Goal!

Sunday, July 15, 2007

MUNJENS CRUSH OLD RIVALS

After a dissapointing defeat last weekend, Munjens seemed destined to bounce back especially against their old rivals, the RI Team (RIT). With new faces this week in the name of Alan upfront and Wei Wen at the heart of defence, the Munjens seemed all but set to relish their new strike force.

The game started at a relatively easy pace for both sides with Munjens creating most of the early chances and possesion.

It was not until the 10th minute that a long goal kick was cleverly met by Haris who body checked his marker - way bigger than him - and cooly slotted the ball past a helpless RI keeper.

It wasn't long before Munjens increased their lead to two goals after a superb link up between Alan and Haris down the middle left the RI defence wide open and easily a finish for Haris.

Munjens never thought it would be an easy day out - which was to be - when Alan confidently put the ball at the back of the net after receiving a nice through ball down the middle for his first goal.

By this time, RIT reshuffled its pack and finally made a breakthrough after a failed clearance saw the RIT forward through on goal and beating goalkeeper Wee Yang at the near post, without first clipping the boots of Hithaya.

Seeing that RIT could just maybe make a comeback, Munjens started the game quickly and a deflected clearance by RIT saw the ball deflect off Alan and travel past the defenders, and also the goalkeeper who was put under pressure by Haris which saw the ball trickle past him. Definitely the longest range goal and fastest goal scored by any Munjen player.

Hungry for more, a link up play between Haris and Hithaya's brother down the right saw it go off for a corner. Darius stepped up to swing it in before a poor headed clearance saw it land on Alan's foot who did an about turn and shot it low down the goalkeeper's left. The keeper however was only able to parry the ball before Haris picked it up to seal his hat-trick.

Munjens could have further nailed RIT's coffin when another corner a few minutes later saw Alan's perfectly timed header hitting the crossbar and out for a goalkick.

Half time score, MPFC 5-1 RIT.

Second half blew off to a much slower start as the Munjens were more interested to slow down the pace rather than maul further. Several substitutions and tactical changes were made by RIT during half-time as they try to reduce the deficit by as much as they can.

With barely 5 minutes into the second half, a through ball down the middle saw Haris racing past the last man like a usual routine before sidefooting the ball into the far post, out of Amin's reach.

By now, RIT has started to grit their teeth and surged forward in search of openings but great defensive play by Wei Wen, Darius, Wen Xiong and Hithaya proved to be an impregnatable fortress for the Munjens.

In the 67th minute, a run down the left flank by Terence saw him dazzle past three defenders before sprinting into the penalty box. As he pulled back to outsmart the defender, he was blatantly tripped and the referee had no choice but point to the penalty spot. Wei Wen was the first to call out and he was rightfully given the chance to step up to the spot. With much composure from the centre back, he calmly slotted the ball down left of the keeper who was sent the wrong way.

Peter was substituted by Alan and now controlling at right back, the RIT again failed to break past Peter.

In the 80th minute, another through ball by Kenneth was picked up by Darius who only managed to hit the posts after a clearing on goal.

The last goal of the game came again from a corner. A superbly swung in corner from the left was superbly met by Alan from teh far post who rushed in unmarked and did a Messi trademark goal using the sole of his boot to complete his hat trick.

Post match conference this time however was met with little words from skipper Wee Yang who only described the game as a pleasant victory over arch rivals and that the goals were dedicated to those who did not manage to come today.

He added, "Overall I think we played well today and team chemistry was at its usual high although new faces were brought in and I can only congratulate the men for putting in their effort out there to please the fans who have travelled from the far east."

The dressing room was, however, concerned over an injury that was picked up by Haris towards the end of the match which saw him moving at a walking pace rather than his blistering run.

The team physio correspnded, "Haris has picked what seems to be a not so minor yet not so major hamstring pull. We'll send him for a scan tomorrow but by the looks of it now, he could be out between three to five days. I'm not sure if he could get back to full fitness for the next match although he positively thinks he can."

Cards - 0
Goals : Haris(4), Alan(3), Wei Wen(1)

-AFP (haris)

4:17 PM