6 Star Performance by TAMilan

It was a tale of 2 halves as TAMilan SC routed Lumayan FC 6-0 in their Division 3 match yesterday to maintain a 100% win record after 3 games. This result has TAMilan poised to take a Quarter-final spot after completing half their fixtures and needing only 3 points from the remaining 3 games to get there. However, the result masked the realities of a very uninspiring first half and any thought of a possible rout of their opponents was not in evidence in the first 45 minutes.

The game began with both teams equally playing a cautious game with the bulk of the battle centered in the middle of the park where Darlington, Man and Poay were trying to contain and control. There was little fluidity and almost no creative spark by the man in black! Although Darlington's neat little shimmies and footwork was a joy to watch, he didn't deliver any dangerous crosses or defence splitting passess that threatened the opposition goal. So it was a surprise that TAMilan actually took the lead after about 20 minutes when the Lumayan defender headed into his own net. Although Lumayan themselves made TAMilan's job easier, the team just didn't capitalize on that advantage and allowed Lumayan to seize the iniative by launching raid after raid on our goal. And if it wasn't for their poor passing and atrocious finishing, we would have been trailing! As they were prodding and pressing for an equalizer, Heng benefited from a lack of concentration by their defence to exquisitely lob TAMilan 2 goals ahead for his first goal of the campaign and the first for any of our strikers!

The second half saw the withdrawal of a half-fit Adrian from centre-back to be replaced by Man. The midfield was reshuffled with Darlington moving into a more defensive position with Ming coming in at right midfield. However, it was shocking to see Lumayan taking a very physical approach to the game as they had done relatively well in the first half with their neat passess and movement. They seemed more content at swiping the feet of any player in black than playing the ball! Ming and Darlington were probably the 2 most fouled players with the former being hacked down in the box from behind with no penalty given.

But TAMilan was unperturbed by their rough house tactics and instead stepped up a gear. Poay notched his third goal of the campaign off his head by meeting Darlington's cross and doubled his goal tally from a sweetly struck shot to the bottom corner. At the back, Suresh made a fantastic double-save to deny Lumayan a goal and Sin hacked the ball clear off the line to prevent another goal-bound effort. But a rocket of a freekick from Wei and a Siang goal after a cheeky backheel from the outstanding Poay had split the Lumayan defence ended the match as a contest. Lumayan then had one man sent off as he fouled a clear-on-goal Darlington from behind. And as he was the last defender, the referee had no choice but to pull out the red card.

Final Result:

TAMilan SC 6 – Lumayan FC 0

Ramblers Fall To Georgetown

Georgetown United was next up in our quest for the Chinese Super League crown as they were one of the only two teams that had beaten us last year in the group stages with a 2-1 scoreline. As they had begin the campaign with 2 lossess, we knew this was not going to be an easy match.

Ramblers started nervously and Georgetown took advantage of that by focusing their attack on our right-back, Max. They launched ball after ball to Ah Hwa who was cutting thru the right like a hot knife on butter. Never known for his pace, Max had to use all his cunning and physical presence to cope with Ah Hwa's blisterring runs. But as Ramblers slowly found their footing, Georgetown was being pegged back by our attacks. And their defence was being run ragged by Keon, Heng, Benni and Poay. However, they couldn't find the back of the net with the best chance falling to Keon when the keeper was drawn out of position and the goal was at his mercy. The nimble flanker took one too many steps to steady himself but by then the Georgetown defence had recovered to block.

And that was to prove a costly miss. As Ramblers pushed in search of a goal, a long ball forward was easily shielded by Chard with the advancing striker hot on his heels. But when stand-in keeper Adrian came out to collect at the edge of the area, the striker nippily got in between Chard and Adrian to steal the ball and poke it into an empty net.

The second half continued in very much the same fashion as raid after raid on the Georgetown goal beared no fruit as we wasted good chances to pull the game level. Poay missed a glorious header and good chances also fell to Keon and Benni. Coach Mustafa even brought on Ah Or to beef up the attack and although he impressed, it was not to be Ramblers' day as we fell to another defeat to Georgetown United for the 2^nd year.

Final Result:

Ramblers 0 – Georgetown United 1

PYFC "A" Snatches Late Late Draw

PYFC “A” were let off the hook when they came back from 2-0 down to share the spoils with a Ramblers side itching for some payback for the quarter-final lost last season. A near post header from Alex and one from Ah Han leveled the scores after Ming and Poay had given Ramblers a 2 goal cushion. But the match was littered with a catalogue of fouls time-and-time again as PYFC imposed themselves physically on the muddy pitch.

The first half was a dour affair as both teams struggled to adapt to the poor pitch condition with good chances falling to Keon, Ming and Poay. At the other end, Ah Han had a goal disallowed for a clear offside and Botak crumbling ridiculously to the ground each time Michael came in contact with him... as if he was assaulted with a stick! But the tackles from PYFC “A” came in fast and hard and the referee did not do enough to protect the Ramblers players.

After the re-start, the match continued in similar fashion as Ramblers pushed in search of a lead while PYFC “A” resumed their hackman duties by chopping down any Ramblers player with a ball at his feet. Despite their passable impression of Blackburn and Bolton as bully-boys, Ramblers were not intimidated and took the lead after a Darlington freekick was knocked into the net by wonderkid Ming. This opened up the game and PYFC “A” tried to play football for the first time in the match. However, it was Ramblers' little midfield genius that stretched the lead further. A messy clearance found its way to Poay's feet and he gratefully curled the ball home beyond the outstretched arms of the keeper.

With the 2 goal lead we found ourselves crusing to a victory. But PYFC had other ideas and their persistent forays into our half saw a freekick conceded just outside the box with barely 10 minutes left to play. And when the ball was floated in, it took a wicked deflection and bounced to the far post for Alex to power his header into the net. Then straight from the re-start, possession was given away and a long punt forward to Ah Han saw him shrug off the presence of Man for him to stride into the penalty area to plant a low shot pass Chris.

It was to be our most costly 2 minutes as we threw away a perfectly good lead to allow PYFC “A” back into the game. But we are sitting confidently among the top 3 in the league with a 100% unbeaten record after 3 games. And, it's still a long journey ahead.. but we're in a good position.

Final Result:

Ramblers 2 – PYFC “A” 2

Ghost Buried in 4 Goal Win

The Ramblers squad are happy to pose at half time.

A lot can change over the course of a year. And Ramblers came into this match against the intimidatingly named Penang Chinese (whom are actually Inpro SC), and starting with 3 Myanmarese players, full of confidence after blowing away Old Man 4-2 in their opening Chinese Super League match last Sunday. About a year ago, at Vokasional field, we took a 3-nil lead only to see Inpro SC salvage a 3-3 draw. But lightning doesn't strike at the same place twice!

The Coach looks at the action with senior player, Max.

Breaking from conventional tactics, Coach Mustafa decided to go into the game with an unfamiliar 3-5-2 formation after missing several regulars that included Sin (left back), Brown (striker), Darlington (midfield) and not wanting to risk the half-fit Keong and Chard. And it looked like a big risk as Ramblers struggled to find any rhythm or footing in the first 20 minutes of the game as Inpro dictated play with Lee and Owen pulling the strings for them. But as they failed to convert their chances and as the game wore on, Ramblers started to impose themselves. Slowly but surely we were sparking to life.

The midfield trio of Benni, Poay and Jason started to regain control of the midfield as wingbacks Ming and Shukor worked tirelessly to support Heng and Keon upfront. Benni in particular was in commanding form as he and Poay used the occasion to showcase their mesmerizing talent. And it was no surprise that Benni was the one who instigated and finished off the move that gave us the lead. His cross-field pass to an overlapping Shukor was sublime, but when he ran into space and received the ball and knocked it pass the keeper.. that was pure class.

Minutes later it was Keon's turn as he pounced on a loose ball from a Heng free kick to fire home. Penang Chinese did have their chances but whenever they got pass our defenders, Chris was there to smother the danger. As Penang Chinese went in search for a goal to pull them back into the game, Shukor fired in goal number 3 to send us into an ascendancy. And half-time couldn't come sooner for them.

The Ramblers goalmouth was busier in the second 35 minutes.

Second-half saw a more invigorated Penang Chinese with the introduction of Loon and Rustam. They began well by bombarding our defence with wave after wave of attack. Then from successive freekicks, they found their elusive goals. The first came when a foul by Adrian on the edge of the area allowed Lee to curl the ball pass the despairing Chris. The second sparked wild celebrations by Penang Chinese as Lee again stepped up to send the ball into the bottom corner of the net. 3-2 and we were rocking. Was it going to end up like last year? They continued to pour forward in numbers and even had a goal disallowed for offside which we were just thankful for.

Poay - The fourth goalscorer

But Poay had other ideas. A beautiful exchange of passes with Keon put him through to place the ball pass the advancing keeper to seal our win and dashed the hopes of the Penang Chinese players. And when the final whistle blew, it was mission accomplished!

Final Score:

Penang Chinese 2 – Ramblers 4

Old Man's Debut Wrecked By Ramblers

Ramblers ran out 4-2 winners against Old Man in their opening Chinese Super League match. 2 goal hero Benni and 1 from Wei killed off the contest in the first half as Old Man tried to come back into the game in the second-half. Ex-Johor striker Ramlee pulled 1 back for them before half-time and a weak backpass from Sin resulted in another but it was not enough to stop Ramblers from steamrolling over their veteran opponents.

Next game... Penang Chinese @ Inpro SC

Final Result:

Ramblers 4 - Old Man 2

Weekend Friendly Result

Versus: Penang Sports Club
Date: 1st May 2009
Time: 5.45 pm
Venue: Penang Sports Club field
Result: PSC 3 - Team Orange 1

Bomba's Fire Put Out

A matured performance by TAMilan SC shrugged off the challenge of the firemen by posting an emphatic 4-1 victory over their more illustrious opponents. Darlington was the catalyst of this memorable win as he scored 2 and set up another for his protege, Ming, while the 4^th was an own goal after good pressure from Brown.

A clash of jersey colors, a slippery pitch, a defence devoid of the crocked Chard and Keong, an unavailable Heng, with Brown unable to arrive early and Poay reaching just in time, set the tone for the match as Coach Mustapha pondered back-and-forth over team selection and formations. In the end, he decided to make do with the best he had in a 4-4-2 formation and the team did not disappoint.

Chris started in goal with Sin, Man, Adrian, and Max making up the back-four and protected by Jason as the defensive midfielder. Siang, given his first start, was pushed to the right while Ming appeared on the left, both of them flanking the unlikely pair of Shukor and Poay in attack. Darlington played at the head of the midfield diamond, seemingly as the attacking midfielder and playmaker supreme.

The game started nervously for TAMilan as Bomba looked to stamp their mark within the first 15 minutes. Poor passing, sluggish movement and confused looks by TAMilan were worrying the bench as Bomba looked to pump the ball to their number 12. One of these raids actually put him through on goal but a timely sliding tackle by libero Adrian in the box thwarted his attempt and Sin cleared the danger after the ball rebounded free. Corners and freekicks then followed as the referee seemed to be on their side and the players started to wonder if it was going to be one of those matches where the opposition would benefit from bias refereeing.

But if there was one thing that has come to represent the hallmark of this team, then it must surely be their resilience. We withstood wave after wave of their attacks with Man absolutely brilliant in defence and slowly but surely, we started to come back into the game. Siang and Ming started to switch flanks like Robben and Duff did for Chelsea, while Darlington oozed panache and class with his nifty footwork and shimmies. One of these actually left 2 Bomba players sprawling to the ground with a mixture of amazement and frustration as they had tried to tackle him off the ball. He even had 1 offside called against him although it looked like he was clearly onside when the ball was played to him.

With Darlington in scintillating form our first goal soon arrived when he lured 3 Bomba players out to the right and he crossed to an unmarked Ming to head home from barely 6 yards out. TAMilan started to grab a stranglehold on the game and an excellent exchange of passes between Poay and Siang bewildered the opposition to leave the former with just the keeper to beat. Whilst it was an applaudable move worthy of synonymity with Barcelona, the similarities stopped there as he couldn't keep his shot down and blazed it over the bar.

Putting that miss aside, TAMilan continued to press forward and it was Darlington who reaped the fruits of his labor. With the Bomba players following him like he was the Pied Piper, he dribbled his way around them and a cross-shot actually caught their keeper unawares, prompting him to inadvertently palm the ball into his own net for goal number 2. Bomba did try to come back after that and a bone-crunching tackle by Adrian left a Bomba player writhing on the ground a few yards outside the box. The resulting freekick was spilled by Chris and the thankful Bomba striker rushed in to knock the ball home.

The whistle for half-time soon followed and after some encouraging words from the Coach, TAMilan was back on the field again and they continued where they left off. The effervescent Ming seemed to have a telepathic understanding with his mentor as he and Darlington tried to carve open the Bomba defence with a string of very good interchanges. But the 3^rd goal would arrive from the other flank. Overshadowed by Ming in the first half, Siang looked hungrier and more determined in the second. His movement suddenly had purpose and his desire renewed. With hardman Max providing cover, he ventured forward a lot more and one of his forays ended with their defenders upending him in the box, and the referee pointed to the spot. Darlington stepped up for the penalty and with a sense of assuredness and nerves of steel, he drilled the ball low and hard to the keeper's left, and although the custodian had got a hand to the ball, it was just impossible to keep it out. It was the nail in the coffin for the men in black. By now Brown had come on for the ineffective Shukor with Keon replacing Poay. The tireless Jason anchored the midfield with aplomb and with our back-four faultless, Bomba looked deflated with whatever they had thrown at us repelled time and time again. However, we were not done yet. A corner swung in from the right caused a lot of confusion in the box as Brown harried their defenders and it resulted with the ball in the back of the net off one of their own players! There was still time to bring on Au, Wei and Seng as we looked to consolidate the win. And when the final whistle blew, we knew it was just the kind of performance that will get us far this season – Bomba had been given a masterclass! For us, it was 2 wins out of 2 and on course for a quarter-final berth.

Game set and match.

TAMilan 4 - Bomba 1