13th Tournament...Sunday League, 24th December 2006

Tourney : Sunday League
Venue : Indoor Soccer Impact
Date : 24th December 2006

List of Players : Bgkai, Embi, Matad, Omaq, Pak Lah, Wafi and Yot.

Dunno why it's called Sunday League, when the tourney is played in groups and knockout stages. Doesn't matter lar...Yg bezanya this tourney, tak main out...dat's a first.

Of coz expectations were not high for this tourney, as 7-9 other players were not available. Neways, the 19 teams (i tink) were divided into 4 grps of 5 or 4 teams each. We were in Grp A.

We played in the 1st set of 3 games. Our 1st game was against Sansa. While waiting for the opponents, ref tanya "You all dari Jinjang ker?" hehehe...As always, in the first game, we were disciplined. Forwards were upfront while defenders were where they needed to be. Pak Lah opened the scoring with a trademark powerful shot. That calmed the nerves a bit. The second goal was scored by Wafi, with a cool finish. His first goal in 11 months for Tok Jinjang! The last time he found the net was in our first tourney of 2006. And did he celebrate...hehehe...Sansa pulled one back after a misunderstanding between Matad and Wafi. Matad was trying to clear the ball but it hit Wafi and the rebound fell nicely for Sansa and I was unprepared for the snapshot dat followed. 2-1 and dat's how it finished.

Our 2nd game was played more than an hour later, in the 6th set of games. Way too long a rest, methinks. Neways, 2nd game, against E-epro. A bunch of kids, who were whacked 1-4 by Sansa so mebbe some of thought this was an ez game. Tp diorang yg skor dulu, early in the game. It was 2 on 1 with no defenders covering and just like dat, we were behind. We equalized when they scored an own goal and took the lead when Pak Lah scored. Try as we might, we couldn't get an extra goal but I was more concerned with the defending. And then, with the very last move of the game, they scored again, thru similar circumstances, no defenders covering. Final score 2-2. IMHO, kite gak silap coz kite ikut tempo diorang...diorang muda lagi, so stamina lebih, walhal kita pun nak main laju, dpt corner, free kick sumer nak amik cepat2. padahal masa corner and free kick tu, diorang dekat2, sumer dia block...we shud have asked the ref to pull them back.

Our third game was in the very next set!! Mula2 too long a rest, and now too short...Adush...Lwn Kalvin Karden...Dlm game ni, kite byk main long ball from me direct to their goal, most of the time targetting Omaq. And early in the game, I tot we scored using this tactic, but ref said Omaq was pushing. But we didn't wait long before we did score, using the same tactic. A long ball from me found Omaq's head and the ball went in...yahoo...I have returned the favour from Piala Tok Jinjang when Omaq was goalie and he threw the ball to me for me to head into the goal. hahaha.. This was only Omaq's 2nd appearance for Tok Jinjang and the previous one was for goalie for Team B. Good 4 u Omaq. However, kitorg x dpt sustain pace, and these machas were fast and furious, main rembat from almost every opportunity and they scored 3 goals. I have to say I was culpable to some extent for their last 2 goals. Final result, 1-3.

Last grp game mesti menang klu berharap nak masuk quarters. Game dlm set ke10...lwn Pantai Permai 1 yg menang sumer game sebelum ni. Nampak sgt diorang x all out, tp still too good for us. They scored 1st when a thru ball found its way into the danger zone. Yot, their attacker and me all went for it and tiga-tiga tumbang, tp ntah camana bola masuk gak empty net. Ref kata nak bg foul mula2, tp dia bg advantage and allow the goal. Pas tu diorg score lagi b4 Omaq replied. Then, in our search for the equalizer, sumer org naik and I was exposed again, 3 on 1 and they duly scored. We, esp Bgkai, didn't give up and in our last attack, from Yot's free-kick, Bgkai glanced a header into goal and celebrated by running and pointing the back of his jersey..hehehe...1st competitive goal for Tok Jinjang. Final result 2-3.

Summary:
Altho a weakened squad, kitorang x memalukan jersey baru...hehehe...with a little more luck and a bit more stamina (and discipline) , we wud have gone further in the tourney. A few of the goals yg kite concede were unlucky to us, where I already reached the ball b4 the attacker, but somehow the rebounds were kind to them. Altho Yot did not score, he was the only one who could keep the ball longer than 3 seconds and he was an unsung hero. Matad pun main bagus, byk kaco diorang, altho dia klu boleh x nak aku passing kat dia...Bgkai pun sama. Hahaha...At any rate, I trust we all had fun and Tok Jinjang is maintaining it's clean and frenly reputation. Not for the 1st time, ada org lain nak pinjam my spare gloves.

Masa balik rumah, baru perasan jari tengah kiri aku bengkak, sakit giler, x tau nampak x dlm gambar ni...aku nak cuti dari jadi keeper for a while...yg bosannya, injured masa warmup, bukan masa lwn...

Omaq, Pak Lah : 2 goals Bgkai, Wafi : 1 goal

PS...Ada 3 org yg biasanya 1st choice contact aku for the results, agaknya risau kitorang menang kot..takut diorang kene drop...hahaha..just kidding guys...aku tau korang risaukan team... bagusla tu...