BM 1 - 4 Asterix Reds (SSLKL Premier Division)

Ahhh....the sweet taste of victory over our old rivals. This victory
was made even sweeter by BM's insistence that Asterix Reds be deducted
3 points because we weren't able to field a team for our rearranged
fixture 2 weeks ago. They even tried to claim the points for
themselves believing they still had a chance of winning the league.
Those fading hopes were resolutely stamped out yesterday after we
demolished them at their home ground. 2 headers from Adam Scott, a
long-range effort from Dave Jones and an Aidil Sulaiman penalty were
more than enough to get our 3 points back!

We started the brighter team. From the kick-off, Tom Sarginson began
the afternoon as it was to continue, by tearing their left back to
shreds. We moved well up front and created a couple of half chances
early on. But it was BM who were to score first. After we gave the
ball away, a cross to the far post was met by their wide midfielder
who finished neatly to make it 1-0. A goal against the run of play
and it wasn't long before parity was restored. Only minutes later,
Ghani Malik delivered an inch perfect ball to Terry Harris who had
peeled off his marker at the back post. His header across goal was
met by Adam Scott who bravely buried the ball in the net. Adam took a
kick in the face for his trouble and had to go off to be taped up. He
later received "5 stitches and a big bill".

Only minutes later, Dave Jones made it 2-1. After keeping possession
in their third of the field, Roy Schofield squared the ball to Dave
Jones, about 25 yards out in a central position. One touch, quick
glance up, wiggle of hips and Dave unleashed a right foot dipping
drive into the top corner. The 'keeper had no chance and Dave walked
away holding his index finger in the air confirming that this was
indeed his "one goal per season". And what a beauty it was.

We continued to dominate and after about 30 minutes we won a penalty.
Tom Sarginson had been putting the BM defenders into a spin all game
as he ran at them and jinked in and out of tackles. It was only a
matter time before he scored or won a penalty. And the BM defender
duly obliged by tripping Tom as he skipped past him inside the box.
Really, it was just a matter of time. Aidil Sulaiman - on for Adam
Scott - stepped up and slotted the spot kick neatly home to give us
the comfort of a 2 goal cushion.

We had dominated the first half and moved well off the ball and passed
the ball well. In goal, Mark Jones, had little to do but did put in
a neat and tidy performance holding everything that came his way and
coming off his line once to make a vital stop when the score was 2-1.
We did finish the last 10 minutes of the half a little scrappy and the
talk at half time was to settle ourselves down, work hard off the ball
and keep hold of the football.

As it occurred, we coasted through the second half and had a hatful of
chances to score as we hit the post, the keeper made a couple of good
saves and a few good chances went begging. We played the game almost
entirely in the opponents half and made full use of the wide Linatex
pitch and relatively lush surface to keep possession and create
chances a plenty. Our midfield and front two did all the running and
dominated the middle of the park. Aidil Sulaiman, playing up front
was always a problem and moved well off Terry Harris to get himself
into space. Terry Harris, playing his first game back after a hernia
operation, was the rock solid target man we needed. Everything we
sent his way was won, put on the deck and played to the feet of a team
mate. An outstanding come back performance. The back four had little
to do, restricting BM to a couple of scuffed shots from distance. Our
stand in 'keeper - Mark Jones - had nothing to do other than retrieve the ball for a goal kick 5 or 6 times.  

Adam Scott came back on all bandaged up and looking
like a off duty Sikh. He was rock solid in midfield and it was
fitting that he was to get the final goal with his head after a good
cross from the right touchline. The ref blew up shortly after to
confirm a very comfortable win over what must be said was a rather
lackluster BM.

This win puts us on 20 points and into fourth position, one point
behind behind Vikings and BM, who have played one more game than us.
If we can win our remaining two games we can finish in second place in
the league.

On a sour note, I've recently been informed by the league that we'll
be deducted a total of 6 points. The first 3 are due to BM's refusal
to postpone our game two weeks ago when we only had 6 players. The
second 3 are at Astaka's insistence after our team went to the wrong
ground last week. In a friendly league it's disappointing when teams
behave in this manner. Clearly, with 6 points deducted, we can't
finish second in the table. However, I'd encourage you all to forget
about the 6 points and play like we still should finish in second
place. It's important that we finish this season strong. Fittingly,
our final two games are versus BM and Astaka, the two teams that have
have caused us the points deductions. Let's make sure we get our
points back and take them both to the sword in the next two weeks.
Next week, we play BM and EP on Sunday.

Asterix Reds 2 - 3 Kepong Chinese (SSLKL Cup Semi-final)

Cup Run Ends in Bitter Disappointment

 

Our usual intrepid reporter remains too emotionally scarred to write this weeks report.  So, asked that the report be written by Terry Harris this week.  In a game played on a hard and firm pitch at Uniten A, Asterix Reds went down 3-2 to Kepong Chinese from Division 1.  Congratulations to Kepong, but this scoreline was a bitter disappointment for the lads.  Perhaps most upsetting was that Kepong deserved their win, giving a performance where their commitment and courage to play football despite being underdogs could not be questioned.  For our part, too many of our lads just did not play to the high standards they have displayed this season. 

 

We went down to a goal after about 20 minutes when a through ball saw us stop and look for an offside decision.  A calm finish saw us 1 - 0 down.  However, we bounced back fairly quickly, when Shashi who had just come on the park picked up the ball and fed Bumni who was carreering through the middle, dealt with the bouncing ball well to lob into the roof of the net.  At this point, the game was fairly even, but we did not take advantage of the impetus of the goal to grab control of the game.  We begun to hampered with injuries and pulls.  Quirky went pulled up with a groin strain after 20 mins.  Bala (stomach), Marcello, Anthony went lame with a damaged heel, John McGachie with tight hamstrings, Ghani (back).  In between of of this, Kepong scored their second goal, a well constructed goal with a nigh inch perfect ball floated over our centre half, brought down on his instep by their forward and taken away from the covering Ghani and around our keeper with his next touch.  A calm roll of the foot saw us 2 - 1 down. 

 

Half time came with the first thing to be checked was who was fit to carry on!  The second half started badly for us.  We just did not have any shape, rhythm or urgency about our play. We conceded at third goal.  Then Kisho in a moment of madness kicked their full back and was sent off.  Down to 10 men.  Sugu, then had clashed with their centre forward and had to go off with a horrible gash above his eye.  This happened moments after Anthony had clashed heads and was dripping claret from his pate.  A patched up "mummy" looking Anthony went in goal.  We then proceeded with 10 men to play the best football played by either team for the last 20 minutes.  This was lead by Ghani who stepped up from centre half duties to the middle of the park and gave one of the best performances I have seen from our lads.  His drive pushed us on and he and the team was rewarded with a goal, a free kick with 10 minutes to go, curled firmly into the bottom corner from the edge of the box. 

 

So a grandstand finish was set up, with 10 man Asterix pushing for an equaliser that would take it to penalties.  We knew a chance would come.  Bala delivered the sweetest of free kicks from the edge of their box, the pace requiring only guiding into the net.  Shashi got on the end of it and connected too firmly.  The ball went screaming over the bar.  The chance had gone and so had our hopes of salvaging something from the game. 

 

Yes, it was disappointing, but this is the time when a teams strength is tested.  We will need to regroup for the weekend and pull together.  Look to get over this result and put it behind us.  I think that we should forget this game except for a couple of things.  The feelings of disappointment should never be forgotten so that the next time we are playing in such a game, we pull out all the stops to make sure we are winners.  Winners are Grinners and there were no Grinners on the Reds side after the game.  The other thing that should be remembered is Ghani's performance.  He is newest to our club, but displayed the desire to fight, win and influence the game which we all need to show in matches.  When I last checked, lions are not indigenous to Malaysia, but in Ghani I think I saw someone with the heart of a lion.  He only has to grow his hair a little bit more to have a full mane! Let us all try to match his great efforts.

Asterix Reds 3 - 1 Wira 13 (Friendly)

Asterix Reds achieved another comfortable win in a friendly with goals
from Andy Johnston (2) and Adam Scott.

Wira were a good side. Certainly the best team we've played in a
friendly this season and they would no doubt do very well in our
league. They were good on the ball, passed and moved it well and
created several good chances to score. Wira had a few chances early
on, producing a couple stops from Anthony in goal. We had a
penalty after 20 minutes which was acrobatically saved by the 'keeper
after Anthony Houlahan's solid strike just inside the right hand
upright. Ahem. We did get on the scoresheet shortly afterward, after
a strong strike on the follow up from Adam Scott. Andy Johnston then
made it two after a good run from midfield past the advanced defensive
line. Wira pulled a goal back just before the break to keep it
competitive.

We dominated in the second-half with Wira only occasionally getting
into our box. Andy Johnston put the game beyond reach with a neat
finish to make it 3-1.

All in all a good run out and great preparation for the cup semi-final
next weekend.  Thank you Aidil for organising the opponents; we'd certainly like to play them again.