FLYBOYS 1st WIN IN RED ( vs EX S.P.A )

Right sunshine, let's get this straight.
You say your name is Dave 'Ismael' Miller and you have a tattoo on your right arm to prove it. You were born on April 12 in Greenock, Scotland. It's your 3rd game in May, you're wearing the red Adidas strip that your team Flyboys haven't won with in 4 consecutive games.
In the 8th minute of the game, you were running in the penalty box when the opposition defender tripped you and you fell down with a groan that convinced the referee that it was a penalty. You step up to the penalty spot and cool as you like, blasted the ball to the top right hand corner of the goal.

FlyBoys 1 - EX-S.P.A. 0

And you, your name is Hendra. You're a first officer plying his trade on the Boeing fleet and you drive an RX-8. Nice.
You're a left-back for Team Flyboys and undoubtedly the fittest looking guy on the team. On the 12th minute of the game, you were seen closing down an attack from the opposition and decided to produce a stunning back-pass to your goalie, Zul-Afiq. It was so stunning that it left your goalie breathless. It would've been a heck of a goal had it not been an own-goal. You owe us all a teh-tarik.



FlyBoys 1 - EX-S.P.A. 1

What about you? Isn't your name Nasrul? Weren't you a midfielder in another life? You've been playing well in the heart of defence that it seems you were born there. Your no-nonsense clearance of any balls into the final third of the pitch is Vidic-like. With you in the back-four today is Azmi, Hendra and Nathaniel Panter. They've defended well intercepting passes and runs from the opposing forwards.

Who are those three in front of you? Hafidz, Riduan and Clem Clement aka Goldenballs. They've been running in the hot sun controlling the midfield and stroking the passes with ease and without care. You 3 have also done this first half what we could't do in the last 4 matches. And that's keep possession. You guys looked the real deal today.

You must be the man with the new adidas boots. Jimmy. No, that's the other Lim. You're Kenny. You seem to be born off-side. At least that's what the referee seems to think, everytime he blows his whistle. I call it parallax error. Yes, you should have scored when you were through on goal. But you didn't.
Your friend in the front line Shukrimin has been orchestrating the attacks all throughout the first half. His flicks and passes have cut through the opposition defence that i think he plays like a Bruneian version of Zidane but with hair and a baby-faced smile. He is deadly.

And you, Amir. Aren't you supposed to have a fever? Weren't you breaking out in cold sweats only 3 hours ago in your bed? So how can a feverish man in his 30's break through the last man, have the ball bounce off his right hand(without the ref noticing) and then blast the ball into the bottom of the net.

FlyBoys 2 - EX-S.P.A. 1

So here we are in the 2nd half.
The opposition look like they've brought in fresh legs. But so have you guys.
Azmi, Clem, Hafidz, Riduan, Kenny and Ismael have been replaced by Khalidkhan, Sofian, Aziri, Julian, Amir, Dzulfadli and Syazwi S.


Your formation is still the same 4-3-3 you used in the first half. Who's idea was this you say? Sofian? Pffft. What does he know? Tell him to stick to taking pictures and flying Boeing 767's.
It's a very attacking minded formation. One that promotes goals but has little room for defensive errors. But by golly its working. You've scored 2 goals in the game for crying out loud. That's more than what you guys have scored in the last 3 matches. Maybe Sofian knows what he's talking about. Maybe.

It's the 72nd minute and you guys have a free-kick. Aziri is taking it. Your forwards Dzul, Amir and Syazwi are all waiting in the middle amongst the defenders. Instead of hooving it towards them, he passes it to Julian (who is my uncle) but for a split-second, i refuse to acknowledge any relation with him. Why you ask?
Because he's misplaced a pass and it is gobbled up by the opposing midfielders and they pass it to their striker. He sprints and runs and scores against our very very impressive stand-in goalie Zul-Afiq. But you can't blame my uncle. He has a hamstring injury and is nervous with his cadet interview tommorow.

FlyBoys 2 - Ex-S.P.A. 2

This isn't looking well for Flyboys. The opposing team are starting to pass the ball around. They can smell the fear in our hearts. The thought of another loss on home ground is nerve-wrecking. We can't be that bad. We can pass, we can shoot, heck we can play football.
Attitude Equals Altitude. Who Dares Wins. Never Say Die. Today is Our Day. You can take our soul but you can never take our freedom. Said William Wallace.

A throw-in from Julian, 21 to his nephew Amir, 30 caused a stir in the Ex-SPA's defence. He dribbled past 2 players and with only the keeper to beat, he used his weaker left foot to shoot. It flashed past the goal and Syazwi had a chance for the winner but he timed his run a second early as the ball missed behind him.

In the 78th minute, you Amir the sick guy with the fever ran onto a pass in the penalty box from Ismael and you tried to lob it over the keeper. He saved it but the ball bounced back to your feet and this time you didn't make the same mistake twice as you rounded the ball around the goalie and celebrated with a knee-slide, raising your arms like you just scored the winning goal on the final of the Champions League. Against Barcelona. It wasn't the actual final but it sure felt like it was one.



Flyboys 3 - Ex-S.P.A. 2

In the 90th minute, sick guy again ran half the field from the touchline, beat 2 defenders but failed to pass the ball to Kenny who was wide open. You shoot and the keeper saves.
You greedy greedy little man. Seconds later, the whistle blew and FlyBoys finally won in the month of May.

This was Flyboys 1st win of the month and let's hope we can continue to play better football from this win. A round of thanks to Zul-Afiq and Aainaa for bringing the drinks and cupcakes. I don't know how those cupcakes will make us fit but if i wasn't feeling so ill, i would've certainly devoured some. Also thanks to Yuri, Abdul Aziim and Yanni for coming to watch the game.

For your information, after the match i vomited at home and my body temperature shot up to 39 degrees. Let's hope the next time we play, i'll feel less ill but score more goals because i really am a very greedy little man.

Who Dares Wins!

- Amir, Borneo Bulletin Sports Columnist Wannabe.