Cometh the hour, cometh the men

The stage was set. On a humid Tuesday evening, in a significant encounter, all that stood in the way of TAMilan SC qualifying for their first FAP Div. 3 Quarter-Finals was high-riding Inpro SC. As it should be, with no other Division games scheduled, this match took centre-stage and it felt like Wimbledon's centre-court, with fans thronging the sidelines to watch a match that had top-billing written all over it. And they were not to be disappointed.

TAMilan SC emerged victorious after a 5 goal thriller that saw Inpro SC fighting back with Chard's own goal and a dubious looking penalty. But cometh the hour, cometh the man. Or in this case, men. TAMilan's strikers finally emerged from the shadows of their midfield supremos of Poay, Darlington, Ming and Siang with Heng netting a brace and Brown breaking his duck to add the other. However, credit must also go to the whole team as every player in a black jersey that came on gave their all. Tee Oon who was deputising for an injured Max, Siang who played the first-half despite being down with fever the day before; Chris, Poay, Seng and Keong who were nursing injuries, all these players as well as the rest who either started or came on later in the game played with both heart and determination, and some would even say more.

As early as the first minute, Ming had a good chance to put them ahead when a Poay through ball sent him onside with only the keeper to beat but the custodian stood his ground and pushed Ming's attempt around the post for a corner. The boy-wonder had a similar situation a few minutes later but fluffed that as well. Heng held the ball up brilliantly as he played in Siang with a cheeky backheel that nutmegged the dazed Inpro defender only for Siang to shoot too early and wide off the left post. Inpro also had chances of their own as Chris saved 2 long range efforts and Adrian hacked clear a loose ball for a corner after the big-man palmed away another goalbound shot.

Heng then eased TAMilan's nerves as he tussled for the ball with the lanky centreback and won that challenge before sidefooting home from inside the box to put them ahead. But minutes later, Inpro equalized when a teasing cross from the right flew pass the outstretched arms of Chris only for Chard to slice it into his own net as he swung to clear. It was the second own goal they have conceded in 2 games.

One of the main reasons for TAMilan's success this season has been down to the effervescent Poay. And the number 2 took on 2 defenders on the byline to feed Heng to make it 2-1 to TAMilan just before the break.

TAMilan emerged in the second-half with Adrian replacing the injured Chris in goal, Brown coming on for Siang and Wei taking his place in a defensive midfield role with Man partnering Chard in the centre of the defense. And TAMilan started with a fast tempo game, deflating the already tired Inpro players and forcing them to make mistakes and unnecessary fouls. The Inpro defense had no answers to Brown's raw pace and power and the TAMilan striker battered through their brittle defense repeatedly, drawing foul after foul from their now nervous players. Either that or he was marginally offside due to his (over) enthusiastic runs. Meanwhile, Ming echoed the charge given by Poay earlier on about fighting for every ball by marauding upfield with it and scurrying back to help Keong when we lost it, slotting in a few shimmies in between.

Brown was justly rewarded for his hunger midway through the 2nd half when a long freekick from Chard was allowed to bounce by the Inpro defense and Brown nipped in to head the ball pass their keeper to put TAMilan 3-1 up.

Coach Mustafa then sent on Au to add steel to the midfield and to preserve the lead. But he was soon caught in the centre of a questionable decision from the referee. As the game wore on and TAMilan found themselves on the front foot, Inpro reduced the deficit through a dubious looking penalty when Au was deemed to have over impose his strength on the Inpro player via a bodycheck in the box during a corner. Despite heavy protests from the TAMilan players, the referee waved off any appeal and Adrian was sent the wrong way to make the scores 3-2.

Both Poay and Shukor could have put the result beyond any doubt nearing the end of the match. A low freekick from Poay broke through their wall, took a heavy deflection but had not enough power to trouble the keeper – the fortunate man just managing to claw the ball away. Moments after that, Shukor curled the ball narrowly wide off the left post when he received a great ball from Ming.

But try as they may, Inpro couldn't trouble a resilient looking TAMilan looking to book their place in the quarter-finals and when the final whistle blew, there was only joy and jubilation for the all-blacks.

Final Score:

TAMilan SC 3 - Inpro SC 2