Sunday, July 31, 2005

Road to Glory

It was the 30th of July, after 2 months of planning; it was the day of the inaugural intra St Peter’s football tournament. I waited in anticipation as I observed the gloomy, overcast sky.

At 11am, the sky was dark and showers poured. My heart skipped a beat as I thought to myself, “would all the planning done by Julian and myself go down the drain?” At that point, all I could do was hope and pray.

At 4pm, in the church chapel, the meeting place for the competitors, it seems mysteriously empty, with many people missing. Did the players forget that today was the tournament? At least the skies have cleared slightly and the ground was drying too.

At 4.30, an hour before the tournament starts, the skies reopen again with light drizzles
I shake my head in dispair as I am told the news. Would the drizzle hamper our preparations? But nevertheless my team of four started the preparations of the pitch. Keith and Julian set the goal posts, while Casper and I marked the boundary with string. A report from a friend says that all eight teams have arrived.

Then at 5.30, the teams assembled, with an air of anticipation. The stage was set, the mystery prizes ready to be claimed. Would early favourites FC Cheesebun and Nasi Goreng triumph? Or would the so- called dark horses Oldies spring a surprise and claim the title? Only time would tell….

At 5.45, Tongkat Ali (Darryl, Terence, and Donny) and FC Cheesebun (Yiqiang, Francis,
and I) start the ball rolling by playing out the first match. Tongkat dealt a hard blow to the Cheesebun's cup ambitions by with a 2-1 opening round defeat. It seemed as if the Cheesebuns were supposed to win, but the Tongkats threw the form book out of the window and defied the odds. FC Cheesebun never seemed to recover in that match. The question on everyone’s minds was “would the untried partnership of Francis and Yiqiang click?”

Next up was the High kickers (comprising Joshua, Bell and Philip) against the Hawks
(Sam, Stewart and Casper) The hawks whipped the High Kickers with the Kickers not putting up much of a fight.

The Oldies (Brian, Uncle Yue fung, Uncle Norman and late addition Olivier as a substitute) played the Hobbits (Angus and his 2 friends). The Hobbits' youthfulness won over veteran experience, causing a minor upset. The Oldies were supposed to be dark horses, yet lost to these upstarts. Ironically the shortest of the hobbits could jump the highest, which helped him to score the winner, having out jump his marker to plant a header. Brian was cruelly denied by the post. A pass from the outside was met, where he could be proud of his technique, having connected and striking the ball superbly.
But he would have wished he had miskicked it, with hope of it somehow going somewhat lower.

RK (Julian, Johnny, Natasha) was next, losing to Nasi Goreng (Keith, Nick, Brown)
Natasha was showing more promise than her boyfriend Philip, netting a goal.
Favourites Nasi were living up to its promise, with Brown scoring the tournament’s first hat-trick.

Cheesebun played the Hawks next, where a loss would have ended their tournament.
But Cheesebun showed their ability to bounce back by scoring two quick goals from the start. However, the Hawks pulled back from 2-0 down to level the score with 3 minutes left. But Cheesebun’s superior possession paid off as they soon finished off the Hawks with 4 quick goals, despite the long range efforts of their captain Casper. With the final score being 5-2 to the Cheesebuns. Cheesebun was finally living up to their immense potential.

The Oldies then shocked Nasi Goreng, with Brian scoring a brace, amid chants of "Brian! Brian!” from the spectators, on their way to a hard fought victory over the favourites. In just one match, Nasi Goreng were in the same predicament as fellow favourites Cheesebun, win their last game, or go home.

Tongkat Ali then played High Kickers, with Tongkat rarely needing to move out of second gear. The lost meant the High Kickers would be going home early, with their next match against Cheesebun mainly being played for pride.

RK played the Hobbits next, with Natasha showing her boyfriend Philip who the better player was by scoring another goal. Julian led his team in to victory with a brace as the Hobbits seemed to be more interested in arguing with each other.

Tongkat then played the Hawks with the Hawks needing a win to have a chance of progressing. But fate dealt a cruel blow as Casper, who had been playing brilliantly, cancelled Sam's first tournament goal with an own goal. Their chances of progressing now relied upon High Kickers causing an unlikely upset against Cheesebun.

Whatever hopes the Hawks had quickly evaporated as Cheesebun tore apart the High Kickers with a blitz of goals which had the scorekeepers struggling to keep up. Francis and Colin both helped themselves to hat-tricks, and Yiqiang enjoying a brace,
which produced the highest scoring game of the tournament with a 10-2 thrashing.

Oldies then played RK with Oldies winning 4-3. Oldies were initially leading 4 to nothing. Although Julian had a hat-trick as RK tried to stage a comeback, it was not enough as time ran up, and their tournament came to a sad end.

Nasi Goreng whacked the Hobbits in a winner take all match to close the group stages.
The Hobbits could only argue with each other as Brown added to his tally of a total of 7 goals by claiming a hat-trick, placing himself first on the top scorers chart.

The first semi final pitted Oldies and Tongkat Ali. Tongkat won by a single goal in a 2-1 score line. The Oldies lost by 2 own goals, where the introduction of Olivier seemed to only disrupt their fluency of play. Terence was losing his head, especially after having a goal disallowed. Darryl's seemingly impeccable leadership was holding the team strong.
It was in this tournament that his leadership abilities shone. Too bad the girl of his dreams was not present, therefore unable to witness it. Sigh……

Tournament favourites Cheesebun and Nasi duelled in what should have been the final.
Nasi Goreng drew first blood and raced ahead with the first shot of the match, Nick scoring, which left Cheesebun stunned. Then, some slack marking allowed Keith to steal through and out jump the significantly taller Colin to head home. Brown then added to his tally to make it 3-0. Three minutes left, and Cheesebun, the highest scorers so far, seemed doomed. Three goals in Three minutes, was it achievable? The situation seemed bleak. They were the top scorers, but they had to score 3 first before they could even draw. The 1.8 metre tall Brown was marking so tightly, especially in dead ball situations. That 1.78 metre tall Colin, the tallest member, hardly even got a sniff, while attempting to connect with the crosses.

Suddenly Francis ran deep and chipped a ball. Colin leapt majestically and hit a glancing header which nestled into the back of the net. Then Francis dazzled through and scored a gem of a goal. One minute, one more goal, could the Cheesebuns do a “Liverpool” and comeback from three goals down? Then Yiqiang left his defensive post in a dangerous situation and scored the equaliser, it was game on!! Yiqiang confessed he would not have been able to forgive himself had he missed and Nasi Goreng scoring from the resulting counter attack. But that thought was needless as he scored. Extra time beckoned. Would that be enough? Or would one of these brilliant teams be eliminated by the dreaded penalty kicks? In an exciting match, the Cheesebuns came back from the dead, seemingly out, three goals down, three minutes left. The Cheesebuns came back, knocked two more goals in extra time to seal the game. Nasi Goreng seemed shell shocked, unable to comprehend how they had just let a three goal lead slip within two minutes and concede two more in extra time, without any reply.

It was a good match, with attacking football being constantly played, one for the purists and neutrals, with spectators proclaiming it the match of the tournament. It was in this match that the Cheesebun’s steely resolve showed and the players rose to the occasion, with the Nasi Goreng trio proving worthy opponents. Neither team deserved to lose. As Nasi Goreng could only contemplate what might have been, Cheesebun marched towards the final.

The tournament would end just as it began. A repeat of the opener. Tongkat Ali against FC Cheesebun. Would the result be the same? Or would there be a reversal of fortunes?
Fatigue and elation were on Cheesebun's mind after that miraculous game. Tongkat had the psychological advantage having won the first encounter and were also unbeaten throughout. But Cheesebun were fresh from a morale boosting semi-final victory.

Then the match kicked off. Darryl tried taking shots, causing confusion in the box. But Terence was marked superbly, hardly touching the ball. Colin started the rout by scoring. Chasing a seemingly impossible ball, he just lashed the ball from a wide position and with a touch of billiance, it went in, from an acute angle. Tongkat was torn and hardly putting up much of a fight. So much so that Yiqiang was seen resting on the goal posts as Francis and Colin battled it out for top scorer honours. The match finished with a 5-0 victory in Cheesebun’s favour.

Joy and elation for Cheesebun as they won the inaugural tournament, while only tears for Tongkat. Darryl was devasted, as he sat at the side with tears in his eyes. Colin and Francis finished as joint top scorers with 10 goals apiece. With the prizes being three peach coloured T-shirts too small to fit the winners, meant a s a joke by the organizers. The top scorer (Colin and Francis) were awarded a Christian CD. The Tongkat trio were awarded skincare products.

All thanks to all those who helped in one way or another to make the tournament a success

Winners of the 30th June intra church St Peters tournament

FC CHEESEBUN!!!!

Sunday, July 17, 2005

Job ambitions

1. The prime minister of Singapore.
2. Football coach that brings Singapore to the World Cup Finals.
3. Lawyer.
4. Sports journalist, specifically football.

Now i have to add another one to the list, work in a charity organisation.
Last week if i told my parents i wanted to be the NKF CEO, they would have said
"Don't be stupid, why you want to do that?"

If i told them today, they will say "don't be stupid"
But the last part will be "you think you can do something so great?"

Of course i'm not doing it because i want to be a philanthrophist.
But rather the "entitlements" and perks.
Moreover, you get chauffered vehicles!!
You also get to sit on pricey toilet bowls from Germany i think.
With my current allowance, the only reason why i would buy it,
is if my crap will also go back to Germany.

This would obviously be in the wake of TT Durai's work in the NKF.
He did so much for the NKF, i really don't feel he should step down.
He has really done so much for them.

But damn he is one rich man.
Maybe i should start my own charity organisation?
I mean i can get $600 000 from the NKF.
After all, Mrs Goh Chok Tong said that that fee is peanuts for the NKF.

So Mrs Goh, may I PLEASE have some peanuts?
Half a peanut would also do.

Friday, July 15, 2005

CHINESE IS OVER!!!!!!!!!

Yeah!!
Finally my chinese in secondary school is finally over.
Feel like a man releived.
Ten years of training all comes down to these exams.
Hopefuly i don't have to retakke it.
Well i have to stick to my promise.

B4- no pranking or lying for 1 month.
B3- no pranking or lying for 1 month, and i cannot call anyone short forever.
A2- no pranking or lying for 3 months, and i cannot call anyone short forever.
A1- no pranking or lying for 5 months, and i cannot call anyone short forever.

So many people are hoping i can get a B3.
Of course they hope i can get an A1, imagine that, no lying for 5 months!!!

Yeah right!! like i'm ever going to get an A1!!
hahahah

Monday, July 04, 2005

swimming.........

Today, don't know why, but some of the youths came over.
To swim. previously was serangoon garden country club.
Perhaps because now we have to pay 5 bucks to use it.
after freeloading there fo so long and got found out.
So julian, sam, casper, olivier, keith, pat, phillip, and shuling came.

First phillip and pat came first.
Phillip went to his girlfriend's house first, so i brought pat to my place first.
She was so noisy, nagging at me.
Ask me to walk slower, kept telling me she was thirsty and tired.
And she just finished a bottle of water.
she kept asking me why so long and 'teaching' me how to be more gentlemanly.
Saying that at the rate i was going, she knows why i have no girlfriend.
But i tell you, she has so much nonsense to say.
I pray my future girlfriend doesn't have as much things to say.

So she came and studied. Used my desk somemore.
So I, got relagated to the window.
Parents came back.
Asked me why she drinking in the room, and ask me to pack my room.
Where is shuling when i need her to pack my room?

Then the rest came.....
Julian drank from the bottle of water directly.
But I kenna scolded like crazy.
Even Dad chipped in.

Then we went to swim.
finished, then julian, assper and i came back to eat food.
Julian getting smarter, He ate much faster.

the week after

So it's the first week of school, with many happenings.
But lets talk about sunday.
Start of the new two service structure in church.
Will it bring new people? Or will it break up an already small church?
Today saw the last part, attendance not bad.
All the old people.
The contemporary, i think we may have even struggled to hit 50 heads.
Bui had to serve, and was not informed of the dress code.
so yes, i was wearing black, but had to wear collared.
So i had to borrow uncle lennard's shirt then wear my black T-shirt over it.
So i ended up sweating like nuts.
But worship was good.
Almost closed my eyes.
Felt some kind of wierd feeling, different feeling to what i usually feel when i close my eyes.
Last time i close it due to sleep deprivation.