First Half: Andy; Ikes, Chris; Alex C (Leo), David, Koh (Nomu); Ced (Eddie)
Second Half: Andy; Ikes, Chris; Leo, David, Nomu (Koh); Eddie (Alex)
In a week where the equinox was upon us, the fellas came into this
game against the second ranked team with a even goal difference, and
would leave with the pitch with our harmonious goal difference in
place. Coming into the last game of a good but rollercoaster M7
season, the fellas were up for a win against a strong team on a Happy
Valley 12 pitch - replete with a slower artificial grass surface -
that we have traditionally fared well on. We started the match
strongly with good movement both in the middle and down the flanks,
and had several good opportunities to get on the score sheet through
two good crosses, one from the left flank from Koh which Alex C shot
only to be saved at point blank range and another from a right corner
kick to a strong header from Ced. Halfway through this first half, we
made a round of substitutions, including taking off our french goal
machine Ced, who limped off after a tough challenge. One unlikely
threat came from striker of the day, Eddie, who ran at everything
thrown at him, and even running half the right flank only to see his
angled shot saved.
In the second half, the fellas pressed harder as Wing Luen anxiously
punted the ball downfield when striker-defender Eddie, and then Alex
C, harassed their backline. Leo made a number of good runs but
unfortunately into walls of defenders as they got back to defend.
Perhaps things may have been more fruitful if Wing Luen's goalkeeper
hadn't played as commandingly - he was their best player, making point
blank saves, directing their makeshift defense, and even eliciting
words from our resident pacifist Koh for a strong challenge. At this
point, Wing Luen counter attacked hard, and saw a few solid efforts
veer just to the left of Andy's post. In the end, perhaps a fair
result that saw the fellas hold their own against a team that would
qualify for the automatic group stage of the Champions League. As a
roundup, we just need to spread the ball better and link up more
players in attack higher up the pitch, like we did well in the first
half and did pretty badly in the second as we became more individual
and a bit reckless.
Despite a season spanning almost two years, the fellas ended the
season strongly and perhaps our sixth place finish amongst the
12-teams in the
league owed more to high turnover in our starting line up rather than
our commitment. Thankfully, we don't have to wait until the next
equinox to redeem ourselves: The new season starts next month.
