A Prestigio-us Victory!

Redbacks: 4
Prestigio: 2

Venue: Bishan Park Sec Sch
Scorers: Mikael, Irwan, Azhar (2)

Redbacks ended their season on a high by beating Prestigio 4-2 at Bishan Park, with Captain Azhar grabbing a second half brace. The Spiders lined up in the now-familiar 5-3-2 formation. Abang Sani marshalled the defense, assisted by Kai and Bob as centre backs, Alfiah as right back and Taufiq as the stand-in left back. Mok, Fai and Jufri played in midfield and our two top scorers, Mikael and Azhar, partnered each other up front.

The game didn’t start too well for the Redbacks. From a free kick, Abang Sani’s clearance header smacked against our crossbar and back into the penalty area. A goalmouth scramble ensued and it ended with a Prestigio player nudging the ball into the goal. 1-0 to Prestigio. Besides that setback, the defense managed to keep Prestigio at bay and Samy was having a particularly solid game as custodian.

Redbacks thought they got the equalizer later in the half. Fai broke free and found himself one-on-one with the goalkeeper. He lifted the ball over the goalkeeper. The spectators believed that he was finally going to break his duck. Unfortunately, Azhar got involved and nodded the ball into the empty goal, leading the referee to call him up for an offside offence. Frustration for the Spiders, especially Fai.

Our goalkeeper was to play an important role in the equalizer. His long punt found the marauding Mikael. Using his strength and pace, Mik held off a defender and smashed a low shot past the Prestigio goalkeeper to draw the teams level! The striker duly went out after scoring, making way for Irwan to make a much welcomed return to the team. 1-1 was the score at half-time.

A few changes were made during the break. Aidil, Jo and Fareez formed a new look defense line. Raizal came into the midfield trio and Mikael came back in replacing Azhar. Instructions were sent out to pressure the Prestigio defence by employing a direct style of football.

The strategy paid dividends as the relentless pressure unsettled Prestigio. They barely had time on the ball! Irwan and Mikael harrassed every defender and inevitably, gaps began to appear. Mikael and Irwan combined well to carve out a good opportunity to go ahead but Irwan took too much time on the ball, allowing the defense to clear their lines.

That spurned chance turned out to be merely a dress rehearsal. Once again, Mikael threatened on the left flank. His cross found Irwan in a similar position and this time, the finish was perfect! Redbacks take the lead. It was Irwan’s turn to take himself out of the game, resulting in Azhar being re-introduced into the game.

With the second goal urging the team on, Redbacks continued to trouble Prestigio. Prestigio themselves poured forward to get back into the game, thus leaving vast acres of space at the back. Not surprisingly, we scored a third goal. Fai knocked the ball on for Azhar and our captain keeping his cool and finishing clinically.

We were not done yet. Azhar was again the finisher, timing his run well to meet Raizal’s free kick with a superb looping header. With such performances, it is getting increasingly difficult to put him in any other position. The Spiders relaxed a little after the fourth goal, secure in the belief that the victory was in the bag. We were duly reminded by Prestigio that in the D2D League, nobody is allowed to slack. Prestigio got their second goal but it was not enough to take the gloss of another excellent result for the Spiders.

The Redbacks will now take a break for six weeks in light of the impending arrival of Ramadhan and Syawal. Players, use the opportunity to lose weight and keep yourself healthy and fit. Keep yourselved updated via the website as we may have a friendly during one of these coming weeks to keep the team sharp.

Team (5-3-2): Samy, Sani, Kai, Bob, Alfiah, Taufiq, Mok, Fai, Jufri, Azhar, Mikael
Subs: Irwan, Raizal, Fareez, Jo, Aidil

A See-Saw Affair

Redbacks: 3
FZE: 3

Venue: Orchid Park Sec Sch
Scorer: Azhar, Mikael (pk), Alfiah

It was very heartening to see an improved attendance for this week’s game. We lined up for a team photo before kick-off. Expect to see the new team shot on D2D’s website soon! We welcomed 2 new players to the team courtesy of Mok: Jufri and Alfiah. The team opted for experience for its first eleven. Izan was the goalkeeper. Zaini played as sweeper with Bob and Abang Sani as double stoppers. William and Aidil were the right and left backs respectively. Mikael, Jaz and Mok were the midfield trio. Azhar and Fai played up front.

FZE settled quickly into the game and began stringing passes with relative ease. The Spiders struggled to keep up with the flow of the game. It was little surprise that we fell behind early in the game. After breaking clear of the defense, an FZE attacker’s shot was well-parried by Izan. The attacker got a second bite of the cherry and made no mistake this time around. The Redbacks tried to get back into the game but FZE continued to have a stranglehold on the game.

It left us depending on counter attacks to threaten FZE. We had a few free kicks to draw level but efforts from Jaz, Mikael and Azhar all flew over the crossbar of FZE’s goal. Mikael then threatened when he embarked on one of his trademark mazy runs. He found some space in the box but the keeper managed to save The Boomer’s uncharacteristically tame shot. FZE had a few chances but found Izan in his characteristically stingy self. We went into the break one goal behind.

Several changes were made in the second half. Our debutants Jufri and Alfiah came in. Jufri played in the centre of midfield while Alfiah played at left-back. Jo and Kai came in as centre backs, Raizal came in as a left midfielder and Ajis came in a right back. The shuffle saw Mikael restored to the striker’s position with a simple mission: to score goals.

Once again, FZE’s crisp passing and solid movement off the ball provided all sorts of problems for Redbacks. However, we equalized against the run of play. It began in defense with Kai making the initial interception. The ball found its way to Raizal, who then found Jufri. Our debutant then released Mikael with an excellent diagonal ball. Mikael ran clear of the defense and attacked the byline. He then played a low cross to Captain Azhar who tapped it into an empty net. Great counter attacking for the equalizer!

The goal sparked the Spiders into life and Azhar, truly relishing his new role as the team’s striker, made things happen again. Displaying speed, strength and determination belying his advanced years, he embarked on a penetrating run. Just when it seems he was heading nowhere, a defender made a rash challenge and brought him down in the box. Penalty! Mikael stepped up and powered in an unstoppable conversion. Against all odds, the Redbacks were ahead!

Unfortunately, the team went to sleep, allowing FZE to equalize almost immediately. After that, FZE bombarded the Spiders and kept us in our own half for prolonged periods. We conceded corner after corner, free kick after free kick. Finally, we crumbled under the pressure. A corner was poorly defended and the reigning Singapore Idol/Asian Idol Hady Mirza found space to direct a header past Izan. That goal truly knocked the wind out of our sails. 3-2 to FZE.

A comeback seems unlikely as out attempts hit a brick wall. We had to get back into the game. All that was needed was a moment of magic. It came in the form of Alfiah. After gaining possession in our own half, he advanced forward and bamboozled past 3 FZE players. Using his speed, he broke clear of the defence. Despite pressure from the defenders and advancing goalkeeper, he kept his cool and finished clinically to send the Spiders into a mad frenzy. A brilliant solo effort and undoubtedly one of the best goals the Redbacks have ever witnessed!

That goal energized us and soon it was our turn to attack FZE. We managed to create a few half-chances and FZE had some decent opportunities too. However, both teams had to be satisfied with the draw as the referee blew his whistle to bring an end to the game. In the end, it was a fair result.

This result meant the Redbacks are firmly stuck in second-last position and technically, relegated to Division 4 next season. However, in the world of the D2D league, teams come and go and we might find ourselves still in Division 3. Regardless of what happens, we will be staying in the league, seeing how it has helped the team grow over past 2 seaons. Let’s look forward to ending the season on a high before we embark on our post-season break.

FORZA REDBACKS!

Team (5-3-2): Izan, Zaini, Bob, Sani, Aidil, William, Mikael, Jaz, Mok, Azhar, Fai
Subs: Jufri, Alfiah, Ajis, Raizal, Kai, Jo

Finally… Redbacks Make It Count!

Redbacks: 6
Dirty Dozen: 1

Venue: Braddell Westlake Sec Sch (Pitch 2)

Scorers: Azhar (3), Mikael, Jaz, Wan Jr.

A wise man once said, “If you don’t succeed, try and try again until you do.” It has been a long time coming but finally the Spiders taste victory for the first time this season. It was a scorching day and once again, the team had to rely on 11 men to make something happen. But these men were on a mission and they were ready to give their all. It was a little frustrating to wait for our opponents once again. The same thing happened in our earlier encounter. This time around, we were determined not to be defeated again.

The Spiders were handed the initiative at kick-off when Dirty Dozen did not live up to its name, with only 8 players available at kick-off. For the Redbacks, Fai stepped into goal once again. Zaini was the sweeper behind the backline of Bob, Kai, William and Aidil. Mikael was the anchor in midfield, flanked by Wan Jr. and Jaz while Captain Azhar and Taufiq played up front. Before kick-off, Mikael urged his teammates, “This is it guys, make it count!”

It didn’t take long for the Redbacks to score our first goal. Kai delivered a perfect free kick into the penalty box and Azhar rose unchallenged to head the ball past the keeper for the game’s opener. It was a sweet comeback for Kai who suffered an unfortunate injury against the same opponents more than a month ago. However, Dirty Dozen soon showed that they are still a mean unit even with 8 men, scoring the equalizer soon afterwards.

Azhar took matters into his own hands. First he received a low cross by Wan Jr. Wriggling himself free of his marker, he managed to squeeze in a shot, beating the goalkeeper at his near post. Not long after, he picked up a loose ball after Taufiq had headed the ball on. He attempted a similar shot and got a similar result. With the keeper beaten at his near post once again, Captain Azhar notched his first ever hat-trick for the Spiders: a feat achieved by a select few. This is possibly the fastest every hat-trick scored by any Spider and it is appropriate that the Captain earned the honour.

The goal blitz seemed to deflate Dirty Dozen but they managed to keep the Redbacks’ 5-men defense on their toes. At times, they dribbled through the entire backline with relative ease. Thankfully, Fai came to the rescue with some solid saves. His overall performance would make him a standout performer in the game. We had many more chances to score but failed to make the most of them. Jaz had a particulary good chance when he played a one-two with Azhar and was through on goal. His finish was a little off, skimming off the crossbar as it went out of play.

Our sustained pressure paid off when we notched our 4th goal. Mikael received a throw-in and twisted his way past a few defenders and rifled a stiff shot past the goalkeeper. It was just reward for all our attacking enterprise. 4-1 to the Spiders at half-time but in truth, it could have been more.

Dirty Dozen started brightly in the second half, putting the Redbacks on the backfoot. Once again, Fai stood tall against the challenge. His saves include a moment when he dived bravely at the feet of the striker, preventing a certain goal. With his hands, arms, chest and feet, he parried all that came at him. Dirty Dozen should have scored their second but their striker ballooned the ball from about 2 metres out with the empty goal at his mercy.

That stirred the Spiders into action and we scored a fifth goal through a corner. Azhar’s deep delivery found Jaz and our midfielder scored with a stunning shot from a tight angle. From that moment on, we knew that the game was there to be won but we were adamant not to get complacent. We fought for every ball and contested every dodgy decision by the referee. It irked our opponents, leading one of them to say, “You’ve already won the game. Why do you need to argue the decision?” I suppose when you have waited long for a victory, you are unwilling to let anything jeopardize it.

We were not quite done yet. Mikael found Wan Jr with a diagonal ball. Our dimunitive full-back raced towards goal and with nobody pressuring him, decided to take the keeper on. He managed to create enough space for himself to squeeze in the Spiders’ 6th goal. We could have scored a few more but our finishing was not quite up to mark. After creating some good chances, we conspired to shoot straight at the keeper, making him appear to be almost invincible. Azhar should have scored his 4th goal when Mikael found him with a firm cross but our captain’s improvised finishing only resulted in the ball going wide.

After the final whistle was blown, the celebrations were a bit muted due to intense fatigue but once we got our energy back, the smiles and cheers were in full swing. It has been a hard season, but the taste of victory, albeit against 9 men, was still very sweet to the 11 men that turned up today. Could this be the turning point of our season? With 2 more games to secure safety in Division 3, it will be a very interesting run-in.

When asked about the secret of his hat-trick performance, Azhar smiled and said, “It’s all in the boots. Would you like me to brief you about the technology of this boot?” Nobody was interested to listen but Azhar insisted that the boots are worth the investment. In his opinion, everyone should get the adidas Adipure 2 boots.

As a fellow wearer of the boots, I can only fervently agree…

Forza Redbacks!