Friendly Game:
This week we have a Friendly Game on Sunday. Midland Wolves FC vs Rovers
Details as follows:
Date: 28/06/2009
Time: 3.00pm (PLS BE THERE BY LATEST 2.30PM)
Location: Punggol Sec Sch, 51 Edgefield Plains. (Nearest MRT is Punggol) See attached MAP.
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 cancelled. Will inform u guys on the morning itself, so it's imperative I have your contact numbers.
Team Sheet:
Gk - Gabriel
Def - Calvin
Def - PC
Def - Vincent
Def - Yeepoo
Def - Alastair
Def - Keegan
Mid - Sebas (C)
Mid - Welson
Mid - Jack
Mid - Jason
Mid - Yu Xiang
Mid - Ray
Fwd - Syafiq
Fwd - JJ
Fwd - Nicholas
Fwd - BX
Standby Replacements: Sheares, Kelvin, Fabian
Midland Wolves Youth Team
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Midland Wolves - Friendly Game this Sunday 28th June
Hi Midland Wolves,
Match Report
Friendly Game
Attendance
Open Recruitment
June Schedule
--------------------------------------------------
Match Report by Dansen & Sebas
Midland Wolves FC vs Lavender United FC
HT: 4-0
FT: 4-0
Cards: PC, Welson (yellow)
Goals: BX, Shawn, Yu Xiang, JJ
MOM: Dansen
Friendly Game:
This week we have a Friendly Game on Sunday. Midland Wolves FC vs Rovers
Details as follows:
Date: 28/06/2009
Time: 3.00pm (PLS BE THERE BY LATEST 2.30PM)
Location: Punggol Sec Sch, 51 Edgefield Plains. (Nearest MRT is Punggol) See attached MAP.
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 cancelled. Will inform u guys on the morning itself, so it's imperative I have your contact numbers.
Team Sheet:
Gk - Azam
Def - Calvin
Def - PC
Def - Alvin
Def - Dansen
Def - Alastair
Def - Keegan
Mid - Sebas (C)
Mid - Welson
Mid - Shawn
Mid - Jason
Mid - Yu Xiang
Mid - Ray
Fwd - JJ
Fwd - Wenjie
Fwd - BX
Standby Replacements: Vincent, Yee Poo, Nicholas, Jack
Please inform your respective captains before Sunday whether you can make it for the game or not. sms to Sebas at 96201130, Dansen at 83441548. Captains please revert attendance to JACK on Sat night.
----------------------------------------------------
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.
Kunyi is away on NS.
Melvin will be away for table tennis training till August.
Mark is out with a foot injury.
-------------------------------------------
Open Recruitment:
We are currently looking for strikers. Any friends interested to try out, do bring them down.
--------------------------------------------
June Schedule:
07/06/09 - Training session 9am @ Ci Yuan CC field
14/06/09 - Friendly Game 3pm @ Si Ling Sec vs Family Planning Utd
21/06/09 - Friendly Game 3pm @ Punggol Sec vs Lavender Utd
28/06/09 - Friendly Game 3pm @ Punggol Sec vs Rovers
Visit us at our website at www.midlandwolves.blogspot.com
-------------------------------------------
Thats all.
Go Wolves!
Mr Wolf
Match Report
Friendly Game
Attendance
Open Recruitment
June Schedule
--------------------------------------------------
Match Report by Dansen & Sebas
Midland Wolves FC vs Lavender United FC
HT: 4-0
FT: 4-0
Cards: PC, Welson (yellow)
Goals: BX, Shawn, Yu Xiang, JJ
MOM: Dansen
Team line up (4-5-1)
GK: Azam
Defenders: PC (sweeper), Dansen (stopper), Yee Poo (left back), Vincent (right back)
Midfielders: Shawn (centre mid), Welson (centre mid), Sebas (defensive mid), Yu Xiang (left wing), BX (right wing)
Striker: JJ
For this match, we have a safe pair of hands in goal. Surprisingly, our star striker Wenjie was rested. Ramesh retained his faith in JJ and he started the game as our striker. Ramesh with his unique analogy gave us his team talk. An excerpt: ‘We can do so many things in training, but when it comes to match, we cannot perform. It is like masturbating. You can masturbate all you want, but when it comes to the real thing, you cannot perform.’
First Half
Before kick-off, the respective captains did a coin toss battle in the middle. We won the duel and chose to switch to the other half. This was a tactical decision as the sun was scorching hot on our side while the other goalpost had a shade over it. the sun was getting into our goalie's eyes, therefore switching sides was prolly a good idea.
Opponent started the kick off and we found ourselves under attack. They managed to get the ball into our penalty box twice, the defence failing to clear the ball first time (Dansen the guilty culprit). We were lucky that we managed to close the opponent down fast just before he was about to shoot just outside the penalty box. Opponent was having more possession at the start. After a jittery start, we managed to win back possession and we started attacking. Opponent was playing a really high backline and we did not have much space in the middle. Balls were constantly hit over their defence, with our wings and striker making lots of runs. BX proved too fast for the opponent’s defence as they tried all sorts of methods to try and stop him.
Our first goal came courtesy of BX. A long ball from defense was pumped into the opponents half and with BX running from deep and the opponents playing a high defense line, the ball landed on BX with all the defenders behind him and the referee wave play on. We were constantly attacking. We had plenty of chances, however we were not sharp in front of goal. JJ had a couple of good chances, but he failed to make clean contact with the ball. Yuxiang had a few chances too, but failure to make clean contact resulted in poor attempt at goal. Our second goal came from Shawn. He received the ball outside the opponent’s penalty box. He dribbled past a few defenders before shooting with his left. The ball went curling and dipping into the bottom right hand corner of the post. Keeper did not even move, he had absolutely no chance. We were definitely happy with 2 early first half goals, but we did not want to get carried away. We stayed focused, reminding ourselves that the game was not over. Our third came right after our second. Opponent kicked off and we pressured them immediately. It bore fruit as we won possession. The ball was passed to Yu Xiang who dribbled past the defence and let in a left footed shot. Goal!
Shawn came close to adding a fourth goal with a free kick way outside the penalty box. His ball curled and dipped just inches wide of the post. A very good try from distance.
(4th goal please, I don’t remember)
Half Time
BX & Dansen had a talk and things were sorted out. Ramesh made some changes to the team’s line-up. BX coming out for Aloysius; Syafiq and Mark taking over Shawn & Welson in midfield.
Second Half
Right from kick off, we started attacking. Waves and waves of attack from Wolves. Just like in the first half, we had plenty of chances, but we failed to capitalize. Two particular balls managed to beat their keeper though, but not their defender. We had two balls cleared on the line. At the start of the second half when energy bar was still full, Mark gave the opponent a HUGE problem. His tremendous size and strength proved too much for them as he bulldozed his way through 3 opponents in an attacking attempt at goal. The only element lacking was speed, had he been slightly faster, he would have gotten the ball outside the penalty box and made a shooting attempt at goal.
The two wingbacks pushed dangerously high up to join the attack, leaving a huge gap at the back. The opponent tried to exploit the space, but was denied by our two excellent centre backs. PC in particular stood strong and tough. The opponent could not muscle their way through him. On one occasion when they attacked through the right, PC made a challenge that resulted in the opponent lying flat on his back. In another instance, a collision between him and an opponent resulted in the opponent flying, needing medical treatment, while he stood his ground with only a cut lip.
Up to this point, other than goal kicks, picking up loose balls or taking free kicks from the back, our keeper was virtually a spectator. Save for a few free kicks which went either high or wide or straight at him, the opponent did not trouble him at all. Opponents were starting to play abit hard, with 2 of their central midfielders getting yellow cards for heavy mistimed tackles. Seeing how drained Yuxiang was, Ramesh made a switch. Jason took over his place in the left wing. Alastair also coming on for Yee Poo at left back. Vincent going out for Ray. We started playing with a 3-5-2, the defence looking more solid and safe with Alaistair coming on. Ray going into right mid, Syafiq going up to partner Aloysius in attack.
As the clock ticked closer to full time, Ramesh had an intention to play a highly attacking formation of 3-4-3. But the weather was to deny him as the referee halted the game with a lightning striking dangerously close. The players waited for a couple of minutes in the hope that the weather might improve. Another lightning strike and the referee decided to end the game with 10 minutes remaining.
Friendly Game:
This week we have a Friendly Game on Sunday. Midland Wolves FC vs Rovers
Details as follows:
Date: 28/06/2009
Time: 3.00pm (PLS BE THERE BY LATEST 2.30PM)
Location: Punggol Sec Sch, 51 Edgefield Plains. (Nearest MRT is Punggol) See attached MAP.
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 cancelled. Will inform u guys on the morning itself, so it's imperative I have your contact numbers.
Team Sheet:
Gk - Azam
Def - Calvin
Def - PC
Def - Alvin
Def - Dansen
Def - Alastair
Def - Keegan
Mid - Sebas (C)
Mid - Welson
Mid - Shawn
Mid - Jason
Mid - Yu Xiang
Mid - Ray
Fwd - JJ
Fwd - Wenjie
Fwd - BX
Standby Replacements: Vincent, Yee Poo, Nicholas, Jack
Please inform your respective captains before Sunday whether you can make it for the game or not. sms to Sebas at 96201130, Dansen at 83441548. Captains please revert attendance to JACK on Sat night.
----------------------------------------------------
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.
Kunyi is away on NS.
Melvin will be away for table tennis training till August.
Mark is out with a foot injury.
-------------------------------------------
Open Recruitment:
We are currently looking for strikers. Any friends interested to try out, do bring them down.
--------------------------------------------
June Schedule:
07/06/09 - Training session 9am @ Ci Yuan CC field
14/06/09 - Friendly Game 3pm @ Si Ling Sec vs Family Planning Utd
21/06/09 - Friendly Game 3pm @ Punggol Sec vs Lavender Utd
28/06/09 - Friendly Game 3pm @ Punggol Sec vs Rovers
-------------------------------------------
Visit us at our website at www.midlandwolves.blogspot.com
-------------------------------------------
Thats all.
Go Wolves!
Mr Wolf
Friday, June 19, 2009
Midland Wolves - Friendly Game this Sunday 21st June
Hi Midland Wolves,
Match Report
Friendly Game
New Team Jerseys
Attendance
Open Recruitment
June Schedule
--------------------------------------------------
Match Report by Dansen
Family Planning United vs Midland Wolves FC
HT: 0-2
FT: 1-4
Cards: PC (yellow)
Goals: BX, Shawn, Welson, Wenjie
MOM: Welson
For once the team was punctual and we had abundance of talent mingling with each other till they caught the sight of the opponent. The sensory triggered of losing game. Several wolves were also playing out of their norm position hence it was test of faith Nevertheless the team was spirited and was eager and ready to play. It was 3pm with the temperature heating up. Everything is new for this game. New set of white jersey, new opponent, new pitch, even PC & Vincent got themselves a pair of new boots. Weather was perfect & the pitch was excellent by Singapore standard. Wolves were hungry.
Prior to kick-off, Ramesh couldn’t resist but to yawn throughout. But don’t be fooled, the match was nothing but breathtaking. For this match, things were done differently. Right from the start, Ramesh was already handing out the heavy stuff which under normal circumstances will only surface during half time. Not knowing the opponent’s strength, weakness & style of play, we decided to play more conservatively. With swift warm up and short pep talk we start game with 4-5-1 formation. We started with Dansen and Keegan playing wingbacks and with PC holding the defence with Sebastian right up front of him with stopper role and Kun Yi between the poles. We had Jason and BX on both wings and the middles of the park were congested with Shawn,Wenjie & Welson. Lastly we had JJ upfront as the lone striker. Our opponent was mixture of a young & old and with peculiar name Family Planning Football Club. The ref reminded us of the awful game at Westlake which showed clear biasness but we were wrong.
FIRST HALF
1st half, we did very well, right from kick off we were constantly pressuring the opponent. The opponent had to deal with waves and waves of attack from the Wolves. We were having plenty of possession and were winning most of the 50-50 ball. The idea of packing the midfield worked like magic. Maybe Ramesh could be the next ‘SPECIAL ONE’. The midfield trio of Shawn, Welson & Wenjie were doing very well. They were winning plenty of ball and distributing the ball to the wings. The opponent played the offside trap well; we got caught by the trap on a few occasions. PC & Sebas too were doing well, winning headers. The 1st thing that got the opponent to break out in cold sweat was a shot from Wenjie. His shot hit the left post and all ardent Wolves supporters and players were anticipating for the ball to rebound off into the net, but it wasn’t to be. The ball narrowly missed the byline & the right post. The opponent duly cleared the ball.
BX was excellent. He took on opponents, his trickery made it hard for the opponent to get the ball off him. After numerous pressure from all flanks we finally broke their defence. We had throw on the extreme right flank with Shawn hurling long throw into the box. As simple as it was BX saw the opportunity and headed an unstoppable header. 1-0! It was beautiful to see the team executing what they learnt at the practice ground. Having carefully & meticulously analyzed the opponent (Rafa Benitez comes to mind), Ramesh made a tactical switch. JJ came out for Mark. Mark was introduced to hold the lead as we were nearing the half-time. Wenjie was moved up front as a lone striker, Mark taking over in center midfield, BX & Jason switching flanks. Ramesh had a clear view of everything from the sideline, he decided to unleash hell upon the opponent’s right back by putting BX on the left. True enough, BX’s speed presented plenty of problems. Jason and BX were constant thorn to the defence. Despite playing flat four with an anchor man their defence could not handle the speed demons.
The next scare for the opponent was when a through ball from the midfield found its way to Wenjie. The opponent tried to play the offside trap and hence pushed the defence line high up. Wenjie beat the defenders easily with his speed and he was through on goal with the keeper left to beat. He shot to his right, but the keeper did well to stick a leg out and deflect the ball to safety. A thing to note: the ball almost went inside the top right corner for a goal. Corner! Speaking of corner, we won more than a handful of corners, but we couldn’t fully utilize the chances presented to us. The same thing goes for free kicks; we wasted a few chances by blasting the ball over.
Since we were relentlessly attacking, we dangerously pushed the line high up. Luckily for us, the opponent didn’t exploit this. There was an incident where we had a hole in the middle of the defence, Sebas pushing way too much to the left, thankfully this too wasn’t exploited. With just 5 minutes away from half time Sebas launched a goal kick with couple of air challenges found Welson ; he calmly flicked the ball to Shawn through the defence and from being an assist he placed his name on the scoresheet by scoring through the GK’s leg. 2 – 0 ! . For the first time in many months we were leading by comfortable margin. Now we have to focus and hold and attack till half time. The switch flank exercise done in training was on full display for this match. A couple of good balls from Shawn, Welson & Dansen. So much so that Welson, having plenty of time & space to shoot towards goal, chose instead to switch the ball to the flank.
Our midfield & defence were so excellent that the opponent didn’t win a corner kick until late into the 1st half. They won a few more corners thereafter. Kunyi dealt with them reasonably well. Our first real scare was from one corner when we didn’t clear the ball out of the danger area fast enough. Mark attempted to clear the ball with a bicycle kick, but since not every day is Sunday, he did not make contact with the ball, missing it by a fraction of an inch. Fortunately enough, Mark has the size to cover a huge angle. He managed to prevent the opponent from taking a shot by blocking and kicking desperately in the hope of clearing the ball to safety, all these while he was on the ground.
The only sour note for us in the 1st half was when PC got himself booked with a yellow card not because he made an excellent foul to deny the opponent a goal scoring opportunity, but because on two occasions he tried to fool the referee by not putting the ball within the white box while taking the goal kick.
HALF TIME
Seeing how effective the formation was, Ramesh decided to stick with 4-5-1. The changes made are: Mark coming out for JJ, Vincent coming in for Keegan, Ray taking over from Jason.
GK: Kunyi
Defence: PC (sweeper), Sebas (stopper), Dansen (left back), Vincent (right back)
Midfield: Shawn (centre mid), JJ (centre mid), Welson (centre mid), Ray (right wing), BX (left wing)
Attack: Wenjie
SECOND HALF
We started the 2nd half with the mentality that the game is still 0-0. Our objective was to keep a clean sheet & hopefully score a couple more goals. The opponent started to play a little harder and their style of slick 1-2 passing was starting to surface. They won a handful of corners in the 2nd half. On one occasion, the ball came in from the left corner, Kunyi spilled the ball, opponent was about to pounce on it, luckily Dansen reacted faster by clearing the ball with all his might, so much so that the ball went over the fence and onto the road opposite. Opponent was attacking more through the left. Vincent did exceptionally well to deny them penetration. He even headed the ball! It’s such a rare sight! He is finally making use of his height advantage.
The opponent’s effort finally paid off when they pulled a goal back. Welson was in possession of the ball about 20 meters away from our penalty box, was about to pass the ball, but was dispossessed as two opponents harried him. The opponent took a shot, ball went to the top left corner, Kunyi couldn’t get there in time. A good goal. 2-1. We were disappointed, but we didn’t let it overpower us, we stayed strong, we showed character. We fought back; we heaped pressure on the opponent’s defence. We won a few free kicks and corners, but again we failed to capitalize on our chances from set pieces. Corners were awful, with none of our players making contact with the ball. Free kicks gone awfully high over the bar, although some did hit the target but did not beat the keeper.
Ray did particularly well in the 2nd half. He repaid Ramesh’s faith by giving the opponent all sorts of problems with his pace, so much so that the opponent had to resort to having 2 men marking him. Referee could have done better by letting the game play on when Ray managed to squeeze through the gap in between 2 defenders with his shirt pulled and him still on his feet. Ray’s game definitely has improved, not only he beats the defenders, he delivers the ball into the box. On one occasion, he even chased the opponent down to our defence zone in an attempt to win back possession. BX maintained his excellent form. Opponent was starting to get a little harder on him. He showed excellent composure and character, dusting himself off whenever he was fouled, refusing to get drawn into unnecessary arguments. Perhaps Ramesh’s words prior to kick off helped in quelling his fearsome temper (read Wayne Rooney here). An excerpt from Ramesh’s words: ‘This is Marsiling here, not Punggol. A fight breaks out here, we’re all fucked. We cannot leave this place. One phone call and they all come down from the nearby blocks.’
A tactical switch came underway, JJ going out for Calvin. In a reshuffle, Sebas pushed up to occupy his usual centre mid role, Calving taking the left back role and Dansen back to his usual role in the heart of the defence. The 3rd goal came not long after the reshuffle. In defence, Dansen received a pass from Calvin on the left. Opponent did try to close down on Dansen, but he had some time to pick Ray out with a beautiful pass over the opponent’s defence. Ray’s cross was blocked by the opponent and the ball went out for a corner. Shawn took the corner. The ball was cleared by the opponent, but not far enough. It fell to Welson. Having been lectured by Ramesh on the virtues of shooting, Welson took a shot, the ball travelled to the bottom left corner and GOAL!!! 3-1.
Opponent by now was crushed, but they did not give up. They started to attack more. Welson had to chase the opponent from midfield right down to defence and made a last ditch tackle to prevent a cross from going into our penalty box. Kunyi made a good save by punching the ball over the bar from the resulting corner. The ball was swerving hard and fast towards the goal from the corner. We were starting to feel the heat as the opponent started to play a fast paced game. We did well by not letting them dictate play. Whenever we have possession of the ball, we slowed the game down. We finally put a nail in the coffin by hitting the 4th goal past their keeper. From a corner, Vincent got a loose ball on the right. His intention was to shoot the ball towards goal, but somehow the ball ended up in the penalty box with Wenjie in possession. Wenjie’s back was facing the goal, he turned, ready to shoot with his right, but upon seeing the opponent blocking his angle, he used his skill to roll the ball to his left foot and he shot. The ball curled beautifully into the top left corner. Keeper stood absolutely no chance at all; he did not even budge from his spot. A beautiful goal with the left foot. 4-1.
Our speed demon however did not last the match as he went down with a cramp. Insufficient warm up & stretching looked like the probable cause. Syafiq came on and took his place in attack. Syafiq as per instructed pressured the defence which made them panick several time and ended up losing the ball. The score remained 4-1 until the full time whistle was blown. PC was complaining that the referee did not play a full 45 minute 2nd half. Apparently that’s how we feel when we’re on top =)
Memorable moments:
· Our star playmaker Shawn showed extreme bravery by blocking an opponent’s shot with his face.
· Vincent with his new Lotto boots (he is an avid Predator & Beckham fan) managed to get Dansen & Ramesh laughing when stepped up to take a free kick. He did a Beckham-esque pose which looked a little awkward on him. Asked for the reason as to why he bought a pair of Lotto boots, he replied it’s due to the economic recession. Economic recession, but a pair of $120 Lotto boots? What economic recession?
· Not once did BX lose his cool, he was cool and calm throughout the match. For once, he stayed out of the referee’s book.
· Dansen is unusually muted for this match. We rarely could hear his voice.
· Sebas did not go down injured. He stayed on his feet throughout the game, except for one incident where he went down in the penalty box claiming that he was kicked from the back by the opponent. Referee waved away his penalty appeal. No gung ho tackles seen in this match by him.
Man of the match: Welson
From a striker to winger and now a very composed midfielder. He has grown in leaps and this match was clear indication of his skills. He fought for the balls. He was calm and composed to look up and see the entire field before a pass or switching flank pass. For lasting the whole match without any hiccups with team and opponent and just playing his game at his best. He is def the Man of the Match. Great Performance Welson.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Friendly Game:
This week we have a Friendly Game on Sunday. Midland Wolves vs Lavender Utd
Details as follows:
Date: 21/06/2009
Time: 3.00pm (PLS BE THERE BY LATEST 2.30PM)
Location: Punggol Sec Sch, 51 Edgefield Plains. (Nearest MRT is Punggol) See attached MAP.
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 cancelled. Will inform u guys on the morning itself, so it's imperative I have your contact numbers.
Team Sheet:
Gk - Azam
Def - Yee Poo
Def - Vincent
Def - PC
Def - Alvin
Def - Dansen
Def - Alastair
Mid - Sebas (C)
Mid - Welson
Mid - Shawn
Mid - Jason
Mid - Yu Xiang
Mid - JJ
Fwd - Aloysius
Fwd - Syafiq
Fwd - Ray
Fwd - BX
Standby Replacements: Wenjie (rested), Mark, Calvin
Please inform your respective captains before Sunday whether you can make it for the game or not. sms to Sebas at 96201130, Dansen at 83441548. Captains please revert attendance to RAMESH on Sat night.
----------------------------------------------------
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.
Jack will be away this weekend for a charity event.
Melvin will be away for table tennis training till August.
-------------------------------------------
Open Recruitment:
We are currently looking for strikers. Any friends interested to try out, do bring them down.
--------------------------------------------
June Schedule:
07/06/09 - Training session 9am @ Ci Yuan CC field
14/06/09 - Friendly Game 3pm @ Si Ling Sec vs Family Planning Utd
21/06/09 - Friendly Game 3pm @ Punggol Sec vs Lavender Utd
28/06/09 - Friendly Game/League?
Visit us at our website at www.midlandwolves.blogspot.com
-------------------------------------------
Thats all.
Go Wolves!
Mr Wolf
Match Report
Friendly Game
New Team Jerseys
Attendance
Open Recruitment
June Schedule
--------------------------------------------------
Match Report by Dansen
Family Planning United vs Midland Wolves FC
HT: 0-2
FT: 1-4
Cards: PC (yellow)
Goals: BX, Shawn, Welson, Wenjie
MOM: Welson
For once the team was punctual and we had abundance of talent mingling with each other till they caught the sight of the opponent. The sensory triggered of losing game. Several wolves were also playing out of their norm position hence it was test of faith Nevertheless the team was spirited and was eager and ready to play. It was 3pm with the temperature heating up. Everything is new for this game. New set of white jersey, new opponent, new pitch, even PC & Vincent got themselves a pair of new boots. Weather was perfect & the pitch was excellent by Singapore standard. Wolves were hungry.
Prior to kick-off, Ramesh couldn’t resist but to yawn throughout. But don’t be fooled, the match was nothing but breathtaking. For this match, things were done differently. Right from the start, Ramesh was already handing out the heavy stuff which under normal circumstances will only surface during half time. Not knowing the opponent’s strength, weakness & style of play, we decided to play more conservatively. With swift warm up and short pep talk we start game with 4-5-1 formation. We started with Dansen and Keegan playing wingbacks and with PC holding the defence with Sebastian right up front of him with stopper role and Kun Yi between the poles. We had Jason and BX on both wings and the middles of the park were congested with Shawn,Wenjie & Welson. Lastly we had JJ upfront as the lone striker. Our opponent was mixture of a young & old and with peculiar name Family Planning Football Club. The ref reminded us of the awful game at Westlake which showed clear biasness but we were wrong.
FIRST HALF
1st half, we did very well, right from kick off we were constantly pressuring the opponent. The opponent had to deal with waves and waves of attack from the Wolves. We were having plenty of possession and were winning most of the 50-50 ball. The idea of packing the midfield worked like magic. Maybe Ramesh could be the next ‘SPECIAL ONE’. The midfield trio of Shawn, Welson & Wenjie were doing very well. They were winning plenty of ball and distributing the ball to the wings. The opponent played the offside trap well; we got caught by the trap on a few occasions. PC & Sebas too were doing well, winning headers. The 1st thing that got the opponent to break out in cold sweat was a shot from Wenjie. His shot hit the left post and all ardent Wolves supporters and players were anticipating for the ball to rebound off into the net, but it wasn’t to be. The ball narrowly missed the byline & the right post. The opponent duly cleared the ball.
BX was excellent. He took on opponents, his trickery made it hard for the opponent to get the ball off him. After numerous pressure from all flanks we finally broke their defence. We had throw on the extreme right flank with Shawn hurling long throw into the box. As simple as it was BX saw the opportunity and headed an unstoppable header. 1-0! It was beautiful to see the team executing what they learnt at the practice ground. Having carefully & meticulously analyzed the opponent (Rafa Benitez comes to mind), Ramesh made a tactical switch. JJ came out for Mark. Mark was introduced to hold the lead as we were nearing the half-time. Wenjie was moved up front as a lone striker, Mark taking over in center midfield, BX & Jason switching flanks. Ramesh had a clear view of everything from the sideline, he decided to unleash hell upon the opponent’s right back by putting BX on the left. True enough, BX’s speed presented plenty of problems. Jason and BX were constant thorn to the defence. Despite playing flat four with an anchor man their defence could not handle the speed demons.
The next scare for the opponent was when a through ball from the midfield found its way to Wenjie. The opponent tried to play the offside trap and hence pushed the defence line high up. Wenjie beat the defenders easily with his speed and he was through on goal with the keeper left to beat. He shot to his right, but the keeper did well to stick a leg out and deflect the ball to safety. A thing to note: the ball almost went inside the top right corner for a goal. Corner! Speaking of corner, we won more than a handful of corners, but we couldn’t fully utilize the chances presented to us. The same thing goes for free kicks; we wasted a few chances by blasting the ball over.
Since we were relentlessly attacking, we dangerously pushed the line high up. Luckily for us, the opponent didn’t exploit this. There was an incident where we had a hole in the middle of the defence, Sebas pushing way too much to the left, thankfully this too wasn’t exploited. With just 5 minutes away from half time Sebas launched a goal kick with couple of air challenges found Welson ; he calmly flicked the ball to Shawn through the defence and from being an assist he placed his name on the scoresheet by scoring through the GK’s leg. 2 – 0 ! . For the first time in many months we were leading by comfortable margin. Now we have to focus and hold and attack till half time. The switch flank exercise done in training was on full display for this match. A couple of good balls from Shawn, Welson & Dansen. So much so that Welson, having plenty of time & space to shoot towards goal, chose instead to switch the ball to the flank.
Our midfield & defence were so excellent that the opponent didn’t win a corner kick until late into the 1st half. They won a few more corners thereafter. Kunyi dealt with them reasonably well. Our first real scare was from one corner when we didn’t clear the ball out of the danger area fast enough. Mark attempted to clear the ball with a bicycle kick, but since not every day is Sunday, he did not make contact with the ball, missing it by a fraction of an inch. Fortunately enough, Mark has the size to cover a huge angle. He managed to prevent the opponent from taking a shot by blocking and kicking desperately in the hope of clearing the ball to safety, all these while he was on the ground.
The only sour note for us in the 1st half was when PC got himself booked with a yellow card not because he made an excellent foul to deny the opponent a goal scoring opportunity, but because on two occasions he tried to fool the referee by not putting the ball within the white box while taking the goal kick.
HALF TIME
Seeing how effective the formation was, Ramesh decided to stick with 4-5-1. The changes made are: Mark coming out for JJ, Vincent coming in for Keegan, Ray taking over from Jason.
GK: Kunyi
Defence: PC (sweeper), Sebas (stopper), Dansen (left back), Vincent (right back)
Midfield: Shawn (centre mid), JJ (centre mid), Welson (centre mid), Ray (right wing), BX (left wing)
Attack: Wenjie
SECOND HALF
We started the 2nd half with the mentality that the game is still 0-0. Our objective was to keep a clean sheet & hopefully score a couple more goals. The opponent started to play a little harder and their style of slick 1-2 passing was starting to surface. They won a handful of corners in the 2nd half. On one occasion, the ball came in from the left corner, Kunyi spilled the ball, opponent was about to pounce on it, luckily Dansen reacted faster by clearing the ball with all his might, so much so that the ball went over the fence and onto the road opposite. Opponent was attacking more through the left. Vincent did exceptionally well to deny them penetration. He even headed the ball! It’s such a rare sight! He is finally making use of his height advantage.
The opponent’s effort finally paid off when they pulled a goal back. Welson was in possession of the ball about 20 meters away from our penalty box, was about to pass the ball, but was dispossessed as two opponents harried him. The opponent took a shot, ball went to the top left corner, Kunyi couldn’t get there in time. A good goal. 2-1. We were disappointed, but we didn’t let it overpower us, we stayed strong, we showed character. We fought back; we heaped pressure on the opponent’s defence. We won a few free kicks and corners, but again we failed to capitalize on our chances from set pieces. Corners were awful, with none of our players making contact with the ball. Free kicks gone awfully high over the bar, although some did hit the target but did not beat the keeper.
Ray did particularly well in the 2nd half. He repaid Ramesh’s faith by giving the opponent all sorts of problems with his pace, so much so that the opponent had to resort to having 2 men marking him. Referee could have done better by letting the game play on when Ray managed to squeeze through the gap in between 2 defenders with his shirt pulled and him still on his feet. Ray’s game definitely has improved, not only he beats the defenders, he delivers the ball into the box. On one occasion, he even chased the opponent down to our defence zone in an attempt to win back possession. BX maintained his excellent form. Opponent was starting to get a little harder on him. He showed excellent composure and character, dusting himself off whenever he was fouled, refusing to get drawn into unnecessary arguments. Perhaps Ramesh’s words prior to kick off helped in quelling his fearsome temper (read Wayne Rooney here). An excerpt from Ramesh’s words: ‘This is Marsiling here, not Punggol. A fight breaks out here, we’re all fucked. We cannot leave this place. One phone call and they all come down from the nearby blocks.’
A tactical switch came underway, JJ going out for Calvin. In a reshuffle, Sebas pushed up to occupy his usual centre mid role, Calving taking the left back role and Dansen back to his usual role in the heart of the defence. The 3rd goal came not long after the reshuffle. In defence, Dansen received a pass from Calvin on the left. Opponent did try to close down on Dansen, but he had some time to pick Ray out with a beautiful pass over the opponent’s defence. Ray’s cross was blocked by the opponent and the ball went out for a corner. Shawn took the corner. The ball was cleared by the opponent, but not far enough. It fell to Welson. Having been lectured by Ramesh on the virtues of shooting, Welson took a shot, the ball travelled to the bottom left corner and GOAL!!! 3-1.
Opponent by now was crushed, but they did not give up. They started to attack more. Welson had to chase the opponent from midfield right down to defence and made a last ditch tackle to prevent a cross from going into our penalty box. Kunyi made a good save by punching the ball over the bar from the resulting corner. The ball was swerving hard and fast towards the goal from the corner. We were starting to feel the heat as the opponent started to play a fast paced game. We did well by not letting them dictate play. Whenever we have possession of the ball, we slowed the game down. We finally put a nail in the coffin by hitting the 4th goal past their keeper. From a corner, Vincent got a loose ball on the right. His intention was to shoot the ball towards goal, but somehow the ball ended up in the penalty box with Wenjie in possession. Wenjie’s back was facing the goal, he turned, ready to shoot with his right, but upon seeing the opponent blocking his angle, he used his skill to roll the ball to his left foot and he shot. The ball curled beautifully into the top left corner. Keeper stood absolutely no chance at all; he did not even budge from his spot. A beautiful goal with the left foot. 4-1.
Our speed demon however did not last the match as he went down with a cramp. Insufficient warm up & stretching looked like the probable cause. Syafiq came on and took his place in attack. Syafiq as per instructed pressured the defence which made them panick several time and ended up losing the ball. The score remained 4-1 until the full time whistle was blown. PC was complaining that the referee did not play a full 45 minute 2nd half. Apparently that’s how we feel when we’re on top =)
Memorable moments:
· Our star playmaker Shawn showed extreme bravery by blocking an opponent’s shot with his face.
· Vincent with his new Lotto boots (he is an avid Predator & Beckham fan) managed to get Dansen & Ramesh laughing when stepped up to take a free kick. He did a Beckham-esque pose which looked a little awkward on him. Asked for the reason as to why he bought a pair of Lotto boots, he replied it’s due to the economic recession. Economic recession, but a pair of $120 Lotto boots? What economic recession?
· Not once did BX lose his cool, he was cool and calm throughout the match. For once, he stayed out of the referee’s book.
· Dansen is unusually muted for this match. We rarely could hear his voice.
· Sebas did not go down injured. He stayed on his feet throughout the game, except for one incident where he went down in the penalty box claiming that he was kicked from the back by the opponent. Referee waved away his penalty appeal. No gung ho tackles seen in this match by him.
Man of the match: Welson
From a striker to winger and now a very composed midfielder. He has grown in leaps and this match was clear indication of his skills. He fought for the balls. He was calm and composed to look up and see the entire field before a pass or switching flank pass. For lasting the whole match without any hiccups with team and opponent and just playing his game at his best. He is def the Man of the Match. Great Performance Welson.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Friendly Game:
This week we have a Friendly Game on Sunday. Midland Wolves vs Lavender Utd
Details as follows:
Date: 21/06/2009
Time: 3.00pm (PLS BE THERE BY LATEST 2.30PM)
Location: Punggol Sec Sch, 51 Edgefield Plains. (Nearest MRT is Punggol) See attached MAP.
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 cancelled. Will inform u guys on the morning itself, so it's imperative I have your contact numbers.
Team Sheet:
Gk - Azam
Def - Yee Poo
Def - Vincent
Def - PC
Def - Alvin
Def - Dansen
Def - Alastair
Mid - Sebas (C)
Mid - Welson
Mid - Shawn
Mid - Jason
Mid - Yu Xiang
Mid - JJ
Fwd - Aloysius
Fwd - Syafiq
Fwd - Ray
Fwd - BX
Standby Replacements: Wenjie (rested), Mark, Calvin
Please inform your respective captains before Sunday whether you can make it for the game or not. sms to Sebas at 96201130, Dansen at 83441548. Captains please revert attendance to RAMESH on Sat night.
----------------------------------------------------
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.
Jack will be away this weekend for a charity event.
Melvin will be away for table tennis training till August.
-------------------------------------------
Open Recruitment:
We are currently looking for strikers. Any friends interested to try out, do bring them down.
--------------------------------------------
June Schedule:
07/06/09 - Training session 9am @ Ci Yuan CC field
14/06/09 - Friendly Game 3pm @ Si Ling Sec vs Family Planning Utd
21/06/09 - Friendly Game 3pm @ Punggol Sec vs Lavender Utd
28/06/09 - Friendly Game/League?
Visit us at our website at www.midlandwolves.blogspot.com
-------------------------------------------
Thats all.
Go Wolves!
Mr Wolf
Match Report - Midland Wolves FC vs Family Planning FC (14 June 2009)
For once the team was punctual and we had abundance of talent mingling with each other till they caught the sight of the opponent. The sensory triggered of losing game. Several wolves were also playing out of their norm position hence it was test of faith Nevertheless the team was spirited and was eager and ready to play. It was 3pm with the temperature heating up.
Everything is new for this game. New set of white jersey, new opponent, new pitch, even PC & Vincent got themselves a pair of new boots. Weather was perfect & the pitch was excellent by Singapore standard. Wolves were hungry.
Prior to kick-off, Ramesh couldn’t resist but to yawn throughout. But don’t be fooled, the match was nothing but breathtaking. For this match, things were done differently. Right from the start, Ramesh was already handing out the heavy stuff which under normal circumstances will only surface during half time. Not knowing the opponent’s strength, weakness & style of play, we decided to play more conservatively.
With swift warm up and short pep talk we start game with 4-5-1 formation. We started with Dansen and Keegan playing wingbacks and with PC holding the defence with Sebastian right up front of him with stopper role and Kun Yi between the poles. We had Jason and BX on both wings and the middles of the park were congested with Shawn,Wenjie & Welson. Lastly we had JJ upfront as the lone striker.
Our opponent was mixture of a young & old and with peculiar name Family Planning Football Club. The ref reminded us of the awful game at Westlake which showed clear biasness but we were wrong.
FIRST HALF
1st half, we did very well, right from kick off we were constantly pressuring the opponent. The opponent had to deal with waves and waves of attack from the Wolves. We were having plenty of possession and were winning most of the 50-50 ball. The idea of packing the midfield worked like magic. Maybe Ramesh could be the next ‘SPECIAL ONE’.
The midfield trio of Shawn, Welson & Wenjie were doing very well. They were winning plenty of ball and distributing the ball to the wings. The opponent played the offside trap well; we got caught by the trap on a few occasions. PC & Sebas too were doing well, winning headers.
The 1st thing that got the opponent to break out in cold sweat was a shot from Wenjie. His shot hit the left post and all ardent Wolves supporters and players were anticipating for the ball to rebound off into the net, but it wasn’t to be. The ball narrowly missed the byline & the right post. The opponent duly cleared the ball.
BX was excellent. He took on opponents, his trickery made it hard for the opponent to get the ball off him. After numerous pressure from all flanks we finally broke their defence. We had throw on the extreme right flank with Shawn hurling long throw into the box. As simple as it was BX saw the opportunity and headed an unstoppable header. 1-0! It was beautiful to see the team executing what they learnt at the practice ground.
Having carefully & meticulously analyzed the opponent (Rafa Benitez comes to mind), Ramesh made a tactical switch. JJ came out for Mark. Mark was introduced to hold the lead as we were nearing the half-time. Wenjie was moved up front as a lone striker, Mark taking over in center midfield, BX & Jason switching flanks. Ramesh had a clear view of everything from the sideline, he decided to unleash hell upon the opponent’s right back by putting BX on the left. True enough, BX’s speed presented plenty of problems. Jason and BX were constant thorn to the defence. Despite playing flat four with an anchor man their defence could not handle the speed demons.
The next scare for the opponent was when a through ball from the midfield found its way to Wenjie. The opponent tried to play the offside trap and hence pushed the defence line high up. Wenjie beat the defenders easily with his speed and he was through on goal with the keeper left to beat. He shot to his right, but the keeper did well to stick a leg out and deflect the ball to safety. A thing to note: the ball almost went inside the top right corner for a goal. Corner!
Speaking of corner, we won more than a handful of corners, but we couldn’t fully utilize the chances presented to us. The same thing goes for free kicks; we wasted a few chances by blasting the ball over.
Since we were relentlessly attacking, we dangerously pushed the line high up. Luckily for us, the opponent didn’t exploit this. There was an incident where we had a hole in the middle of the defence, Sebas pushing way too much to the left, thankfully this too wasn’t exploited. With just 5 minutes away from half time Sebas launched a goal kick with couple of air challenges found Welson ; he calmly flicked the ball to Shawn through the defence and from being an assist he placed his name on the scoresheet by scoring through the GK’s leg. 2 – 0 ! . For the first time in many months we were leading by comfortable margin. Now we have to focus and hold and attack till half time.
The switch flank exercise done in training was on full display for this match. A couple of good balls from Shawn, Welson & Dansen. So much so that Welson, having plenty of time & space to shoot towards goal, chose instead to switch the ball to the flank.
Our midfield & defence were so excellent that the opponent didn’t win a corner kick until late into the 1st half. They won a few more corners thereafter. Kunyi dealt with them reasonably well. Our first real scare was from one corner when we didn’t clear the ball out of the danger area fast enough. Mark attempted to clear the ball with a bicycle kick, but since not every day is Sunday, he did not make contact with the ball, missing it by a fraction of an inch. Fortunately enough, Mark has the size to cover a huge angle. He managed to prevent the opponent from taking a shot by blocking and kicking desperately in the hope of clearing the ball to safety, all these while he was on the ground.
The only sour note for us in the 1st half was when PC got himself booked with a yellow card not because he made an excellent foul to deny the opponent a goal scoring opportunity, but because on two occasions he tried to fool the referee by not putting the ball within the white box while taking the goal kick.
HALF TIME
Seeing how effective the formation was, Ramesh decided to stick with 4-5-1. The changes made are: Mark coming out for JJ, Vincent coming in for Keegan, Ray taking over from Jason.
GK: Kunyi
Defence: PC (sweeper), Sebas (stopper), Dansen (left back), Vincent (right back)
Midfield: Shawn (centre mid), JJ (centre mid), Welson (centre mid), Ray (right wing), BX (left wing)
Attack: Wenjie
SECOND HALF
We started the 2nd half with the mentality that the game is still 0-0. Our objective was to keep a clean sheet & hopefully score a couple more goals. The opponent started to play a little harder and their style of slick 1-2 passing was starting to surface. They won a handful of corners in the 2nd half. On one occasion, the ball came in from the left corner, Kunyi spilled the ball, opponent was about to pounce on it, luckily Dansen reacted faster by clearing the ball with all his might, so much so that the ball went over the fence and onto the road opposite.
Opponent was attacking more through the left. Vincent did exceptionally well to deny them penetration. He even headed the ball! It’s such a rare sight! He is finally making use of his height advantage.
The opponent’s effort finally paid off when they pulled a goal back. Welson was in possession of the ball about 20 meters away from our penalty box, was about to pass the ball, but was dispossessed as two opponents harried him. The opponent took a shot, ball went to the top left corner, Kunyi couldn’t get there in time. A good goal. 2-1.
We were disappointed, but we didn’t let it overpower us, we stayed strong, we showed character. We fought back; we heaped pressure on the opponent’s defence. We won a few free kicks and corners, but again we failed to capitalize on our chances from set pieces. Corners were awful, with none of our players making contact with the ball. Free kicks gone awfully high over the bar, although some did hit the target but did not beat the keeper.
Ray did particularly well in the 2nd half. He repaid Ramesh’s faith by giving the opponent all sorts of problems with his pace, so much so that the opponent had to resort to having 2 men marking him. Referee could have done better by letting the game play on when Ray managed to squeeze through the gap in between 2 defenders with his shirt pulled and him still on his feet. Ray’s game definitely has improved, not only he beats the defenders, he delivers the ball into the box. On one occasion, he even chased the opponent down to our defence zone in an attempt to win back possession.
BX maintained his excellent form. Opponent was starting to get a little harder on him. He showed excellent composure and character, dusting himself off whenever he was fouled, refusing to get drawn into unnecessary arguments. Perhaps Ramesh’s words prior to kick off helped in quelling his fearsome temper (read Wayne Rooney here). An excerpt from Ramesh’s words: ‘This is Marsiling here, not Punggol. A fight breaks out here, we’re all fucked. We cannot leave this place. One phone call and they all come down from the nearby blocks.’
A tactical switch came underway, JJ going out for Calvin. In a reshuffle, Sebas pushed up to occupy his usual centre mid role, Calving taking the left back role and Dansen back to his usual role in the heart of the defence.
The 3rd goal came not long after the reshuffle. In defence, Dansen received a pass from Calvin on the left. Opponent did try to close down on Dansen, but he had some time to pick Ray out with a beautiful pass over the opponent’s defence. Ray’s cross was blocked by the opponent and the ball went out for a corner. Shawn took the corner. The ball was cleared by the opponent, but not far enough. It fell to Welson. Having been lectured by Ramesh on the virtues of shooting, Welson took a shot, the ball travelled to the bottom left corner and GOAL!!! 3-1.
Opponent by now was crushed, but they did not give up. They started to attack more. Welson had to chase the opponent from midfield right down to defence and made a last ditch tackle to prevent a cross from going into our penalty box. Kunyi made a good save by punching the ball over the bar from the resulting corner. The ball was swerving hard and fast towards the goal from the corner.
We were starting to feel the heat as the opponent started to play a fast paced game. We did well by not letting them dictate play. Whenever we have possession of the ball, we slowed the game down.
We finally put a nail in the coffin by hitting the 4th goal past their keeper. From a corner, Vincent got a loose ball on the right. His intention was to shoot the ball towards goal, but somehow the ball ended up in the penalty box with Wenjie in possession. Wenjie’s back was facing the goal, he turned, ready to shoot with his right, but upon seeing the opponent blocking his angle, he used his skill to roll the ball to his left foot and he shot. The ball curled beautifully into the top left corner. Keeper stood absolutely no chance at all; he did not even budge from his spot. A beautiful goal with the left foot. 4-1.
Our speed demon however did not last the match as he went down with a cramp. Insufficient warm up & stretching looked like the probable cause. Syafiq came on and took his place in attack. Syafiq as per instructed pressured the defence which made them panick several time and ended up losing the ball.
The score remained 4-1 until the full time whistle was blown. PC was complaining that the referee did not play a full 45 minute 2nd half. Apparently that’s how we feel when we’re on top =)
Memorable moments:
· Our star playmaker Shawn showed extreme bravery by blocking an opponent’s shot with his face.
· Vincent with his new Lotto boots (he is an avid Predator & Beckham fan) managed to get Dansen & Ramesh laughing when stepped up to take a free kick. He did a Beckham-esque pose which looked a little awkward on him. Asked for the reason as to why he bought a pair of Lotto boots, he replied it’s due to the economic recession. Economic recession, but a pair of $120 Lotto boots? What economic recession?
· Not once did BX lose his cool, he was cool and calm throughout the match. For once, he stayed out of the referee’s book.
· Dansen is unusually muted for this match. We rarely could hear his voice.
· Sebas did not go down injured. He stayed on his feet throughout the game, except for one incident where he went down in the penalty box claiming that he was kicked from the back by the opponent. Referee waved away his penalty appeal. No gung ho tackles seen in this match by him.
Goal scorer:
1st goal – BX
2nd goal – Shawn
3rd goal – Welson
4th goal – Wenjie
Yellow card: PC
Red card: Nil
Man of the match: Welson
From a striker to winger and now a very composed midfielder. He has grown in leaps and this match was clear indication of his skills. He fought for the balls. He was calm and composed to look up and see the entire field before a pass or switching flank pass. For lasting the whole match without any hiccups with team and opponent and just playing his game at his best. He is def the Man of the Match. Great Performance Welson.
Everything is new for this game. New set of white jersey, new opponent, new pitch, even PC & Vincent got themselves a pair of new boots. Weather was perfect & the pitch was excellent by Singapore standard. Wolves were hungry.
Prior to kick-off, Ramesh couldn’t resist but to yawn throughout. But don’t be fooled, the match was nothing but breathtaking. For this match, things were done differently. Right from the start, Ramesh was already handing out the heavy stuff which under normal circumstances will only surface during half time. Not knowing the opponent’s strength, weakness & style of play, we decided to play more conservatively.
With swift warm up and short pep talk we start game with 4-5-1 formation. We started with Dansen and Keegan playing wingbacks and with PC holding the defence with Sebastian right up front of him with stopper role and Kun Yi between the poles. We had Jason and BX on both wings and the middles of the park were congested with Shawn,Wenjie & Welson. Lastly we had JJ upfront as the lone striker.
Our opponent was mixture of a young & old and with peculiar name Family Planning Football Club. The ref reminded us of the awful game at Westlake which showed clear biasness but we were wrong.
FIRST HALF
1st half, we did very well, right from kick off we were constantly pressuring the opponent. The opponent had to deal with waves and waves of attack from the Wolves. We were having plenty of possession and were winning most of the 50-50 ball. The idea of packing the midfield worked like magic. Maybe Ramesh could be the next ‘SPECIAL ONE’.
The midfield trio of Shawn, Welson & Wenjie were doing very well. They were winning plenty of ball and distributing the ball to the wings. The opponent played the offside trap well; we got caught by the trap on a few occasions. PC & Sebas too were doing well, winning headers.
The 1st thing that got the opponent to break out in cold sweat was a shot from Wenjie. His shot hit the left post and all ardent Wolves supporters and players were anticipating for the ball to rebound off into the net, but it wasn’t to be. The ball narrowly missed the byline & the right post. The opponent duly cleared the ball.
BX was excellent. He took on opponents, his trickery made it hard for the opponent to get the ball off him. After numerous pressure from all flanks we finally broke their defence. We had throw on the extreme right flank with Shawn hurling long throw into the box. As simple as it was BX saw the opportunity and headed an unstoppable header. 1-0! It was beautiful to see the team executing what they learnt at the practice ground.
Having carefully & meticulously analyzed the opponent (Rafa Benitez comes to mind), Ramesh made a tactical switch. JJ came out for Mark. Mark was introduced to hold the lead as we were nearing the half-time. Wenjie was moved up front as a lone striker, Mark taking over in center midfield, BX & Jason switching flanks. Ramesh had a clear view of everything from the sideline, he decided to unleash hell upon the opponent’s right back by putting BX on the left. True enough, BX’s speed presented plenty of problems. Jason and BX were constant thorn to the defence. Despite playing flat four with an anchor man their defence could not handle the speed demons.
The next scare for the opponent was when a through ball from the midfield found its way to Wenjie. The opponent tried to play the offside trap and hence pushed the defence line high up. Wenjie beat the defenders easily with his speed and he was through on goal with the keeper left to beat. He shot to his right, but the keeper did well to stick a leg out and deflect the ball to safety. A thing to note: the ball almost went inside the top right corner for a goal. Corner!
Speaking of corner, we won more than a handful of corners, but we couldn’t fully utilize the chances presented to us. The same thing goes for free kicks; we wasted a few chances by blasting the ball over.
Since we were relentlessly attacking, we dangerously pushed the line high up. Luckily for us, the opponent didn’t exploit this. There was an incident where we had a hole in the middle of the defence, Sebas pushing way too much to the left, thankfully this too wasn’t exploited. With just 5 minutes away from half time Sebas launched a goal kick with couple of air challenges found Welson ; he calmly flicked the ball to Shawn through the defence and from being an assist he placed his name on the scoresheet by scoring through the GK’s leg. 2 – 0 ! . For the first time in many months we were leading by comfortable margin. Now we have to focus and hold and attack till half time.
The switch flank exercise done in training was on full display for this match. A couple of good balls from Shawn, Welson & Dansen. So much so that Welson, having plenty of time & space to shoot towards goal, chose instead to switch the ball to the flank.
Our midfield & defence were so excellent that the opponent didn’t win a corner kick until late into the 1st half. They won a few more corners thereafter. Kunyi dealt with them reasonably well. Our first real scare was from one corner when we didn’t clear the ball out of the danger area fast enough. Mark attempted to clear the ball with a bicycle kick, but since not every day is Sunday, he did not make contact with the ball, missing it by a fraction of an inch. Fortunately enough, Mark has the size to cover a huge angle. He managed to prevent the opponent from taking a shot by blocking and kicking desperately in the hope of clearing the ball to safety, all these while he was on the ground.
The only sour note for us in the 1st half was when PC got himself booked with a yellow card not because he made an excellent foul to deny the opponent a goal scoring opportunity, but because on two occasions he tried to fool the referee by not putting the ball within the white box while taking the goal kick.
HALF TIME
Seeing how effective the formation was, Ramesh decided to stick with 4-5-1. The changes made are: Mark coming out for JJ, Vincent coming in for Keegan, Ray taking over from Jason.
GK: Kunyi
Defence: PC (sweeper), Sebas (stopper), Dansen (left back), Vincent (right back)
Midfield: Shawn (centre mid), JJ (centre mid), Welson (centre mid), Ray (right wing), BX (left wing)
Attack: Wenjie
SECOND HALF
We started the 2nd half with the mentality that the game is still 0-0. Our objective was to keep a clean sheet & hopefully score a couple more goals. The opponent started to play a little harder and their style of slick 1-2 passing was starting to surface. They won a handful of corners in the 2nd half. On one occasion, the ball came in from the left corner, Kunyi spilled the ball, opponent was about to pounce on it, luckily Dansen reacted faster by clearing the ball with all his might, so much so that the ball went over the fence and onto the road opposite.
Opponent was attacking more through the left. Vincent did exceptionally well to deny them penetration. He even headed the ball! It’s such a rare sight! He is finally making use of his height advantage.
The opponent’s effort finally paid off when they pulled a goal back. Welson was in possession of the ball about 20 meters away from our penalty box, was about to pass the ball, but was dispossessed as two opponents harried him. The opponent took a shot, ball went to the top left corner, Kunyi couldn’t get there in time. A good goal. 2-1.
We were disappointed, but we didn’t let it overpower us, we stayed strong, we showed character. We fought back; we heaped pressure on the opponent’s defence. We won a few free kicks and corners, but again we failed to capitalize on our chances from set pieces. Corners were awful, with none of our players making contact with the ball. Free kicks gone awfully high over the bar, although some did hit the target but did not beat the keeper.
Ray did particularly well in the 2nd half. He repaid Ramesh’s faith by giving the opponent all sorts of problems with his pace, so much so that the opponent had to resort to having 2 men marking him. Referee could have done better by letting the game play on when Ray managed to squeeze through the gap in between 2 defenders with his shirt pulled and him still on his feet. Ray’s game definitely has improved, not only he beats the defenders, he delivers the ball into the box. On one occasion, he even chased the opponent down to our defence zone in an attempt to win back possession.
BX maintained his excellent form. Opponent was starting to get a little harder on him. He showed excellent composure and character, dusting himself off whenever he was fouled, refusing to get drawn into unnecessary arguments. Perhaps Ramesh’s words prior to kick off helped in quelling his fearsome temper (read Wayne Rooney here). An excerpt from Ramesh’s words: ‘This is Marsiling here, not Punggol. A fight breaks out here, we’re all fucked. We cannot leave this place. One phone call and they all come down from the nearby blocks.’
A tactical switch came underway, JJ going out for Calvin. In a reshuffle, Sebas pushed up to occupy his usual centre mid role, Calving taking the left back role and Dansen back to his usual role in the heart of the defence.
The 3rd goal came not long after the reshuffle. In defence, Dansen received a pass from Calvin on the left. Opponent did try to close down on Dansen, but he had some time to pick Ray out with a beautiful pass over the opponent’s defence. Ray’s cross was blocked by the opponent and the ball went out for a corner. Shawn took the corner. The ball was cleared by the opponent, but not far enough. It fell to Welson. Having been lectured by Ramesh on the virtues of shooting, Welson took a shot, the ball travelled to the bottom left corner and GOAL!!! 3-1.
Opponent by now was crushed, but they did not give up. They started to attack more. Welson had to chase the opponent from midfield right down to defence and made a last ditch tackle to prevent a cross from going into our penalty box. Kunyi made a good save by punching the ball over the bar from the resulting corner. The ball was swerving hard and fast towards the goal from the corner.
We were starting to feel the heat as the opponent started to play a fast paced game. We did well by not letting them dictate play. Whenever we have possession of the ball, we slowed the game down.
We finally put a nail in the coffin by hitting the 4th goal past their keeper. From a corner, Vincent got a loose ball on the right. His intention was to shoot the ball towards goal, but somehow the ball ended up in the penalty box with Wenjie in possession. Wenjie’s back was facing the goal, he turned, ready to shoot with his right, but upon seeing the opponent blocking his angle, he used his skill to roll the ball to his left foot and he shot. The ball curled beautifully into the top left corner. Keeper stood absolutely no chance at all; he did not even budge from his spot. A beautiful goal with the left foot. 4-1.
Our speed demon however did not last the match as he went down with a cramp. Insufficient warm up & stretching looked like the probable cause. Syafiq came on and took his place in attack. Syafiq as per instructed pressured the defence which made them panick several time and ended up losing the ball.
The score remained 4-1 until the full time whistle was blown. PC was complaining that the referee did not play a full 45 minute 2nd half. Apparently that’s how we feel when we’re on top =)
Memorable moments:
· Our star playmaker Shawn showed extreme bravery by blocking an opponent’s shot with his face.
· Vincent with his new Lotto boots (he is an avid Predator & Beckham fan) managed to get Dansen & Ramesh laughing when stepped up to take a free kick. He did a Beckham-esque pose which looked a little awkward on him. Asked for the reason as to why he bought a pair of Lotto boots, he replied it’s due to the economic recession. Economic recession, but a pair of $120 Lotto boots? What economic recession?
· Not once did BX lose his cool, he was cool and calm throughout the match. For once, he stayed out of the referee’s book.
· Dansen is unusually muted for this match. We rarely could hear his voice.
· Sebas did not go down injured. He stayed on his feet throughout the game, except for one incident where he went down in the penalty box claiming that he was kicked from the back by the opponent. Referee waved away his penalty appeal. No gung ho tackles seen in this match by him.
Goal scorer:
1st goal – BX
2nd goal – Shawn
3rd goal – Welson
4th goal – Wenjie
Yellow card: PC
Red card: Nil
Man of the match: Welson
From a striker to winger and now a very composed midfielder. He has grown in leaps and this match was clear indication of his skills. He fought for the balls. He was calm and composed to look up and see the entire field before a pass or switching flank pass. For lasting the whole match without any hiccups with team and opponent and just playing his game at his best. He is def the Man of the Match. Great Performance Welson.
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Midland Wolves - Friendly Game this Sunday 14th June
Hi Midland Wolves,
Friendly Game
New Team Jerseys
Attendance
Open Recruitment
June Schedule
--------------------------------------------------
Friendly Game:
This week we have a Friendly Game on Sunday. Family Planning Utd vs Midland Wolves FC
Details as follows:
Date: 14/06/2009
Time: 3.00pm (PLS BE THERE BY LATEST 2.30PM)
Location: Si Ling Sec Sch, 11 Marsiling Lane. (Nearest MRT is Woodlands/Marsiling) See attached MAP.
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 cancelled. Will inform u guys on the morning itself, so it's imperative I have your contact numbers.
Team Sheet:
Gk - Kunyi
Def - Alvin
Def - Dansen
Def - PC
Def - Calvin
Def - Vincent
Def - Fabian
Mid - Sebas (C)
Mid - Welson
Mid - Shawn
Mid - Jason
Mid - Yu Xiang
Mid - Melvin
Fwd - Wenjie
Fwd - Syafiq
Fwd - Ray
Fwd - BX
Standby Replacements: Alastair, Aloysius, JJ
Please inform your respective captains before Sunday whether you can make it for the game or not. sms to Sebas at 96201130, Dansen at 83441548. Captains please revert attendance to RAMESH on Sat night.
----------------------------------------------------
New Team Jerseys:
Please bring along $35 for payment of jersey for Alvin Yanhong and Alastair.
For those who wish to return the yellow jersey, $5 will be rebate off the jersey set.
----------------------------------------------------
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.
Jack will be overseas this weekend due to work.
-------------------------------------------
Open Recruitment:
We are currently looking for strikers. Any friends interested to try out, do bring them down.
--------------------------------------------
June Schedule:
07/06/09 - Training session 9am @ Ci Yuan CC field
14/06/09 - Friendly Game 3pm @ Si Ling Sec vs Family Planning Utd
21/06/09 - Friendly Game 3pm @ Punggol Sec vs Lavender Utd
28/06/09 - Friendly Game/League?
Visit us at our website at www.midlandwolves.blogspot.com
-------------------------------------------
Thats all.
Go Wolves!
Mr Wolf
Friendly Game
New Team Jerseys
Attendance
Open Recruitment
June Schedule
--------------------------------------------------
Friendly Game:
This week we have a Friendly Game on Sunday. Family Planning Utd vs Midland Wolves FC
Details as follows:
Date: 14/06/2009
Time: 3.00pm (PLS BE THERE BY LATEST 2.30PM)
Location: Si Ling Sec Sch, 11 Marsiling Lane. (Nearest MRT is Woodlands/Marsiling) See attached MAP.
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 cancelled. Will inform u guys on the morning itself, so it's imperative I have your contact numbers.
Team Sheet:
Gk - Kunyi
Def - Alvin
Def - Dansen
Def - PC
Def - Calvin
Def - Vincent
Def - Fabian
Mid - Sebas (C)
Mid - Welson
Mid - Shawn
Mid - Jason
Mid - Yu Xiang
Mid - Melvin
Fwd - Wenjie
Fwd - Syafiq
Fwd - Ray
Fwd - BX
Standby Replacements: Alastair, Aloysius, JJ
Please inform your respective captains before Sunday whether you can make it for the game or not. sms to Sebas at 96201130, Dansen at 83441548. Captains please revert attendance to RAMESH on Sat night.
----------------------------------------------------
New Team Jerseys:
Please bring along $35 for payment of jersey for Alvin Yanhong and Alastair.
For those who wish to return the yellow jersey, $5 will be rebate off the jersey set.
----------------------------------------------------
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.
Jack will be overseas this weekend due to work.
-------------------------------------------
Open Recruitment:
We are currently looking for strikers. Any friends interested to try out, do bring them down.
--------------------------------------------
June Schedule:
07/06/09 - Training session 9am @ Ci Yuan CC field
14/06/09 - Friendly Game 3pm @ Si Ling Sec vs Family Planning Utd
21/06/09 - Friendly Game 3pm @ Punggol Sec vs Lavender Utd
28/06/09 - Friendly Game/League?
Visit us at our website at www.midlandwolves.blogspot.com
-------------------------------------------
Thats all.
Go Wolves!
Mr Wolf
Friday, June 5, 2009
Midland Wolves - Training Session on 7th June, Sunday
Hi Midland Wolves,
Training Game
New Team Jerseys
Attendance
Open Recruitment
June Schedule
--------------------------------------------------
Training Session:
This week we have a training session on Sunday.
Details as follows:
Date: 07/06/2009
Time: 9.00am
Location: Field Opposite Ci Yuan CC, Hougang Ave 9, next to blk 917.
Notes:
- Bring own water bottles and boots.
- Toilet is located opposite the road at the CC.
- Pls bring shin guards.
- In the case of inclement weather (heavy downpour, thunderstorm, etc) game will be cancelled. Will inform u guys on the morning itself, so it's imperative I have your contact numbers.
- For those who drive, nearest parking is next to the the field.
Please inform your respective captains before Sunday whether you are attending training or not. sms to Sebas at 96201130, Dansen at 83441548. Captains please revert attendance to RAMESH on Sat night.
----------------------------------------------------
New Team Jerseys:
We have secured new team jerseys for Midland Wolves. The jerseys will be a full set, top, shorts and socks. Colour will be white and black.
Please bring along $35 for payment of jersey.
For those who wish to return the yellow jersey, $5 will be rebate off the jersey set.
----------------------------------------------------
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.
Alastair is out from bruised ribs.
Jack will be away this weekend on holiday and next weekend due to work.
Welson is out due to hand injury.
-------------------------------------------
Open Recruitment:
We are currently looking for strikers. Any friends interested to try out, do bring them down.
--------------------------------------------
May Schedule:
07/06/09 - Training session 9am @ Ci Yuan CC field
14/06/09 - Training session 9am @ Ci Yuan CC field
21/06/09 - Friendly Game
28/06/09 - Friendly Game/League?
Visit us at our website at www.midlandwolves.blogspot.com
-------------------------------------------
Thats all.
Go Wolves!
Mr Wolf
Training Game
New Team Jerseys
Attendance
Open Recruitment
June Schedule
--------------------------------------------------
Training Session:
This week we have a training session on Sunday.
Details as follows:
Date: 07/06/2009
Time: 9.00am
Location: Field Opposite Ci Yuan CC, Hougang Ave 9, next to blk 917.
Notes:
- Bring own water bottles and boots.
- Toilet is located opposite the road at the CC.
- Pls bring shin guards.
- In the case of inclement weather (heavy downpour, thunderstorm, etc) game will be cancelled. Will inform u guys on the morning itself, so it's imperative I have your contact numbers.
- For those who drive, nearest parking is next to the the field.
Please inform your respective captains before Sunday whether you are attending training or not. sms to Sebas at 96201130, Dansen at 83441548. Captains please revert attendance to RAMESH on Sat night.
----------------------------------------------------
New Team Jerseys:
We have secured new team jerseys for Midland Wolves. The jerseys will be a full set, top, shorts and socks. Colour will be white and black.
Please bring along $35 for payment of jersey.
For those who wish to return the yellow jersey, $5 will be rebate off the jersey set.
----------------------------------------------------
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.
Alastair is out from bruised ribs.
Jack will be away this weekend on holiday and next weekend due to work.
Welson is out due to hand injury.
-------------------------------------------
Open Recruitment:
We are currently looking for strikers. Any friends interested to try out, do bring them down.
--------------------------------------------
May Schedule:
07/06/09 - Training session 9am @ Ci Yuan CC field
14/06/09 - Training session 9am @ Ci Yuan CC field
21/06/09 - Friendly Game
28/06/09 - Friendly Game/League?
Visit us at our website at www.midlandwolves.blogspot.com
-------------------------------------------
Thats all.
Go Wolves!
Mr Wolf
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