Dunman All Stars shows grit to win despite a lack of substitutes
Match Report (Match
Day 1)
Final Score: 5-3
Man of the Match: Kim
Opponent: The Hornets
Venue: Eastview Secondary
Starting line-up
- Ziquan
(GK) - Pangz/Wenjie/Kah
(RB) - Ninghao
(LB) - Jinjie/Steven
(CB) - Wenjie/Kah
(CB) - Ban
Hock/Eddie(MR) - Justin
(aka Xian) (ML) - Steven/Kah
(DM) - Eddie
(MC) - Lianshu/Pangz
(AM) - Kim (ST)
The team fell behind after 15mins after we lost possession
in midfield and the opponent shot from outside the box. The ball bounce in
front of the keeper and went over the keeper’s shoulder into the goal. Although
a soft goal, it once again showed the team’s inability to settle down into
formation in the opening minutes of the match.
The team stabilized after conceding the first goal but
failed to dominate the midfield as the opponent chose to play long ball
tactics. Their tactic seemed simple, pump the ball into midfield where their
No. 10 will win the ball and lob it to their wingers with his first touch.
Though not technically superior, No. 10, beat us in terms of his physique, both
vertically and horizontally.
Failure to win the high ball in the midfield subsequently
forced the DCs to push forward to help win aerial battles but this left gap at
the back for the opponent’s wingers to exploit. Only poor finishing and heroics
from Ziquan prevented more goals being conceded.
Dunman’s first goal came courtesy of striker, Kim. The
skipper capitalized on the opponent’s inability to clear the corner out of the
box and half volleyed the ball through a crowd of players and a fortunate
deflection.
Dunman’s second goal came once again from striker, Kim. This
time it was a superbly placed lob which floated into the top left hard corner
of the keeper’s goal. 2-1.
Opponents drew level after miscommunication between DC,
Jinjie and GK, Ziquan. Hesitation to collect a long ball (as usual) allowed the
opponent’s striker to sneak in between them and head the ball over Ziquan.
In the second half, a late tackle by Steven on No. 10
resulted in a penalty being awarded. Even though No. 10 made a meal of the
tackle, it was a foul nevertheless. At 2-2, Dunman could not afford to be
behind again as signs of exhaustion was showing and players were finding it
hard to cope with the opponent’s rolling substitution. But Ziquan once again
stepped up and save the penalty which in all fairness wasn’t that well taken
anyway.
Not long after Dunman was himself awarded a penalty, however
it had a greater impact on us as it resulted in the double shoulder dislocation
of veteran AM, Lianshu. Much to the dismay of Eddie, he had to go onto the
pitch again to replace the injured Lianshu.
Kim shouldered (no pun intended) the responsibility of the
penalty and slotted it calmly to the right of the keeper who guessed wrongly
and dived to his left. Hat-trick. 3-2.
Dunman needed a 4th goal to ensure victory and it
couldn’t have been a more spectacular goal. Running down the right flank, Right
winger, Ban Hock took a shot from the wing and found the back of the net. As he
ran shouting and cheering back into position, no one could deny the class of
the goal, except maybe Adrian who
would demand for the goal committee to check whether it was an intended goal or
a shot on goal.
At 2 points during the game, Eddie showed his worth to the
team by instigating 2 yellow cards for the opponents. Midfield maestro,
Kahyongo, also showed great inspiration when he took the ball from midfield and
dribbled past 6 players. Although it did not lead to a goal, it served to
motivate the other players in the team.
Dunman players played with heart but their legs were tired
and their lungs were burning. With no one left on the substitute bench, the
team began to lose its shape. As wingers pushed up to attack, they were quite
often found too far and too tired to track back and help out in defense when
possession of the ball was lost. Personally I feel it’s more of a tactical
mistake than individual lack of discipline. When leading the game with 2 goals,
and no players for substitution, there simply wasn’t a 2nd more
defensive tactic to contain the opponent and hold on to our lead. Instead,
attackers continue to attack with gusto only to be left winded and leaving the back
4 to stop the fresher legs of the opponents.
The opponent continued to threaten with long balls and a
free kick in to the box wasn’t cleared by Dunman’s LB (who shall not be
mentioned) allowing the opponent to be let through on goal and score. 4-3.
Dunman continued to attack without realizing that changes in
players and positions had left the team with no holding midfielder. Dunman was
fortunate to escape unpunished for the rest of the match for this tactical hind
sight and was even gifted with a goal when a poor clearance fell to AM, Pang
Yew to slot calmly pass the keeper. 5-3.
A fortunate victory for Dunman which also further exposed
Dunman’s weakness in handling long balls. Hopefully, the return of players for
the next match would give the team a boost both in tactical options as well as
physical freshness during the match.
Physically the team had performed well although there is
still a lot of room for improvement. Against a younger team, Dunman players
proved to be stronger and faster than them. Stamina wise, to be able to cope
with a team with rolling sub is no small feat.
Though edging out the opponent technically, it must be
pointed out that Dunman All Star us unlikely to be the most technically gifted
team in the league. Therefore there is a dire need for players to play as a
team.
This leaves us with the tactical aspects of the match. I
have no doubt that tactics would be our greatest strength and individually we
are all intelligent enough to adapt to changing tactics. Therefore we should utilize
our smartness and contain the opponent’s strengths and exploit their weakness
during matches. I don’t encourage the wholesale changing of tactics during the
match (except during half time) because we are not pro enough and this will
only serve to create chaos between role definitions. Instead, key figures in
each department, defense, midfield and attack, should recognize tactical
inadequacies and control their department. For example, when the opponent’s
striker today has a tendency to drift to the wings so defense must be alert
enough to pick up the extra man in the wing. Since the opponent’s tend to pump
long balls and their lob it over our defense, then the midfield have to provide
support to the MC trying to win the ball so that DCs do not have to push
forward leaving space for opponents to run into.
In conclusion, it was a good effort by everyone but a need
to be tactically more adaptable. We must be prepared to make changes to gain
control of the game and not expect all our opponents to play the same way.
