Tuesday Night At East Coast (5) - 29 May 2012

Whites: Joel Ong (ts), Melvin Au, Alwyn, Murray, Niel L, Jeff S, Chen Hong.
Reds: Rai (ts), Justin R, Glenn T, Kelvin Au, Ben Y, Tim C, Melvin L

Sorry guys .. need the $ to top my game on Thursday.


Game started on time with both sides playing the ball around while waiting with all the players to arrive. White looked the stronger team (turned out Alwyn happens to be a good player too) so Red had to rely on our attacks down the flanks (Kelvin & Justin down the left + Ben and Glenn down the right) to try and get something out of the game.

It was a very close game with both teams exchanging leads. Unfortunately most of the White goals were results of defensive lapse by Red's defenders. But the Reds didnt give up and continue attacking down the flanks. We could have easily scored a couple more if not for the excellent interventions from Jeff's iron balls

and point blank saves from the white keeper (esp Joel). The game ended slightly past the 80 min mark with White clinching the game by 2 goals (9-7 i think).

MOM for Red will be between Tim C - who had an excellent game marshalling the Red's defence and Melvin L - who was a constant menace to the White's defenders and finished the game with a hat-trick.

Play of the game definitely belongs to Murray with his "ghost tackle" as early as the 1st min of the game!

vodpod.com/watch/15762488-ezekiel-fryers-the-double-ghost-tackle-manchester-united-vs-crystal-palace

Great workout and game played in excellent spirit .. great stuff everyone!!

"After tonight's game, Rai's balance of $7 is insufficient for his next game." .. Rajiv - i think i earned enough for my next game (first report + TS rebate) ;D

Super tired after this game. Cramping while driving home in a manual car....damn it. Lucky I was on the E'way.

Rai - now you have exposed my training methods... darn no more secrets. Will have to find other methods or start hanging heavier stuff.

Nice work by the lads in white too with mel au on fire and good coverage by the midfielders and forwards.

Ben - time of the month huh ?

Good write up Rai ... Rai's write ups always top notch with extra audioviz.

Yeah Whites started off looking to dominate the Reds, I was ghost tackled which ended with a diving rugby tackle on Rai looking to show who was boss. He got his fair share of kicks last night, even diving infront of Jeff when hes taking a piledriver and feeling the full impact of Jeffs mighty swing.

White team strong all round, Melvin dictating the play, Joel snapping up loose balls and scoring left right and centre, Alwyn on his surging runs, no-one could get past Jeff with his balls of steel, Chen getting stuck in, Neil was tireless in his runs up and down the flank and particular solid tackling, all i had to do was kick Rai everytime he moved and Reds didnt stand a chance :-)

To be fair Reds went ahead and it could have stayed that way, however as most of the games in the last few weeks the team with the best organisation (not necessarily the best players) won out.

Personally, I didn't think the whites were that much stronger when I first saw the line-ups. But on hindsight (when everybody's a wise man), the whites were definitely more technically gifted, which explains how they were able to keep possession and control the tempo of the game for most parts. They had a good balance to the team of all-rounders. Some were runners, some were hustlers, some were ball players and others were..just effective.

The reds, however, lacked in the number of ball players. There seemed to be a lack in cohesion amongst the ranks and thus resulting in play often breaking up before the final third. Yes, whilst they did put some balls into the back of the net, they were due to a personal error of someone from the Whites or a 2nd ball which no one claimed possession of quick enough.

Nevertheless, having said all that, sometimes, all that's needed from a team such as the Reds (i.e. Bolton/Blackburn like) against the likes of the Whites (i.e. Swansea, Arsenal) is more communication, team work and determination which was lacking quite a bit last night.

On a side note, one of the tactics the Whites were adopting on the defence which was never discussed or planned but sort of picked up along the way, was how I would, as first man of defence upfront, force/direct the pass out into the middle circle (usually to Kelvin or Rai) who would very quickly find himself crowded out by a pool of 2-3 other whites who have taken up position to narrow play down the middle.

A few things that are key:

1) Front man's ability to position his body in a way, all other options would be cut off, effectively leaving the last man of the opposition only two options : back to keeper or forward to man in middle (options at side already marked by white wingers).

2) Wingers of Whites had to force play inside versus that of playing down the side-walls. This again, can only be possible by the stance and curve of approach towards the side players from the red team. This brings me to a very impt point I've noticed and and have pointed out before. For side defenders/wingers, if you are going to decide on leaving your post at the side to pressure player in the middle, make sure you approach him in a way that he cannot pass back to the side you came from (i.e. cover angles of an possible pass he could make out wide). OTherwise, the pass back out to side you came from would possibly result in a quick counter down the flank you've abandoned.

3) Lastly, whites had to pressure red player receiving ball in middle quickly so he can't turn and look for options of team mates running from deep. Thus, red has to only play ball back or to side which serves little threat.


Hope this helps and gives all of us something to work on at your next game!

Let's keep the healthy spirit of our game!

-mel

Good inputs Mel. Will keep this is mind for the coming games and hope it becomes second nature!

Great stuff Mel!!

One thing I noted was that no one informed the new players about the rule on resetting play to the side which had possession last when the ball got stuck at either sidelines, thus we saw some robust / overzealous challenges last night that potentially could cause injuries.

Can we be a bit more conscientious to for everyone to ensure that new players are told of this rule.

my bad on not informing alwyn about it due to fact he could only make it at 915 cos he had to put his daughter to bed.

i was at that particular scene you are referring to and I must say, Alwyn actually got to the ball before the opponent and I was personally quite puzzled why he was asked to give up possession of it when an opponent came along.

I think yea, as much as we do not go in and make robust or career/life threatening tackles at ANY corner of the pitch, this should not take basic defensive concepts out of our game (i.e. taking two steps back from the opponent whenever he's at the sidelines and expecting the ball to be played back to the keeper for a restart). To me, it makes no legit sense. We might as well just play according to the rule of 'no using of side wall' at all times (i.e. ball is deemed out of play and possession should oppositions whenever it crosses the line).

What I am saying here is, the defender still has a right and SHOULD keep close to attacking player with ball, not allowing him to turn or flick the ball past him, etc. but like with every other moment of the game, to exercise extreme caution against 'crazy' tackles, especially since the attacker is in a 'vulnerable' position.

If i may also bring this up for the second time, play should not stop for players tying their shoelaces. It is okay to play with one man short for that 10 seconds. It isn't fair for the opponents or anyone else for that matter, that the entire momentum or tempo of the game be slowed down to a stand still just because shoelaces came loose or were untied. Please allow play to carry on, even when my shoe laces come untied. =)

Of course, we should stop play if someone is down injured or has hurt himself.

one-and-half cents worth. Feel free to comment or rebut.

-mel

May 30, 2012 15:37:04 GMT 8 Melvin Au said:

If i may also bring this up for the second time, play should not stop for players tying their shoelaces. It is okay to play with one man short for that 10 seconds. It isn't fair for the opponents or anyone else for that matter, that the entire momentum or tempo of the game be slowed down to a stand still just because shoelaces came loose or were untied. Please allow play to carry on, even when my shoe laces come untied. =)

Of course, we should stop play if someone is down injured or has hurt himself.

agree. move to the sides so game can continue.