Final Score: Norris' Friends 1 : 3 MFC (Guo Xian 2, Augustine 1)
| Looking to build on last week's friendly win, MFC lined up another friendly this week; the opponents this week was Norris' Friends, named this way for obvious reasons. There was a surprise addition in the opponent's lineup; MFC centre midfielder Benjamin was playing for the opponents! He came back from Australia only yesterday but sadly opted to play against MFC instead. MFC arrived with a thin squad; only 12 players were available for selection but it certainly was not a weak team. There was a new addition, Kelvin, who was Augustine's army friend who was joining MFC for this match. He played upfront first in absence of Guo Xian who came later. |
The opponents looked good during the pre match warmup and they proved stiff competition after kickoff. The team pushed up high and chased every ball down, putting MFC on pressure. Eventually their pressure paid off as Norris' Friends took the lead through a brillant header off a good cross from Benjamin.
Instead of looking dejected, MFC pushed forward and put the opponents goal under pressure. First, a through ball from Gerald put Augustine in the clear and he did well to escape his marker from the left flank but his finish was saved. Chris Tan was next in line with another decent chance which went begging.
The wait for the equalizer was soon over courtesy of Augustine. Alex's through ball fell nicely for Augustine to chase down the left flank and cutting diagonally in, Augustine made no mistake with a good finish from an acute angle.
Augustine's friend, Kelvin was also proving a threat. Playing as a lone striker, he showed excellent technique, linking up play from midfield and is quite a dribbler as well.
Closer to half time, Guo Xian made his appearance and he did not disappoint as he was back to his usual zipping self around the pitch. MFC finally went ahead courtesy of another Guo Xian special. This time, he latched on a long ball and worked himself to a one on one situation where he put the ball beyond the goalkeeper.
The first half could have produced more goals with more than 4 decent chances but MFC failed to convert those chances. MFC went into halftime with the score at 2-1, knowing that more work is needed.
Following from kickoff, MFC went for the kill, knowing that their opponents were weary from the sweltering heat. The second half begun in the same fashion as the first with Norris' Friends having a good spell in MFC half. However, each time, they would be thwarted by the outstanding MFC defence marshalled by Eric.
MFC settled the game through another Guo Xian special. This time, debutant Kelvin contributed a brillant assist. He picked up the ball on the flanks and did well to get past his marker before slotting a low cross into the Guo Xian's path. Guo Xian then took the ball past the oncoming goalkeeper and smashed the ball into the empty net.
Credit to Norris's Friends for not giving up and continuing to push MFC all the way but they could not add on more goals to their account. The match ended 3:1 to MFC and it was indeed a hard fought victory for MFC
High Points
1) Excellent debut from Kelvin. His technique was really impressive
2) Good defending from MFC especially from Captain Eric who was everywhere!
3) Guo Xian turning up to deliver the goods as usual
4) Good performance from Augustine who did very well on the flanks today
Low Points
1) No clean sheet
All photos courtesy of Rachel
Album: http://s868.photobucket.com/albums/ab244/maestrofootballclub2/Match%20Pics/8_11_09%20MFC%20Vs%20Norris%20Friends/
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