Playing fair with the fairer sex

Due to a lack of sleep thanks to a faulty air conditioning unit that kept us up all night, was really bushed when we went for training, but still a good session nonetheless.

The possession drill was really tiring because we were doing 1v1, 2v2, 3v3 by the numbers, so by the time the really long full pitch match came around, i was knackered! Due to the larger turnout, we did have two subs so that was helpful when i twisted my ankle and had to sit out. LOL Before that, i did manage a shot on goal as our team played some good possession football and the funny thing was the three positions i operated in were all on the left, as i started in left mid, moved to left centreback and then finally left back where i got injured. Their right wing was a girl who played in the disabled world cup and she's really good, fast on her feet, quick runs and intelligent passes. Difficult to defend, but i made sure that one-on-one she never got past me and she was often forced to pass but with good teammates covering, we either intercepted the return or snuffed out the attack entirely. I even managed to steal the ball cleanly off her toes when she was trying to break down the right (again). Kept hearing Gandalf's phrase "YOU SHALL NOT PASS!" in my head whenever an attack strode down my flank. Hahahaha.

Good contact but no result

Another training session and it was tough trying to control the ball on the slick pitch after it rained in the evening, but also made for a cool (but humid) climate. Was fully suited up with the guards to prevent accidents but in the end was still injured when a couple of us clattered into each other and i got an elbow into my collarbone which hurt like the blazes.

I did start off the match as striker though, and thought i made space pretty well however our strike options are limited only to a couple of us, so it was tough going. I did make a good play when receiving the ball on the left middle, i beat my marker by turning with the pass and threaded a ball with my left foot that was just in front of 3 returning defenders as well as Rafa in goal, and it reached the only other guy in attack with me at that time, my right wing, who couldn't first time it because the angle was too steep by the time he got to the ball. Instead, he controlled and took it to the byline and whipped in a low cross by which time i had run into the box and volleyed it on the move. Was trying to have a good contact with the ball and i did, only that it whistled past the top right corner in a flash and it was gone. =( It was a good play for me because there were only two of us, yet we managed to carve up their defence left and right, and made everyone look out of position. Funny thing was even though i missed, Rafa thought that was a really good play and was even congratulated by their defender (more out of relief i suspects!).

Was bushed after all that running (was even sent a cross for sissorkick but i lack the skills to do so lol) so i swapped with J for a defenders role, and he did well with our coach in CM sending in the passes. We even traded passes as i moved up into attack in order to bolster our strikers but then was caught out of position with the counterattack and we conceded. Eventually lost 3-0. Bugger!

Coaching the coaches

The head coach was not in town so two guys from his coaching team took us instead. Personally, i had a decent to good session as i managed to practice shooting with both feet during the drills before actually scoring a goal during the match. As we had enough defenders (and i was quite tired, not sure why the feet felt like lead in them), i played in midfield, which meant i could stroll around the center of the park and dictate play by watching the runs and lobbing the passes in. More than once after sending the ball i heard "good pass lah" which was heartening, and such passes included a straight down the left flank lob pass, a diagonal pass into space (onto a runner), and cross into the box after winning the ball (our tall player didn't challenge!). We also had good combination play on the ground and one such move (involving five players, including me, on the left flank) resulted in the ball near the left of the goal with a good ballholder on it, who slid the ball back to me and i had time enough in the box to control and shoot for the top right corner.

What was more telling was the difference between the two coaches present. During the match, both sides had a coach in their team, but one had a coach as a keeper and the other played outfield and their goalkeeper stayed in goal for the entirety of the match. The coach in goal also gave pointers and coaching during the game, telling us to spread out, and to compact/defend when needed and even taking the time to talk to our left wing about running positions from a goal kick. On the other hand, we have a coach who may have scored a goal but did it by dribbling past a couple of defenders and shooting from an acute angle into the top corner, which was commendable except that he had able team mates lined up in support but they were not utilised. Long ranged efforts were also undertaken in order to try to score for his team but seemed to contradict what he was yelling at his teammates in choosing the easy pass instead of shooting, which aside from missing the target also had the effect of confusing his teammates as to whether they should pass or shoot should they be in the same position.

There is worse to come, as there were some pretty tough tackles on the pitch but this is part and parcel of soccer and we play on, the same outfield coach had the ball and was doing one of his dazzling runs and encountered a bunch of our guys trying to take the ball off him and he says "easy easy" which can either mean that we should be easy on our tackles on him or that dribbling around us is that, either case presents conduct quite unbecoming of a coach. During the drills, the same coach also said that he teaches 8,9 year old kids and they can pass better than us. For some new guys who just joined it can be disheartening. 

Movie review: Far from the Madding Crowd

Scored some free tickets to the premier of Far from the Madding Crowd at Bugis+ (new cinema called Film Garde) and was kinda expecting a snoozefest but it surprised me in the way it tried to interweave the female protagonist coming into contact and her relationships with three main men in her life. She seemed to change from a strong independent young woman, to a strong independent owner of a farm, to a smitten gushy young girl (i blame the moustache and uniform), to a inner contradicted widow, then back to a smitten gushy girl. I guess we were all rooting for the farmer from the start, who seemed to buck the strong, silent type and offer his opinions and advice when called upon, and the fact that his good friend is a border collie seals the vote (naturally). Would give it 2 stars out of 5 (with at least one star for the BC!) for being so draggy, inconsistent and being generally very "Mr Darcy".

Also, it did not help that we had a couple of aunties behind us giving us a running commentary of what was going on onscreen, like "wah, he didn't die wor!" "she lost her scarf!" and the champion comment "that's his dog!" (duh). Makes me want to rewatch this far from the maddening aunties!