Final Score: Star FC 5 : 2 MFC (Gerald 1, OG 1)
The opponents this week was MFC's nemesis Star FC and the players need no reminder about their abilities, both in playing soccer and putting in hard tackles. It also did not help that all the regular players were not around. With Captain Guo Xian, centre defenders Wee Hian, Alan, centre midfielders Alex and Chris Tan and our very own Joe Hart Gary not available, MFC was facing defeat right from the kickoff. However, credit must go to the efforts of the makeshift defence with players playing out of their normal positions. Eg. Walter and Kartik took turns at centre back while Jason played in centre midfield. A half fit Rong An also made effort to play his part in the game. MFC also had a new faces, Chris Lau taking up goalkeeping duties and from the United States Chicago- Garrett. A colleague of Dawn's, Garrett started his first soccer game in Singapore, less than 5 days after landing on our island! About 20 mins into the game, MFC was already 2 goals down, due to mostly defensive errors and goalkeeping blunders. Tempers started to flare when an ill timed challenge from this writer was met with aggression from the Star FC victim. Luckily the MFCians and the referee had the sense to calm down the tempers before restarting the game. There were more chances for either side to socre goals. Star FC wasted several one on one chances after breaching MFC's defence on several occasions. The worst miss was from the penalty spot after MFC defence had given away a penalty for a handball. With Star FC being "generous", MFC failed to capitalise on their wastefulness with several of MFC's half chances going awry as well. There was a good move when Rong An delivered a superb cross from the deep left flank. His cross was met by Garrett who connected well with the ball but only to see his shot go over the bar. The Bees plugged away and were rewarded at close to half time when an MFC corner was bundled over the Star FC goal line, thanks to a fumbled clearance from a Star FC defender. 2-1 to Star FC at half time. The second half saw a change in formation from a 4-4-2 to a 3-5-2 formation in an effort to crowd out Star FC in the midfield area. It worked to a certain extent as MFC managed to gain possession on several occasions. However, MFC's defensive frailities showed again as Star FC's pacy attackers managed to penetrated into the MFC penalty box. Keeper Chris was slow off his line and that granted the Star FC player time to place his shot into the MFC goal. MFC scored its second through this writer when a good freekick was fumbled by Star FC's keeper. Being the first to capitalise on the blunder, this writer side footed the ball into the goal for an easy finish. At 3-2, MFC looked confident at getting the equaliser. Sadly, it never came as MFC crumbled further due to keeper Chris' lack of match practice and reading of the game. Star FC managed to put 2 more into the net, with the final goal being the easiest of goals conceded when keeper Chris missed a clearance to allow a Star FC striker to walk the ball into the net. A 5-2 defeat seemed harsh for MFC, as majority of the goals could have been prevented if we had our regular players. Nonetheless, several MFC players stepped up their game- Jonathan displayed his aerial power at defensive midfield, Jeffrey showing more glimpses of his development and players such as Kartik, Walter, Rong An playing out of position to support the team. New face Garrett also showed his talent, with several well placed passes, proving that he is no newbie when it comes to soccer. A rematch must be played, this time with a full MFC team, it will be possible for MFC to make up for this crushing defeat. High Points 1) The referee (a new Nigerian referee) was good at calming players down and his decisions throughout the game were relatively accurate 2) For some spells in the second half, MFC played well to push the game into the Star FC half of the pitch 3) The weather was good, the light rain at the start of the game helped to cool down players in the hot afternoon sun 4) Everyone got abit of playing time today Low Points 1) Some of the Star FC players need to learn how to tackle fairly and keep their mouths shut 2) The 5 goals conceded with majority due to defensive or goalkeeping errors |
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