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 4th 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 3rd 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
.JPG)
No comments:
Post a Comment