Just Keep On Rollin' Baby: SJSM 3 - 1 Saved By Jesus United

And with good reason too. The SJSM war machine seems to have clicked into gear, with the mandate of compulsory wins against lesser opponents being carried out dutifully thus far. I have identified several teams for MUST-WINS when we face them, in our bid to emerge top of the 2nd-tier teams. To the layman, this must seem all mambo jumbo. If you notice, the league consists of two tiers of teams. The elite tier consists of the top 5 runaway teams so far, namely Epiphany, Smyrna, Emmanuel AOG, Frankel, and Salem Fire. Those teams are one-notch up, and can be compared to what Chelsea is in England right now. Catching them is hard, that is, if you belong to the 2nd tier, which refers to the rest.

The standards are much closer amongst the 2nd-tier teams, and results can go either way each week. With this latest result of the same scoreline as last week's, the SJSM team has placed itself in 7th position, which is like 2nd in our 2nd-tier lil league table. If we manage to stick to the plan and produce results in MUST-WIN situations, there is no reason why we cannot finish 6th, or maybe even 5th. Teams I know we have to win are Neighbourhood Church, SBJ United, Calvary Assembly, Bethesda B-T, Tabernacle of Holiness, and Bethesda Pasir Ris. So far so good, with convincing victories over Bethesda B-T and SBJ United.

I did not expect SBJ United to be an Indian team, looking at their results, so I was taken aback on match day. Lemme see, 3 games against Indian teams, and 3 losses. They are technically superior, are pacier, and their movement is better. However, when the game began, most of the posession was with us. Our 4-3-3 did not fail us, with their defence under a lot of pressure from the hoards of people we threw up front. It was not long before we nicked a goal, the ever-predatory Mathan charging up to a 50-50 ball between defender and goalkeeper to whack it home. It was the kind of match you had a good feeling about. Our defence kept up the offside count, constantly frustrating their forwards who always strayed too far before the ball was released. However, on a break, our trap failed and their winger took the ball down the right side. He crossed in, and their forward was present to slam it in off the upright. I was the one marking him so that was something that irked me a bit. The offside trap, once beaten, makes it quite hard for the defence to fall back quickly.

Few minutes before half-time, we got our 2nd, giving us some breathing space. After the game restarted, we kept up the pressure on their team, and were duly rewarded with the 3rd after a goalmouth dingdong of miscued shots.

This Sunday at 1530hrs, we face the high-flying Emmanuel Assembly of God, and will need to keep our wits about us for the full game.

Good Dope Good Fun: SJSM 3 - Bethesda Bedok/Tampines 1

Hello all! Yes, I'm back, your roving reporter who doesn't rove that much at all and reports sporadically, at best. This time, I bring good news. Yes, to all you closet supporters of the SJSM soccer team, we have finally broken the streak of defeats that has dampened our spirits somewhat in recent weeks. On a real soggy pitch with more water than grass, we played our hearts out and worked for a real satisfying result.

Knowing that these guys are chummy with us on the league table, we knew we stood a fighting chance of taking home the 3 points. Once the match started, it was obvious that our tactics were spot on. Let me digress a bit.

In previous games, due to the lack of good control and passing, it was noted that our playmakers could not get the ball much in midfield and do something productive with it. Therefore, Ben came up with a radical idea of him moving to sweeper and controlling play from there. Taking into account our opponents, we decided on a 4-3-3. Ben would be last man, taking all goal kicks and free kicks. He can pump long balls pretty well, so the plan was to let him distribute from defence. This meant that the midfield was usually bypassed, so instead of wasting manpower in midfield, we went with a packed forward line to cause as much trouble as possible from Ben's raking passes. It worked to perfection.

Nicholas Liang ended up with 2 well flighted goals, Mathan with 1, literally nicked from under the keeper's nose. After our opener, Bethesda managed to equalise with a little assistance from the pitch. They sent a ball into our penalty area, which looked to be well covered by Nicholas Swee and our custodian, Jonathan. However, instead of bouncing forwards on the ground, the ball conveniently settled in a puddle of water, totally wrongfooting our poor teammates. The Bethesda forward recovered first, and slotted home for 1-1. We pressed on however, and the pressure on their goal was rewarded when a ball destined for the keeper's arms was stolen and sidefooted home by Mathan after he charged past the last man. A little hesitancy on the part of the defender and keeper did no harm to his quest. It was with this scoreline of 2-1 that we went into the break.

The 2nd half proved to be unrelenting pressure on their half, with their counterattacks not proving effective against our defence. With Ben as last man, he could coordinate the offside trap by himself. Nicholas added his second, and would have gotten a third, but for a brave save by the Bethesda keeper that saw him splash into a nice puddle himself.

Next week, we face another hopeful match, against Saved By Jesus United. This is a rallying call to all closet supporters to come out of your musty cupboards and cabinets and whatnot to cheer on your local footy team. There are a few tough fixtures left to face, and we want YOU on our side. See you there.

Upcoming Match for Week 11!

Hi all. It has been some time since the last update. 2 uber thrashings later, we're learning that soccer is unpredictable. Sitting in week 10 of the league, with 5 games in hand, 5 games played, and with 4 points, you start to learn how the scores cannot tell you anything about the opponents you will play on the Saturday or Sunday. One week unstoppable, the next a dismal heap, that trend(or the lack of it) is obvious not just with our team but with everyone else. It all depends on who can make the game that week.

This is just to inform one and all that this coming Sunday, 11 June 06, at 1730hrs, will be our next match, God-willing. We take on the Tabernacle of Holiness, who as you can see very clearly below, are not on a very much better streak than us at the moment. We stand a chance! Please shuffle on down to Yishun Ave 11 Blk 440 on Sunday. There's no excuse as it's the hols! Everyone should be supporting their homegrown(at least half anyway) church team!

It will be our utmost desire to bring home the 3 points and ease some pressure off our dear managers uncle Danny and uncle Daniel. I know I know it's a church team, you won't get the sack anyway, but that's besides the point. We were shortchanged of 2 victories with some late blunders, and as such we're sittin' on only 4 points. We're hungry for success, and by golly we'll claw our way back up the table.

Till we meet again, Godspeed, and God bless.