Incepcion FC has a new committee! Elected by the team at last week’s gathering and election, we came into this game for the new manager 1st game in charge. Pre-match banter has Patrick putting up his claim to score 15 goals for the new manager. It was raining again at Yio Chu Kang Secondary. Similar to the last time we played there. Rain slowed to a drizzle to allow us to play with a lean squad as late pull outs caused us to have only 14 players.
New man in charge and a new way of doing things. There wasn’t any team talk. Just individual talking to each of the players, instructing them on where they playing and what they need to do. The game finally kicked off after the opponents had slowly trickled in and wore their kit. We immediately blazed into the game. We were quicker to the ball and were passing it well. Max was getting gelled in the team and was instrumental in the 1st goal. Pulling away from his marker, he sent a ball over the top to Dave, who beat the offside trap and crossed it first time. Patrick, true to his words, duly arrived at the far post to score the first goal. A well worked move which was unusual for Incepcion. Another ball over the top by Max again, this time to the left, found Stuart, who also crossed it on the ground early to Colin who had no problems in slotting it in. It was quite inspiring play and we dominated the 1st half. Our new centre back pairing of Ron and Jansen were coping well with the attacks. A long ball from the back soon caught Ron off balance and the striker sped away. Ron was working hard to catch up but couldn’t. And the striker scored at the near post, giving Sherman no chance. Then our manager decided to make changes. He put Ron as striker. And Ron took this role very seriously. When put into space, he shot instead of squaring for Colin. Stuart scored a goal too but was ruled offside although it was a dubious decision. Another nice through ball from Max to Harold caused confusion between him and Ron and they got into each other way before being hauled back for offside. We were deservedly ahead although we should have killed the game there and then. Half time came and we trudged back to the sidelines.
2nd half started with the opponents launching waves of attacks on us. But they couldn’t make it count. Several last ditch tackles saved us and Sherman was more than equal to the shots coming from far. He showed his bravery by plunging himself down at the striker’s feet when he was one on one with him. He got kicked there but no damage was done. Despite being on the back foot, we did create a lot of chance. A corner from Max to the far post found SK who headed it solidly back into the box. The ball bobbled and bounced and Patrick lashed it in for his 2nd goal. We defended stoutly for the last 20 minutes and were not really troubled. It’s heartening to see the effect of the new manager. All players put in a lot of effort and could see the desire to perform for him. Even Kenny came to play. So the final whistle went and we celebrate the 1st victory under Colin’s reign. If I remember correctly, I might be wrong, this seems to be the first time we scored all our goals from open play. A remarkable achievement considering how mundane we play. Not saying that the opponents were not good, they did put up a good fight and gave us some problems but we dealt with them comfortably.
Let’s see how the team progresses next week.
Long Live Lord Colin!
