Raj's Team

REPORTED BY KEN WONG

Full Time: ODS 2 - 3 (Half time: 1 - 2)
Scorers: Osman (x02)

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Starting Line-Up
GK: Kumar
Def[L-R]: Hairy, Hans, Rosk, Ken Wong
Mid[L-R]: Osman, Mark Teo, Mark Penu, Yang Song
Striker: Liang Han, Elango

ODS poor start to the new season continued, the second game ending in a frustrating defeat. Disappointing indeed.

ODS never really got off gear one in this game. The passes were going harewire. The gap between midfield and defence was too big. Strikers were not productive, failing to get any shots on target or even testing the opponent keeper.

ODS got lucky when the opponents made a mistake and passed the ball a bit too softly, (I think) Mark Penu got his foot in, robbed the ball and released Osman who beat the keeper at the near post.

1-0

Referee made a lot of poor calls today, especially for throw-in and offsides, piling the pressure on ODS.

The opponent got lucky too, when a in-swinger corner had Kumar misjudging the flight of the ball, probably partly due to the strong wind that was blowing in our direction. And Kumar wanted to palm the ball over the bar, but instead, he only managed a weak touch to it, and dropped the ball behind him into the goal.

1-1

Yang Song who was only a pale form of himself, was then switched to right back, pushing the younger and faster Ken Wong up to midfield.

Mark Teo and Mark Penu somehow were not connecting well today, both playing without their usual chemistry. As a result, the pentration was very effective. And the opponent were playing the offside trap very well, pushing the defence line up very fast and swiftly.

ODS should have taken back the lead when Osman unselfishly laid the ball across goal to Mark Teo. But Mark Teo was holding back his run, perhaps he was afraid of getting caught offside and he could not reach the ball which was rolling pretty fast.

Midway through the first half, ODS had a very ineffective corner, resulting in a counter attack from the opponents. Exposed at the back, ODS was outnumbered and the opponents took advantage of that, playing the ball across the goal, while Hans was calling for offside, and the result, a simple tap in.

1-2

Osman had two freekicks that went directly at the keeper, and the keeper was hardly troubled by it. This pretty much sums up Osman's unusual poor form today.

The last action of the first half saw Ken Wong racing to collect a loose ball, and running with the ball for about ten meters and setting Osman up with a through ball. Osman having beat the offside trap was now one on one with the keeper, but he scuffered the chance and shot tamely at the keeper.

2nd Half Line-Up
GK: Kumar
Def[L-R]: Tony, Kiran, Vincent, Kiam Meng
Mid[L-R]: Chee Mun, Aidil, Gary, Fred
Striker: Irwin, Kee Yong

The second half started with the opponents seemingly contented to just sit back and defend on their one goal slender lead.

It was painful to watch from the bylines, as ODS were missing countless of chances, and the passes were not reaching their targets. Irwin was the culprit for the early stages of the second half, doing some unnecessary no-look dummy and losing the ball.

Chee Mun was throwing his body in the way of the opponents' passes, while Tony was again, showing off his "samba" football skills.

Unfortunately, soccer is a cruel game. You can't win the game if you can't score, no matter how much possession or chances on goal you have.
ODS was punished for not taking their chances, and when a miscommunication between Kiam Meng and Kiran gifted the opponents a golden chance to increase their lead. And the opponents made no mistake.

1-3

Kee Yong was subsequently put into goal, Kumar taken off the pitch, and Liang Han called back into action.

Trying to savage something out of this, Osman was thrown into the game again, taking off Tony. Chee Mun was switched to left-back, Irwin to left-midfield and Osman as the link man between the strikers.

Due to lack of match fitness, Kiam Meng was also taken off, and Rosk replaced him at right-back.

On a day when nothing seems to be going our way, chances after chances, ODS squandered them all.

The final kick of the game was a free kick, taken by Osman, deflected off a defender and had the keeper rooted to the spot. But it was all too late, as ODS still lost the game 2-3.