Photo-Slideshow from the match against BC-5

It begins:
Match day arrives with the sun shining and the field in pristine condition. Flyboys turn out in force and it looks to be the beginning of a good day. Charismatic manager/coach/player/legend Amir (7) missed his first match in months due to family commitments but this doesn’t curb the teams’ enthusiasm.
Pre-kick off whispers abound that BC-5 won’t have enough players for a match. Flyboys continue warming up with growing fear of an impending walkover. Just before kickoff, attendance wasn’t all in vain and BC-5 managed to get 11 players on field.

1st Half Formation:
Goalkeeper: Hj Suhaini (8) exchanged his striking boots to play in goal.
Defence: Nazrul (3) and Zulafiq (29) in the middle. Julian (4) and Hendra (28) were patrolling the right and left back positions respectively.
Midfield: central generals Aziri (25) and Hafizh (39). On the left was Hj Effendy (18) and Sofian (23) on the right.
Striker: Kenny (47) and Zainul were tasked with scoring goals.

Game on:
From the first blow of the whistle Flyboys imposed themselves with silky one touch passes amongst each other. It seems like long gone are the days when balls were just hoofed up the park in hopes one of our predatory strikers would latch onto them and score. Ten minutes into the half, right winger Sofian was forced to hobble off the pitch after an injury sustained to his ankle. Taking his place was Wazien who didn’t get to stretch himself out as he had arrived just shortly before. An early setback but Flyboys were not perturbed.

They dominated the midfield; exchanging cheeky short passes, dribbling past players, and releasing balls for the strikers. Evidently the matchup of Aziri and Hafizh brought out magic in the middle. Hj Effendy made multiple penetrating runs down the left flank but was unlucky not to find himself in a goal scoring position or one where he could release the killer pass. Wazien on the right was feeling the effects of no pregame stretching, experiencing muscle tightness early on but still managed to make his presence known attacking and defending.

Having controlled most of the possession during the first half, the Flyboys back line didn’t find themselves under any form of pressure and both fullbacks made overlapping runs to help out the attack. The rare occasions when the opposing team attacked, the backline was well disciplined to catch the opposing strikers offside. The defenders passed coolly amongst each other and at one point goalie Hj Suhaini joined in on the act and teased the striker by waiting for a loose ball to come tantalizingly close to being intercepted before passing it away.

GOAL! Flyboys 1 – 0 BC-5
25 minutes into the first half, the ball came out from defence to midfielder Hafizh. He turns with the ball and slots the ball coolly between two defenders for striker Kenny to run onto. Kenny sprints onto the ball, shields the defender away and takes a shot from outside the box which sails over the goalie into the back of the net. The goal seems to have just spurred the team on even more, the next few minutes seeing shots from the midfielders from all manner of angles but alas no goals...yet. Striker Zainul, in his debut game found himself in multiple shooting opportunities but was unlucky to find himself not on the scoresheet.

GOAL! Flyboys 1 – 1 BC-5
A few minutes before half time, tragedy strikes! A through ball from BC-5 down the Flyboys left flank leaves Hendra having to chase after the ball with the striker hot on his heels who manages to catch up and nick the ball away. The ball gets all the way into the penalty box and Hj Suhaini and Hendra look to sandwich the striker into giving up possession. By a combination of skill/luck the striker manages to shoot the ball from the by-line which hits either Hj Suhaini or Hendra and gives it vicious side spin albeit very little forward momentum. Centre-back Zulafiq made up the ground and was about to cover the near post but the sidespin fools him and the ball trickles agonizingly slow into the net. The whistle blows and Flyboys trudge back to the changing room (the bench by the side of the field) for the usual inspiring half-time talk.

2nd Half Formation:
Goalkeeper: Hj Suhaini swapped gloves with defender Zulafiq to play up front as striker.
Defence: Azman (14) and Azmi (30) took over in the middle with Zul Amali (26) as right back and Hendra as left back.
Midfield: Hock finds himself on the right flank. Dzulfadli (10) taking over the midfield general role. His partner being persons unknown as this reporter has forgotten. Sofian is back in the foray, taking up his position on the left flank.
Striker: Kenny and Hj Suhaini prowl the upper reaches of the field as strikers.

Game on:
GOAL! Flyboys 1 – 2 BC-5
BC-5 emerge into the second half a rejuvenated team, with a plethora of new players who effectively controlled the midfield and putting the Flyboys defence under pressure. 10 minutes into the half a BC-5 attacker finds himself on the edge of the Flyboys penalty box with a bit of space, he winds up and takes a shot which finds its way into Zulafiqs bottom left hand corner frustratingly close to his diving fingertips.

Bouncing back:
Flyboys are not discouraged and 5 minutes later, Kenny was released through to goal by persons unknown (my memory fails me) from a free kick which sails over the head of the last defender. Kenny controls the ball under pressure by the defender giving chase; confident, Kenny takes a shot from far out and the ball arcs beautifully goal bound. The fans are on their feet, the players are about to cheer, Kenny was probably thinking how he was going to celebrate...until the goalkeeper dashes all expectations by sticking a hand out to push the ball out of play for a corner. At this point right winger Hock comes out to be replaced by Julian and Sofian sustains another injury and is replaced by Nazrul who slotted into the central midfielder position.

GOAL! Flyboys 1 – 3 BC-5
20 minutes. The same BC-5 attacker who scored the second goal finds himself in the exact position he was when he scored earlier and takes the exact same shot. Zulafiq dives to cover the angle successfully, but by a stroke of bad luck the ball hits the bottom of the post bounces into Zulafiqs’ back and into the net. At this point there were murmurs that Amirs’ incessant screaming and ordering from the sidelines is sorely missed.

GOAL! Flyboys 2 – 3 BC-5
Flyboys press for another goal. Julian gives a low through ball to Hj Suhaini who latches on to it and squares it Dzulfadli. The move doesn’t result in a goal. In another attack soon after Wazien who was galloping down the left flank gets put through by Dzulfadli, through on goal he easily slotted it past the opposing goalie. The jubilant Flyboys feel the start of comeback is on the table!

GOAL! Flyboys 2 – 4 BC-5
5 minutes after the amazing teamwork goal from Flyboys, BC-5 attacked down the left flank. The attacker ran all the way into the left side of the penalty box and squared the ball to his striker. Zulafiq was in prime position to latch onto the ball but the ball bounced off his hand into the path of the onrushing striking striker who tapped the ball in.

The comeback:
Trailing 2 goals with the last vestiges of daylight disappearing and call for prayer beckons. Flyboys pressure BC-5 high up the field forcing them into a mistake. Their right full back passes the ball back to the goalie who tries to clear it first time but only succeeding it to kick it straight to Julian. Julian brings the ball down and takes a shot from just outside the penalty box, at this point I admit I was already thinking how to celebrate opening my account on the Flyboys score sheet but the goalie extinguished all my hopes and dreams after he stuck out his leg and the ball went out for a corner.

GOAL! Flyboys 2 – 5 BC-5
Feeling the pressure, the BC-5 defence started to make mistakes; fouling Dzulfadli twice just outside the penalty box as well as mowing down our tank of a midfielder Aziri in a similar position. Both were clearly unimpressed by the malicious tackling. Unfortunately Flyboys were not able to capitalise from the free kicks, coming frustratingly close on all three occasions. However, against the run of play, BC-5 managed to score another goal! A few minutes before full time a BC-5 striker finds himself in a shooting position, he takes a cracker of a shot which goalkeeper Zulafiq valiantly saves. However, the ball bounces forward and a BC-5 striker pounces on the loose ball and fires home.

End of:
Overall Flyboys performed well as a team, as usual not being able to capitalise on scoring chances but it’s not all about scoring goals is it? Who am I kidding, of course it is. However, the team still needlessly loses possession from foul throws. There have reportedly been whispers of introducing a fine on players who commit foul throws. Scary. Next game we shall emerge victorious!

Until we meet again next game. Quoting the not-so famous words of our usual match day reporter:

"Majulah Sukan, Brunei Yakin and Mission Possible!!! Apakan."

Ps: I apologise for inaccuracies with names, positions, exact run of play leading up to goals etc, my memory fails me.

- Authored by No. 4