RH 0-0 SH

SRC - "Run down the opponents! Don't give them time on the ball!" --- was the creed of the day as the final group stage match for Raffles was played in front of a small but committed group of supporters at the SRC.

In order for Raffles to qualify for the next stage, it was of utmost importance that we went for Sheares' jugular. In an atmosphere that was fervent-pitched, the team from RH went about their duties with mechanical efficiency. If they weren't clinically making passes and runs, they were busy chasing down every loose ball and opponent.

However, the game wasn't all that smooth sailing --- as was evident in the first 10 minutes where RH endured wave after wave of SH attacks. Lacklustre defending from Jack was such that I'm sure everyone would agree that we might as well have played the Tasty Corner Aunty with a better result. To be fair, Jack was facing off with the much-rumoured Korean with four lungs, Minwoo.

Doing a good job at keeping the defence organised were Az(a)far and Adit, the As to our Qs... Doing a better job at giving away penalties was our Man from Mauritius, a certain Mr Lloyd. In fact, he should be given a Honesty award for telling the ref the exact body part used in the handball offence. However, Mr Referee wasn't having any of the nonsense and not amused by Lloyd's honesty, proceeded to issue him a yellow card.

Kaisiang, our keeper, did a good job by not doing anything during the penalty, thus ensuring it skimmed away from the goal. Such is this man's aura, that Team Sheares missed not one but TWO penalties against him --- Floorball the previous day, and soccer today. This is the same guy that let in 6 goals against Eusoff in both Floorball and Soccer matches. The air is reeking of fish...

Anyway, fast tracking a little....

The 2nd half was a frantic one as RH struggled to find goals... but one almost came in the form of a beautiful free kick taken by our midfield magicman Mingjie. Forgoing the better option of passing to Thaddeus, he made a shot at goal only for it to be thwarted by Sheares' Keeper.

With Baike coming off for Keane, who in name and built might have pulled off for Roy or Robbie, we were 'short' by a man in the middle to win the headers. However, the combination of the substitutes Keane and Wuyao ensured that we kept up our tempo in offense.

The moment of truth came when Keane 'lousy stamina' Swee pushed the ball past the keeper and having no one...i repeat for better emphasis: NO ONE... between him and the goal, managed to skew it into the side of the net. Even the tasty corner aunty would have been ashamed. I hope you can't sleep tonight Keane. It was noted at this point that centre-back Adit kneeled down; his eyes to the heavens, praying that a heavenly sentinel could strike Keane dead.

On a lighter note, I'm damn proud to say that I would have preferred to stay in no other hall, play with no other team and scold no other players other than those from Raffles Hall. Today's match had been the pinnacle of my hall stay here in Raffles and I'm glad that the people whom I've got to share it with were you guys. The incessant cheering, the raucous jeering and the grotesque leering. Power sial...

Whether or not we get to play in the next round, we've already done our best. So ya, looking forward to lotsa hardcourt soccer with you guys if we don't get through.

By the way: Man-of-the-Match incontrovertibly belongs to Thaddeus Kan for his sublime flicks, deft touches, defence-splitting through balls and brutal defending. =) More importantly, for taking an inane amount of time to write this blog entry.