Agape Cup 2009 - Panthers Match #5 .vs. RiverLife Church [28th June]

As the H1N1 situation continued to develop in Singapore, days preceding the match were filled with trying to get a squad to play the match, especially with concerns surrounding our opponents' church as a local cluster and the implementation of new measures to keep all players safe.

We praise God that on match day, we had 12 players who turned up to compete. Before the 5pm fixtures, Kee Min and Jonathan led the teams in a time of singspiration with 'Pass it On' and 'In His Time'. A player from Bethesda Bedok-Tampines Church then shared on the need to know Christ, especially if we don't know when we are going to 'expire'. He used the sudden deaths of soccer players and famous personalities such as Michael Jackson to illustrate this.

As we walked onto the pitch and prepared to huddle, a rude cry by the referee jarred us. It would be the start of a very unhappy experience with a referee who managed the game in a rather biased and unreasonable fashion. With only 12 to choose from, the Panthers lined up as follows, with the lone substitute Jonathan cheering us on.

We started the match positively, trying our best to string good passes and move the ball as quickly as possible to the forward line. However, one of our glaring weaknesses continued to haunt us within the first couple of minutes. We needlessly conceded a very soft goal. A long ball down our right flank saw Felipe delay his run to meet the ball. This allowed the opposition forward to tap it into an open goal. Kevin's attempt to clear the ball off the line failed as another forward followed through. Not being dismayed and keeping our heads up, we pressed on for an equaliser. Many good moves were strung involving Ronnie, Rusydi, Derrick and Marc. Bevan as well, had a long shot on goal, but it went wide.

It was starting to get frustrating, especially with the referee needlessly brandishing the yellow card to Bevan when he asked for the wall to move back the correct distance on one of our free kicks. As we pressed and kept possession, our opponents were left to do counter-attacking. On one such move down the middle, Kevin tackled the ball to safety, but was judged by the referee to have followed through on the RLC forward with his trailing leg. A free kick was awarded just outside the box and from it, an RLC player stepped up to fire a stiff shot into the roof of the net, with James on the line trying his best to head it out. With almost 65% of possession, it was ludicrous that we were 2-0 down. We continued to press for a goal and it finally arrived when Marc took a pass in the middle, swiveled and sent a through ball to Derrick on the right, who chested it down and volleyed it first time into the far corner of our opponent's goal. It was a goal worth waiting for! Half time soon followed.

The 2nd half resumed with Ronnie sending a simple message to us - don't concede silly goals and challenge for the ball. We did this and continued to enjoy the lion's share of possession but a goal from open play was not arriving. Soon, another through ball from Marc found Ronnie in space. He controlled the ball well and was heading towards goal from the left wing when an RLC stopped him unfairly. The referee awarded us a direct free kick, from which Rusydi stepped up to send a curling shot into the top left hand corner. It was another 'goal of the season' contender.

With the score at 2-2, it was all to play for and we gave everything to win the game. RLC also tried to win the tie, but we had a safe pair of hands in Felipe, who saved numerous shots. Unfortunately, and not the first time this season, indecision with the ball at our feet saw possession given away cheaply and in a dangerous position on the left. Mark tried to stop the winger, but he too quick. James stepped up next with Kevin just behind to cover but the winger jinxed his way into enough space to fire an unstoppable shot past Felipe and into the near post. We were deflated after mounting a good comeback, but still pressed out. In the final minutes of the game, Derrick was felled by the opposition defender. We give credit to our opponents for getting water and 'magic spray' for Derrick as he stood up to recover. To our surprise (and our opponent's) the referee blew for full time almost immediately after this incident, apparently shaving off at least 5 minutes from the match!

We learnt another painful lesson in tournament play on this day. This time, even scoring was not enough. We need to continue to protect the ball when we have it and not give it away cheaply. On the positive side, we starting to gel as a team, with numerous good moves made during the match.

After 5 matches played, the Pentecost Panthers are 8th in the 10-team group they belong to.