Ramblers in limbo despite draw

It was a game Ramblers knew they had to win. Sri Mersing had already beaten De' Butterfly by 3 goals to nil and the advantage was with them with a better goal difference of just 1 goal. But with a vague understanding of what the DTL League administrative body wanted, we couldn't risk eking a draw.

Even with regular starters Chard and Keon out due to injury and chicken-pox respectively, the mood in the squad was optimistic prior to kick-off. Management fielded the attacking duo of Heng and Brown supported by the midfield quartet of Benni, Jason, Siang and Ming. It was a line-up fusing experience in the centre with raw, young talent flanking the attack. As usual, Sin, Kugan, Adrian and Max made up the back-four combo whom were yet to concede a goal in this league.

Ramblers started the match rather nervously as we sought to string together a couple of attacks in vain. Siang and the indefatigueable Jason were doing their best to control the midfield with the effervescent Ming scurrying up and down the right wing, supporting both the attack and the defence. The first-half saw very little action with Ramblers limiting the Sri Mersing attack to a few long shots which our keeper, Lan, managed to deal with quite comfortably.

Probably sensing that a draw could be catastrophic to our season, we upped the ante in the second half, but with very little creativity or spark, failed to break down a very determined Sri Mersing defence. Brown, never giving anything less than 300% for every game, was frustrated time and time again from getting caught off-side. His determination was exceptional, his timing was, well, off. With time ticking away, Siang and Jason were also starting to lose their cool. Ramblers, it seems, were too focused on searching for that elusive goal without calming ourselves down and trying to figure out a way around the opponents back-four. We kept up the pressure like we always did, hoping that our never-say-die attitude would bring us through as it had always done, without really using our heads. This time, it just didn't work. The game finally ended all square.

Now, as we await the results from the DTL League administrators, we have to pick ourselves up for a semi-final match against CRC in the Chinese League. This match hopefully, if anything, has taught us that we need a lot more than just attitude and commitment to get us through. We really need to bring our game up another level and to start playing a lot smarter, especially against a tougher, more experienced side like CRC.