Manic Sunday: Buried 4 Goals Under

So come alive, come alive on Sunday aft'noon. We died a slow, slightly horrible, rather hot, and most unpleasant death on Sunday 16 July. Who would have thought that Tabernacle of Holiness, pontangers(people who play truant) of the most matches, with an impeccable record of 1 draw and 3 losses, would prove to be an Indian team which lives up to an Indian team's expectations?

The learning never stops, and I have picked up something useful amid the chaos and generally disappointing play. I've learnt how to identify Indian churches, that is, by their most singular church names. Church of the Epiphany, Salem Fire, Tabernacle of Holiness, Smyrna Assembly of God, all exotic names for churches.

First of all, we arrived late on scene, straight across the island from Dover to Tampines. There was no time to discuss anything, let alone warm up, and that is just so crucial to winning a match. There was no direction. Once we arrived, we substituted too early and nobody knew their role for sure and the team's tactic or direction. We played well however, for the first half and there was much hope because it ended 0-0. It all went to pieces in the second half however, when Marc had to be substituted out after a terrible collision which left his knee quite swollen. They capitalised with a quick long ball, and broke our offside trap. Through on goal, they made no mistake. From then on, we never recovered. That was right after we missed a penalty as well. From a possible 1-0 lead to being 0-1 down, it takes a courageous team to climb back up, and on the day, we did not have that.

I personally felt really tired; I could feel it in the first half already, and the hot sun beating down on me just made me all the more lethargic. 'Nuff said, this Sunday's match is ON at 1700 hrs, Tampiness Sec again, and this time we'll be there on time. We've got key players pulling out for exams coming straight up in mid Aug, so I don't know how we'll manage to pull through against Frankel and Salem Fire. If life was one big MMORPG I sure would need a level up or two sometime about now.

You keep it goin folks...

Got Money No Hunny

Sorry folks of the tiny town of Soccerland. Match against Calvary was sadly abandoned thanks to the Singapore Sports Council's policy of protecting their grass at all costs. The pitch at Tampines Secondary was booked by the organisers, the people turned up, but nope, you cannot play soccer there because it's wet. It's still far too costly for Singaporeans to ever be any good at soccer.

A light drizzle ruined the day for both teams and the supporters. When grass is wet, the damage it takes is multiplied at least 5 fold. Rumours have it at 10. No-go, said the SSC.

This week's match pits us against Tabernacle of Holiness. It starts at 1515hrs, so please all who are reading this, you are strongly urged to make your way down to Tampines Secondary(gasp! again!? don't you guys ever learn!??! no. aiya booked already la stuck with it) to hopefully support our team. Let not your heart be saddened not, for we'll be there rain or shine.

Real big thanks to all who made it down on Sunday for our "Match of the Season", do stick around and hey, one day there might just be a game on.

thanks :)

Up Against the [e]L!Tes: SJSM 0 - 3 Emmanuel Assembly of God

Long ago, there was a CS clan called [e]L!Tes(which is leetspeak for elites, but of course you know that already) which really used to be quite good. In the same way, Emmanuel AOG were just a class above us. What with veteran towering central defenders, Nigerian wingers and colossal forwards, they really gave us a run for our money. Fortunately, their forwards bungled everything they were gifted with, if not the scoreline would have been rather sad.

Their experienced defenders took our long ball tactic and stuffed it with their clean clearing headers. That basically did it for us. Our lousy ball control and movement in the centre of the park practically meant that only long balls in would work. And since their defenders weren't pansies, we were snuffed out for most of the game. Apart from a clean chance where Nicholas Tiong and Handy got in each others way and bungled it, we didn't manage to seriously pose a threat to the Emmanuel defence. Ben hit the crossbar twice, one through a freekick from the halfway line which flew and flew and flew some more before coming off the top right of the upright, and another just outside the penalty box which beat the keeper but bounced off the top of the upright.

Maverick was outstanding in goal, and he made a point blank save at one point to deny Emmanuel a goal. Apart from that, he showed safe hands with the various other not-so-challenging shots that came in. Thank God for him. May we have better success in our upcoming matchup with Calvary Assembly. For once Heartbeat supporters will be making their way down to Tampines Secondary School to support us wholesale!

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.

Bad Pitch Problems ?

Hoi! If you thought the Yishun field was bad, get a loada this. It might not be the best level playing field around, but hey everyone's playing on it so the better we adapt, the better we play. Thank God for last Sunday's pitch at ACJC.
















Seeya guys this Sunday. Please reflect to me if you are not able to make it.