It’s quite rare that I don’t know how to start a report. I’m really struggling how to begin this. Maybe I shall just make it all about our hat trick hero today.
Having gained a starting slot because he took the kit bag, he actually forgot to bring the kit bag. So he had to rush home to fetch it and there goes his starting slot. So we began the game without him. Straight from kick off, we were right into the game. Driving forward and playing small sharp passes on the left gave the team the confidence to play. Despite the ball being on the left all the time, we actually scored from the right. A cross field pass from Max reached Henry and he marked his return with a low drive across goal and into the corner. That was early. Shortly later, Max drove into the box and from a Colin miskick, he slammed the ball in from close range. And barely 15 minutes had gone by. I asked Ron to help me remember the scorers and assists as I predicted it will be a big win for us today. Probably the curse of the commentator, as we didn’t score any more in this half. We had a lot of chances though, headers from Yew Boon and Colin went wide. Crosses were narrowly missed by the strikers. Indeed, there were a lot of crosses into the box today albeitly from a midfield player who was playing centre mid but always ventured to the left. Our defence stood strong and were not really troubled by the opponents. Oct was saying he wasn’t even perspiring from the 1st half. Half time couldn’t have come any faster for the opponents as they were happy to go in at only 2-0 down.
Manager was very pleased with the performance so far. The passing was good. The football play was pleasing and penetrative. Manager asked for more of the same and to learn how to play this way. The only criticism he had was for Patrick. Who somehow left his crosses at home. Failing to deliver even one decent cross despite loads of time.
Back with a vengeance, Patrick defied orders to play in the middle at the start of the 2nd half. Instead, he swapped himself with Harold to try to make amends. Alas, it still didn’t work and he was absolutely horrendous on the right. After 10 minutes, the captain screamed for him to get back in the middle and pushed Harold out again. Immediately, a good move down the right led to Harold being at the byline. He duly put in a great cross for Patrick to backheel into goal. A tap in. Easy. He should have stayed in the middle. Minutes later, a replica of that goal happened. This time, it was Max. A square ball to Patrick at the far post saw him scoring his second goal. A flurry of chances then ensued. Benny was trying very hard but he couldn’t make things count. Shots were either saved or well wide. By this time, Colin has already taken off Patrick. Worried that he will score more goals, Colin replaced him. No goals came until almost 15 minutes left. Patrick then came on for Stuart. With his first touch, he drove down the left, cut inside and placed the ball into the bottom right corner! Hat trick! Composed finish I must say. However Colin wasn’t impressed and straight away sub him out again. Putting Harold back on, who was initially supposed to replace Yiong. So Harold and Patrick made a pact. Don’t cross to Colin. Don’t pass to Colin to score. And he really didn’t. Choosing to balloon the ball wide instead of passing to Colin who was clear. Apparently, Daryl wasn’t in the plan. He took a long throw to Colin who managed to flick it into the near post. 6-0 was the final score. We were clearly the better team and while we were not really troubled at the back, SK and Oct took injuries for their bravery. 3 long studs mark on SK left him cringing for a while. Oct came out to collect a through ball bravely and took a boot to his forehead. Luckily both were not seriously injured.
A truly enjoyable game to play today. We are hoping for more of such opponents. But these are really scarce and we are probably such an opponent to other teams. We had a lot of opportunities today to pass the ball around. And even out from the back. The midfield linked up very well with the defence and also the Attack. Often using short passes to great effect. Let’s try to continue this way of playing. We will be a team to watch if we can.
