Shades of Istanbul?

It was definitely a second half to remember... the stuff champions are made of. It was no Liverpool moment in Istanbul, it wasn't a Final, but it was just as sweet. On the back of an inspired performance, Ramblers rallied from a goal down in the first half to carve out a draw with pre-tournament favorites, Bintang Baru, in an exhilarating match that saw both sides qualifying for the Quarter-finals at the expense of De' Butterfly.

With passage through to the next round already in the pocket, and two key players a card away from suspension, Ramblers SC took a professional decision to field their strongest-11 to try and win the game. Management favored a 4-2-3-1 formation for this game and named Chris in goal, with Sin, Alex, Chard and Au making up the back-line. Benni and Adrian was to hold the midfield, leaving Poay to support Heng in attack. Keon and Siang, on the other hand, were deployed on the wings.

The match began with shades of the game against Youngster United eerily present. Our midfield was disjointed and uninspired with Bintang Baru taking control of the centre, passing their way through to their main men upfront. This left Heng isolated as Keon and Siang tried their best to deliver the desired crosses into the area with little or no effect at all. So it was no surprise that Bintang Baru would take the lead midway through the first-half. A cross far out from their right saw the ball sail over our defence to the far post for their striker to hammer home from close range. 0-1 and we looked deflated and out of our depth. Whereas Bintang Baru started to grow with confidence. Quick thinking by Alex and Adrian re-organized the defence in an effort to plug the gaps in order to avoid going further behind as we slogged our way to half-time.

Eric made a few tactical adjustments during the break and Ramblers came out for the second-half looking a bit more organized and assured of themselves. But Bintang Baru showed why they were tagged as favorites as they continued where they left off by playing a patient, passing game that bellied their reputation. However, Ramblers are no pushovers themselves as we slowly, but surely, moved up a gear and fought to regain possession. Our defenders gave their attackers no time on the ball as Alex and Adrian, who were both magnificent in defence, marked-out their main two as Chard did an equally impressive job of sweeping up any loose balls. Keong and Sin on either side of the centre-3 closed down their wingers effectively as Poay and Siang started to wrestle possession away from their midfielders, especially with Siang putting in some very EPL-like sliding tackles. Brown, as always, was proving quite a handful for their Penang Chinese left-back with his aggressive runs and smart off-the-ball movements.

Suddenly, Bintang Baru had no answers to our never-say-die attitude and before long, Keon found his scoring boots with a sweetly taken shot. A beautifully weighted cross from Poay send Keon through on the left and with the keeper coming out of his line, he took a shot that their custodian could only parry but ended up at the back of the net. It was a well deserved equaliser and we knuckled down to ensure that the result would be beyond doubt. 1-1 and Ramblers SC took top spot in Group A with 3 wins and a draw.