Nayang Jc, Boundary Rd - You might wonder how important the human eye really is. Well, as TeamCuzz harshly realised last Saturday, it's freakin’ important. One eye doesn't help either. Lost huh?
Well, TeamCuzz had a game with Pirates FC. The match was scheduled to kickoff at 9am. Ey no 1030am. Ey no 11am. Ey.... You could just guess what time it kicked off - 12 noon!!! The Pirates had a large part to play in that. With an eye covered, they counted their players wrongly. Or maybe, the covered eye caused them to see only half the pitch, making it seem like a 7-aside one. Or maybe, their covered eye caused them not to see how scorching the sun was. All kinds of questions came, but the Pirates didnt. The result - 2 TeamCuzz imports became immediate exports as they donned the red jerseys of the pirates.
Having warmed up, and cooled down, and warmed up their bodies and legs again for the game, the first eleven came down from the stands and played composed, yet entertaining football. Oni was left on the bench while vice-captain Shukur overlooked the game from the stands. With so many goals to report, and to prevent this match report from being any longer than the Mahabarata, let's cut the misses and go straight to the goals.
The first came in the 19th minute. A ball sent to the middle of the pitch was well controlled by Imran, who with 2 touches, sent a through ball for Shahrudin to race clear of the opposing CB to poke in his 30th career goal for TeamCuzz. He is starting to drift further away at the top of the scoring charts.
The second came very soon after. Good interchange of play between the defenders and midfielders ended up with returning full-back Luqman (aka Luuuuq) sending a perfectly weighted pass upfield. Although many TeamCuzz players were caught offside, the defenders failed to take note of the on-rushing Khairi who had began his run from beyond the half-way line. With all the confidence in the world, he took the ball forward, dribbled past the GK and slotted home from a tight angle.
The next goal involved debutant Fajar Syawal and Shahrudin down the right flank. The latter made yet another purposeful run, and cut into the penalty area before forcing the defender to concede and own goal
The forth involved an overhit cross from Firdaus. Striker for the day, Imran, retrieved the ball, passed the ball to the left winger Fajar Syawal for him to sweetly place into the far corner. Tremendous finish!
Despite all these attacks, Pirates continued to play their game and push forward in their bid to narrow the scoreline. That, however, left many gaps in their defence. One such occasion saw TeamCuzz RB, Razali, sending a perfect ball behind the last defender and to Imran. With only the GK to beat, Imran side-stepped an on-rushing defender and unselfishly laid the ball to Firdaus to thump home the fifth.
The sixth and final goal of the half came very close to the break. In almost a mirror image of the 4th goal, Fajar Syawal retrieved the ball from left and laid into the path of Imran. Tired of assisting, he turned the defender and let fly from 30 yards out. 6-0!
TeamCuzz had found themselves in a very strange position as they have never had such a big lead coming to the break. There were talks of trying to upstage the almost perfect first-half performance. However, a Russina had other ideas. Having heard the predicament that Pirates were going through, Roman Abramovich generously instructed some of his Chelsea charges to the Nanyang pitch via his private jet. Clad in blue and white, on came john TerrAYIE, ashley KORle and jose bosingWAN. It bolstered the Pirates dfence and provided them with the license to roam forward in search of the many equalizers.
The Pirates did swamp the pitch from the word go, but wasteful finishing meant the scoreline remained unchanged. Chance after chance came and went. On the contrary, TeamCuzz scored against the run of play. Good hold-up play by Arul drew a couple of defenders towards him, before he made a smart pass to Shahrudin who easily found Syawal to slot home his second of the game. Those 2 goals, along with his constant tormenting of the opponents’ defence, duly clinched the debutant the Man-of-the-Match Award.
Pirates continued to dominate play and managed 2 consolation goals towards the end. In the end, a good outing for TeamCuzz. Credit to pirates who despite their man down, played an attacking game. The match could easily be summed up with the next few words – Eye patch, noon kickoff, no ball pickers, generous opponents, 7 TeamCuzz goals.
TeamCuzz (v Pirates FC on 22 Nov): Lukman, Luqman aka Luuuuq, Saifudin, Faizul, Razali, Azli, Arep, Oni, Fajar Syawal, Firdaus, Danial, Khairi, Arul, Shahrudin, Imran, Shukur.
No comments:
Post a Comment