Pending Score: SWAT FC 4 : 1 MFC (Guo Xian)
| After last week's loss to the Nigerians from Sunsports Outside, MFC continue the season in a match against SWAT FC, the new boys in the league. Fast, aggressive and very tricky, SWAT FC had all the ingredients to prove successful against MFC. Besides the dark clouds threatening to downpour anytime, the leadup to today's match was different. No warmups, no practice session. Only a very serious team talk conducted by Captain Eric and Vice Captain Walter on team behavior, ethics, conduct and most importantly, fair play, which were missing from last week's match. |
The match kicked off soon after the team talk and MFC did well to contain SWAT FC. In fact, MFC took the lead just 5 minutes into the game. Guo Xian, playing as a lone striker, robbed the ball off a defender and charged down the right flank. His angled shot was brillant, beating the goalkeeper from a very tight angle at the right flank. SWAT FC was shellshocked as MFC celebrated.
SWAT FC did not have to wait long to get on the scoresheet. Over the next 10 minutes, they managed to score 2 goals in quick succession, leaving MFC players dejected. SWAT FC was controlling the game well, their main strategy was to launch long balls from centre midfield to the left and right flanks, relying on the pace and tenacity of their wingers break the MFC defence.
Without the stability of the Eric-Firdaus centre defence partnership, the defence looked shaky. TO their credit, Walter, Jason, Silas all did their best playing as Eric's defensive partners but unfortunately, the long balls just kept coming and SWAT went 4-1 up at the break.
During the half time talk, Vice Captain Walter told the team to play better. Zeng Yi, Guo Xian, Cross all gave useful comments to fire the team up and MFC went into the second half, seeking redemption.
The second half was a short affair. It lasted for about 20 minutes before the clouds burst, resulting in heavy downpour and accompanying lightning. However, during that 20 minutes played, it seemed that MFC was reborn. The players all went hard for the tackles and every player helped to repel SWAT's attacks. Silas was all over the place, doing well in his centre back position, even making a crucial intervention to prevent an almost certain goal. Lil Eric, Calvin, Chris all dug deep to clear SWAT's long balls. Everyone was playing their part to earn a comeback.
Besides the downpour, the only downside to that 20 minutes played was a late tackle by a SWAT FC player on Zirong. If life is all about soccer, what happened to Zirong really showed that it is just not worth it. Zirong was tackled late and landed headfirst resulting in him being in concussion and shock for quite a while before regaining consciousness. The team was quite affected by his injury and the downpour came at a right time, to pause the match.
With no signs of the downpour or lightning letting up and out of concern for everyone present, Captain Eric and Vice Captain Walter decided to continue the remaining 20 minutes another time, resuming from the same scoreline. SWAT FC was good sport too, agreeing to this unusual arrangement.
Though the match was stopped with SWAT FC leading 4-1, the team still enjoyed the match, especially with the bravado showed in the second half proving that MFC can prove a worthy opponent of SWAT FC. Zirong's accident further proved that results on the pitch mean nothing, if friendships and the bond between players are lost just because of what happens on the pitch. The remaining 20 minutes to be played would be an interesting affair. Will MFC crumble and concede more or can MFC come back from the dead to secure a win? Whatever it is, if MFC continue to play like the second half, the final result is anybody's guess.
High Points
1) Guo Xian’s goal. Guo Xian showed why his finishing is among the best of finishers by scoring from a very tight angle.
2) MFC’s performance in the second half really showed the bite and determination in everyone.
3) Zeng Yi's pace was troubling the defence all the time.
4) Silas put in a good shift. His heading has improved as he made several good heading clearances.
5) The half time team talk was good; it fired everyone up to do their best though 3 goals down.
Low Points
1) Referee failed to notice some late tackles like the one on Zirong.
2) A few goals SWAT FC scored could have been prevented.
3) Zirong's accident. The relief felt by everyone after he recovered from his concussion was immense.
4) Organizer Koh's recommendation to continue the match even when there is lightning. As league organizer, safety should come first before anything else. A life is worth more than any match. By the time someone gets injured because of the lightning, it will be too late for redemption.
All photos courtesy of Chris Lau (www.chrisjhpixels.com)
Album: http://s333.photobucket.com/albums/m392/maestrofootballclub/Match%20Pics/5_07_09%20MFC%20VS%20SWAT%20FC/
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