Photo-Slideshow from the match against Civilian Mindef

Match Day 1 of 3
Match day! The skies are gloomy and it looks like it’s going to start pouring any second. This doesn’t cause concern to team Flyboys. The fact that they don’t know if anyone is bringing drinks, does. MINDEF Civilians, the opponents for today show up in their fancy blue kits and look like they know what they’re doing. No matter, Flyboys have a pretty good idea how to go about this game too especially in their newly printed yellow kit.
Uncharacteristically Flyboys, the team rocks up just in time for kick-off. The players suit up with minimal limbering up, looks to be an exciting match.

Formation 1st Half
Goalkeeper: ZulAfiq (29)
Defence: Hj Effendy (18) and Nazrul (3) playing in the centre. Hendra (28) and Julian (4) plying their trade in the left and right back positions respectively.
Midfield: Jerry (25) and Azman (14) looking to make their presence felt in the middle. Young Hayden Bradley finds himself on the left wing and Wazien on the right.
Striker: Dzulfadli (10) and Amir (7) look to score plentiful goals.

It Begins
Flyboys have kickoff and straight off the bat begin a series of short passes between players, making the opposition team run in circles chasing after the ball.
The wingers, Hayden and Wazien are giving the opposition fullbacks a tough time with their penetrating run. The opposition made to go under more pressure when the attacks were bolstered by the Flyboys full backs rushing up the pitch in hopes of scoring.

10 minutes:
Very early in the game, Wazien finds himself put through on goal and he out sprints his marker to the ball. Just as he makes contact with the ball, the defender tackles from behind. He ended up sweeping Wazien off his feet, falling awkwardly and hurting his shoulder. While this is all happening, the ball flies goal bound and looks to be a pretty decent shot. The goalkeeper is forced to parry the ball away but unfortunately no Flyboys player was able to slot home the loose ball. Wazien writhes in pain before being assisted off the field for medical attention (ice from the cool box). Flyboys, no stranger to injury woes, quickly regroup by putting on Allan Bradley (22) to replace Wazien. Left footed Allan slots into the left wing position and Hayden switches to the right.

15 minutes:
At this point, it’s all Flyboys. The opposition team is barely able to make a substantive play. Julian receives the ball from Zulafiq from a goal kick and runs with the ball down the line, the Flyboys predatory natured strikers angle their bodies in anticipation of a long ball to run onto. Julian releases a diagonal long ball which falls straight into the path of striker Dzulfadli who manages to take it mid stride and make his way towards goal with the defenders hot on his heels. Dzulfadli pulls the trigger and feelings of joy momentarily flood through Flyboys hearts, only to be replaced with disappointment when the ball didn’t find the back of the net. No matter, with the amount of possession seen over the past quarter of an hour, more chances are sure to come!

20 minutes:
The performance of Hafiizh and Jerry in the centre of the park last week was quickly overshadowed when looking at the performance put up by the Jerry and Azman pairing. They quash opposition midfield plays with ease whether it be in the air or on the ground. With the ball, they tiptoe past opposing players with what some might even call ballet like grace.
Around this 20 minutes mark; Allan receives the ball from Hendra and passes it first time over the heads of the opposing defenders. Dzulfadli takes off at full sprint after the ball and manages to get control of the ball just outside of the penalty box. At this point the defenders have caught up and look to crowd Dzulfadli into making a mistake. He dribbles the ball deeper into the penalty box until he finds himself on the by-line with his path to goal blocked by a defender. Magically, he pulls a 180 degree turn with the ball which completely fools the defender who’s caught flat footed. Out of nothing, Dzulfadli crafted himself space just outside the 6-yard box, with time and space to shoot. At the same time, opportunist Amir comes rushing towards the penalty spot screaming for the ball to be squared. Dzulfadli, heeding his strikers’ instinct took a shot which sailed just agonizingly over the crossbar. Again MINDEF Civilians find themselves lucky not to be a goal behind.

28 minutes:
In another sequence of team passing, Flyboys were unfortunate to still find themselves not on the scoresheet. The move began from goalkeeper Zulafiq who passed it short to Hendra. Finding limited options ahead of him, Hendra turns and kicks the ball across the field to right back Julian. Turning with the ball, Julian quickly releases a low ball to the feet of striker Amir. Still feeling the effects of an injury sustained in a previous match, Amir opted to thread the ball through to midfield running machine Hayden before running into the penalty box. Hayden crosses the ball dangerously into enemy territory but is unable to connect with a team mate. However, he did manage to find Allan on the other side of the penalty box who had time to trap the ball and release another cross. In a feat of super athleticism Amir leaps high above all the defenders and connects with the ball but in true Flyboys fashion the ball sails over the crossbar for another miss.

30 minutes:
Midfielders Azman and Jerry are imposing themselves effectively in the centre of the park, looking quite organised when they take turns bolstering the attack and venturing high up into the opposing half. In multiple occasions they find themselves taking shots from range, none however managed to put the goalkeeper under any real pressure.
Around 35 minutes, Azman runs onto a through ball leaving the opposition backline in his wake as they had stopped running thinking he was offside. Feelings of joy again re-emerge. Azman makes a beeline with the ball straight for goal, the goalkeeper makes a move forward but then steps back again as he finds himself in two-minds. Azman is now at point blank range and all the players are screaming at him to pull the trigger. Instead, he decides to go around the goalkeeper which he manages to do. What he didn’t expect was the goalkeeper to barge into his lower body disrupting his balance. With the balance and grace of a ballerina, he manages to stay on his feet with just the ball and the empty net in front of him. He swings his foot, but gravity and momentum finally catch up and he finds himself falling backwards as he does so. What resulted was a weak toe punt which was intercepted and cleared off the line by defender. Tears and frustration all around!

35 minutes:
Hayden was made to run his socks off down the right flank and towards the end of the half Simon (99) comes on to replace him. At this point Flyboys were cruising despite still being level. The situation seems ripe for complacency.
A clearance from the MINDEF Civilians backline sails over the Flyboys defenders who give chase with the opposition strikers not too far behind. Julian, first onto the ball decides to pass the ball back to Zulafiq who looks ready and willing to take the ball under pressure. However, Julian kicks the ball with barely enough pace to make it all the way to the waiting goalkeeper and the distance gap makes it awkward for Zulafiq. The striker comes rushing in and Zulafiq clears the ball straight into his shins which bounces it forward right into the strikers’ path but by some measure of good luck he managed to miss the open goal. A collective sigh of relief ensues.

HALF TIME
Formation 2nd Half
Goalkeeper: ZulAfiq (29)
Defence: A slight change in the middle with Azmi (30) and Nazrul (3). Julian (4) and Hendra (28) remain in their same positions
Midfield: Hj Effendy (18) looks to shine with Jerry (25) in the middle of the park with Zainul (6) and Hock on their left and right respectively
Striker: Simon (99) and Sofian (23) look to break the deadlock

To victory!
Sofian makes an unexpected appearance, refusing to bow down to an injury picked up from the previous game. His shiny new white boots serves as a contributing factor to this. The game kicks off again much like the first half except this time the MINDEF Civillian players are marking much more closely, not letting the Flyboys players maraud about the pitch as they did in the first half. This doesn’t seem to affect Flyboys much and they still control the flow of the game.
Flyboys continue to push forward looking for the ever elusive goal. Sofian, Zainul and Simon finding good space but still unable to make the killer blow. The midfield pairing of Jerry and Hj Effendy is doing well, easily dissecting the opposition formation. However, lacking runners in the wider positions they were forced to run further into opposition territory with the ball.

GOAL! Flyboys 1 – 0 MINDEF Civilians
Halfway through the second half, Hj Effendy who incidentally is also rocking a brand spanking new pair of boots slots a through ball to forward rushing midfielder Jerry who finds himself all alone with just the ball, the goalkeeper and the net behind him up ahead; all too familiar circumstances. The opposition goalkeeper rushes out early and slides into Jerry as he’s about to pull the trigger. The two players collide with a great big bang and the ball trickles harmlessly towards goal. From nowhere, right winger Hock swoops down onto the loose ball and coolly slots home. The players are ecstatic and the fans are close to going berserk. Post game Hock even wants to make a t-shirt with “Wow!” printed on the front.
A string of substitutions follows. Sofian bows out due to his injury and Dzulfadli returns to the field as striker. Hock, feeling good about himself opts to take a rest and Roslie makes his debut game for Flyboys. Roslie slots into the right back position and Julian pushes up ahead of him in the right wing position.
Jerry struggling after picking up a slight injury from his run in with the goalkeeper limps out to be replaced by Ismail (12). Amir comes back on to replace Zainul and Simon gets substituted by Azman.
Flyboys look a rejuvenated team and spirits are flying high. Until...

GOAL! Flyboys 1 – 1 MINDEF Civilians
Desperate to look for an equaliser, the opposition midfield once again hoof a ball straight up the middle of the pitch. The ball looks decidedly unthreatening, until the centre-backs still find themselves at full sprint with their own goal fast approaching and 2 strikers nipping at their heels. Centre-back Nasrul makes the decision to go into a slide to pass the ball back to goalkeeper Zulafiq. A misunderstanding ensues and Zulafiq picks the ball up, to which referee Roslan stops play for an indirect free kick.
No worries. Easy way to overcome an indirect free kick in your own penalty box: line up all the players on the goal line and hope that somehow there’s enough mass to stop the ball from going in. Unfortunately this method was proven ineffective as the MINDEF Civilians player manages to slip the ball through the human barricade.

The comeback:
Soon after goalkeeper Zulafiq, having other commitments is substituted by running machine Hayden. Flyboys are pushing for that winning goal. The midfielders make use of Julian and make him run down the right flank into space, however his crosses frequently disappoint miserably and possession goes to waste.
On the left Ismail is making his trademark penetrating runs into space but to no avail. Azman and Hj Effendy rule the midfield; Azman fulfilling the holding role with Hj Effendy roaming around for space.

25 minutes:
A Flyboys player dribbles on the edge of the box (I don’t remember who it was, again) and gets mowed down by a tackled deemed illegal by referee Roslan. Hj Effendy, steps up to take the free kick from 25 metres. Anticipation is in the air. Flyboys players position themselves in front of goal both as distractions for opposing players as well as to sweep up any loose ball that might come their way. Hj Effendy winds up and sends in a curling right footed shot destined for the bottom right corner of the goal. Again, true to Flyboys fashion the ball barely misses its’ target by mere inches.

30 minutes:
Dzulfadli finds himself sprinting with the ball towards goal with the defenders left behind in his wake. The goalie moves forward to close the angle but he steps back again undecided putting himself in no-man’s land. Again; it’s just the ball, the goalie and the net ahead of the Flyboys striker. Dzulfadli adjusts his body orientation and takes a shot. Fans and players alike hold their collective breath. The ball soars high and wide and Dzulfadli falls to the ground pounding it with his fists in frustration.
Towards the end of the game the Flyboys attack is still unrelenting. Multiple corner kicks resulted in nothing more but goal kicks.

Last minute drama:
In the remaining few minutes of the half, an opposition outfield player finds himself sprinting down the Flyboys left flank before squaring the ball for his striker just inside the penalty box. The striker winds up and pulls the trigger. At this point if he scores, all would be lost but out of nowhere centre-back Azmi flies in and slide tackles the ball as it leaves the strikers boot, deflecting it out towards the corner flag. Hero! Even the striker concedes the awesomeness of the tackle.

Game Over
The sun has receded over the horizon and just before the call for prayers Roslan blows the final whistle, game over Flyboys 1 – 1 MINDEF Civilians.
Flyboys played well collectively, utilising the wingers and their abundant space and initiating moves from the defence. Unlucky goal to concede as the decision could have gone in either team’s direction. There were no foul throws for the first time which one would assume is thanks to the posted training video.
The defence was solid throughout, called into action sporadically but managing to come out on top on all occasions.
Tomorrow is match day 2 and tomorrow we will emerge victorious.

Ps: A big thank you to Zulafiq for providing the much needed drinks, Irwanizam (20) for being the designated photographer even though he had nice new shoes to play in too, Natasha for collecting the laundry money and Khalil for taking videos of our game while Sofian was on the pitch.