Review: October 2008

Two matches, two wins, 9 goals scored and 4 goals conceded. All points to a good start to the season for the Spiders. More encouragingly, we have seen 7 different goalscorers, highlighting the vast attacking talents within the team. The break has proved beneficial for all as it has only enhanced the hunger for the players to do well. Breaking a streak of going 8 games without a victory was important for the team morale and we will now look to building on the positive results.

The team’s strength has swelled to 28 players and that will only promote healthy competition within the team. Attendance problems that plagued the team last season seem to be behind us, with 15 players turning up for our first game and a whopping 19 players for the second. The extra manpower has been recruited to ease the pressure of players unable to turn up for games regularly.

While we have thrived in goalscoring, we should continue to be defensively tight as a unit. Our tendency to concede soft goals continue to haunt us and we’ve been fortunate that it has not cost us any games so far. But against superior opposition, it would be hard for us to compete. Therefore, we should all throw our weight behind protecting our goal.

We received a boost in the goalkeeping department. We welcome new addition Wan to the team. With Fauzy posted to a stay-out NS unit and Sharizan reappearing, we have adequate goalkeepers to call upon. With back-ups such as Aki and Raizal, we can look to better stability in the backline.

The highlight of the month has to be the returns of some Spiders deserving of the tag “Legends”. Nordin’s appearance at the first match of the season was a massive boost and his all-action displays just showed how much he has been missed. Recent news of Izat returning to the team’s fold was also warmly received by everyone. Izat has always been a mentor to many young players in the team such as Jaz and Kai and his presence will help develop the current batch of youngsters and drive them to further heights.

News of the order of new jerseys greeted the Spiders. We forecast the completion of the orders by mid-November. Until then, get the cash ready! We anticipate an investment of $40 for the top, shorts, socks and number printing. Oh, trust us, the brand and quality alone is worth the amount.

May we continue to grow and perform as a team. Go Redbacks!

Leave your thoughts on the month of October in the Comments section!

Eight-Goal Thriller!

Redbacks: 5
Monforto: 3

Venue: Beatty Sec Sch
Scorers: Ayyub (2), Faiz, Kai, Ayat

We finally got our D2D campaign off track with an exhilirating win. On a small and bumpy pitch, play became a challenge. It took us some time to get settled and once we did, the goals started coming. Last season’s top scorer, Ayyub opened his account for the season when he capitalized on a poor defensive clearance and beat the keeper at the near post.

Resident Mat Faiz then conjured up a carbon copy of the goal after receiving a through pass from Azhar. A few moments later, Ayyub produced a cute drag back that took him past a defender. He played a low cross into the box and Kai was there to stroke the ball into the net for the third goal. Monforto were obviously shell-shocked by now, but they managed to pull one back after a trademark defensive lapse by the Redbacks.

Aki won a free kick on the left side of the pitch. Ayyub sized up his options. From such an acute angle, surely he cannot score from there. He did, curling a shot into the far post to restore our three-goal cushion. That’s how things ended in the first half.

Since we had 8 substitutes today, we literally sent on a completely different team for the second half. We employed a 3-4-1-2 formation, looking to take advantage of the narrow pitch and keep things tight. As we tried to find our feet, Bob fell into one of his charitable moods, gifting a penalty to Monforto. They were too grateful and reduced the deficit.

Things got alarmingly close when sustained pressure from our opponents earned them a third goal. Under pressure, Aziz nudged the ball past his own keeper. Monforto, fired up by the goal, believed that they had earned a way back into the game.

The Spiders then put the game beyond doubt. Ayat, who had missed a few gilt-edged chances earlier, finally pounced on a cross by Mok to score the team’s fifth goal and his first as a Spider. That sucker punch knocked the final nail into Monforto’s coffin. The perfect start for what hopefully will be a successful league campaign.

Back With a Bang!

Redbacks: 4
Black Knights: 1

Venue: Woodgrove Sec Sch
Scorers: Own goal, Jaz, Hilmi, Ming

The Spiders got the perfect preparation for the new season as they thumped Black Knights 4-1. Having been winless for the last 8 games, it was a huge relief to finally get a comfortable win. We also welcomed the return of some old faces in Nordin and Hilmi and two new faces, Wandy and Wan. We turned out in a 3-5-2 formation due to the lack of defensive-minded players. The Three Stooges: Zaini, Bob and Ajiz formed the backline with Azhar, Jaz, Nordin, Ayyub and Wandy started in midfield and Ming and Kai spearheaded the attack.

We managed to settle into the game quickly and passed the ball around with relative ease. We were more adventurous and had more of the possession in the first half. We opened the scoring when a free kick from Wandy was headed in by a Black Knights’ defender. Not the type of goal we wanted but we’ll take it anyway.

In the second half, the game was more open as more speedy players such as Faiz, Aidil and Hilmi was brought into the fray. The Spiders got a second goal out of the blue. Receiving a ball from Azhar via a throw in and with not many choices present to him, Jaz decided to take a crack at goal. Somehow his shot managed to elude the goalkeeper and found itself in the bottom corner of the net.

Sensing a goal rush, the Redbacks poured forward and scored a third goal in the most fortunate circumstances. Wan Jr’s through ball was completely missed by the goalkeeper and Hilmi was the gleeful recipient, knocking the ball into the empty net. Hilmi: he gets the ball, he scores a goal!

Black Knights pulled one back through an incident that would probably be best described as an “Ajiz Moment”. Overindulging on the ball, Ajiz lost possession and through a series of passes, Black Knights scored. The goal seemed to spark our opponents as they attacked with more energy, especially down our right side. Perhaps they were hoping for more “moments” from Ajiz.

We scored a fourth goal after absorbing some serious attacks from the Black Knights. Faiz’s stinging shot was too hot for the goalkeeper to handle. Ming swiftly nipped the ball from the keeper’s grasp and scored the team’s fourth. However, the defence made a key contribution earlier on, making TWO goalline clearances in quick succession.

The game peppered out in the end and the relief on the Spiders’ faces was all there to be seen. We know that the competition in the league will be much tougher but at least we got a confidence-boosting win. With a big squad of experienced, senior and junior players, we hope to perform credibly in the D2D league. See everyone on the 19th!