Efficient and Effective

Oranges: 2
Redbacks: 4

Venue: Riverside Secondary School

Scorers: Hilmi (2), Faiz, Ayyub

A makeshift team was put out in the first half. The Redbacks welcomed the surprise appearance of Hilmi, one of the pioneer players of Redbacks football club. He left a mark as his two goals helped the Spiders to score another victory on Woodlands soil. Both goals were good examples of opportunistic goal poaching as he pounced on some loose defending by the Oranges.

Faiz continued his scoring form when he headed in from a corner taken by Ayyub. The provider got on the scoresheet himself in the second half after some good work by Mokhtar down the left flank. Oranges did well to score two goals to keep the game competitive. However, the Spiders were rarely troubled as Azhar marshalled his backline superbly. Even after the withdrawal of Abang Sani midway in the second half, Oranges failed to make any meaningful chances.

However, the Spiders need to raise their game if they are to tackle the titans of the AFL. We were guilty of playing to the opponents’ rhythm. We need to remember to play our game and keep to the Redbacks’ style of play. It was still a good win nonetheless.

Full Of Fun

Redbacks: 6
Rashid’s Pals: 3

Venue: ADSS
Scorers: Nordin 2, Lan 3, Rohaizat 1

Game started only with 10 men, but with the positive attitude of the guys who turned up, we can even have loads of fun with 7 players, that the minimum player that a team must have in order for a game to go on.

Nevertheless, it was a wet day and the opponent  started brightly with 2 goals up in the first 20mins. One was a gift form us and the other was well taken opportunistic goal. The rain began to shimmer down and the field started to dryout, that’s where Redbacks show started. With Nordin started to pull the string in the middle of the park, we started with the one twos to get the first from our invitee Lan who coolly slotted the goal for 2 -1.

With the complete 11 players, the 2nd half began with totally new approached where we needed to dominate the midfield and not letting the opponent play. 4 midfielder namely Sharm Bai, Rohaizat, Nordin and Azhar kept the midfield tidy by winning every ball, that enabled the fullbacks right(Aziz) and left(Ahmad) to venture upfront leaving only Sani and Zaini in defence to win the ball early.  Free kick  just above the penalty box made it 2-2, where Nordin blasted the 2nd goal. Simple play and touches warranted the third, fourth and fifth Redbacks goal, only with a gliched where a loose ball was threaded to the opponent to conjure their 3rd of the day. The last goal was from our Rohaizat with fine piece of solo effort at the very last minute of the game.

Sweet victory, objective met most important we had fun.

Speed, Power, Touch

Hotel Guys: 1
Redbacks: 3

Venue: Hougang Ave 6
Scorers: Ayyub, Faiz, Kai

With the enforced “break” of the AFL, the Spiders organized a last minute friendly match this week. The squad was at a bare minimum once again. We were glad though to have some long-lost Spiders return to action. Azam, Sharm, Jaz and Kai all made their appearances for the team. The pitch was hilly. Not bumpy, hilly, complete with all the slopes and potholes. It was so hazardous that it was amazing that nobody ended the game injured. Thankfully.

Ayyub got the ball rolling with a well taken goal. Receiving the ball from Imran, he turned his marker at lightning speed, passing the ball to himself in the process. He struck the ball across the face of the goal for the opener. At the other end, our new keeper, Is, kept himself busy as the Hotel Guys launched attack after attack. Kai thought he scored the second goal for the team, only to have the referee rule it out for offside. The Redbacks went into the break one goal up.

In the second half, we looked to keep things tight at the back while continuing to create chances up front. Faiz was in the thick of the action and duly scored the second goal. Picking up a loose ball, he fired a powerful shot that had the keeper beaten at the near post. The goal bothered our hosts so much that two of their teammates briefly argued with each other. They threatened a comeback by profiting from an unfortunate clearance from Azhar, their striker heading home from close range after our captain’s clearance ricocheted off Ahmad’s back.

Jaz then fed Kai just outside the penalty area. Kai hesitated for a moment and opted to go for placement instead of power, curling a shot just beyond the reach of the goalkeeper to score the killer goal. The game peppered out and ended without incident. The Spiders will be looking to use this break to regroup and get back into shape as we prepare for another assault in the AFL.