Wednesday Night At Khalsa (2) - 28 November 2012

After many twits on rain and thunder before the match, the weather during the game was nice and dry. With a splippery field, it resulted in yet again a high-scoring match.

Stan and Jeff were again in the same team (the Reds) and it resulted in pressure from the Reds from the start. Going up by 2-0, Whites came back to 2-1, 3-1, 3-2, 4-2 and 4-3. After this, the Reds made a few more goals - even with one less on the field due to Jumail having hurt his knee - and it ended 9-4 or 9-5.

Good spirits all around with a little bit of showboating by Stan (great dribbling and faking injuries - when Stan was on the ground caressing his shin pad, John explained that shin pads don't have feelings and Stan's leg could not hurt more than his toe). So Stan certainly got the tough looks and tattoos but does he have the balls...........to find out, I suggest that Jeff and Stan could be in opposite teams next time - so they can do the running and we can relax.

$2 credit to Martijn for a first report. $2 credit to John J and Stan D Man as team selectors.

On line ups:

Nov 28, 2012 15:14:56 GMT 8 Rajiv said:

Team selectors are Jeff Lim and John J. ....

....

Nov 28, 2012 15:33:37 GMT 8 Rajiv said:

Jeff has asked Stan to take over from him as he is not familiar with several players. Stan has agreed. I'm ok with that.

Nov 28, 2012 17:07:36 GMT 8 Stan D Man said:

Alright guys...after our 2hrs careful n detail discussion :-p please see below for our proposed line up;

Team Red: Jeff (Captain), Desmond, Stan D woMan, Martijn, David N, Yaseen and Jamil
Team White: John J (Captain), Jessen, Eam, Angelo, Chen Hong, Casey and John

Enjoy the game and have fun guys! See ya!

There were concerns about the line ups from the outset:

Nov 28, 2012 17:17:16 GMT 8 Jessen said:

Reds look really powerful with a mean defence and killer strike force.... My prediction for today.... 7-2 to reds.

More on the WhatsApp group chat:

* Eam to Stan D Man: "wah. your team very strong horrrrrr"

* Later, Yaseen: "No disrespect to anyone but reds seems very strong.. No even distribution of players i feel."

I think Stan decided on his team, then spent 2 hours persuading John J to accept.

Another brief account of the game I received:

you/we/all predicted right - very one-sided and Reds were still very competitive all the way to the end. I think it ended 9:5. A hard slog for Whites, chasing the ball most of the time, even for the last 15 mins or so, when Reds were down a player, with Jamil out due to a twisted knee. Saying that, Whites kept their heads up most of the game.

Perhaps I should reduce Stan's credit by $1?

I think team selectors need to remember that the aim is to have evenly matched teams, not just that their own team is well balanced. No point referring to past upsets, whether in our own games, or in English football, to justify uneven line ups:

* Stan in the same WhatsApp group chat: "There r many of a time when certain team looks strong on paper.....they lost :-" and "Have u seen how Norwich beat Man U?"

I'm reluctant to intervene in the process though. Hopefully, in time, more players come to realise that voting for the team selectors matters.

Compared to the Turf City and East Coast games, far fewer players at the Khalsa games vote.

As a 'guest' player the game last night was played in good spirits which i throughly enjoyed.

Even the lineups were slightly unbalanced Whites can hold our heads high as i thot we really played our hearts out. Both Johns were full of running; Jessen was efferverscent; Casey & Eam super-hardworking; Angelo was shouting non-stop ....

I can only bemoan the lack of fireworks which the prematch taunting didnt materialise into anything dramatic

I echo the need for goal line technology and retractable roof at Khalsa.
The game was played in good spirits definitely.
Not too concerned about the line-ups despite all our pre-match hoo ha.
Kudos to my whites team who played their hearts out and fought valiantly.

Chen Hong, like I said:

Nov 28, 2012 15:58:36 GMT 8 Rajiv said:

.... It wasn't a Wednesday.

Jessen, although you and Eam raised concerns before the game, I know you were both happy to go ahead with the line ups. John Simpson and Casey were also on the WhatsApp group so they knew what to expect. John J agreed to the line ups, and Chen Hong was happy with the game. Only one on Whites I haven't heard from is Angelo.

On Reds side, only Yaseen raised concern, but Stan got him to back down by suggesting that he and Jamil could be split up. Stan is quite the negotiator.