vs NYP (250606)

Phew! That was our toughest game so far. The hardest we had to fight for a win. I think it was actually a bit more competitive than the tornados game where they scored 2 early goals and then we dominated. This was a much closer game than the scoreline suggests. But in the end we prevailed 3-1.

Facing NYP brought back fond memories for Jigar, Veera and Huzer as they played with the bulk of the NYP team for Indian Association back in 2003. Thats like 3 years ago. Wah so long. So anyway, we knew how they were going to play and who their key players were. And most importantly who their weak links were.

Temasek was missing some personnel, but their replacements excelled when given the chance, giving the captain and coach some food for thought when we name our team for the next game. This shuffling of personnel did affect us at first as we got used to each other, and we took awhile to settle into the game. NYP started off strongly, and after 10 minutes or so, forced a short corner. The short corner should not have been called as the ball had bounced off Robin's stick and not his foot. NYP added salt to the wound by duly converting, the ball sneaking in Teng's near post.

We refused to take that lying down, and from then on, the ball was almost totally in our possession. NYP packed their defence, making it hard for us to penetrate. Consistently bad calls by the umpires did not help matters. We probed at their defence from all angles, and our persistence paid off when we won 3 short corners. The first, Nirmal missed to the right, the second to the left, and with the third, he brought us level. And that was how we entered the break.

Again, NYP started the stronger team, but this time we repelled the early pressure. Slowly we gained the upper hand, and eventually won a short corner, from which Nirmal scored again. We then proceeded to miss a stream of golden opportunities due to bad positioning from our forwards. NYP made life tough for the midfield as well by closing down quickly and not giving us any time on the ball.

We have built Temasek as an attacking team, and it was against our instincts to sit on the lead. We constantly threw men forward in search of the goal to put the game beyond doubt. However, these left gaping holes at the back as the attack-happy halves were not fast enough when tracking back. NYP exploited these gaps to great effect with their swift counter-attacks. One of these attacks earned them a top-D hit which they took quickly. With the defence still disorganised, the ball somehow ended at the back of the net and the referee blew for a goal. Nirmal argued the decision vehemently as he felt that there hadn't been a touch inside the D. The referees convened, and after what seemed like an eternity, they changed their decision and indicated a 16-yard hit to Temasek! (cue vehement protests from NYP instead) This time the decision was final, and Temasek restarted the game with renewed impetus. Eventually we forced another short corner after good play by Fang Hao. Nirmal strode forth to convert, in the process claiming his hat-trick and giving Temasek a two-goal cushion.

Somehow, we still did not want to defend our lead, and constantly had 6 men in attack, including Manish the left half! But by this time, NYP had run out of steam. Robin was assigned to mark their captain, and after that they ran out of ideas as well. The last few minutes passed by comfortably, the only incident being Robin's totally unneccesary green card, which put a blemish on our hitherto spotless disciplinary record.

This win was the sweetest by far as we had to fight hard for it, and with a depleted squad at that.

Special mentions:

Nirmal - His hat-trick was just reward for his all round play and his constant presence in all parts of the pitch. Was immense for us today. He thoroughly deserves the Nirmal Singh wins his own Man of the Match Award (NSwhoMotMA)
Ahmad - just gets better every game. Why last time don't want to train hard? Luckily NS woke you up. NS = National Service, not Nirmal Singh
Mervyn - for coming down despite JCTs. and maintaining his high standard of play
Shaik - for bluffing Huzer and raising his hopes only to cruelly deflate them
PQ - for coming despite having to book in later that night
Robin - have fun in Brunei
Huzer - happy last week of work
Veera - happy first week of work
All you schooling people - happy studying
Germany - happy winning the world cup
smoke pot - very happy

Top scorers list:

Nirmal - 4

Zarir - 3

Huzer - 2

Azri - 1

note: all are Raffles boys. Come on. Break the monopoly. PQ, Fang Hao and Robin all should have scored. And Yang Wei and Mervyn definitely owe us a few goals. And Jason. Cos he talk so much.

Remarks:

Congratulations to Teng for completing his first game for us, also his first in a couple of years. We would also like to welcome our final import, Edwin, to the team. Edwin is a former national centre-forward who would add some guile and experience to the attack. Our forwards can only learn from him. We now have a strong and experienced core to anchor the team, and a good mix of experience and youth.

-Huzer