Match History
Here we present some of our best ever matches, both field and court.
27th November 2005 - Against the RP students
Venue: Republic Polytechnic basketball court
Game 1:
We challenged some students of RP in a 6-a-side hard court football game in which the winning team stays and the losing team leaves for a new challenger. There are three teams involved and the goal here is the basketball pole. A highly difficult scoring game.
The Matadors started the game brightly as their experience as a team showed even though everyone in the team is just getting back to play after more than a month's break. The RP youngsters found it difficult initially to get into the Matadors' penalty area and every time they lose the ball, the Matadors swiftly moved to counter attack and threatening on several occasions with Gary and Alvin leading the attack and Matt supporting.
The first real attack came so fast the RP students had no time to react and both Matt and Gary broke free down the left in a 3 on 1 situation. Alvin tried to release the ball to Matt and failed to find him with a woeful pass. The striker's rustiness is evident in that poor pass. Soon, again the team broke free and Alvin again failed to find Gary with a chip.
But soon, both teams were getting into rythmn as The RP players put Benjamin and Joel under intense pressure, forcing several close misses. After a period of domination by the RP players in which one player stood out with his daring dribbling skills, the Matadors were back in the game. Ivan started to show his physical side and forced the opponents into giving up the ball. Alvin, Gary and Matt started to trouble the opponents once more as Alvin slowly but surely got his touch back. Alvin robbed a defender off the ball and put Matt throguh who sent a screamer narrowly wide. Gary and Matt began to command the midfield with clever interceptions.
Gary began to take matters into his own hands when the scores remained goalless when he took on 4 players and shot narrowly wide of the pole. It would have been an excellent solo goal so typical of Gary. As the Matadors began to pour forward, the opponents were plugged back in their area. Matt was put through nicely by Gary but he accidentally lost his footing and the ball. The rebound fell nicely to Alvin's feet and he shot straight at goal. The ball was definitely going in until it hit Matt, who just got up after his fall. A wasted chance!
Ivan also wasted another golden opportunity when he tried to connect with a beautifully placed Alvin's pass.
Then, from a quick counter attack, the Matadors were exposed at the back with Ivan out of position and Ben failed to get his tackle in on time. The ball rolled to a lurking attacker and he stabbed the ball home to send a surprise win for the students.
Game 2:
The opponents were in turn defeated by the third team also made up of RP students. The Matadors stepped into court and began dangerously as they failed to get their play in order. Benjamin was giving too many 50-50 balls away and Ivan wasn't winning enough balls in the centre.
Soon, the opponents already began threatening the Matadors' defence. But it held firm with Gary winning all the high balls into the area. In one quick counter attack, Alvin was put through nicely by Joel, and he held off a challenge from a weaker defender and he shot wide off the goal. A rare chance gone begging.
Soon, the game is developing into a end to end stuff with no one dominating the centre and a lot of long balls in play. But the swift counter attacks is fast becoming a distinct feature of the Matadors, who were a bit out of balance today with too many attacking minded players. In one such attack, Matt broke free down the left and sent an accurate shot into goal. Matadors win a tough game.
Game 3:
The same opponents that defeated the Matadors in the first game is back to challenge once more. This time, buoyed by their first win, they began to launch a series of attacks with their best player (the dribbler) again in control.
Gary then took charge as he launches his own attacks. The Matadors slowly got back into their groove and began to string a few passes together. Gary ran all around the court and caused them a great deal of problems. When he is on the ball, he runs at them and releases Alvin and Matt to take pot shots at goal. When he is without the ball, he fights to win the ball back.
In a middle tussle for the ball, Gary wins the ball and Matt sends it to Joel. Joel then releases Gary who ran right down the right and he spotted Alvin at the far side with a quick and accurate pass. Alvin slots the ball home with his weaker left foot to earn the 2nd straight win for the Matadors. The Matadors are now on a roll.
Game 4:
The opponets left for good and so this game is between two teams who want to make this their last game.
The defeated opponents returned and the matc is pretty much the same as the first. Lots of end to end stuff. Alvin began to move to the back and began finding Gary with accurate long passes. In a succession of such long passing attacks, Gary nodded the ball down a few times either for Benjamin or Matt to volley at goal. It didn't prove to be successful.
The game remained tight although it hardly got physical. Ivan remains the biggest physical threat and is proving to be a good decoy up front during corners. The opponents found it hard to win physical battles with him in the centre. But they soon got over it with a succession of one-twos. The Matadors were unable to dislodge their quick passes and they began to look really dangerous.
When Ivan lost the ball upfront in a hesitation, the opponents again used one-twos to get straight into the area and scored a good goal.
The Matadors are beginning to look a little tired from winning their last two games, and also having been away from football for so long. The opponents began running riot as they looked decidedly more refreshed. They soon scored another goal which they deserve.
But,although the Matadors' defence were a tad disappointing, the attack continued its work whenever they managed to get the ball.
Joel took charge of a loose ball in defence and made his most telling contribution of the day. He ran forward, dribbled past a defender and saw Alvin running down his left and Gary down his right. He faced one more defender as he continued his run. As the opponent commits himself, Joel tricked him with his foot looking like he is passing to his left but instead he sent the ball to his right with the outside of his foot finding Gary perfectly. The last man came out in an attempt to block Gary but Gary used his trickery and backheeled it finding Alvin with a sublime pass. Alvin slams the ball home in a trademark strong finish, hitting the pole goal with a loud bang - GOAL!
That is the last action of the day and it proved to be the best move of the day between the Matadors, who did extremely well considering that it is still pre-season for them. Onward to more games!
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