Firebrands vs Ztec Phoenix
3-6 (2-3, 1-3)
3-6 (2-3, 1-3)
First period:
01:25 Daniel Tan
02:52 Adrian Koay
07:02 Samuel Ong
09:52 Calvindav
16:33 Chan Per Yue
Second period:
21:46 Calvindav ( Kelvin Tan )
26:42 Adrian Koay
33:24 Daniel Tan
34:37 Kelvin Tan
Bench Penalties:
Firebrands 2 mins x 1
Ztec Phoenix N/A
The floorball is round.
Still, round or not, it was pretty hard to see anything other than a comfortable win for Phoenix.
But boy, oh, boy, did Firebrands give them a run for their money.
And how better to make your statement of intent than to open the scoring?
The first warning sign by Firebrands was when Daniel Tan, fired a shot over, after Phoenix’s first of many defensive blunders, merely seconds into the match. Phoenix returned fire cautiously, Captain Adrian firing in a low shot which was easily blocked by James.
A minute and a half into the game, and Daniel capitalized on Phoenix’s poor defence. Pouncing onto a pass to the centre by Wei Jin, he coolly slipped the ball under the advancing Yung Ming.
However, even with the goal, it seemed inevitable that Phoenix would eventually score, and score they did when Adrian Koay hit a first-timer past keeper Bryan Koh.
It would prove to be a relatively clean match, and the closest Phoenix came to a bench penalty was when Chern Harng was given a stern warning for slashing.
Though back to square one, Firebrands pressed on while Phoenix gave way, and Zi Hoong of Firebrands was guilty of missing three gilt-edged chances consecutively, the second being the most glaring miss after a Phoenix mishit.
Firebrands paid the price for their wastefulness when Samuel’s shot sneaked under Bryan, who could have done better to prevent the goal.
The one and only bench penalty of the game was Daniel’s honour to receive after intentionally moving to block Yung Ming’s throw.
Phoenix capitalized on their advantage and made it 3-1 against four men, when Calvindav scored low after a messy tussle in front of Bryan’s goal.
It was all Phoenix now—a confident and flying Phoenix, boosted by that insurance goal. Shots came flying in from all directions, and Bryan, not helped by Alex’s risky passes into the centre, made a few great saves to keep the score at 3-1. Little Danial’s first meaningful contribution in the game was a beauty of a layback right to Adrian who was open in the centre, but from five meters out he skied it—a horrible miss.
And Firebrands clawed their way back into the game after tiny Per Yue, unnoticed by Wei Jin and Chern Harng, picked up the ball after a defensive mix-up and rolled the ball past the advancing Yung Ming. A very lookalike goal to Daniel’s earlier opener.
Half time, and at 2-3, the game was far from over.
At the start of the second half, yet another defensive error by Phoenix gave Firebrands an early chance, with Zi Hoong free on goal with only the keeper to beat. Yung Ming, doing so the first and second times and conceding on both occasions, again chose to advance, and this time he was able to block Zi Hoong’s shot.
Phoenix regained their two-goal advantage after Calvindav hit in his second goal low across Bryan after being allowed all the time and space in the world near goal.
Play was then stopped for a bizarre, one-of-a-kind incident when Danial wore a cap into the court. Referee James stopped play and kindly asked him to remove it before resuming play again.
Possession was mostly with Phoenix, but the goal that came was no beauty. Far from that. Instead, it was a scrappy, bouncy and messy goal by Adrian who finally made contact with the treacherous ball in front of the goal. Not pretty, but a goal nonetheless, and Phoenix would take it any way it came.
Complacency slowly crept into Phoenix’s game and let Firebrands, especially Daniel Tan, running all over them. Phoenix failed to heed the warning signs, and Daniel punished lax Teik Hong with a splendid tackle to rob him of the ball, then setting off, he weaved past the onrushing defenders and smashed in an unstoppable shot into Yung Ming’s top right corner for an exquisite goal.
3-5, but any hopes of a fairytale comeback were dashed when Kelvin scored a first-timer with his backhand after yet another scramble in front of the goal.
Play then degenerated into boring passes and routine defending, with Phoenix complacent and Firebrands despairing.
Final score, Firebrands 3-6 Phoenix.
Firebrands:
Firebrands continued the Division 2 trend of starting out as underdogs, pushing their opponents all the way but finally succumbing in the end.
Despite not having their known-to-be-loud Coach by their side, they played to their utmost ability, pouring out bucketloads of sweat (especially Andrew Chan, his entire shirt was soaked) in their quest for their first win. What the Firebrands lacked in skill and seniority, they made it up with their determination and persistence.
Their defence was very well marshalled by James and Alex, forming a tight three-man ring right in front of the goal. This tactic got Phoenix narrower and narrower until play was very concentrated in the middle areas. Long shots were easily blocked, but Firebrands were slow to clear the loose ball, and thus let in three goals from loose balls.
In attack, Firebrands quadrupled their existing goal tally, punishing Phoenix for their carelessness in defence. Daniel, Per Yue and Zi Hoong proved willing runners for the ball although they were visibly tired out as the end-game approached.
Firebrands have shown gradual improvement as the weeks go by, putting three past Phoenix while Dalat Falcons, with 08’s top scorer Drew, could only score one. With great team spirit and attitude, they are definitely not to be taken lightly. Overall, their only setback was lack of ball control and physical fitness. But given two years for the young boys to grow in their physique and consistent training, they will soon catch up!
For Firebrands’ next game, what was a certain win for Frontliners 300 a few weeks ago now looks very much in doubt.
MoM:
Daniel Tan, without a doubt. This boy is so cool that, even when the ball is bouncing near and around, he stands there patient, waiting for the others to fumble. And when they do, he bursts into action with great acceleration, bringing the ball from one end of the court to another.
He played almost the whole match and topped off an impressive performance with a lovely goal.
Could have done more backtracking, though.
Ztec Phoenix:
Game started. Sluggish play. Defensive error. Conceded a goal. Shocked. Picked up their momentum a bit. Played a little harder. Scored a goal. Back to sluggish play. Defensive error. Conceded another goal. Shocked. Picked up their momentum a bit. Played harder. Scored 2nd goal. Back to sluggish play…
The win was almost guaranteed. Just how they were going to go about it was the question. And it wasn’t the stuff of legends. It was the regular, knock-down, hard way to win. Almost production-line like; the way they churned out the victory.
Was it because of the fact that their Coach wasn’t around?
Or were they too over-confident, playing against kids?
Or was it still too early to play on a Saturday morning?
Most of the players were anonymous at the start of the game; only Wei Jin stood out, and for all the wrong reasons. As the game wore on, Capt Adrian, in his quiet and workmanlike manner, worked his way up beside Michael on top of the scorers’ charts, and Calvindav increased his goal tally to four.
Phoenix were quite comfortable all around as Firebrands massed their players in the sentence, but this meant that Phoenix’s players were quite spread out, giving Daniel, Zi Hoong and Per Yue space to run in between the centre and defence.
On the other hand, Phoenix restrained themselves considerably if compared to their last two games. Very few fouls were called their way.
They still won the game, but definitely under-performed for a team that has been dubbed to be next Champions.
Up next is Contact Bullets, who put eight past Firebrands, and it will most certainly interesting to see how individual brilliance(Phoenix) is pitted against organised team effort (Bullets). Let’s see first if Ter Min can get that shaky defence sorted out.
MoM:
A close fight, between the quietly authoritative Adrian and fancy footwork Calvinda. Both had many chances, both squandered many (Calvindav pips Adrian in this), both scored twice. However, it is the Captain who gets the vote, as his overall play speaks more of ‘team’ compared to Calvindav whose play was mostly individualistic.
Not his best performance, but, as epitomizes the whole Phoenix team: he did just enough.
p/s: Borak Borak Floorball is proud to present you: Flicka, Kazoo and Carrard. Thanks for backing us up!
Still, round or not, it was pretty hard to see anything other than a comfortable win for Phoenix.
But boy, oh, boy, did Firebrands give them a run for their money.
And how better to make your statement of intent than to open the scoring?
The first warning sign by Firebrands was when Daniel Tan, fired a shot over, after Phoenix’s first of many defensive blunders, merely seconds into the match. Phoenix returned fire cautiously, Captain Adrian firing in a low shot which was easily blocked by James.
A minute and a half into the game, and Daniel capitalized on Phoenix’s poor defence. Pouncing onto a pass to the centre by Wei Jin, he coolly slipped the ball under the advancing Yung Ming.
However, even with the goal, it seemed inevitable that Phoenix would eventually score, and score they did when Adrian Koay hit a first-timer past keeper Bryan Koh.
It would prove to be a relatively clean match, and the closest Phoenix came to a bench penalty was when Chern Harng was given a stern warning for slashing.
Though back to square one, Firebrands pressed on while Phoenix gave way, and Zi Hoong of Firebrands was guilty of missing three gilt-edged chances consecutively, the second being the most glaring miss after a Phoenix mishit.
Firebrands paid the price for their wastefulness when Samuel’s shot sneaked under Bryan, who could have done better to prevent the goal.
The one and only bench penalty of the game was Daniel’s honour to receive after intentionally moving to block Yung Ming’s throw.
Phoenix capitalized on their advantage and made it 3-1 against four men, when Calvindav scored low after a messy tussle in front of Bryan’s goal.
It was all Phoenix now—a confident and flying Phoenix, boosted by that insurance goal. Shots came flying in from all directions, and Bryan, not helped by Alex’s risky passes into the centre, made a few great saves to keep the score at 3-1. Little Danial’s first meaningful contribution in the game was a beauty of a layback right to Adrian who was open in the centre, but from five meters out he skied it—a horrible miss.
And Firebrands clawed their way back into the game after tiny Per Yue, unnoticed by Wei Jin and Chern Harng, picked up the ball after a defensive mix-up and rolled the ball past the advancing Yung Ming. A very lookalike goal to Daniel’s earlier opener.
Half time, and at 2-3, the game was far from over.
At the start of the second half, yet another defensive error by Phoenix gave Firebrands an early chance, with Zi Hoong free on goal with only the keeper to beat. Yung Ming, doing so the first and second times and conceding on both occasions, again chose to advance, and this time he was able to block Zi Hoong’s shot.
Phoenix regained their two-goal advantage after Calvindav hit in his second goal low across Bryan after being allowed all the time and space in the world near goal.
Play was then stopped for a bizarre, one-of-a-kind incident when Danial wore a cap into the court. Referee James stopped play and kindly asked him to remove it before resuming play again.
Possession was mostly with Phoenix, but the goal that came was no beauty. Far from that. Instead, it was a scrappy, bouncy and messy goal by Adrian who finally made contact with the treacherous ball in front of the goal. Not pretty, but a goal nonetheless, and Phoenix would take it any way it came.
Complacency slowly crept into Phoenix’s game and let Firebrands, especially Daniel Tan, running all over them. Phoenix failed to heed the warning signs, and Daniel punished lax Teik Hong with a splendid tackle to rob him of the ball, then setting off, he weaved past the onrushing defenders and smashed in an unstoppable shot into Yung Ming’s top right corner for an exquisite goal.
3-5, but any hopes of a fairytale comeback were dashed when Kelvin scored a first-timer with his backhand after yet another scramble in front of the goal.
Play then degenerated into boring passes and routine defending, with Phoenix complacent and Firebrands despairing.
Final score, Firebrands 3-6 Phoenix.
Firebrands:
Firebrands continued the Division 2 trend of starting out as underdogs, pushing their opponents all the way but finally succumbing in the end.
Despite not having their known-to-be-loud Coach by their side, they played to their utmost ability, pouring out bucketloads of sweat (especially Andrew Chan, his entire shirt was soaked) in their quest for their first win. What the Firebrands lacked in skill and seniority, they made it up with their determination and persistence.
Their defence was very well marshalled by James and Alex, forming a tight three-man ring right in front of the goal. This tactic got Phoenix narrower and narrower until play was very concentrated in the middle areas. Long shots were easily blocked, but Firebrands were slow to clear the loose ball, and thus let in three goals from loose balls.
In attack, Firebrands quadrupled their existing goal tally, punishing Phoenix for their carelessness in defence. Daniel, Per Yue and Zi Hoong proved willing runners for the ball although they were visibly tired out as the end-game approached.
Firebrands have shown gradual improvement as the weeks go by, putting three past Phoenix while Dalat Falcons, with 08’s top scorer Drew, could only score one. With great team spirit and attitude, they are definitely not to be taken lightly. Overall, their only setback was lack of ball control and physical fitness. But given two years for the young boys to grow in their physique and consistent training, they will soon catch up!
For Firebrands’ next game, what was a certain win for Frontliners 300 a few weeks ago now looks very much in doubt.
MoM:
Daniel Tan, without a doubt. This boy is so cool that, even when the ball is bouncing near and around, he stands there patient, waiting for the others to fumble. And when they do, he bursts into action with great acceleration, bringing the ball from one end of the court to another.
He played almost the whole match and topped off an impressive performance with a lovely goal.
Could have done more backtracking, though.
Ztec Phoenix:
Game started. Sluggish play. Defensive error. Conceded a goal. Shocked. Picked up their momentum a bit. Played a little harder. Scored a goal. Back to sluggish play. Defensive error. Conceded another goal. Shocked. Picked up their momentum a bit. Played harder. Scored 2nd goal. Back to sluggish play…
The win was almost guaranteed. Just how they were going to go about it was the question. And it wasn’t the stuff of legends. It was the regular, knock-down, hard way to win. Almost production-line like; the way they churned out the victory.
Was it because of the fact that their Coach wasn’t around?
Or were they too over-confident, playing against kids?
Or was it still too early to play on a Saturday morning?
Most of the players were anonymous at the start of the game; only Wei Jin stood out, and for all the wrong reasons. As the game wore on, Capt Adrian, in his quiet and workmanlike manner, worked his way up beside Michael on top of the scorers’ charts, and Calvindav increased his goal tally to four.
Phoenix were quite comfortable all around as Firebrands massed their players in the sentence, but this meant that Phoenix’s players were quite spread out, giving Daniel, Zi Hoong and Per Yue space to run in between the centre and defence.
On the other hand, Phoenix restrained themselves considerably if compared to their last two games. Very few fouls were called their way.
They still won the game, but definitely under-performed for a team that has been dubbed to be next Champions.
Up next is Contact Bullets, who put eight past Firebrands, and it will most certainly interesting to see how individual brilliance(Phoenix) is pitted against organised team effort (Bullets). Let’s see first if Ter Min can get that shaky defence sorted out.
MoM:
A close fight, between the quietly authoritative Adrian and fancy footwork Calvinda. Both had many chances, both squandered many (Calvindav pips Adrian in this), both scored twice. However, it is the Captain who gets the vote, as his overall play speaks more of ‘team’ compared to Calvindav whose play was mostly individualistic.
Not his best performance, but, as epitomizes the whole Phoenix team: he did just enough.
p/s: Borak Borak Floorball is proud to present you: Flicka, Kazoo and Carrard. Thanks for backing us up!
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