Scorers;
Kathir
Khai
Early play saw our forwards get two shots on the Vipers’ goal in the first few minutes, first a glancing header by Omar and then a shot by our top-scorer of the tournament Khai.These were followed by some bold attack from Vipers soon after, provided our defense with a stern test with an early shot on our goal! No problem, but it showed life was not going to be easy. Play seemed to ebb almost hesitantly for the next twenty minutes, with both sides failing to create space for outright attack, but soon our pressure began to increase, and a goal was forthcoming. The breakthrough came on when Bob intercepted a pass on the right, set up Omar who switched the ball infield to Khai whose angled pass found Kathir running into space. The angle was too ridiculous for anyone to take a shot, but a SHOT between the opponents keeper and the post was what exactly Kathir did.1 - nil to Al-Caliph.
Our attack began to flow, and with the halves pushing balls through with good passes, our forwards were starting to create more chances. Faizal was ever-present on the right and sprayed fine crosses to the opponents half. Zamri, Khai, Faizal and Omar all tried a shot or two but none finds the net. In the 35th minute, the Vipers’ goalkeeper parried a strong shot and found his man nickname ‘Pendek’ on full throttle going towards our goal. Shy did not came off his line to meet the ball, but luckily Cina cleared in the nick of time - and Cina almost turn into ‘Hulk’ lashing at poor Shy. After that not much happening in the goalmouth but saw some quality neat passes by both teams which ended the first half.
The second half saw a change of tactic for us. The coach decided to start off with the same first 11 and had told his men to attack from the start and we did just that. Omar played a nice calculated lob for Khai with only the keeper to beat. Instead of his usual antics of rounding up the keeper, Khai decided to place a low drive which was saved by the keeper. Vipers began to fight back and keep on pounding towards our goal. But none cause us to be worried as our defenders were at their best. Then it was a moment of magic from the bench when the coach decided to bring in Shy and Dinesh. Dinesh made a great impact right away causing havoc to the opponents. His workrate and commitment was fruitful when he collected a pass from Shy down the flank. He timed his cross into perfection when the ball reached Khai’s feet. This time Khai made no mistakes and showed everyone why he’s the best striker in the league…(angkat beb, angkatzz)…Khai made it 2 for Al-Caliph. That goal did not demoralised the opponents but they keep on pressing us. We showed some fantastic defending and great control and passing to continually keep the title within our reach.
The game was over, but again we had seen a great team effort from Al-Caliph, Congratulations kids!
by Omar