Midland Wolves - League Game this Sunday 4th Oct

Hi Midland Wolves,

D2D League Season 2009
Match Report
League Game
Attendance
Oct Schedule
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Table standings:
http://www.d2dsports.com/category/football-leagues/sunday-9am-league/

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Match Report:
Midland Wolves FC vs Galactico Empire FC
HT: 1-1
FT: 1-5
Goals: Wenjie
Assists: Ray
Cards: Wenjie
MW MOM: JJ

Formation: 4-1-2-1-2 (4-3-3)
Lineup: Kunyi, PC (Sheares), Sheares (Jack), Keegan (Yeepoo/Ray), Sebas, Welson, Melvin, Jason, Wenjie, Ray (Gabriel/Nikorasu), JJ
Absentees: Khairi

It was a hot and sunny sunday morning, and the Wolves are up against a physical Empire. Recalling the 3-0 scoreline loss, Wolves wanted to exact revenge on the opponents they played in the first game of the league, knowing that the opponents are beatable. The last time the two teams met, injuries were prevalent as Wolves' players like Alvin, BX, Wenjie, Sebas, Shawn all took hard knocks. This encounter revisited yielded no different.

The match kicks off with Wolves sharing equal possession with Empire, with both teams feeling their way around. Alot of start-stop action from a series of throw-ins, with game play switching from left to right, both Wolves fullbacks Sebas and Keegan kept busy with their mark. Sheares was dominant in the air, winning a ton of high balls punted into the Wolves half. Welson and JJ were having solid performances of late, and maintained their impressive form, intercepting alot of balls and initiating the attacks. Empire's main threats came from their 2 malay wingers, the no.17 and no.13. But Lucky for Wolves, Keegan and Sebas were doing well to keep them at bay. We were putting the pressure on Empire until we suffered our first casualty. Empire, playing their physical style with some dirty tactics involved, took out the plucky Keegan within the first 20 mins. A challenge from behind sent Keegan tumbling and clutching his knees in pain. Unable to continue, Yeepoo made a quick sub in to replace him. Wolves managed to score an early goal when Sebas took a freekick that found Ray in the box. Ray's header hit the post, bouced out and Wenjie applied the coup de grace, finishing the move. 1-0 to the Wolves! We lead the game! We were still dominating play and possesion until a foul at the defensive third stopped play. However one Empire player continued to play and volleyed at shot that smacked straight at Sheares, that nearly took Sheares's head off. Like a bullet to the head, Sheares fell and had to be substituted by Jack as he had blurred vision. Play resumed the Empire got the corner. From the corner kick, Empire's defender was left unmarked and managed to head in the equaliser. 1-1. Wolves concede by set piece once again. Set pieces turning out to be Wolves' major problem area. Wolves continue to fight back and 40 mins into the game, Wolves had the biggest casualty when PC hurt his ankle in a challenge and was unable to continue. Lacking defensive cover, the groggy Sheares had to come back on for PC. A minute of protest occured at the other end of the field when a pass by an Empire player was blown to be offside, but Kunyi let slip the ball and it trickled into the net. But ref had already blown the whistle so the "goal" never stood. Half time.

Second half restarted with Gabriel on for Ray. Kunyi has an ankle problem and mentioned he may not be 100%. Wolves surged forward in search of the lead again, and was dominating play early on. A good move in the middle found the elusive JJ who's touch and dribbling made his untouchable, causing all sort of problem for Empire. He found some space and let rip a goal-bound, blazing shot that was blocked by Gabriel who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Next opportunity came when Wenjie hit the upright. Another chance came a knocking when Wenjie took a freekick from outside the box that found Gabriel, and his one touch volley just blasted over the bar. Good try. Some good play in the middle had Melvin play a good one-two with Jack and Jack made a run down the right to feed the ball to JJ, who was forced off the ball. About 65 minutes into the game, Empire made tactical switches and the no.13 and 17 wingers switched to forward positions and their no.7 put on the left to torment Yeepoo. The 3rd goal came when a through ball fed through the middle was chased by an Empire midfielder. Jack was giving chase, but seeing Kunyi rush out from the line, he anticipated Kunyi to collect the ball. But some hesitation, and Kunyi slowed his approach, giving the opponent time to reach the ball and put it beyond his reach to make it 2-1. Defensive error. Wolves took off Yeepoo and put on Ray to go for the jugular in a 3-4-3 formation hoping to get the equaliser. However the gamble didn't pay off as fatigue set into the Wolves defence and Empire beat the Wolves' offside 3 times to put the final score at 5-1. Full time.

Learning Points:
- Although the Wolves lost, the scoreline did not reflect the state of the game. Wolves played well for 65 mins, but the early injuries to key players took its toll on Wolves who finally succumb to lack of concentration and fatigue. The tactical gamble did not pay off as well for the Wolves, but we can take heart in that everyone put in 100% and ran till they dropped.
- Wolves' MOM goes to JJ. Who was outstanding in the game, and managed to outfox his markers numerous times. Worth mentioning are Wenjie and Welson, who played well for the second game running.
- We need to tighten the defence if we want to reach our goals in the league. Defending from setpieces remain horrendous for us and we really need to work on that in training. Attacking setpieces were also often wasted opportunities. We need that extra training session to settle these issues. Another area to work on is in heading accuracy. While now we are more active in challenging for the high balls, but still the won high balls aren't finding our own players.

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League Game:
Midland Wolves FC vs Ace Galaxy FC
Last result: 2-0 loss. This game was postponed 2 times before. They were wearing all pink and while we dominated the game, they had 3 chances and score 2, we had 6 chances and didn't score. Their keeper is one of the best in this division so far, as far as we have seen anyway. Their wingers and main striker are the main danger. The wingers are fast, the main forward isn't as fast, but has a physical presence. We conceded from set pieces against them. So we need to pay attention to prevent that.

Details as follows:
Date: 04/10/2009
Time: 9.00am (PLS BE THERE BY LATEST 8.30am)
Location: Ahmad Ibrahim Sec, 751 Yishun Ave 7. See attached link.
http://sg.streetdirectory.com/asia_travel/travel/travel_id_122/travel_site_126831/

Notes:
- Midland Wolves to WEAR the WHITE JERSEY SET.
- Bring own water bottles and boots.
- Toilet/water point is in school field.
- Pls bring shin guards.
- In the case of inclement weather (heavy downpour, thunderstorm, etc) game will be postponed. Will inform u guys on the morning itself, so it's imperative I have your contact numbers.

Team Sheet:
Gk - Kunyi
Def - PC (VC)
Def - Fabian
Def - Alastair
Def - Calvin
Def - Sebas
Def - Vincent
Mid - Shawn
Mid - Yu Xiang
Mid - Welson
Mid - Melvin
Mid - Jason
Fwd - Gabby
Fwd - Ray
Fwd - JJ
Fwd - Wenjie

Standby Replacements: Syafiq, Jack, Leonard, Khairi, Yee poo

Please inform your respective captains before Sunday whether you can make it for the game or not. PC will be the stand in VICE captain in Dansen's absence until his return. Sms to Sebas at 96201130, PC at 91555257. Captains please revert attendance to JACK on Sat.

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Attendance:
Jeff is away on long term absence.
Kelvin, Jia Jun, Dun Rong, Issac and Martin will be coming less for training due to O Levels this year.
Raj is away overseas till end of the year.
Naren is away on NS.
Mark is league tied.
Dansen is overseas till 13 Oct.
BX is has classes on Sunday mornings.
Ray will be away in October and November due to A levels.
Sheares is unavailable this weekend.
Keegan is recovering from injury and unavailable this weekend.
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October Schedule:
04/10/09 - League Game 9am @ Ahmad Ibrahim Sec vs Ace Galaxy
11/10/09 - League Game 9am @ TBC
18/10/09 - League Game 9am @ TBC
25/10/09 - League Game 9am @ TBC

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Visit us at our website at www.midlandwolves.blogspot.com
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Go Wolves!

Mr Wolf