Goal!

Monday, December 03, 2007

MUNJENS LACK BITE

The surprise re-encounter with MJCJ brought again yet another draw this time with both teams canceling each other out at 3-3.

The match kicked off to an almost empty stadium at The Meridian after much boycott by fans concerning the FAs release of its ridicule idea earlier this week. Though small in numbers, they have indeed made themselves heard in the stands today.

The game started smoothly as bothsides enjoyed a good friendly early exchange of passes and shots.

The relatively smooth sailing game went up a notch when Munjen grabbed the opportunity to break the deadlock after finding themselves on the back foot for most of the opening minutes.

A nice midfield battle by Adrian and Lucien found the ball being served to Izzat's feet, who, under unusual circumstance, started up front with Haris. Without hesitation, Izzat released an almost impossible through ball to the oncoming Firdaus who had cut in from right midfield.

Firdaus was left with the easy task of slotting the ball home past the Singapore keeper for the Munjens to take the lead at 1-0.

However, their celebrations were shortlived as MJCJ put further pressure on Munjen's defence.

On the 31st minute, a miscommunication in the Munjen's left back caused the MJCJ player to break free and scored a goal that was as good as miracle as it somehow crept it at the far post after hitting it from a very tight angle.

Munjen were again delivered another blow when a ball that was out of play by MJCJ, failed to be spotted by match officials which controversially led to MJCJ's second goal. Protests by Munjen's players and on the bench did not help either.

The half-time score, 1-2 to MJCJ.

Second half got off to a more promising start as both sides had warmed up enough during the game. Munjen manager Jac made a couple of changes to the team by pulling off Hithaya, Amin, Lucien and Siu Sing in place of Wen Xiong, Darius, Hakim and Izman.

It wasn't long before Munjens regained their footing. A reckless foul on Lucien found Darius in a precarious position for a free kick. MJCJ lined up a seven men wall which wasput under a lot of pressure to keep in line with the presence of Haris as a distraction. A superb Ronaldo-inspired free kick saw the ball straight into the top left corner of the goal, deceiving the Singapore goalie that the ball would go out. A definite contender for Goal of the Season.

In the 74th minute, Munjens raised the bar higher when a defensive lapse by MJCJ allowed Haris to intercept the ball at midfield and cooly sidefoot his shot into goal past the advancing goalkeeper who only managed to watch the ball just creep in the upright.

With the advantage now to the home side, MJCJ shifted gear and made some tactical changes.

With the number of chances MJCJ had in front of goal, it was a wonder how they did not manage to get the ball at the back of the net. Had it not been for the heroics of Azhar and Wee Yang, Munjens would have definitely been crushed to shame on home soil.

Wee Yang, later awarded the Man of the Match award, had a fine day pulling off many spectacular dives which kept the score low and the hopes of Munjens pulling off a win.

It could and should have been 4 goals for Munjen when a through ball by re-substitued Adrian saw Haris one on one with the goalkeeper after beating the offside trap only to see his toe poke shot go helplessly wide off target.

Munjens were then dealt a final blow when miscommunication by Amin and Azhar saw a goalmouth scramble easily slotted home for MJCJ to draw level.

The last five minutes was a nervous one for Munjens as they had to defend for their lives as the attacks from MJCJ came pouring in from corner after corner.

The match eventually ended in a draw after a pulsating 90 minutes.

Post match interview with Munjen team manager, Jac revealed that she was uptight and in distressed over MJCJ's second goal.

"The referee really played us out there. Even i could see the ball was over the line. Not 3/4 of it but the whole ball! It cost us the 3 points we could have had."

Team skipper, Wee Yang, had something else to say about the result, "I think we were lackluster in our performance today. We showed no spirit, off form, and literally all over the place. We could have played much better and pulled off the win.

"The left wing, Terrance, didnt have much job to do, neither did the right as the ball was mainly played down the middle to targetman, Haris. We should try to open up play."

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-SkySports/MOM haris

12:26 AM