Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Flyboys vs Orang Rimba

Match Report
Flyboys vs Orang Rimba
Monday 07 Dec 09
RBA Club


Once again our brave battlers with boots entered the arena in search of fame and glory.
Oh dear.
The team notices said 4 p.m.  When we arrived at about 4:30 we were the second to arrive and things were looking quite grim for a while.  Eventually a rush of arrivals in the minutes before 5 p.m. meant that we had not only a full team but several substitutes and a cheer leader.

My first note about the game says "It is Nasrul's fault"
My second note says "I've checked, and Syazwi does know the Offside rule"
Armed with this information I was ready for the match.

Captain Amir chose his team with the usual cunning tactics and skill that only experience provides.
So when the game started we had the line up as follows

Goalie: Azman
Defence: Haydn   Nasrul   Elmy  Hendra   
Midfield: Sofian   Jerry   Hafiz  Ismail  
Forwards: Clem   Syazwi


Captain Amir was watching from the sidelines, evaluating how the game was going.
It took just two minutes for Amir to realise that things were going badly.
Haydn missed a tackle and the Orang Rimba left wing was clear.  A long lob over Azman and the Flyboys net bulged.
Orang Rimba 1,  Flyboys nil. 

To be fair, the game had just started and everyone was still unsettled and the winger scored a 'once in a lifetime' goal.  Why did it have to be this once and why couldn't he do it in another lifetime ?
Either way the game continued with Flyboys determined to make good the deficit.  My notes say
"Clem gave away a foul and needs to dye his hair"  I don't remember the foul but I do think he should reconsider his choice of hair colour.

Our first chance came after just 5 minutes when Syazwi forced himself into a shooting position. It was a brave piece of football and deserved a better result than just going outside the post.  Bad luck Syazwi, but it was a promising sign.
Two minutes later the same thing happened.  How unlucky can you get ?
Then Haydn collected the ball just inside our half.  He noticed that no one was marking him or making any attempt to tackle him so he started moving forward.
He beat one player and kept going.
He beat a second player and kept going.
He beat a third player and kept going.
The crowd were going wild ! They sensed a brilliant goal was about to come.
Haydn shot.
It hit the post and bounced back into play at Syazwi's feet.  With milliseconds to react, Syazwi blasted the ball*..
Over the bar
The game was firmly in Flyboys control. Most of the play was in just outside the Orang Rimba penalty area and a goal seemed certain to come.
When Orang Rimba did get a break away, Nasrul was rock steady and reliable.  We could depend on him to keep the danger area clear of any threats.
The Orang Rimba did make a lovely cross from their right wing onto a diving header from their centre forward that went over the bar.  I was glad it missed, but it was lovely to watch.

In a tactical move, Syazwi came off after 18 minutes to be replaced by Amir.
Once he got on the pitch Amir had a problem remembering things like THE  BALL !
Several time the ball was passed to him, he trapped it and moved forward leaving the ball behind him.  This seemed to be a contagious condition, because now the ever reliable Ismail started doing the same thing.
Fortunately, Azman was making some good saves in the goal and Jerry was beginning to dominate the centre and even driving forward a couple of times. Lovely to see.
Eventually Flyboys relentless pressure paid.

In the 24th minute, a run down the left wing into the penalty area by Shukrimin left him with only the goalie to beat.  The angle wasn't good. He could have gone for glory and taken the difficult shot.  Instead he did the smart thing.  He looked up and saw Clem completely unmarked on the penalty spot.  A simple pass and the goalie was left with no chance.  Clem neatly slotted the ball into the centre of the net with the side of his foot.
Beautiful.  Simple.  GOAL.
Orang Rimba 1;  Flyboys 1 

Numerous substitutions were made in the remaining minutes before half time, including Hendra and Clem coming off and Mohamed and the Cheer Leader (Hj Suhaini) coming on.  After 30 minutes, the Orang Rimbas got their first corner.  They obviously fancied their chances in the air now that Clem was off.  But with Haydn and Nasrul holding firm and Azman solid in goal, the ball went high long and out for a goal kick.  No problem.

The ref started getting a bit whistle crazy and it was fun watching his arm waving and pointing.  Perhaps he had ambitions of becoming a Cheer Leader too.

The referee jumped, spun around, did the splits and pointed at the centre spot while at the same time blowing his whistle.  We took this "Strictly Come Dancing" routine to mean Half Time.
O.K.  so we're having 35 minute halves.
The half time talk by Amir must have been inspiring.  "Go out their and get a goal !" he demanded.
And that is exactly what Haydn did.
About 5 minutes into the second half Orang Rimba made a run down their right wing.  A long hopeful cross to an empty penalty area.  Empty apart from the goalie (Azman) and Haydn.  Haydn decided to clear the ball by blasting it high and long up field.
Unfortunately he completely mis kicked the ball and it skidded off the side of his boot, over Azman's head and into the net.
An own goal.
Oh dear.
Orang Rimba 2;  Flyboys 1

It was not Nasrul's fault.

Orang Rimba sensed victory and started replacing their slower defenders with faster and faster attackers.  This meant that they were defending constantly but looked very dangerous on any counter attack.
It was one of those days for Flyboys.
They shot and missed.  They headed and it went high or wide. They hit the post. They hit the crossbar.  The ball just would not go in the net for Flyboys.
And then the inevitable happened.
Orang Rimba got the break and their lightning fast wingers got free.  A long pass towards the right corner post left Azman in two minds whether to run out there and clear it or stay in goal.  He went out to clear it but changed his mind half way and started to run back to the goal.  This was all the Orang Rimba winger needed. He deftly lobbed the ball over a helpless Azman into the net.
Orang Rimba 3; Flyboys 1 


The pace moved up a gear. from
Tired legs and bursting lungs were forgotten as the Flyboys threw everything they had at the Orang Rimba goal trying to regain some pride in the score line.
Amir went in to a 50 / 50 ball with all he had.  His chances unfortunately, went the same way as Flyboys had all game.  He was carried off by Clem and Jerry with a badly injured knee.  Get well soon Amir.


It was always going to happen.  Flyboys were hammering the goal so many times that any second a goal was going to come.
However prayer time came first and the Ref blew the final whistle after 25 minutes of the second half.

As the Flyboys left the field, they behaved as proper gentlemen and congratulated the Orang Rimbas on their victory.  But the Flyboys knew the score line did not reflect the game, and if the game had gone on a little longer, the scoreline would have been quite different.

There were of course, good things to take away from the game.
Syazwi didn't get offside once.
The goals were not Nasrul's fault.
Our mid field was generally in control and passing well.
The wingers didn't stay wide enough but Sofian and Ismail did run extremely well.
The defenders looked solid and Azman looked comfortable in goal.
Like I said, the scoreline does not truely reflect the game.
Just wait until next time.


Cheers,

Allan B

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