Signing Off Maestro

Hi guys, thank you for your votes for the next Maestro Capt and Vice Capt. Rong An and me were both voted in to be Captain duties each for 6 months while Augustine was voted as Vice Capt.

Maestro has come a long way, since 1999 when CCHB military band members decided to play soccer during their free time. This group of pioneers include Walter, Alan, Big Eric, Lil Eric, Guo Xian, former players Jason and Zirong.

After years of playing at an unused open field at Mountbatten CC and irregular games, Maestro FC was formed in 2008 by our first captain Walter. New players were added and the team grew in numbers and strength. The muddy Katong Tembusu became our new home for dodgy Sunsports Sunday games.

Maestro FC entered a new phase in 2011 when we entered the FAS affiliated league - X League in their inaugural season. We are pleased to have been among the first 8 teams to play in the league which has grown to include more than 60 teams today. The high point after 4 seasons of X League was a 3rd place finish in the second league season. During this period, our star player Rong An also made it to the top 32 of the First 11 television reality series.

However, not all things were rosy. The most recent league participation saw Maestro slump to another relegation, down to Division 4. Attendances have been falling and at times, the team played with just 11 players. This could be due to many of us entering a new phase of our lives- eg. Overseas work, studies, work commitments, personal decisions, family commitments. There were also injuries to some of our good players. Finding new players to make up for the shortage has had a bitter sweet effect. More than 10 new players have played for us, with some outstanding performers. Unfortunately, not all of them can integrate with the team and most of then had schedules which do not allow them to commit to Maestro.

All good things must come to an end. On behalf of Rong An and Augustine and with a heavy heart indeed, I would like to announce that Maestro FC will be disbanded. This was made known at the dinner we had earlier.

As a result of the disbanding, this group chat will be disabled. This message will also be posted on FB and our blog as a concluding post.

It was not easy for us to come to this decision but it was a necessary and some might say inevitable outcome. We thank everyone for all your efforts, contributions towards the team and our memories throughout the years.

Signing off for the last time,
Gerald

Maestro FC Vs Primero FC marred by Referees, Mothers, Sisters

Maestro FC 0 : 3 Primero FC

Match Review by Gerald Tan

Although relegation and pride was at stake, Maestro failed to surprise favorites (and Division 3 champions to-be) Primero FC as 3 goals were conceded. The 3-0 scoreline flattered Maestro as Primero could have easily scored 3 or 4 more, if not for wasteful finishing and some astute "all hands on deck" type of defending. Right from kickoff, Maestro needed to defend deeply as Primero showed just why they were the league leaders, stroking the ball from flank to flank, finding space and gaps in Maestro's lineup. Their passing was arguably the best we have seen all season, even better than the first time Maestro played Primero. For all our industry in chasing and closing the ball, we were really sitting ducks, waiting for  Primero to fire the first salvo. In all fairness, our defending was brilliant at times. Chris, Lau (Dennis' father) held off several one on one challenges and made crucial clearances. On the attacking front, Abhi was a bright spark. He showed no ill effects from a sleepless night (his sister gave birth and he spent the whole night in the hospital) as he made several good runs down the flanks, against a former NFL defender. With insufficient players, several key players took up unfamiliar positions - Captain Guo Xian played at left back and Keeper Gary played upfront and later, right back. Although the odds were heavily against us, the score at half time was somehow kept to 0-0. The score could have been kept to 0-0, if only Maestro had more quality and players to replace tiring legs. Primero made several substitutions in the second half and turned up a gear against a tired Maestro. 3 goals were scored in the last 15 minutes as the Maestro fortress finally gave way. The last 15 minutes also saw the interesting bits of the game. Referees - Perhaps out of boredom with the way Maestro was defending, the main referee started to hog the attention when he chose to argue with Walter just after we conceded the second goal. Rewind to the incident. In the lead up to the second Primero goal, Chris claimed to have been pulled back by the Primero striker causing him to lose the ball. After the goal was conceded, Chris complained to the linesman who failed to spot the foul. There was some commotion between the referee and our defenders and it resulted in Walter asking Chris not to argue anymore. With both teams ready to kickoff again, the referee thought Walter was still arguing with him and stopped the game from resuming. After kickoff, instead of focusing on the game, the referee turned to Walter and said that "You all are sore losers thats why you are losing the match, childish". He also continued to insult Maestro in malay to the Primero players. Both linesmen were no better as they failed to correctly award corner kicks and offsides. One of them was the referee last week against USSR (remember the plus sized referee who failed to sent off the Russian for punching Alan) and he certainly evoked a sense of deja vu with his "excellent" calls.  Captain Guo Xian will be writing to X League to formally lodge a complaint; organiser Morales himself was present to witness the wonderful refereeing on display. Mothers and Sisters - In the lead up to the last goal conceded, our defender Lau claimed to have been kicked in the backside by a Primero player. As usual, the referee did not see the incident. In protest, Lau told the Primero player to focus on kicking a ball instead, or something to that extent. The player took to offence what he said and told Lau (who should be 40 or 50+ at least) to "f" his own mother. In similar courteous fashion, Lau told him to "f" his own sister then. This led to a small melee between Lau and Primero but it was cooled down fairly quickly. It was interesting that the referee remained quiet on this, no action, no talking to the players. In my opinion, for all of Primero's excellent gameplay, their players should learn to control their language. On multiple occasions during the game, they lashed out at our players with vulgarities even though the referee had given them the free kick. Vulgarities have no place in soccer, certainly not those which involve weird physical relationships with family members. X League organisers could look into asking referees to be tight about such undesirable behavior and perhaps barring such players or teams who indulge in colorful language, because many fights start due to such silly comments. With just one more game left to play, it will mean Maestro has completed 4 seasons of X League since its inception in 2011. However, rather than improving with each season, team attendances have been lagging and there are comittment issues within the team. We have also effectively been relegated 3 of the 4 seasons we played in. The AGM next week should seek to resolve the near and perhaps long term future of Maestro.

Unlucky Maestro succumbed to defeat.

Maestro FC 2 : 4 USSR Utd (Dennis, Kartik)
Match Review by Eric

As the saying goes, you win and lose as a team.

1) The Bees unfortunately succumbed to their third defeat against the Russians. Instructions given were simple. To close down the opponent fast and disallow their current top scorer a chance to even smell the ball.

2) First half line up are as follow: Calvin, Walter, Alan, Chris, Howard, Aylwin, Kartik, Abhi, August, Dennis and GX(c).

3) The bees started the match well with some ala Arsenal style of passing and were soon rewarded with the opening goal courtesy of Dennis. A cheeky lob from skipper GX found Dennis through on goal and he slotted the ball cooly past the helpless goalkeeper. 1-0 to Maestro.

4) The Russians then drew level within minutes when a defensive error allow their number 10 to tap in the ball past Calvin.

5) As the match was drawing near to half time, a scuffle broke out between a russian player two defenders from the bees. The russian player who assume he was in a wwe ring used his arms and try to injured both Alan and Walter. The referee brandished only a yellow card. (Did he drop the other card somewhere in the forest at turf city?)

6) Second half line up: Calvin, Walter, Alan, Chris, Firdaus, August, Abhi, Dennis, Victor, Eugene and GX(c).

7) The Russians came out firing right from the re-start and was awarded with a goal straight from a corner.

8) Maestro almost level the scoreline when GX's freekick beat the goalkeeper but not the crossbar. Dennis was first to the rebound but his volley was just inches away from the goal.

9)The scoreline margin then became wider when the russians scored their 3rd through a controversial decision which was a definite offside in many linesman's view. The decision left Kartik furious that he could be seen telling the linesman off.

10) The bees a.k.a the comeback kings by Navin, pulled a goal back when Kartik fired the ball into the bottom corner past the shocked goalkeeper. His goal gave Maestro a glimmer of hope.

11) As the match was drawing near to a close, a quick counter attack by the russians saw Calvin rushing out from his goal and did well to stop a 1 on 1 challenge but the loose ball was a little hard for him to handle as the russian scored from a rebound.

Nevertheless, the bees fought hard but perhaps ladyluck just wasn't on our side.

Match Preview Maestro FC vs USSR

Match Preview by Anonymous

MFC vs USSR @ Turf City Pitch 3. 
Sunday 17th Nov'13 K.O. 3pm.

Football is a funny game. You defeated the stronger teams but lost to the weaker ones.

Last season's meeting between these two teams ended in favour of the Russians who beat MFC 3-1 @ Coral sec under a torrential downpour. The reverse fixtures saw the Russians once again coming out on top when they come from behind to claim all three points at Bedok South Sec. The bees were 3-1 up with about 20 mins left on the clock. A hat-trick by USSR current and league top scorer Bugra Inceler changed the outcome of the entire match. The two teams then met once again this season when they played to a 2-2 draw. 20 players from MFC turned up for the clash. Goals from MFC prolific striker Xu Rong An and Norris put the bees 2-1 up. With the clock ticking down, USSR managed to slot in the equalizer in the dying minutes. The two teams will go head to head once more this weekend. 

Players to look out for - Bugra Inceler scored a hat-trick last season against the bees which resulted in a 4-3 win for the Russians. He is the league current top scorer with 12 goals to his name. USSR defeated Paladin 6-0 last Sunday to leapfrog to 4th place on the table.  

Maestro will need a win in order to survive relegation and probably gain some pride against a team that they have never beaten since last season. 

Bugra Inceler (10)

Kostya Gavrilov  (9)

Remember me? I was the one who said that Maestro FC plays schoolboy football. - Kostya -

I manage to caught up with two of Maestros talented wingers over a can of 100plus for an interview prior to this weekend's clash.

MFC: Tomorrow's match between MFC and USSR will be the two teams 4th meeting against each other. The Russians have a good record against the bees (2 wins and 1 draw). What will be your thoughts prior to the match?

Abhi: They have a decent squad but they have some loopholes which is for us to exploit.

Augustine: Firstly, we definitely need a win against them cos the games with them so far have been quite scrappy and even. We deserve our fair share of the 3 points as well!

MFC: You scored a brace against BMFS SC. How will you prepare yourself for tomorrow's game?

Abhi: There's no real preparation I do, I just drink lots (of water) to remain hydrated.

MFC: MFC need nothing less than a win to avoid relegation. How confident are you that the bees will come out on top?

Abhi: I am confident that we should be able to get the much needed 3 points by playing to our strengths, and we must also cut off any supply to their striker who packs a venomous shot.

Augustine: I think that on a good day, we can beat anybody. We have proven that time and time again, even with a weakened team and hardly any subs. We just need to stay focused, be aggressive and hold as much of the ball as possible, especially in the second half where the opponents will tire. We will win tmr! ;)

MFC: You have been wanting to settle some unfinished business against the Russians. How/what will you prepare yourself for the game?


Augustine: I have actually been trying to run as much as possible this wk. Short runs of high intensity, 4-5km to loosen my calves and thighs for Sun. Gonna be alot of hard running for me!

Maestro FC Wins in Friendly Match

Maestro FC 4-1 Oeste FC (Dennis x2, Abhi, Augustine) 

Match Highlights by GX 

1. Oeste FC, in their full name, is Oeste Futebol Clube - a Brazilian football team from the São Paulo state. Maestro FC plays the Singapore version of Oeste FC, who hails from the graduates of Jurong JC football team. Except for player no 91 and 32, who possesses some sambal skills on the offensive, Oeste FC have a team of slightly average players. Nevertheless, in my opinion, they are still a decent team who, on their form day, could create some threat from the makeshift defense of Walter, GX, Fadly (Wee Hian's friend), Alywin. 

2. Yangde starts in DM with Wee Hian, who plays his second consecutive match in that position and excel again. Augustine, Kartik and MEN of the match, Abhi and Dennis, provides MFC ammunition up front. 

3. The opening exchanges saw MFC gaining the upper hand. It could be seen clearly that MFC is the team who has the experience of playing week in week out. While Oeste has some technically good players and provided Maestro with some attacking threat, they are not able to string a few passes together. 

4. MFC scored mid way through the first half when Dennis showed some good feet just outside the 18 yards to score the Bees first goal. It was a well deserved goal from the Maestro lone front man who has worked tremendously hard to get onto the scoresheet. 

5. The tempo of the game dropped with the weather not helping. Oeste scored just before half time when the forward nicked in front of Wee Hian to lob the ball over keeper Calvin. Half time 1-1. 

6. No game plan and special instructions for the second half. Maestro started in the same 4-2-3-1 formation as the first, with Walter, GX, Eugene and Firdaus making up the back four, Wee Hian and Yangde sitting in front of the defense and Alywin, Kartik, Abhi and Dennis up front. 

7. Within 10 minutes of the second half, Abhi scored the goal of the match and Maestro's second. Abhi has been galloping down the left flank in the first half, and Oeste's right back was left chasing his shadow. Abhi danced past a few defenders before scoring from an acute angle. If you want a better review of how Abhi scored his goal, watch the highlights of Southampton's Adam Lallana's goal against Hull City yesterday. 

8. Keeper Calvin also deserve credit for his bravery when he came out twice for a one-on-one situation. There was even a dramatic save from a free kick which looks to be flying into goal. Stand in CB Eugene was in top form and comeback boy Firdaus also did well despite lacking match fitness. 

9. Dennis scored Maestro's third to effectively end the game as a contest. Walter playing at right back ended up in the final third and "tonjo" a cross to Dennis, who was suspiciously offside. Referee did not blow and Dennis placed his shot past Oeste's keeper. 

10. There was even time for a fourth when Abhi again galloped past the right back and cross the ball to Dennis who could have completed his hat trick. But being the unselfish person he is, always waiting to bring players into play, always looking for a pass, dummied the ball for Augustine to score from 5 meters. It was a well needed goal for Augustine who has gone through a goal drought. With his CR7 boots, he has worked his socks off the whole game and definitely deserve a goal. 

11. 4-1 it finishes and Maestro secured yet another victory as the season comes to a close. Despite missing the spine of the team with the unavailability of Alan, Chris and Gerald, Maestro defended brilliantly and showed delightful passing. At one time, there was probably a total of 15 passes which involves at least 8 players from the Bees.