Miraculous. Unbelievable. Heart. If there were ever a game that spoke of the three, this was it. Ramblers looked dead and buried in the first half with 3 goals conceded in as many minutes. But a brace from newly-crowned Orange Ramblers' Young Player of The Year, Ming, an exquisite shot from just outside the box from Wei and an unlikely strike from defensive-stalwart Adrian hauled the team from the brink of defeat to salvage an unimaginable draw with FBN.
The first half started with a kind of unfamiliarity upfront with Ming partnering Michael in attack; a partnership that looked more like oil in water than peanut-butter on bread – it just wasn't right. But the cause was more down to having no other players on the bench at the start than anything else. However, Michael did acquit himself quite well with a spirited performance, huffing and puffing and pressuring for every ball. With regular defensive partners, Chard and Adrian, looking out-of-sorts and out-of-depth, the signs weren't promising. The midfield was also disjointed and disorganized, allowing Chee Keong and Ah Lee to dominate for FBN. A corner led to their first goal with our defenders asleep and unable to clear a dangerous ball, Eddie from FBN struck from inside the box to give them the lead. Their second came from a slice of luck and some slack defending, as Eddie screwed a shot and it somehow made it's way through our defenders for an unmarked striker to pounce. While their third was scored via a dubiously looking offside. At this point, Max had already come on for Michael and whilst our team reverted to 4-5-1, we were really looking deflated. But Ming rounded the keeper to score to give us a glimmer of hope going into half-time.
Someone once said, “Sport doesn't build character, it reveals it”. And the second-half sparked to life with players that played more with their hearts than any team I've seen before – an epitome of never-say-die and a hallmark of Orange Ramblers as a team this season. Ming began “Mission Impossible” with his second strike of the match and Wei produced a magnificent goal from just outside the box that flew past the despairing keeper to nestle in at the back of the net. 3 – 3. Suddenly, the smiles on the faces of our opponents were fading fast as they were trying to figure out what was happening. Then an unlikeliest thing manifested. Adrian charged down a shot at the edge of his penalty area, fed Ming on the right (who danced and bamboozled his way past his marker), then sprinted all the way into FBN's box to get to the end of Ming's beautifully-weighted ball to slam it past the keeper and gifted Ramblers the lead for the first time throughout the match. It was his first for Ramblers this year but it was soon to be Ramblers' last goal of the year as well. By this time, FBN players were scratching their heads, wondering how they turned victory into a farce. But their response was equally swift as within minutes, a clumsy but unfortunate challenge by Chard contrived the ref to blow for a penalty. Michael, now standing in place for Chris, guessed correctly but somehow allowed the ball to roll under him and the game ended at 4-4.
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