KL Vikings 3 - 1 Asterix Reds (SSLKL Premier Division)

In a very open and evenly contested game, we disappointingly went down 3-1 to the Vikings.  

The game started as it was to continue with some open and flowing football.  With a lot of space in the middle of the park we quickly settled and started passing the ball well.  However, it was Vikings who had created the early chances.  

A little scramble at the near post saw the ball hit the outside of the post and our keeper - Sugu - pick up an injury.  He was clearly struggling and we had to take him off shortly after.  Jonesy stepped up for the team and donned the keepers jersey and gloves.  This was clearly not an unexpected call up for Jonesy as he immediately called for his own gloves from his bag on the sidelines!  At this point, we settled back down again.  With acres of space in the middle of the park and time on the ball we got the ball in the box regularly and created some good chances.  However, we didn't break the deadlock and the Viking's were struggling to fashion a good opportunity to score.  That was until 3 minutes before half-time when Vikings put a ball from deep across our box toward the back post.  Some poor marking and a pre-occupation with appealing for offside as opposed to making a challenge gave the Vikings player time and space to comfortably score at the back post.  Having had enough of the ball and created enough chances to go in even or better, we were disappointed to come in 1-0 down at half-time.  

The second half began with a great response from Asterix Reds.   We immediately upped our work rate and played with intelligence and composure; passing the ball around nicely.  We regularly got behind the defenders and created a few good chances.   After around 15 minutes, we go the breakthrough our possession and creative play had deserved.  Amazingly - and I kid you not - I have no recollection of the goal and who scored it.  If you can help fill me in, please comment on the blog.  (Apologies to the goal scorer; I was clearly overcome with emotion.)

With the scores level, we were on a high and The Vikings were looking decidedly fatigued.  We continued to knock the ball around well and dominated the middle of the park; wide open due to a Viking's defence playing very deep.  We created a couple of good chances; a header from Terry Harris going just wide and Paul Williams skewing a shot off target.  Adam Scott was always a problem up front for the Viking's defence and caused problems throughout.  At this point, I was backing us to go on and score another couple of goals and win the game comfortably.  But this was not to be.  

With about 15 minutes to go, after a rare Viking's attack, a ball from deep was not dealt with and found a player in too much space on the far post.  He put a good ball across the goal which was well finished.  Having had so much of the ball and created so many good chances I was very disappointed that we'd again conceded a soft goal.  My dismay was compounded only two minutes later when we left a Viking's player unmarked on a corner to make it 3-1.  With about 12 minutes to go, we still had a chance to get some goals back, but our heads and desire dropped and we allowed the Viking's to finish the stronger team.  Only a couple of good stops by our stand-in keeper, Mark Jones, kept the score line respectable.  

There were good points and bad points about this performance.  On the plus-side, we again dominated the middle of the park to secure the lion's share of the possession.  Our front players caused the Viking's defence a lot of problems throughout.  We were slightly off with a couple of good chances which might have given us the goal or two advantage we needed.  However, we lost this game because we didn't keep the back door shut.  Whilst we're dominating the better sides at their end of the park, we need to defend better when they get into our box.  We can't let in three soft goals and expect to win many matches.  

A notable positive was the atmosphere on the pitch.  We've agreed as a team that the talking to the ref has to stop.  We did this without exception yesterday.  The Viking's didn't and it was noticeable that the majority of the 50-50 calls by the ref went in our favour.  Let's make sure we continue to maintain this level of discipline on the pitch in the future. 

It was also a pleasure to see the lads looking positively resplendent decked out in the new pre and post match ARFC polo shirts.  Please ensure that you wear them to every game.  If you've not got yours yet, catch me in training this week or at next weekend's match.  

A win yesterday would have put us top of the table.  However, the result leaves us 4-points off the Viking's who are now top but, importantly, we do have a game in hand.  Our game in hand - versus BMFC - will be played late in March over the Easter Weeekend; if we win it, we'll be right back up there in the top 3 no more than 2 or 3 points off the top of the table with 6 games to play.  

Next weekend we play DH in the fourth of our five cup group matches.  DH are currently top of our cup group with 3 wins from 3 games and 9 points; we're second on 7 points.  A win would all but guarantee us a place in the cup knockout part of the tournament.  Let's get back to it and look forward to playing some positive football.  

Sang Chuan 1 - 3 Asterix Reds (SSLKL Premier Division)

This match will be remembered mainly for being abandoned ten minutes from time after a large fight.  Despite this, we shouldn't forget Asterix Reds put in a battling performance to take all 3 points with a well earned 3-1 victory.

The first 20 minutes of the first half were shaded by SC who created several good chances with balls from deep.  Cementing his status as a quality keeper, Sugu, made several fine stops.  Sugu's great work in goal plus more than a few vital last ditch challenges by our defenders kept the scores level.  Even though we had less chances, we always looked dangerous and did in fact take the lead after around 25 minutes.  

After picking up the ball out wide on the right, Terry Harris beat a couple of defenders and held off the challenge of the last defender to slot home a high quality finish from a tight angle.  1-0 against the run of play; a fact that delighted the large crowd at Equine Park.  The rest of the half was played out without major goal mouth incident and we were happy to go in at half time a goal to the good.

We talked at half-time about the need to contain their midfielders who were dropping deep and pinging long balls behind our defence.  As we started the second half, we'd looked to have cut this out.  Our defence also stepped up their efforts to give us a stronger platform at the back.  We were now in control and our pressure ultimately caused a defensive error which was clinically punished.  

Paul Williams intercepted a ball from deep.  Pushing forward down the middle Paul put his ears back and outpaced the defenders to get into the box.  Showing a lot of composure, Paul squared the ball between the trailing defender and out rushing keeper to provide Adam Scott with a straightforward finish.  2-0 and we were in control and the Equine Park roar was once again heard from the terraces.  Only minutes later, we put the game out of SC's reach with a great third goal.  

Tom Sarginson picked the ball up out wide right and made a penetrating goal bound run.  After skipping in and out of 3 or 4 tackles, Tom fashioned a one-on-one chance with the keeper.  His goal bound effort was parried by the keeper straight into the path of Adam Scott following up in text book centre forward manner.  Still with work to do, Adam steadied himself and cooly headed the ball over the keeper and under the cross bar.  3-0 it was and with about 25 minutes left the game was as good as over.  

This game always had a nasty edge.  Several of the SC players seemed only interested swearing and kicking out at our players off the ball.  Despite the ref seeing many of these incidents, he did not act.  Additionally, he had been only too keen to blow for a free kick at the slightest hint of a strong challenge from our boys.  We did show our frustration with the ref who responded by booking me for a challenge in which I had cleanly won the ball.  Nonetheless, full credit to our boys for not getting drawn into trouble and playing a clean game.  

The game threatened to boil over 20 minutes from the end, after an SC player lashed out at Shashi after he had shepherded the ball out for a goal kick.  The entire SC team responded by crowding the area looking for a fight.  Again, credit for our boys for helping to maintain the peace.  Shortly after, SC, got a goal back after we failed to clear the ball from our box.  

At 3-1 we were still very comfortable, but the game finally did boil over ten minutes from the end.  In an attempt to win the ball, I caught one of SC's midfielders late.  He proceded to get up and hit me in the face.  I did not react to this at all.  The refs reaction was to give me a second yellow card.  The SC player who had hit me?  No cards for him.  On my way off the park, a couple of the SC players began throwing insults at me.  I confronted one of them and our heads came together.

I was then set upon by what seemed like the entire SC team.  Kicks and punches rained on me - all from behind.  Full credit to my team mates for helping me out.  It was noticeable that our boys were doing all they could do break up the fight.  This was in sharp contrast to the SC team, subs and bench, all of whom seemed only interested in landing cheap kicks and punches from behind on our players.  Eventually, calm was restored and ref did the right thing by calling an end to proceedings 10 minutes from time.  As more than 60 minutes of the game had been played, the result will stand.  This is comforting as we can only speculate that SC's intentions in starting a mass brawl was to get the match abandoned.  

More importantly, I would like to apologise to the team for my part in the incident.  After receiving my second yellow I should have kept walking off the pitch and not got involved in what happened.  I was hit in the face and insulted several times by their players, but nonetheless I should have walked away.  Accept my sincere apologies for not doing so.  I'd also like to thank all of you for coming to my rescue after I was set upon by what seemed like the entire SC team.  I know that many of you were kicked and punched with cheap shots as you tried to break up the fight.  I'd like to thank you for backing me up when I needed help.  Had you not done so, I would have been badly beaten.

At least six of us attended the post match drinks at JnR for some much needed therapeutic Tiger Beers.  A big thank you to Stu's mate, Kenny, for kindly picking up the tab.  We will make an official complaint to the league for the conduct of SC's players and we'll leave the league committee to take care of things from this point on.  

For our team, it's important that we don't let this incident distract us from enjoying the rest of the season.  We played some good football yesterday.  All 3 of the goals we scored were high quality.  Our commitment and strength to pull out a comfortable win over a team that tried to verbally and physically intimidate us was positive.  And, the 3 points that we receive for this win puts us within striking distance of the top of the table.  

Next Saturday, we have an important game against our title chasing rivals, The Vikings.  It's sure to be a good game of football by two teams who like to knock the ball about.  Let's get back into our groove with a good football performance.  If we can play good football, we can be confident of picking up another victory.  

Asterix Reds 3 - 2 SR Rangers (Friendly)

This game started out like a World Peace Event and threatened to turn 
into World War III. Nonetheless, our quality and superior fitness 
provided us with a comfortable victory. Even though only Stu and I 
showed up for drinks, we put in a sterling effort which culminated 
with me securing our sponsorship for next season and then putting it 
in jeopardy by being very sick on the bar room floor at 2am in the 
morning. Remind me never to go out drinking with The Caveman again.

Before the kick-off both teams lined up for what seemed like an 
endless round of handshakes. At one point, I thought the guy with 
the grey stubble and nobly legs was going to hug me and give me a 
little tickle. Fortunately he did not and in the absence of both our 
captain and vice-captain I strolled up for the toss. At the referees 
suggestion, we omitted the toss and I offered our guests the ball for 
kick-off and choice of ends. An act of generosity I hoped would set 
the tone for a friendly encounter.

And we started well. From the off, we played with a lot of energy 
and won a lot of ball in the middle of the park. We created a few 
good chances and after about 10 minutes were one up after Adam Scott 
lifted the ball over the keeper having been put clean through with a 
ball from deep. Our pressure was maintained until the mid point in 
the half when SR Rangers began a good spell. Using their 5 man 
midfield to good effect they held possession well and kept the ball 
from us. We lost our composure and too frequently gifted the ball 
back to them. However, despite their pressure they didn't create 
many good chances; Ragu and debutant Bunmi holding firm at the back. 
We then made it two nil against the run of play. A ball up the left 
fell to Stu Cavens who's cross was neatly poked home by Paul 
Williams. But just before half-time, we let SR back into the game 
after Sugu was caught in possession outside the box. 2-1 at the half 
way point.

We talked at half time about holding the football and passing 
better. And we did this very well in the early stages of the second 
half. And it was a good move down the left which brought our third. 
A ball from the back released Mages up the left hand side. He 
interchanged passes well with Kisho before putting a good ball into 
the box which was met by the shoulder of the on-rushing Andy Johnson 
who had a made a great run from midfield. 3-1 with about 35 minutes 
to go and we were looking very comfortable. We created several very 
good chances to score but a combination of some profligate finishing 
and a couple of good saves from their keeper kept them within reach.

SR began to tire and I think they sensed that victory might be 
elusive. The game got a little ugly as the sweetness of the pre-
match love fest turned sour. We weren't helped by a set of officials 
that were seemingly related by blood to the opposition. We'd been a 
little frustrated at the decisions by the refs and linesmen 
throughout the game and it was this frustration that resulted in me 
being sent off. The linesman took offence to my questioning of one 
his decisions and asked the ref to take action. I walked up to the 
ref who said to me - and I quote - "who's your captain? i want to 
talk to your captain now to take you off the field?". "But, I'm the 
captain." was my reply. "Right." said the ref, "then I'm sending 
you off." And that was that. Later that evening, I calculated 
that since my return from injury, I've taken part in four games, 
played a total of around 130 minutes of football, been yellow carded 
once and sent off twice. A record that would make Vinnie Jones look 
like a saint.

Undeterred by being a man down, our dominance continued and we 
created more chances. In an ugly moment, Stu Cavens was nearly 
poleaxed by an absolutely awful challenge from their last man. He 
was booked for his retaliation but the only funny part of the 
incident was that the ref had forgotten that Stu had already been 
yellow carded and he was hence allowed to play on despite having 
received two yellows. Has this ref been watching too many Graham 
Poll referee training videos? The game got a little scrappy and the 
opposition continued to tire. They did however grab a late 
consolation goal to make the score 3-2.

All in all this was a decent performance in a somewhat feisty 
encounter. We played good football for most the match, created a lot 
of chances and kept a good atmosphere on the pitch. The level of 
positive communication was very good. It was also good to see Dave 
Agar and Mages return after lengthy spells away. Bunmi acquitted 
himself very well on his debut putting in a very assured performance 
at the centre of defence.

So with a record low turnout for drinks, Stu and I decided that we 
would visit our old watering hole, The Social, for a few nostalgic 
ales. The evening started well. I was introduced to the owner of 
The Social, a very lovely young lady by the name of Mei. I proceeded 
to lay on the famed Welsh charm and hit her up for a bit of 
sponsorship for next season. A few minutes, a nudge and wink later 
and all was settled. Mei has confirmed that The Social will sponsor 
us for next season. Great result.

I returned to sit with Stu who informed me that he couldn't stay for 
long as he was "on a promise" with a bird who'd asked him to come 
over to her house at 10pm that night. So we wolfed down our fish and 
chips and a couple of Tigers. However, Stu's 10-o-clock promise 
mysteriously showed up at The Social, seemingly distracted and 
carrying a copy of last week's Sun newspaper. Churning out stories 
of the need to attend to a friend in distress, Stu's promise was 
looking more like a slim hope at this point. Doing my bit as a 
Wingman, I plied her with cognac in an effort to settle her down and 
get her back on track for Stu's night call. However, this was to no 
avail and she shortly disappeared into the darkness of Jalan Telawi 
Tiga. So with no date to go to, Stu was left to drink with me and we 
settled down to watch the Premier League.

The rest of the night is a blur but I believe we were still in The 
Social at 2 o clock in the morning having downed 16 pints of Tiger 
between us, a couple of cognacs and racked up a 650 ringgit bar bill 
in the process. I recall suddenly feeling quite nauseous. And I 
made it all of 5 paces toward the toilets before exploding and 
creating my own version of a Jackson Pollock between two tables in 
the dining area. What a night. The funniest thing was the bar man 
who walked up after I had finished and said: "How was the fish and 
chips, Sir?". Remind me never to go out drinking with The Caveman 
again.

Bar Flies 0 - 4 Asterix Reds (SSLKL Cup)

On Sunday evening, we played the third of our 5 SSLKL Cup Group matches and welcomed back Bar Flies to EP.  Some high quality and vital saves from Sugu in the first half and a strong second half performance from the entire team ensured we ultimately ran out comfortable winners.  

The game was preceded a heavy rain shower which left standing water on many parts of the pitch.  The conditions prevented any cultured football and both sides struggled to maintain possession and create good chances early on.  Bar Flies began the game with 10 men and we made our advantage count, playing most of the early part of the half in their end of the pitch. 

The Bar Flies got an eleventh player on the park after 15 minutes and had a good spell which created several good chances for them.  We got caught flat at the back a few times and the pace of their strikers created some one on ones with our keeper.  To his credit, Sugu made 3 great stops to keep the scores level.  Had he not done so, this game could have turned out differently for us.  We started getting the subs on after about 25 - 30 minutes and they made an immediate impact.  Bala helped us to win more ball in the middle of the park and used it well.  Ragu's steadying influence helped solidify the back line.   We pushed forward in the ten minutes before half-time and finished the half on top but did not break the deadlock.  

We talked at half time about taking the difficult surface out of it and playing balls over the top for the strikers and wide midfielders to run on to.  We also spoke about getting the ball in the box early and often believing that if we did this a defensive error - inevitable on this unpredictable surface - would present us with a goal scoring opportunity.  And indeed it was a defensive error which presented us with the chance to go one up.  

After about 10 minutes, Stu Caven's ball from the left flank bounced and skidded off the slippery surface which completely flummoxed their defender.  This put Adam through on goal with only the keeper to beat.  With empty net beckoning both sides of the keeper, Adam decided to squeeze it through the keepers legs.  The ball made it's way under the keeper - who looked like he was trying to stop the ball by sitting on it - and just about across the line to put us 1-0 up.  They all count, Ad.

After about 15 minutes of the second half Terry Harris was put clean through on goal only to be felled by the last defender and win us a penalty.  Up stepped Big Stef Lammert who fired the ball into the bottom left corner.  Not satisfied, the ref ordered the pen to retaken; same result,  2-0 and I believe we have a new penalty taker.  Tom Sarginson was by now back on for his second spell and immediately forced a great stop from the keeper with a left foot shot which skimmed the surface.  And he was to get his goal only minutes later after a break on the right gave him the time and space required to slot the ball home from close range.  

The scoring was completed by a great piece of skill and strike from Terry Harris.  A dink over the top from midfield allowed Terry to get behind the defence.  He controlled the ball with his chest and unleashed a right foot drive from a tight angle which whistled past the keeper.  The Bar Flies rarely ventured into our half of the field and we kept a morale boosting clean sheet.  4-0 is how it ended.

This was a good performance and I expect us to build on this as we continue to play good quality football and force our way up the league table. Well done to all 15 players, each of which had a good run and made valuable contributions.  

I thought the ref had a very good performance.  From the start of the game, he didn't give unnecessary free kicks for people falling under minimal contact and this helped to ensure the game flowed.  His only mistake was - of course - booking me for a sliding tackle executed with nothing short of clinical precision.  I thought I'd persuaded him to rescind the yellow card, but it was not be, so there goes my New Year's Resolution.  Back to normal next week.  The match was largely played in good spirits and we maintained a positive atmosphere amongst our team.

Interestingly, after the match one of the Bar Flies players warned me that 'I'd better not write any rubbish on our blog this time'.  He was seemingly upset at the match report I wrote for our previous fixture.  I hope that he likes this one better.

We have no competitive game next weekend but Stu Cavens will arrange a friendly for us for Sunday evening.  I'll send details of this out as it's confirmed - for now, reserve your Sunday evening for a 5pm Kick Off at EP.  Despite the festivities this week, we'll still have our training session at Sports Plaza on Thursday.  I look forward to seeing you all there.