Scorers; Khai Omar Zamri Faizal Bul

It was a bright Sunday morning with the azure blue sky setting the perfect tone for an encounter with Nauticals, an unknown opponent in the league. Time was 0850, 10mins to kick-off and I decided to call Bul and he said he was still at home. I presume that he was still in awe of his MOM award and his FUNNY report. Tsk tsk. Anyways, we were blessed with the return of freshly-married Deva, one half of our Indian rock (the other half is razif in case you all are wondering). For the first time, if memory serves me right, the referee actually came as early as the players and everything seemed optimistic from that point on. With the absence of our regular custodians, Abg Ali decided to unleash our secret weapon in the form of Shy, who I must say, played superbly well between the sticks. His performance and presence in the six-yard box and his tremendous punts and goalkicks could actually land him the GK position from this game onwards.

Ok, moving on to the match. We started off quite brightly managing to string passes in midfield. The opponents were quite lacklustre and had to resort to high-balls which our defensive line cut out solidly. The game was in need of a goal to spice things up and it eventually came when Razif creatively played a high ball behind their flat four. Khai managed to latch on to it with superb tremendous control on his right before dispatching it to the corner with his left. 1-0 to AlCaliph. Khai turned hoping to celebrate with the rest of the players but there was only one who was available while others were rushing back to get behind the centre line. Zzzz. We should have celebrations next time k? Improves camaraderie and deflate the opponents' motivation even more. The opponents did try to restore parity but our defence and GK did a splendid job. Razif was looking like a natural on the left, ZJ and Kadok covered all angles being left-footed and right-footed respectively and Bob was as usual at his best in his attacking forays and occasional intimidation of the opponents like "ah keeper. catch catch. pass near." and many more. Zhaf looked a little lost playing in the DM position with Zamri trying to pull the strings in the middle of the park. Nadeem, as mentioned by Razif, was hardworking and came back often to help out on the left flank. Karthi looked a little tired, perhaps due to the lavish dinner he had at Ritz Carlton the night before. Omar was his usual self, getting into tackles to win the ball. It was apt then for him to get the second goal for us as his never-give-up attitude shone through. He knew that the keeper was coming out to collect the ball but his perseverance paid off as the GK fumbled the ball and Omar almost dribbled the ball into goal. One of the easiest goals that he will have to score this season. Two-nil and that was how the half ended. On a good note and in high spirits, we headed to the side of the pitch where our gaffer was waiting to share his opinions that were penned down in his 555 notebook.

Second half started with the same spark that we had and our kick-off tactic almost paid off. Unfortunately, luck was on our side. We started off well again as our fresh legs in the form of Jeff and Kamar Faizal who looked to run riot on their fullbacks. It proved to be a masterstroke as Jeff won a corner at the right side of the pitch. Omar played a short corner with Khai and the latter managed to conjure up a cross that Bul almost connected with and the GK only managed to parry it to the onrushing Kamar Faizal who got his name on the scoresheet with a good drive into the top of the net. The finish was clinical and could have been attributed to his late-night activities. Heehee. Well done and 3-0 to Alcaliph. Just when we were thinking of widening the gulf, the opponents managed to pull one back. Deva was still in groom-mode when the opponents had a good passing exchange down our left flank. Their right-mid came up with a good cross which caught our defence napping and the unmarked right-mid came through to sidefoot the ball into the bottom corner. 3-1 and Al Caliph saw some urgency in their play. I forgot to mention that Bul was also introduced in the second half and his tall lanky frame was good in putting off defenders and winning high balls. The midfield was passing the ball around with Omar spearheading everything and it came to a point when Bul received the ball and played it on quickly to Khai who ran a good 6-7meters with the last man pulling his right arm. He managed to get a weakened shot off before crumbling down in the box (with the last man still holding onto his right arm). PENALTY! After a quick debate between the players, it was decided that Zamri would be allowed to take the spotkick. "Kasi aku ah Khai. Kalau goal, kirakan kau dah assist pe." said Zamri. He sent the ball over the keeper and made the score 4-1. Again when we were looking to be comfortable, the opponents came right back and this time from a corner. Again, the opponent near the far post was unmarked and he headed it back into somewhere near the 6-yard box where an opponent was unmarked. His header was accurate enough to beat our Shy-Reina and made the score 4-2. You could hear Abg Ali shouting and barking from the side. And again, that brought us back to life. Abg Ali made some changes and Tyrus the menace created some impact on his Chinest counterparts. His energetic runs were duly rewarded late on when Khai played the ball behind the defence which Tyrus timed his run perfectly to get to the end of the ball. It must be highlighted that Kamar Faizal did VERY WELL and was unselfish when he could have been in an offside position. Something that bul the bull might want to research on this week. He somehow managed to get that elusive goal that he was looking for after Tyrus squared the ball into the box for an easy finish. 5-2, the scoreline read. It proved to be the final score as tired legs crept in and the sweltering heat offered no help to the players. Our centrebacks, ZJ and Zhaf did well in marshalling the backline and Syah even had a bicycle kick during the game which he thought was going in. Match ended on a high and as Abg Ali mentioned, was an overall team effort with 5 different players on the scoresheet.

Mr Dino was there to grace the match and at the end of our roundtable sharing session, he presented the reward money to the MOMs. On a relatively serious note, I know I won yesterday's MOM and it should also be accredited to the team who did well. I just worry that it might be a platform for bitching-mode and unnecessary dislike within the team. I reiterate Bul's classic line "But I want to win for the team coach". So we should all play to our best every Sunday and get lunch together as a team if possible. =] Overall, a good team performance yesterday and everyone showed better composure and better control on the ball. We just have to fine-tune the defensive aspect (yes ZJ, defence does not only mean the back 4 but everyone as well. understood) and our finishing. Rest well this Sunday and let's rock 2 weeks from now to get the accolade of league champions, Insyallah (with God's grace).

And last but not least, as suggested by witty Syah, the nauti-cals got beaten by the nauti-boys. There was also an issue about a Chinese boy who couldn't bathe as the field manager didn't allow him to and Syah got scared and didn't bathe as usual.

by Khai