Midland Wolves - Training Session this Sunday 1st Nov

Hi Midland Wolves,

D2D League Season 2009
Match Report
Training Session
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 Bo Chap FC
HT: 1-0
FT: 4-0
Goals: Wenjie, Shawn, Bochap OG, BX
Assists: Welson
Cards: Nil
MW MOM: Gabriel

Formation: 4-5-1 (4-2-3-1)
Lineup: Gabriel, PC, Shawn, Dansen, Jason, Sebas, Welson, BX (Calvin), Leonard (BX), JJ, Wenjie
Unused Subs: Jack

IT was a cooling Sunday morning with cloudy skies overhead, but that did not dampen the pre-game anticipation. This is a crucial game for the Wolves, a must-win if Wolves hope to try to climb to 5th on the table and be one step closer to being relegation safe. Bochap lies on the 5th spot, with 1 game in hand over the Wolves who lie in 7th. The last game was played in a short and wide pitch, and a lucky penalty from Bochap secured a narrow win over the Wolves the last encounter. But deep down Wolves know they can beat this team and that belief remains.

Wolves' strategy for this game is similar to the last game against Chinatown, that is to control the midfield, and penetration via the wings where the Bochap's chink in the armour is. Defensive wise, Wolves were boosted by the return of Vice-Captain Dansen. The match kicked off with neither side dominating, as both sides were scrappy in midfield fighting for possession while trying to settle down first. Before long, Wolves settled in earlier and started to apply the pressure on Bochap. Bochap's main threat was their tall defensive midfielder who was launching most of their attacks. Noticing this, coach Jack instructed Welson and Shawn to man-mark him in midfield and defence respectively to nullify his influence. The tactics worked partially, keeping his attacking influence to minimum, while the tall player started to play deeper in defence. A lot of the early action was happening at the Wolves' left wing, where Bochap triple teamed to try to penetrate our wing, but Dansen was there with Welson to handle the threats, just marginally keeping them out though. On the right wing, Jason was having an easier time with the ever aggressive Sebas backing him. There were many throw-ins but was wasted by Wolves on the right as Jason's throw went straight to the opponents. However, BX and Leonard, wingers on the right and left respectively, were very lively and causing problems to Bochap. BX was active in the first 20 mins, but was stifled there after when Bochap changed a faster fullback to mark him. Leonard was the key threat, with his marker having a hard time trying to keep up with the physical Leonard. Wenjie was having a good day too, when he found himself through the defence in an attacking move, but he hesitated and the chance to shoot was gone. On the other end, Bochap were limited to sporadic counter attacks mostly through the Wolves left wing, and their fast striker was causing some problems to PC with his pace, but the commanding Gabriel was there to mop up. BX had a chance when he beat 2 players with his penetrating run, but he too hestitated to shoot and chose to play a through pass to JJ who was caught offside. Welson had a chance when he dribbled past the left back but his curling shot was just wide of the post. It was still nervy until a moment of Wenjie magic broke the deadlock. The combatitive Welson won a ball in midfield and with excellent vision released a diagional through pass from the left to right wing. Wenjie was there to collect, and with his first touch, controlled the ball and beat his marker at the same time at the edge of the box. He brought the ball in and blasted a shot beyond the helpless keeper. 1-0! Half-time not long after as it started to drizzle a bit.

Second half resumed with no changes on Wolves' side. Wolves dominated the early part of the second half with good spells of possession and passing. Bochap made a change and switched out their fast striker for a tricky winger in their no. 7. Uh-oh, more worries for Dansen. Bochap's tactics were almost working as the extra winger on the right often found himself unmarked and up against the overworked Dansen. But luckily Bochap's midfield weren't cohesive enough and more often then not, their passes did not managed to find the free no.7 player. In one of the Wolve's attacking forays, a ball was crossed in from the right wing into the box and as fate would have it the tall Bochap dangerman was deemed by the referee to have handled the ball. It might have been sweet poetic justice as he was the same guy who got the penalty from Fabian the last time we played. Penalty was up and Shawn blasted his shot down the middle to make it 2-0. Time for a tactical change as Bochap made 3 changes bringing on apparantly more experienced players and swtiching to a more attacking formation. With an increased number of attackers, Wolves started to lose the midfield battle. Wolves decided to make some tactical changes of their own and brought on Calvin for BX to help shore up the wings and provide cover for Dansen. From here on, it was all Bochap as Wolves withstood an onslaught of attacks. Bochap had several chances breaking through our defence but spurned the one-on-ones. Gabriel was on the top of his game, keeping out several shots and rushing out to intercept balls. His massive goal kicks also relieved pressure on the Wolves' defence. Seeing the situation, Jack decided to make a final switch which eventually turn out to be the killing stroke. Leonard came off for the rested BX, who took the forward role with Wenjie in a counter attacking 5-4-1. Everytime, Gabriel launches his oal kicks, Bochap were in trouble, with the pacy Wenjie, JJ and BX wreaking havoc on their 3 man defence. The third goal came when a long ball clearance from Wolves bounced towards the Bochap penalty box area. With BX chasing the ball, the Bochap keeper rushed out to try to collect, but hesitated cause of the on rushing BX. His hesitation killed him as the bouncing ball bounced off his head and into the net as he tried to clear. 3-0! A goal opportunity came shortly after when Bochap switched keepers and the new keeper came way out the the box to tryt o collect a loose through ball on the left. with BX and Sebas both casing after the ball, BX managed to latch on to the ball with his pace. He was about 35 yards out, but the goal was open with the keeper totally out of position, but his shot was off target. Wasted chance. But BX was to redeem himself when the ball once again was won in the Wolves' defence and cleared, and the Bochap midfielder failed to control the loose ball. BX latched on to the loose ball and surged forward. Seeing the keeper off the line, he let loose a 30 yard shot that dipped perfectly to score. 4-0! Kudos to Bochap though, as they never gave up even when 4-0 down and continued to pile pressure on Wolve's defence. Gabriel was the star at this point earning the Wolve's first clean sheet when the final whistle blew. Full-time.

Learning Points:
- This was a good game, but positional discipline must be there. Players must stick to their positions and not lose the plot in the heat of the moment.
- Attacking set-pieces need to improve. We had corners and free-kicks that was not made the most of.
- While the winning of the ball was good in this game, keeping possession and short passing accuracy could be improved.
- Wolves' MOM goes to Gabriel. He kept our first cleansheet in the game together with the 5 defenders Jason, PC, Shawn, Dansen and Calvin. His biggest contribution is his massive goal kicks which pegged the Bochap players back and resulted in 2 of our goals.

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Training Session:
This week we have a training session. All to attend unless with valid reasons.

Details as follows:
Date: 01/11/2009
Time: 11.00am (PLS BE THERE BY LATEST 8.30am)
Location: Field opposite Ci Yuan CC at Blk 923, Hougang Ave 9. See attached link.
http://sg.streetdirectory.com/asia_travel/travel/travel_id_1737/travel_site_84629/

Notes:
- Midland Wolves to WEAR the RED Training Jersey.
- Bring own water bottles and boots.
- Toilet is in CC opposite the 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.

Please inform your respective captains before Sunday whether you can make it for the training session 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.
BX is has classes on Sunday mornings.
Ray will be away in October and November due to A levels.
Keegan is out till end Nov due to knee injury.
Vincent is busy the next 3 weeks due to wedding preparations.
Dansen is overseas this weekend.
Welson and Calvin are unavailable this weekend.

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November Schedule:
01/11/09 - Training Session 9am @ field opposite Ci Yuan CC
08/11/09 - League Game 9am @ TBC
15/11/09 - League Game 9am @ TBC
22/11/09 - 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