Summary For 25 June 2008

As Gilbert was waiting for his bike to be towed, he couldn’t make it on Wednesday night at the Cage, so we started with 5 v 5 – Andy C, Gilbert, Hamish, Andreas, Ben Y and Sushil (Darks) v John, Reza, Geoff, Kamal, and Steve (Lights) – while I tried to find an extra player.

After about 20 minutes, I gave up and joined Lights, who were 2-3 down. With the extra man, Lights pulled ahead 11-8. With 10 minutes to go, Reza swapped sides so that Darks had the extra man, and Darks pulled back to 12-12 before we ran out of time.

The rule change allowing the team a man short to enter into and score from the “D” didn’t do much to redress the balance.

Anyway, it was a good session. Hamish, I hope you enjoyed yourself.

Schedule For Week Of 30 June 2008

Changes To The FIOFAFI System

As stated yesterday, we will have 3 sessions a week from next week onwards, subject to availability of pitches/courts.

Summary For 23 June 2008

We had 18 at Bukit Timah campus last night from 8 to 9 pm on Court 1 and 9 to 10 pm on Court 2.

We lined up with 3 teams as follows:

Lights – Bret, Amit, Nicolas, Shankar, Damian and me
Darks – Tom/Mot, Clive, Tim C, Look-Liew, Sushil (in yellow) and Glenn
Reds – Mark L, Ian, Boon Yick, Swee Hoe, Yu Teik and Gautam.

We played 10 minute games, with winner staying, and in the event of a draw, the challenger staying.

For a long while, each team won one and then went out after the next, giving each team a fair run out. However, that sequence was broken when Reds, having won their previous game, beat Lights 3-2 in a thrilling match. Lights went 1-0, and then 2-1 up. Reds equalised late on after a sliding tackle by Teik on Lights keeper, Damian. Shaken, Reds conceded another goal following a dodgy back pass from Bret to Damian. Lights pressed for the equaliser that would see them stay on, with Nicolas shooting from everywhere, and coming close when he hit the post.

Reds went on to win their next three games, against Darks, Lights and Darks again, before the lights finally went out.

Schedule For Week Of 23 June 2008

Summary For 18 June 2008

With Reza held up at work, we were 5 v 4 last night at The Cage – John S, Kamal, Geoff, Tom Jr, me (light tops) v Llion, Andy C, Gilbert, Shankar (dark tops).

Although Lights had more of the possession, Darks were on several occasions able to break quickly and score. Final score – 16-10 to Darks.

Summary For 16 June 2008

To all those who turned up yesterday, my apologies that you were left with only 7 players.

My return from KL was delayed, and I only reached home after 9.00 pm, so Sze Kuan very kindly covered for me last night at Bukit Timah campus.

Unfortunately, a few others were not well or injured, including Tom/Mot, Yu Teik, Lewis and Kin. With the two late additions, Raj and Damian also not well and dropping out, we were left with 7 – Mark L, Clive, Sze Kuan, Amit, Nicolas, Ian and Heath – instead of 14.

I understand from Sze Kuan that those who turned up managed to find three more people at Bukit Timah, to make 10.

If anyone who turned up yesterday would like to write a brief account of yesterday’s game, please feel free to do so as a comment below.

Summary For 11 June 2008

Although we were oversubscribed and I had to turn away two who had confirmed in order to limit numbers to 12, we started at 8 pm on Wednesday at The Cage with only 8 – Llion, Steve, Ben Y and Gilbert (Darks) v Andy C, Geoff, Simon and me (Lights). Kamal and John S were held up at work, Andy N hadn’t realised we were starting at 8 pm (thankfully, he was half an hour early for 9 pm!) and Andreas failed to show.

Geoff’s son, Tom, who played in my place early on while I tried to figure out what happened to our 4 missing players, came back in after 8.30 pm to make 12 – Llion, Steve, Kamal, Ben Y, Gilbert and John S (Darks) v Andy C, Geoff, Simon, Andy N, Tom, me.

With the distractions until 8.30 pm, and young Tom in for Andreas making for somewhat uneven sides, the game never reached great heights, although both sides managed some good goals.

Darks eventually ran out 19-11 winners.

I think I’ll stick to the 9 to 10 pm slot from next week onwards.

Schedule For The Week of 16 June 2008

Summary For 9 June 2008

We had a late change to the line up on Monday night at Bukit Timah campus – Look Liew in for Heath, who was not feeling well.

Kok Leong was held up at work, but with PK and his 3 friends asking to join in, we should still have had 21 – 3 teams of 7. However, PK and his friends decided to play with the lot before us who finish at 9 pm, while Lewis, Hua Hui and Wei Howe were either playing with the lot before us, or only arrived at 9 pm, by which time, we had settled into an exciting game of 7 v 7, and no one wanted to switch to 3 teams at that stage – like I said last week, it is disruptive to have to switch halfway through the session.

We started on Court 1 at 8.15 pm with 4 v 4 – Boon Yick, Raj, Sze Kuan, Amit (Whites) v Tim C, Clive, Look Liew and me (Others). Others quickly took a 4-1 lead, with the new goalposts affecting the bearings of Whites’ keepers.

By the time we were 6 v 6 (Boon Yick, Raj, Sze Kuan, Amit, Clement, Nicolas – Whites v Tim C, Clive, Look Liew, Yu Teik, Collin, Mark L – Others), the score was 7-4.

As expected, Tom’s friend was none other than Tom himself (Tom, I’m sure you have real friends, and don’t need to create an imaginary friend called Mot!) Tom arrived last, in black, so he joined Others, and I switched to Whites.

Upon joining the game, Tom surged forward, raising the tempo of the game. With Mark L very sharp in front of goal, Others pulled away to 11-4, before Whites pulled the score back to 12-7. As usual, Tom managed to hit the post.

We then moved to Court 2, and Whites pressed to close the gap, with Clement and Amit charging forward from midfield. However, the final pass was often lacking, and with the finishing of both Nicolas and Raj off their best, Whites struggled to pull the score further back to 12-11. Whites were making a massive effort, which was not truly reflected in the score-line.

At this stage, the limited success Whites had had went to their heads. Whatever teamwork Whites had shown in clawing their way back into the game evaporated. On several occasions, Others picked up a loose or wasted ball by Whites and surged forward to score. Others pulled ahead 17-11, with Collin scoring a couple from difficult angles. Even Tom managed to score.

Lewis came on as a late substitute for Boon Yick. Whites continued to squander the chances that came their way.

By the time Whites got their act together again, it was too late, and the game finished 19-14 to Others.

Quick and accurate passing – what Whites lacked on the night.