“This great evil, where’s it come from? How’d it steal into the world? What seed, what root did it grow from? Who is doing this?” – The Thin Red Line
We seek answers to this series of questions everyday of our lives, of course; invariably, we are forced to admit our ignorance, our distance from the Divine and its secrets. In those rare moments of clarity, however, when Grace comes to illuminate, the answer becomes obvious and a familiar name falls from our lips.
Dennis.
His spirit beckoned all manner of wild challenges, misplaced passes, foul mouthed accusations and insults. Early in the game, a tirade of abuse was directed – and justifiably – at Rajiv. Twice he dallied on the ball; twice the swiftness of Kin pounced; twice the ball ended in the back of the Non-Reds’ net.
The underdogs were behind. 0-2 quickly became 2-4.
Enraged, the evil that descended onto the hard courts of Bukit Timah campus overcame the usually staid Tom. He came to earn his new found moniker, “The Demon Dog”, rabidly ploughing into the various Reds. Gilbert was unceremoniously body-checked, but the The Great Referee In The Sky waved “play on”. Later, the evil that Dennis spawned fed into Rajiv, with Gilbert again the deserving victim: dumped while running at full speed. Gilbert later returned to the game, vowing to seek retribution and denying that tears had been shed.
The Reds withered under such a ferocious onslaught. Heath added weight to a previously undermanned defence. Having taken time away from his daily routine – stealing hub-caps – he imposed himself on the game with a Scouser mentality: stealing the ball from his opponents on several occasions.
As Heath, Rajiv and The Demon Dog kept the Reds at safe distance from goal, the effervescent Sng ran rings round the Reds. The Energizer Bunny had started the evening two hours earlier but had more than enough in the tank to take on the static Reds defence. Such service to our front man brought predictable results. Rajer happily helped himself to 6 goals – two of which were passed through the legs of the previously much respected Yu Teik.
More than goals, however, Rajer contributed with his all round display, holding the ball and linking up well with the midfield runners. Swift inter-passing led to goals from Heath and the Energizer Bunny, while Rajiv feinted past the luckless Yu Teik to place a shot into the corner of the Reds’ goal. It would have been a far more resounding win had the Reds not moved the goal posts three times, thereby diverting shots by The Demon Dog onto the frame of the goal.
In the end, it mattered not. The Underdogs, a motley collection of smokers, supplemented by a tennis player and a lawyer, had turned the tables on the Mighty Reds. Kin was even gracious enough to clear the ball off the non-Reds’ goal line; perhaps he knew, deep down, that it would have been an injustice, and a distortion of the balance of the game, to score.
That would have cut the deficit to 8-7 but two goals closed the evening with something to spare. Whimpering, the Reds’ trooped off as soon as the tenth goal whizzed by the hapless Chris. The final 10-8 scoreline was probably a fair reflection of the contest – if we can call it that.
