Final Score: Sunderland Triples 3 : 2 MFC (Rong An, Alex)
Maestro Suffered First Defeat at Katong:
Brillant debutant Jeffery age 14, grabbed the headlines by starting the league well with a well-deserved assist. However, that assist was unable to save Maestro from the embarrassment of defeat to a determined Sunderland strikes.
The last meeting with Sunderland Triples saw a double strike from Rong An and a spectacular cheeky cross from him to assist Gifford. The match ended a last minute goal from Triples which snatched the points away from Maestro, final score 3 – 2. Maestro wanted revenge and put a good position in the league. Additionally, Rong An earned the player of the month award before starting the match today, and will be the favourites coming to this match.
Maestro’s tactic was to put 3 defenders to saveguard Calvin’s goalpost and push forward with Rong An and Davish looking for their kills at the other end. The limitation of 3 – 5 – 2 formation was clearly shown by the lack of defenders in the bench at Guo Xian’s disposal.
Sunderland Triples looked a better side in the early stages, with speed and long ball passing, they were no-pushover of any sort. They controlled the game right from the start, spraying balls left and right, making Norris, Kartik and Chris the busier bees. Norris, in particular had to clear much critical balls in 1 v 1 position. His classic all rounded style was reckoned by Arsene Wenger who intended to bring him into the club, but Norris failed a medical test during the transfer which brought him back to the club.
Despite the continuous bombardment by Sunderland, Maestro kept their cool, clearing balls after balls. The first clearcut chance fell to Sunderland when left winger Ahmad A fantastically dribbled past Abi and Aylwin and side-stepped past Alan to drive the ball past the net. The easy walk-in by Ahmad A questioned Maestro of the commitment shown in defending such attacks. It was also clear that Maestro must start recruiting defenders in order to live up to the league’s standards.
Maestro had 2 shots on target throughout first half, noticeably Rong An’s strike saved by the goalkeeper at the near post. Maestro strikes were nothing in particular to describe despite having many midfielders fielded to aid the attacks.
The half ended with a demoralized Maestro trailing 1 goal behind.
During the break, Guo Xian reinforced the importance of pushing harder to win balls, and used width; namely wingers to win the match. He sticked back to 4 – 5 -1 formation with Chris slotting into DM role to stop the long balls, skillful Rong An / Davish as wingers and Jeffery in the lone striker slot. The formation lifted the confidence of players, determined to win the match on the second half.
Maestro started the second half as the better team, moving fast pace Sunderland into defending state. However, the first chance went to Sunderland. An incredible turn from Ahmad A put him an excellent position against Kartik and the ball was well saved by Calvin. But the danger was not cleared, the ball was left dangling in the box when Ahmad B shot the ball furiously into the corner of the post. Calvin admirably saved the ball in a desperation dive and palmed away the ball. The danger was yet to be over when the saved ball puts Ahmad C in a clear position to tap into the open net. However, the referee’s whistle saved the Maestro’s blushes when Ahmad C ruled offside. Even if the referee whistle did not save Maestro, luck was on Maestro side; Ahmad C put the ball wide when he was able to tap in easily.
The equalizer came when a long throw met no heads in the box, Jeffery strong shielding of the box put Rong An in a good position to blast the net. Maestro might see the building of “Fabregas” soon if he continued such ability at such a young age of 14. 1 -1 was a good scoreline for Maestro to retake the game.
For all Maestro’s early dominance, a lapse in concentration in the 60th minute enabled Sunderland to take the lead. Ahmad D, having got the better of Hakim, played a long cross to the box which Calvin could collect the ball easily. But a mistake by him, dropped the ball into the net. The lack of match practice by Calvin in goalkeeping role put a stabbed on the confidence of Maestro.
The goal took the wind out of Maestro sails, all the invention and rapid passing they had shown evaporating as Sunderland seized the initiative. With a high morale Sunderland, the triples put another goal past Calvin with a well-worked pass to Ahmad B. Alan was unable to stop the chase from the 100m sprint winner Ahmad B in the recent Olympics. Sunderland leading 2 goals in front of Maestro.
That was the time when the experienced showed the young how the Maestro should play the game. A free-kick by Alex zoomed past the clueless goalkeeper, keeping a frail chance for Maestro to snatch a point. Finally, Alex found the form he previously owned for free-kicks, and Maestro hoped he kept it with him before Rong An/Hakim/Howard or anyone stepped up to his dead ball role.
The full time result put dejected Maestro out for a consolation bubble tea at Katong Shopping centre. Maestro should reflect on the defence who had not been keeping a clean sheet since the 7 – 0 pounding of NNF FC back in June. Although we had better records of wins since, many of them were narrow with one or two goal difference. The league proved the depth of the team should also be enhanced, typically in defence.
- A prefect weather; bright sunshine, soft grass due to morning’s rain
- Jeffery, youngest player shown maturity in the game
- Norris, the makeshift captain start earned my respect for him
- Despite being MLR team, Sunderland played the game maturely and not a finding a ring for a boxing match unlike “Loyalty” seen in previous season.
- It had been decades since a free-kick goal had found directly in the net. What a goal!
Low Points
- Rare scoring chance in both halves for Maestro
- Lack of defenders depth in the team, typically centre-backs
- No particular hero to save the day for Maestro; Rong An did not relive his past glory
- Have we scored from corners before? No set-piece goal connections between our crosses and heads???
- Despite Calvin’s splendid performance today, I still cannot convince myself on his butter fingers goal.
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