28/10/2012 Maestro FC Vs Budak Pondok Match Review

Maestro FC 1 : 2 Budak Pondok

Match Review by Gerald Tan

Despite a spirited performance, Maestro once again failed to win when it mattered most. Rewind to the relegation decider in the inaugural X League season where a victory against Arima Singapura would have seen Maestro avoid relegation. That day, 13 players turned up, without the regular impact players such as Rong An, Hakim. Maestro got whipped 4-1 that day after taking the lead through an audacious Howard goal. Today, history repeated itself as 13 players turned up for the X League Season 2 first runner-up decider against perennial nemesis Budak Pondok. Maestro needed a victory to end the season in second place. However, the absence of impact players Rong An, Hakim, along with regulars such as Augustine, Thomas, Alan, Chris meant that the task was made tougher. With 1pm afternoon temperature at an incredulous high, Maestro had to work hard against Budak Pondok who played a mix of long and short passes. The game was played out at a moderate pace, with both teams trying to break the deadlock through counter attacks. With sporadic attacking threats, there was little opportunity for either teams to score, outside of Maestro's one chance to break the deadlock. Against Arima, Howard unexpectedly scored one of the best goals we have seen. Against Budak, he had the chance to turn hero again after being put through one on one with the keeper to beat. It was not meant to be as his semi-pass/chip/shot attempt was dealt with comfortably by the keeper. The flashpoint of the first half centered on the referee's inability to control the game. 2 incidents proved that - the referee failed to penalize 2 awful tackles on Kartik and Abhi. The first was a trip from the back on Kartik when he was running down the left flank unchallenged. The second incident was a late tackle on Abhi just outside the penalty box. No yellow cards were shown in both incidents. At least the tackle on Kartik reaped a free kick; the one on Abhi was waved for a goal kick even though the linesman had raised his flag for a foul. The final justification of the referee's inability came when he showed this writer a yellow card instead for protesting a Budak Pondok foul throw. The half ended all square with no goals though it was likely that Budak Pondok could steal the victory as they had another 7 or 8 key regular players waiting to come on. Focusing on the task at hand instead of envying their bench, Maestro started the second half the livelier of the two as the midfield capitalized on a few stray passes to counter attack. Guo Xian had a great chance to give the Bees the lead as Jonathan's through ball found him unmarked with only the keeper to beat. The shot though went astray. However, it did not take much longer for the deadlock to be broken. Guo Xian's free kick hit the cross bar and when this writer was felled by a poor high boot tackle from a Budak Pondok player in the penalty box. Guo Xian settled the nerves as he placed his penalty shot neatly past the keeper. With 15 mins to go, Maestro was in the driving seat while Budak Pondok was clearly shaken, leading to some internal shouting between the Budak players. Maestro sat deep to defend but tired legs and the hot weather found the Bees wanting in their tackles and defending. Budak Pondok capitalized on this as they got their equalizer courtesy of a shot inside the penalty box from a half cleared. Demoralised, Maestro tried to rally the attacks for a winner but to no avail. Another half clearance found a Budak player just outside the box and he hit it nicely enough for Calvin to let slip between his hands. The competition was over by then and soon the match too. Second place would have been possible and Maestro were clearly more than justified to finish runners up. After all, the Bees had a superior goal difference, some virtuoso performances against Sparta, Vipers, Atlas, Coast West and FC Rovers plus credible defeats to FC Grampus, Budak Pondok. However, just like what happened at the relegation decider against Arima, the absence of players, especially impact players failed to help the Bees achieve a good finish in the league. This should not be seen as the fault of the absent players but it shows that Maestro needs to have greater strength in depth instead of relying on a few players every game. The current crop of players also need to improve on their skills as well to match all our opponents.

High Points

1) Kudos to the 13 players who came all the way North West for this match. Special mention to Big Eric who came after finishing his marathon.

2) Guo Xian put in a good performance upfront; with a team built around him, Maestro could do better

Low Points

1) Poor refeering

2) Attitude of some Budak Pondok players were not nice, they seemed more interested to complain or tackle hard instead of enjoying the beautiful game

3) No water from the water cooler + super hot weather =  death??
4) The second goal could have been prevented