Scorers; Khai (pen) assist by Shahril Khai assist by Nadeem and Shy Dinesh assist by Gab and Khai
MOM; Khai
On the 19th may 2013, Al-Caliph took their game to the eastern part of Singapore where East Spring Secondary School holds a special place dear in many of the teachers' hearts. Home to the MOE football team, the field is of an awesome size and of AstroTurf nature, the game was poised to be an exciting one between two ball-playing teams.
Ali Villas Boas (AVB) tinkered with the formation from the get-go and the match went on quite well until the point where Kallang started to boss the midfield and limited Al-Caliph to a mere 2-3 passes each time. We rarely threatened and with Kallang banging on our doors, the first goal unsurprisingly came when a good cross from their right was met sweetly with a firm header in the opposite direction of the ball. There was little or nothing that could have been done by our custodian, Jabbar. 0-1 to Kallang.
We then continued to soldier on, getting close on counter attacks only to be undone by a poorly dealt corner kick, which saw the ball float aimlessly in our six yard box, met with the opponent's hungrier foot. 0-2. We looked down but not out. The gaffer then made some changes before referee called for time. Hair dryer half-time looked to be in order.
After the inspirational team talk, Al-Caliph started off brightly as we had good spells down the flanks only to be thwarted by gutsy defending. Kallang looked tiresome and a comeback was imminent. The first goal came through a foray down the left flank where Khai managed to win a penalty by leaning into the opponents and falling once a tug was felt. He pushed aside his penalty demons and converted it to Al-Caliph's delight. 1-2. Two more goals to go.
The referee perhaps did not get much action last night, and the fact that Al-Caliph had good looking players did not help to boost his declining ego. Hence, some decisions really went awfully wrong and was met with chorus of boos and taunts from the sidelines. That could've also been the wake up call he needed. As we bombarded the flanks and controlled the middle of the park, we scored again through a series of good movements. Shy made a quick pass to Nadeem. Zamri and ayat did well to pull the defenders away. Nadeem then served it to Khai before the latter beat 2 defenders, to smash in Al-Caliph's second. 2-2. The atmosphere was beginning to feel like Turkey 2005, Champions League Final.
With a few minutes left on the clock, Gab latched on to a cross-field ball. He made a decent cross which was met by our triple-lunged Dinesh who scored with a deft touch and a sweet volley into the roof of the net. Al-Caliph was in ecstasy. Kallang was in despair. Such is football. A bittersweet game. Ref blew the final whistle. 3 points. 2 wins out of 2. Excellent start to the season.
Credits have to be given to Razif, Zul, Zhaf and Kathir who may not have played a full game or not at all. It's really tough to be at the sidelines and with so much passion and adrenaline running through the veins, it's very easy for someone to be crestfallen and walk out. But they didn't and I salute them for that.
Uncle Dino's presence did play a major role as well in galvanizing the boys into a better performance and with such arduous support, the only way for Al-Caliph is up. Thanks to boss for sponsoring us again and we are honored to make your Sunday more sexciting.
Reported by Khai