Brown Powers Ramblers Through To First Semis

What a game! What a rush! To put it simply... it was unbelievable. Ramblers produced another spirited display of grit and no-holds barred determination to see us continuing our fairytale run in this season's Chinese League with a hardfought 1-0 victory over debutantes Penang NTFA. And the person, or should I say "persons", behind this fantastic result was none other than Brown and Chris. If it was Brown who put us on track, it was definitely Chris who made sure we got there!

And so it began with Management deploying a 4-2-3-1 formation, handing a first ever start to the versatile Derek in central midfield alongside the dynamic Siang and crafty Poay. The back-line had to be re-jigged and in the absence of the injured Chard, Adrian deputized as the sweeper with Alex assuming his regular role as stopper. Sin and Max started on either side of the defence with Keon and Brown slotting in at left- and right-midfield respectively. Heng, as usual, started on top.

The game soon began with a very cautious look about it with both teams careful not to give away possession. It was a cagey first-half with chances far and few in between. The only notable incident was when Heng sent Brown scuttling in from the right, holding off his marker, rounding the keeper and scoring into an empty net. Delirium! We had found ourselves ahead. That part was excellently executed. Now to maintain the lead. NTFA tried to come back into the match strongly and they clearly showed they mean business when a defence splitting pass sent an NTFA player through on goal only for Chris to rush off his line and reduce the angle. Another one-on-one situation saw him expertly blocking the opponents shot with a fully-spread body.

After the break, NTFA laid siege to the Ramblers goal. With wave after wave of attack, broken on the wall that was the its defence. Sin was indefatigueable on the left while Alex was magnificent in the centre. Max too was proving to be a hard lock to pick. But credit must also go to Keon, Poay, Siang, Ming, and Brown for unselfishly tracking back to do their defensive duties. Perhaps the biggest credit must be reserved for Chris who kept us in the game with a string of superb saves! In one of these occasions, he kept a goal-bound shot out with a full-stretched dive to his left. He was outstanding!

When the final whistle blew, the reality that we were now through to our first semi-finals was yet to sink in. I guess, when the euphoria has ended, it will eventually come to light that we're now, regardless of results, one of the top 4 Chinese teams in Penang. And that's really something to shout about...