Monday, 11 August 2014 - Offside @ MacPherson (1)

From the "Venues, pitches & team sizes" thread:

Aug 5, 2014 12:10:19 GMT 8 Rajiv said:

With all the problems we've had with the big pitch at East Coast, Jeff S drew my attention yesterday to the new Home United pitches at Aljunied/MacPherson. ....

The place is run by Offside. Location map here.

.....

I have also been trying to get an additional game on Monday nights going at The Grandstand since January 2014. ....

For the rest of this month, I will replace both games on Monday night with one 7-a-side game at HYSA (8 Mattar Road).

....

From the schedule thread:

Aug 11, 2014 16:37:36 GMT 8 Rajiv said:

Team selectors are Tim C and Keith. Line ups to follow.

Aug 11, 2014 17:13:50 GMT 8 Keith Neo said:

Whites: Keith, Sean, Jacko, Wilson, Marko, Calvin, John
Reds: Tim, Kelvin, Jeff, Shawn, Chen Hong, Steve, Ben

After the game, please post reports and comments on the game below.

Whites: Keith, Sean, Jacko, Wilson, Marko, Calvin, John
Reds: Tim, Kelvin, Jeff, Shawn, Chen Hong, Steve, Ben

Giffa had it's first game at HYFA, so I'll start off with what I thought about the venue:

- Place is easy enough to find, but it's on a one way road (missing a turn means making one big detour), so do head off early if it's your first time there.
- Pitch surface is pretty good, according to Jeff, it's FIFA recommended / approved.
- Dimension wise, about the same length, but wider than Khalsa pitch by quite a bit.
- Lighting is dim.
- Allows for NO extra time, venue has spot light timer that goes off at 10pm sharp (very energy efficient; means we've got to be early and start on the dot).
- Apologies for being a couple of minutes late and the last player on the pitch. My beef rendang for lunch was acting up and I had to visit the loo. Oh, the toilets are pretty clean, but they don't provide toilet paper, so if you needa engage in big business, bring along your own along.. =)

Back to the match.

Whites adapted to the new pitch quickly, managed to exploit the width of the pitch and some porous defending by the Reds as they raced to a 5-0 lead. Marko was quite the fox in the box as he scored 4 and assisted Jacko with one.

At that point, Wilson and Keith were able to relax and share some laughter at the back.

Reds reorganized defensively. Jeff stepped up to midfield, allowing Shawn and Kelvin more space upfront. Reds were having more possession of the ball, as they pressed higher and were rewarded with a goal from Shawn. It was the Whites' defence turn to collapse. Shawn made good use of his pace, took advantage of the wider pitch, and combined well with Kelvin upfront as they scored a few more between them (Shawn with one more and Kelvin with 2, I think).

Ben equalized with a good goal, curling the ball in with his side foot from the left, pretty much Thiery Henry style... =).

Sean regained advantage for the Whites after latching on to a pass from Jacko. Good counter attack launched by Jacko.

Whites' joy was short-lived as the Reds equalized for a second time, this time through Chen Hong.

The game abruptly came to an end at 10pm sharp as half the lights went off.

No more smiles for Keith as he walked off the pitch knowing that he missed out on a victory that was pretty much in his pocket (Means he is further off the leader in the team selector's table)... =)

Good spirit shown by the Reds to comeback from a 5 goal deficit. Football is indeed a game of two halves. Final score 6-6.

Good game!

Aug 12, 2014 2:02:23 GMT 8 Sean Luo said:

- Pitch surface is pretty good, according to Jeff, it's FIFA recommended / approved.
- Lighting is dim.
- Allows for NO extra time, venue has spot light timer that goes off at 10pm sharp (very energy efficient; means we've got to be early and start on the dot).

On the turf - www.offside.com.sg/turf.html

Agree on the lights and no extra time, I would recommend you all to write in as feedback. I will do it today later.

1) In pitch one, the left side (if facing the carpark) needs to be lit else the lighting is imbalance.
2) Due to turn over if other teams are playing, they should give a 5-10 mins grace so that we can play for 60 mins.

Contact Email: [e-mail]

Despite the lighting, this place is still 1-up than ECP as there isn't metal beams that can cause harm to players, a proper goal and no holes on the sides (for now).

P.S - Bring your own isotonic drink - freakin' $1.30. Drivers, you can make some cash here.

On the game - disarray for reds conceding 5 goals without return and whites looking to cruise on. Whites were with better ball players but the fight back from Reds were commendable. Thanks reds for not rolling over but took the game to the whites. No smile from Kaptain Keith at the final lights off but jokes from resident "Fandi" cracked him up later.

$2 credit to Sean for a first report. $2 credit to each of Keith and Tim as team selectors.

I've moved the discussion on the lighting and turnover time to the "Regular venues & pitches" thread.

darn nice pitch/location, if not for the dim lights. I dare say it affected some people a bit more than others. Some reactions on the pitch were delayed - which I (will kindly) attribute to the dim lighting

Reds fightback - awesome! Well taken goals by Chen Hong and Ben. Good poaching from Shawn to force white defenders (not a racist remark) into conceding possession more than once. I had at least 2 clear chances which I missed too (I blame the lights and my turf shoes!) - so we could have won.

@kelv - see their reply on the lighting on the thread "Regular venues...." above. I wrote to them and they replied to me on the issue.