Ramblers Go Down.. AGAIN!

Another woeful defensive display underlined another frustrating evening for Ramblers who slipped 2 spots down to 6th in this 15 team league, succumbing to a disappointing 3-1 loss to league leaders Farquhar Rangers “B”. Despite the flattering scoreline, Farquhar Rangers “B” were being pinned back in their own half for much of the game.

But a misplaced pass from Keong and an own goal from mistake-prone Adrian proved costly as they held on for a memorable victory. A consolation goal from Man was all Ramblers could show for in a match they dominated but lost. Such has been their predicament this year with injuries and their defensive frailties affecting a majority of their matches. This pales in comparison with 2008, the boys in blue keeping 9 clean sheets in their first 10 matches with only 2 goals conceded.

Ramblers began the match the better of the two as Heng and Ming repeatedly took on their ageing defenders but were repelled continuously by their more physical approach. With one eye on this Tuesday's Division 3 game, they probably held back to stay clear of injuries. Farquhar Rangers “B” were primarily playing on the counter-attack as they struggled to close down our midfield livewire, Poay, and the more industrious Jason. With play concentrated mostly on the opponent's half, it was perhaps a real shock to see Farquhar Rangers “B” take the lead midway through the first half. Keong's weak inside pass to Jason was intercepted by a grateful Hwa who sprinted clear of the shell-shocked Man to place the ball low and beyond Michael. That goal prompted Ramblers to up the tempo and as they went in search of an equalizer, a cleared corner fell to Hwa who flicked the ball over the advancing Adrian. He then sprinted pass Keong on the middle line and proceeded on goal only for Man to shepherd him to the right where he crossed low and hard to the centre. What was to follow was typical of his form as the recovering centre-back, Adrian, sliced the clearance into his own net! The hands-on-his-head routine and the look of disbelief has been quite the hallmark of this once reliable player as he is left pondering again on what went wrong.

Remarkbly Farquhar Rangers “B” did add another goal just before the interval, again from Hwa as he collected a through ball and despite being bodychecked by Adrian, managed to get to the ball and place it beyond a static Michael who failed to close down the pacy striker.

Coach Mustafa's side switched to a 3-5-2 formation and continued laying siege after the restart, replacing Ming with Brown and taking out Au for Wei. If the general perception that Brown lacks the intelligence to play upfront, then he always makes up for it with his sheer power and determination. The fearsome striker literally and physically battered their defence, once flooring 2 defenders in succession as they attempted to muscle him off the ball. His presence breathed life into Ramblers as the minutes ticked away. Shots by Man, Poay and Brown were dealt with rather uncomfortably by their keeper as their defence looked nervous and shaky. Ah Or was thrown into the fray 10 minutes into the second-half and the diminutive winger also threatened on several occasions. It was inevitable that Ramblers would soon nick a goal. And it came from Man, whose shot flew just inches wide off the post minutes earlier. A corner from Shukor was headed powerfully into the net by the unmarked centre-back turned midfielder as a deflated looking Farquhar Rangers looked at each other for answers.

However, at the final whistle, it was Ramblers who needed answers of their own as another dominating performance was not justly rewarded. A team built on a solid defense was missing once again as individual errors littered the match and cost them dear.

Final Score:

Ramblers 1 - Farquhar Rangers "B" 3

The Great Escape

Ramblers were given a real fight by basement side CCFC on Saturday in their Chinese Super League match but eventually grinded out a 4-3 win after leading 1 nil and allowing CCFC to stage a dramatic fightback, taking the lead twice! Max and Brown's first goal of the campaign, including a stunner from Shukor and Poay's 5^th goal in 7 games was enough to see Ramblers take all 3 points from a breathtaking match.

Fielding a very solid side which included JJ, Jason, Hasrul, Roy and Fajar, CCFC didn't look like they belong rooted to the bottom of the league. But within 10 minutes of the match, Max had suggested otherwise by drilling in goal number 1 after being picked out brilliantly by Puga unmarked. Roy and Johnny seemed agitated by such a lack of concentration and they rallied their troops. Fajar and Hasrul responded aggressively by marauding down Rambler's left hand side time and again which had the less pacy Michael on duty. And their countless raids finally yielded a goal when a long cross over Michael allowed Hasrul to race ahead of the veteran and he delivered a pinpoint cross from the byline into the box. The ball sailed over Adrian's head and Jason chested the ball down before unleashing an unstopable shot pass Chris to tie the game. CCFC build their confidence on that goal as Ramblers looked for answers. As the men in black went in search of another goal, Poay skimmed the crossbar and JJ was a massive figure at the back, repelling attack after attack almost single-handedly.

CCFC, who seemed unperturbed by Ramblers' reputation, took a surprise lead when Fajar crossed to Roy on the edge of the box after a botched sliding clearance from out-of-form Adrian to smash the ball crisply beyond the keeper's reach. That goal did little to suggest that Ramblers had deserved the reputation they had build so hard to achieve in the past year. So it was no surprise that CCFC adjourned for half-time with smiles on their faces while Ramblers were being given a lecture by Coach Mustafa.

The restart saw a trio of substitutions with Manager Michael taking over from Chris, Au coming on for Puga and Keong replacing Michael at leftback. Ramblers pushed forward optimistically, believing that a goal was inevitable and they peppered CCFC's goal with shots. Brown was making a nuinsance of himself and JJ was trying to cope with his physical play and off-the-ball runs. However, the pressure soon told as Brown shrugged off JJ's challenge to get to a through ball and rounded CCFC's custodian to level the game. It looked like normal order was restored. Au, Poay and Benni were back in control of midfield and they strung together some very intricate passess to leave CCFC's midfield chasing shadows. But Rambler's defensive frailties offered CCFC a glimmer of hope. A freekick out on the right was crossed in by Jason and Adrian somehow mistimed his clearance to leave the ball bouncing through his legs for Hasrul to pounce and left the number 7 free to take a shot. Although Michael did get a hand to his effort, he only managed to palm the ball in off his left hand post and CCFC celebrated another goal.

Shukor meanwhile had other ideas. Right from the kick-off, a cross to the left saw Shukor racing down the flank, beating the rightback and sending a low shot pass a desparing Johnny. The response was swift and exemplary of Rambler's attitude of not giving up. The battle from then on raged back and forth until Au, probably trying to emulate Kaka's first goal against Egypt in the Confed Cup, guided the ball over JJ's feet and the burly Omani bodychecked the gangly midfielder who fell in the box. The referee pointed to the spot and Poay stepped up to take the spotkick. He send the keeper the wrong way and claimed his 5^th goal of the tournament. CCFC did throw everything they had at Ramblers but it was probably too little too late and they held on for a less than deserved victory.

Final Score:

Ramblers 4 – CCFC 3

Black Horse Blacked Out

Two sublime goals and an assist from Chard, one a glancing header and another a long range grounder, sealed a back-to-back win for Ramblers against Black Horse. Poay and Ming were the other scorers as Ramblers picked up another 3 points to climb up the table despite falling behind midway through the first-half.

Final Score:

Ramblers 4 - Black Horse 1

Shocking!

It was to be a stroll in the park for undefeated TAMilan SC as they came up against 2^nd from bottom Bintang Biru who were fielding a relatively young squad. However, fate had other ideas and it tore the form book to shreds. TAMilan were gunned down by a very energetic Bintang Biru side with 1 goal in either half. And although Poay did pull a goal back for them, a mistake by Adrian was enough to hand over the 3 points to the young guns. TAMilan even had a man sent off for a questionable foul and Sin the leftback will be missing for the 2 penultimate games against Inpro and NTFA.

TAMilan, curiously looking nervous, was giving away the ball too cheaply in the early part of the game as they looked to pump it forwards to Brown whereas Bintang Biru played with abandon as young boys usually do with 3 for

wards. And although Darlington and Ming produced some very exhilirating pieces of

footwork and skill, there was no final delivery to Brown and Poay to finish

off. While TAMilan tried earnestly to replicate their superb performances in this league's last 3 games, Bintang Biru were just content to soak up the pressure and hit them on the break. Unfortunately, one such break caught TAMilan off guard. A through ball sent their winger sprinting on goal but Adrian was first to react, and as he attempted to win the ball back, he lost his footing, lost possession

in the box, and allowed the player to cross to the unmarked striker to shoot home

. 1-0 and even Bintang Biru couldn't believe it! The trio of Darlington, Ming and Brown quickly picked

themselves up and began their assault on the opposition goal but a series of bad luck, bad judgement, and a slew of nifty but ineffective shimmies was all they could muster in the first half, although Darlington did send 1 r

ocket of a shot whizzing just over the bar. Coach Mustaph

a even made an early subst

itution by bringing on Max at rightback and moving Adrian to the heart of the d

efence, sacrificing Man in the process, in the hope of injecting some attacking impetus into the game.

After the half-time break, TAMilan reappeared with guns

blazing and launched endless raids, pinning Bintang Biru in their own half. Ming occassiona

lly took on his markers and left them for dead but while a pass would surely pave an opportunity to level the game, he opted to shoot instead, leaving Poay and Brown looking on dejectedly and shaking their heads. Brown himself was battling on courageously alone upfront with little to show for whereas Poay toiled on despite his aching knee while Darlington and Keon tried their best to bre

ach their defence. As Bintang Biru was trying to hold on to their slender lead, TAMilan held on to the belief that a goal was not far off. And it arrived through a very familiar source. A loose ball was dinked into the far corner by Poay and it sent TAMilan and their bench into raptures.

That goal seemed to spark TAMilan into life and Jason wasted a fantastic chance to put them ahead when he collected a through ball and only had the keeper to beat. Instead he rounded the keeper, and with the goal mouth begging, he steadied himself but it was too late to produce a decent shot. Poay was also guilty of a miss he knew he should have buried away when he took down a long raking cross and blasted it wide off the keeper's upright. TAMilan were soon to rue those gilt-edged chances. Minutes later, Bintang Biru's marauding right-winger sent in a cross that bounced akwardly on the bumpy pitch and the linesman adjudged that Adrian had handled in the area in his effort to bring the ball under control. Penalty! With his head down and his hands on his hips, he knew his indiscretion had undone all the good work his team were doing. And it was not the kind of decision TAMilan were hoping for as they had fought themselves out of a difficult situation but failed to make their chances count. Bintang Biru's midfielder stepped up and although Suresh guessed correctly, there was enough sting to send the shot crashing into the net past the despairing keeper. As the minutes ticked away, TAMilan drove forward in numbers and eagerness but failed to snatch a late point as Bintang Biru held on desprately for the 3 points.

Final Result:

TAMilan SC 1 - Bintang Biru 2

Number of Hits on this blog by Country

Below are the number of hits by country on our blog. For example, there were 1255 hits by visitors from Malaysia and they made up 70.03% of all site visits. We would like to thank all those visitors whom have continually supported us by logging in to this blog. Your support has been invaluable and we hope that you will continue to enjoy our little adventures! Cheers!!!

Country Count
Malaysia 1255 (70.03%)
Unknown 325 (18.14%)
Australia 94 (5.25%)
United States 60 (3.35%)
United Kingdom 28 (1.56%)
Canada 6 (0.33%)
Singapore 6 (0.33%)
France 5 (0.28%)
Sweden 2 (0.11%)
Norway 2 (0.11%)
Netherlands 2 (0.11%)
Belgium 2 (0.11%)
Italy 2 (0.11%)
Germany 2 (0.11%)
Korea, Republic of 1 (0.06%)

Finally...

Ramblers finally notched a deserved victory after 2 lossess and a draw by beating Black Falcon SC 2-0 at USM field on Sunday. Under the sweltering heat, Ramblers went ahead through Keon in the first half and then proceeded to wrap up the game courtesy of former Black Falcon player and our leading scorer, Poay, in the second.

After being at the end of some very demoralising results, Ramblers took to the field with a sense of renewed optimism that the rot stops here. Passes were tidy and with Ming and Ah Or marauding down the left and right channels respectively, Black Falcon was on the back-foot. Heng held the ball up brilliantly, allowing Keon and Poay to break into space and Puga, our newest player, acquitted himself much better than last week with a solid defensive display at the heart of midfield. With the back-line staying firm, this time switching to a more zonal formation in the absence of Chard, it freed our more attacking players to venture forward and launch endless raids on the Black Falcon goal.

Heng had 2 glorious chances to put us ahead with his freekicks but saw 1 crash against the post and another turned over the bar by the outstretched arms of the keeper. But Keon made sure his chance counted as their keeper's attempted pass was intercepted by him and he cooly slotted it beyond the helpless custodian. However, Black Falcon did manage to hit Suresh's right-hand post in one of their few “adventures” up front but did very little to trouble the defence.

After the much-welcomed break, Benni replaced Keon and dropped back into a defensive midfield role in order to protect the lead. Black Falcon also appeared to throw everything at us in the hope of salvaging a goal. And while they were looking for one, Poay popped up with one of his own, taking his season's tally to 8 goals in 9 games! Heng, who seemed to revel in the physical challenges of the game, played in a beautiful through ball at the edge of the area, catching their defenders unawares and allowing Poay to pick his spot low to the keeper's right.

Black Falcon seemed deflated after that and whilst they huffed and puffed their way throughout the remainder of the match, Ramblers held on convincingly for a long-awaited win.

Results:

Ramblers 2 – Black Falcon 0

Crash And Burn

Chinese Super League Results:

Date: 31st May 2009
Venue: USM
Time: 5.45 pm

Result: Ramblers 0 - Synergy United 3