Match Review: Match of the League!

Innebandy! Co. vs. Ztec 8cers
23rd July 2009, Thursday
2-5 (1-3, 1-2)

0323 0-1 Loh Jo-Wyee (Chiam Ter Min)
0844 1-1 Rooban Chand (Andrew Yeap)
1828 1-2 Wong Ken Wye (Yeoh Jun Wooi)
1847 1-3 Yeoh Jun Wooi (Wong Ken Wye)

0733 1-4 Chiam Ter Min
1003 2-4 Sam Teoh Jin Haur
1427 Innebandy! Co's time out
1519 2-5 Loh Jo-Wyee (Chiam Ter Min)



BBF had a chat with Chiam Termin (TM) of Ztec 8cers who shared his insight of the match:

BBF: BBF reckon this is one of your biggest game. But seems like you had an easy win in the end. What was the strategy and what did you expect out of Inne?

TM: Yeah we knew it was a big game as they have some quality players and an experience goalie. As for the strategy, we wanted to start early and get the goals. We also planned to play a tight game and move the ball around. I think after watching the team video, the passing was good just that the pace was terrible. haha.. The slowest game in the league so far I would say.


BBF: What do you think is the strength of Innebandy and what do you think is their weakness?

TM: Personally and honestly, their strength lies in their goalie.(no offence to anyone). Goalie have a good game, the team have a good game, goalie has a bad game the team has a bad game. We could see that their goalie(Lin Ken) was on top form on that day and the forwards find it hard to score. The more saves he made, the more confident their team got. As for their weaknesses, they do not press high enough. Our defence was barely test that evening.


BBF: You guys have considerably the best defensive line in the league, yet you guys let in a couple of goals. What went wrong?

TM: Hmmm a strong defence line doesn't mean you wont concede goals. The first goal that evening by them was a very good goal. Simple passes, one touch and simple finish. Our forwards failed to fall back to defence causing a big gap in the middle to allow them to pass neatly. The second goal was an error during a change. One of our center make a changed when they had the ball and before his sub could enter to cover the center, their forward(Sam) dribbled th ball in the center and took a shot.


BBF: The league is drawing to a close and you'll be facing the Hawks in your final match. What's your expectation of the game?

TM: We will take that match like any other match. Going in full heartedly and coming out with what ever we can get from it. It should be a nice game to watch as both team has fast players. As for my expectations, a win would be good.


BBF: Lastly, who would you vote as the man of the match for Inne and why?

TM: Without a doubt, Lin Ken their goalie. It would have been double the scoreline without him. However, credit also given to Sam and Des for playing almost 85% of the game.


BBF managed to get hold of Deswyn Wan(DW) of Innebandy!Co. for his views for the match:

BBF: Ztec, presumably the most lethal team in the league. Going up against a team like that, what were your concerns and what were the strategies used?

DW: I think the main concern about playing a team like Ztec is to minimize the scoreline gap at the end of the period. And in order to do that, we have to take their shooters out or at least put some pressure on them. This requires a lot of running, endurance and physical contact, which we may be lacking of. Playing against Ztec is like playing against Japan in the APAC tournament.haha. The strategy for the first period is to not let in any goals, play defensively and to be discipline in our positions. I thought we did pretty well in the first few minutes until some careless mistakes were made. That kinda give them the upper hand to 'climb all over us.' Second period's strategy was just to have fun. Not. Joking joking. Obviously we tried to come back in the second period with more pressure at the top but Ztec's turnover is really fast thus capitalising on the counter attacks. I think our players did their best but they (Ztec) were just better.


BBF: What do you think is the strength of Ztec and what do you think is their weakness?

DW: The strength of the team is pretty obvious, they have individual skills and that contributed a lot to such a performance. What you see is a reflection of our National team. (or at least 60%-70% whether you want to believe it or not) They have good play ups, very creative up front plays and the drive is just there. Wooosshh! Having said that, no team is without a flaw, I guess one of their weakness is sometimes they fumble in their own defensive zone which may cost them some precious goal(s) deficits.


BBF: Relatively speaking, you guys weren't as strong as last year. Is there disappointment or frustration as a team to know that to a certain extent, the standard of the team has dropped? What will be the focus after the league as a team?

Haha!I like this question. I admit we weren't as strong as we were last year. I guess this is much affected by the individual players we have in Innebandy!Co. We have a bunch of skillful and experience players which left the club (with our blessings) and not much exposure were given to the newer players. I guess they do not know what to expect when they stepped onto a 40x20 rink. No teams can escape from feeling frustration and disappointed but I'm really proud that every member in our team played with Insane Courage on court without letting their emotions take over. The focus will never change, it is to keep improving, to be better than who we are today. =)


BBF: Your final match against Dalat. What are your expectations?

DW: To win? haha. I hope to see good plays by our team members and really hope they would have learned from their mistakes from previous games. No more silly goals, to have fun, and hopefully scoring many goals.


BBF: Lastly, who would you vote as the man of the match for team Ztec and why?

DW: In my opinion, the man of the match for this game would be Sjaiful. He was the strong shield in their defensive line. And in addition, he was quick in intercepting and stealing all our balls away and also made a couple of good runs towards our goal.


Borak says:
Bendy:
8cers was on a fly coming into the game hitting 20 a week before while Inne on recovery after a tripped by Spartans. Welcoming back Sjaiful and Hadfiz, it seems that a win and nothing less is expected of them. Inne on the other hand, seems to expected the worst even before the match was played as they started their key men, Des and Sam in defence, and eventually for the whole game.

8cers did dominate the game in terms of possession, shots and passes for both half's, yet they were some what unconvincing. 8cers played literally in Inne's half as they opted to sit back, but the positioning of the forwards were often too high and parallel at times ,which limited the passing options for the defenders with the ball. It was more like a couple passing exercise between defenders, penetrative Floorball that pumped in 20 was no where to be seen!

Considering the difference in strength, Inne played reasonably well, keeping 8cers at bay most of the time. Defence was hugely reinforced the presence of Sam and Des, not to mention they looked threatening on the break as 8cers' libero often caught of guard. In the end, it took a few mistake, a brilliant back pass and two pair of tired legs for Ztec to seal the match.

With the amount of talent at their disposal, much was expected from the Z-lacticos, beautiful Floorball they played but not as clinical and deadly as we would have expected. Yet, a win for 8cers nevertheless and a step closer to the podium. As for Inne, they did put up a good fight but 3 excellent players is not enough to last a league, the team is still unfinished business.

MoMs:
Mind you, we did tried and tried hard we did in trying not to pick Sam but...
Although his team mates efforts were nonetheless significant as well, like his partner, Des forays which lifted some pressure off their half and Lin Ken's tipping off the near goals. But how can we not the defender who ran tireless all around, intercepting and blocking shots, laying passes and lobbing long balls initiating counters, not mentioning lasting the whole 40 mins!! The defensive lynch pin for Innebandy was ever present, minimising 8cers's damage to a mere 5 when 15 was predicted.

Ztec were uninspired for the night but one player in particular caught the eye. Sjaiful.
The defender was top notch playing the libero and was the heart beat of 8cers for the night. With the whole team pushing up high, he was the main man with the ball, dictating Ztec's offensive flow. At the same time, he was the last man against Innebandy's counter attack, using his experience and skills to neutralise most of the threats, other than the odd 2.

Match Review: The Come Back Spartans

Minden UniHawks vs. Frontliners Spartans
21th July 2009, Tuesday
4-5 (3-2, 1-3)

0255 1-0 Rishvan Sasidaran (Gary Chong)
0622 2-0 Sarah Ng Sue Yen (Christopher Koh)
1452 2 mins for incorrect substituition: Sanjeevan A/L Sivaraj(FLS)
1536 3-0 Sarah Ng Sue Yen
1558 3-1 Kenny Ng Yew Leng (Nicholas Teoh Ping Hooi)
1808 3-2 Khor Kuan Yang

0054 4-2 Rishvan Sasidaran (Sarah Ng Sue Yen )
0507 4-3 Nicholas Teoh Ping Hooi
0811 2 mins for incorrect hit: Lim Chin Jeck(MDU)
1043 4-4 Nicholas Teoh Ping Hooi (Kenny Ng Yew Leng)
1553 5-4 Lee Su Rong


In the matches before this, Frontliners Spartans had walked into the court holding the title of underdogs and relegation candidates.

But this time, the roles were reversed.

UniHawks were now the true underdogs, fighting for a chance to stay up, and Spartans were the high-flyers coming into this match.

UniHawks knew it was win or go down; Spartans knew it was win and exceed all prior expectations.


BBF interviewed Jason Chan Ming Hwee (MH) of Frontliners Spartans:

BBF: The Hawks sure did pull off a surprise by leading the score line for quite some time in the match. What were the strategies given and what were the expectations of the game?

MH: The Unihawks certainly played very well against us. They almost beaten us. I'd say they've beaten us if we weren't that lucky. Coach Kuan Yang said he wanted to try something newer than the usual gamble strategy he had been using. He wanted us to be more aggressive in our attacking against the Unihawks.


BFF: You guys were trailing off for some time and then bounced back, ultimately, winning the game. What do you think contributed to the win?
Unihawks played a very tight game. They counter-attacked us and got the best out of our flimsy defense. You can see the "Great Wall of China" in front of the UniHawks' goal. It was real stubborn defense. I have to give them the credit for that.

MH: I guess we probably had better fitness and slightly better overall skills, coupled with our never ending tries, so eventually that wall had to to be broken. Plus the fact we are more experienced in comebacks in the past. So that's a mental edge. I'm not too sure but they seem to slow down the second half, correct me if I'm wrong.


BBF: The league is coming to a close. Your last game will be against Contact? How do you foresee that game will turn out to be? Prediction?

MH: (Laughs) I'm not too sure about Contact. They're the best tactical team to me. We're probably one of the worst tactically. Winning or losing the next game won't change our fate anyway. Our coach might be thinking of experimenting new stuffs. My guess and prediction... Contact will have an advantage. Historically, we've never beaten them for years even when we tried hard. Of course I hope that we'll beat them this time round and maintain an unbeaten run.


BBF: Another win for the Spartans, looks like you guys are really turning the heat on in the league table this year. How do you feel as a coach/team manager/player so far and what are your hopes for the club?

MH: We're not there yet but we've definitely surpassed all our expectations. Silver in hand. This is the greatest achievement in our club's history so far.

I feel that all the effort, sweat, tears, hard work, and perseverance finally paid off. It was worth the wait. We were hungry and we didn't give up. Every blow is a step forward. I hope that the next generation of Spartans will continue to preserve the Spartan Spirit of never ever giving up till the day they reach the top. We can lose anything but the Spartan Spirit.

We still have lots of work to do. Its a long journey ahead. This is a big encouragement to many people in our club especially for myself and the coach. Finally we get to see some fruits after sowing for many many years :)


BBF: Lastly, who would you vote as the man of the match for Minden UniHawks and why?

MH: Who else if its not Sarah Ng. The big sister plays like a man. Now you know why she's the big sister. Scoring 2 important goals for the UniHawks. What else can I say?

************************************

(Note: BBF could not get hold of UniHawks interviewee, hence, the missing interview from UniHawks.)


Borak Says:
Carrard:
Many times UniHawks sliced through Spartans’ defence like a hot knife through butter. In other words, they bypassed Spartans’ defence with great ease, while Spartans found it hard to break down their compact and disciplined defence.

But hit a shot at goal enough times, and surely, at least one will go in (unless even God has decided to close the goalmouth). This looked to be Spartans’ philosophy that night, so it made a very entertaining, end-to-end, hit-and-run game by both sides.

In truth, UniHawks’ keeper had very little to do in the first half other than to pick the ball out of her net twice. This summed the whole match up for Spartans: lots of shots, but few quality ones. Kuan Yang was kept under close wraps all the way, Nick and Algin were often outmuscled by UniHawks’ tough men, while Sarah, Chris and Rish had a great time in attack, finding holes and channels everywhere to run in.

So what was the deciding factor that gave Spartans, and not UniHawks, the win?
I think it was UniHawks who scored and closed shop too early. Already after scoring the first two goals, all five retreated into defence, clustered around the goal, ready to hang on for the next thirty minutes for the win. Plausible, yes.
This enticed Spartans to attack more and more, and of course, left holes for speedy forwards like Rish to exploit, but the later the game wore on, the slower they ran. And Spartans made them pay.

In conclusion, this game was in no sense an epic, beautiful game. Rather, it was like street football: where it was twenty-a-side and free-for-all. Lots of guts and sweat and effort; beautiful in its own weird, ugly way.
No one deserved to lose that night...

MoMs:
It was Chris and Sarah for UniHawks who did all the behind-the-scenes work to make sure Spartans' charging forwards would not even get near the ball. But it is Sarah’s two goals that tip the balance in her favour, so she gets the pick once more. Her work ethic, willingness to step up to the occasion and all-round game play show why she’s still the top player among Penang’s ladies.

As for Spartans, pacey Nick Teoh gets our nod. Although still not fully converted into a Floorballer, he used his speed and trickery playing like a winger as he bombarded down the flanks. Always on the run, especially on the break when UniHawks' attacks were countered, the boy was not afraid to take on the defender as he penetrated UniHawks defence via sheer pacey or a nutmeg or two. He was the pivotal key that unlocked UniHawks stubborn defence leading Spartans to a narrow victory.

(A big thank you to MH for his time!)

Match Review: When size does not matter

Dalat Eagles vs. Contact FireAnts
16th July 2009, Thursday
2-5 (0-4, 2-1)

0139 0-1 Bryan Looi (Edward Lim)
0541 0-2 Own goal by Joel Steinkamp (DLE)
0700 0-3 Nicholas Yeoh
1319 0-4 Bryan Looi (Edward Lim)

0350 2 mins + 10 mins personal penalty for unsportsmanlike behaviour: Benjamin Ong (CFA)
0454 1-0 Norman Arno Kiehl
0505 1-1 Bryan Looi
0606 1-2 Robert Nollan (Jason Mark Selvanayagam)
0843 2 mins for incorrect pushing: Brian Richard Merusi (DLE)
1002 2 mins for incorrect pushing: Robert Thorne(DLE)
1234 2 mins for incorrect pushing: Mats Nordberg (DLE)

The Eagles against the Ants.
And that almost translated literally on court.
Eagles, huge and robust, while the Ants, small yet quick.
We had a quick chat with Jason Selva from Dalat Eagles and Penny Khoo of Contact FireAnts.

BBF interviewed Jason Selva (JS) of Dalat Eagles:

BBF: Firstly, BBF would like to apologize to Dalat Eagles for the 'missing' interview in the match against Ztec 8cers. We had some miscommunication in sending out the e-mails. Error on our part. Anyhow, looking back at that match, did you guys expect the score line to be that big?

JS: No, but we also weren’t trying after the second half started; it was more practice for us than anything else. I asked the guys not to worry about the score line and just try out some play that we had practiced.


BBF: After the big loss against Ztec, how did the team feel? Were you guys disheartened?

JS: We were a little disheartened but picked ourselves right back up and focused on the coming match. And was it hard to look forward to play this match against Contact or were the expectations the same like any of your previous matches, which was to have fun as a team? No it wasn’t hard. My concept is that my team has time to mourn and think over their loss and mistakes until our next practice time and then it’s all work again on getting down to business of practicing for the upcoming game….. and have fun.


BBF: Apparently, the match was pretty hard and rough out there in the court. What are your thoughts on that?

JS: I think it was as well but, like BBF said in the beginning, our team is made up of a bunch of “old men” and can’t run and if we do start running fast we can’t really stop very well. So sorry to those who were in the way. Unfortunately, because the other team didn’t know this they reacted to it.

BBF: The league is about to end with few more games at hand. How do you feel about your team and the progress that they've made so far?

JS: I think our team has done excellently well and even exceeded their own expectations of being at the bottom of the league and maybe even face relegation but to be starters and have 90% new players come out “on top” is an awesome feeling for me as a coach. I have a great
team that in due time will go places.


BBF: Lastly, who would you vote as the man of the match Contact and why?

JS: Bryan Looi; great plays, great runs and great goals.
BBF interviewed Penny Khoo (PK), captain of Contact FireAnts:

BBF: The most talked about issue in this match was the hard and rough play on court. Your player, Benjamin Ong, committed a 10minutes bench penalty. What are your thoughts on the rough play on court and your player, Ben Ong, when he committed that foul?

PK: In the heat of the game there will surely be some rough playing on court. We knew it will be a very physical game based on the built of Dalat’s players and their previous matches. We are constantly reminding our players to play hard but not rough on court and not to retaliate in the heat of the game. I trust that the team has learned a lot from this incident.


BBF: As always, we would like to know your tactical game plan in this match? Were there any specific objectives and instructions given?

PK: As always we just needed to play it the FireAnts style, with lots of passes, control the speed of the game and ENJOY!


BBF: 5-2. Are you satisfied with the score line? Or do you think you guys should have put more goals in and should not have let that 2 goals beaten your keeper?

PK: There weren’t any specific scoreline set for that game though we wanted to win. Of course it will be good to put in a few more goals and not concede any. But overall it was good.


BBF: This is your second straight win after beating Minden UniHawks in the previous match. How do you think Contact is doing in the league so far?

PK: So far so good. Our chances of getting a medal are very slim now. So we just wanted to enjoy every moment of our play, and walked away from the court knowing that we have done our very best.


BBF: Lastly, who would you vote as the man of the match for Dalat and why?

PK: Edwin. He was spectacular in his reflexes and guarded his post very well.

******************************

Borak Says:

Jose:
Contact FireAnts had a flying start in the first period as their quick switches caused the Eagles a lot of problems. They managed to find the net as early as the first minute and attacked the Eagles heavily in the first period, increasing their tally to 4 nothing. FireAnts had most of the possession and used it to great effectiveness, constantly threatening the opponents goal mouth.

The second period saw Dalat Eagles coming out with renewed vigour as they tried their best to look for some goals to close the gap. And their effort paid off as they managed to find the net twice poaching on some defensive errors by the Contact's defenders. As the match went on, the teams were getting more and more physical, which resulted in a few unnecessary 2 minutes bench penalties in the game.


MOMs:
Bryan Looi once again showed great touch and great control as he reaped the Eagles apart. Together with Edward and Nick upfront, they formed a deadly partnership with a lot of understanding and movement, which tend to catch defenders switching off at the most crucial moments. Got himself a hat-trick and showed class above his peers. Definitely a contender for All Star Forward in this coming PFL as the league is coming to an end.

Edwin Ooi, the goalie, showed a few amazing football like diving saves to constantly deny Contact FireAnts from adding on to their lead. Once again, he was called upon many times to help save the blushes for Dalat and he did his job well to keep them in the game. Absolutely spectacular saves that are rarely seen in the floorball scene.

Match Review: The Fast and Furious FireAnts.

Contact FireAnts vs. Minden UniHawks
14th July 2009, Tuesday
12-0 (7-0, 5-0)

0019 1-0 Bryan Looi (Edward Lim )
0702 2-0 Bryan Looi (Edward Lim )
1425 3-0 Bryan Looi
1425 Minden UniHawks' time out
1823 4-0 Joerel Marcus (Bryan Looi)
1847 5-0 Edward Lim
1918 6-0 Bryan Looi
1956 7-0 Nicholas Yeoh (Benjamin Ong)

0126 8-0 Henry Cheang
0145 9-0 Edward Lim (Bryan Looi)
0631 10-0 Joerel Marcus (Bryan Looi)
0747 11-0 Serene Tan (Nicholas Yeoh)
1030 12-0 Bryan Looi

Both teams knew they desperately needed a win.
Losing two games in a row, it was crunch time.
Contact FireAnts, last year's league winner, has been been struggling in this league. Losing two games reflected a weaker team this year as compared to last.
But of the two teams, the Hawks are the ones who are truly struggling to soar. Will they be able to punch a surprise with few of their players back from the semester break?
They couldn't.

BBF took a closer look into the heads of the coaches.


The following is the interrvew between BBF and Edward Lim (EL) of Contact FireAnts:

BBF: Contact FireAnts, like Minden UniHawks, have lost the first two games. Coming into the third game, you guys were surely going for a win. Knowing that you'll be playing against a technically and tactically weaker team such as UniHawks, as a coach, what was your approach for the game? Were there any specific areas in which you wanted your team to take advantage of?

EL: Our approach was simply to put a smile on our face, play the best that we can and have fun. Unlike the other games, we did not plan and strategize too much this time. After losing two games and the chances of even getting a medal are now very very slim, we just wanted the team to play well and enjoy themselves in the midst of doing that.


BBF: 12-0. That's a pretty huge score line. What were the initial expectations of the game? Did you expect to win this big?

EL: As mentioned, we did not plan too much this time. Honestly, while we did expect to win, I also expected it to be a rather tight game. Based on the last time we played UniHawks in a friendly, it should have been a tighter game. There were no expectations in terms of how big the score line should be.

BBF: Team Contact welcomed back Nic Yeoh and the rather newcomer Joerel Marcus. What do you think of their performance since they stepped into Contact FireAnts? And how have their presence help the team strategically?

EL: Yes, we really welcome people who can run in our team. *smile* Both of them have been asked to play center for their running abilities. Nic has grown up a little more and is now faster than we know him from the previous league, so that has helped the team somewhat. Joerel is also very fast, but has yet gotten into fully fitting in and understanding how we play. His speed however is truly an asset to the team. Without the both of them I am sure we would be much slower as a team than we are now, and that strategies would also somewhat have to change.

BBF: UniHawks have been struggling in this league so far, losing all of their three matches. Any word of advice or encouragement to this young team?

EL: Yes, keep looking ahead! The team is struggling because of their technical abilities which are obviously lacking compared to the other teams. That is also understandable because most of the players are younger in terms of exposure to Floorball compared to the other teams. So my advice to the team is for them to work on individual techniques, and be committed to grow together as a team. They can only get better and better as they play more and more.

BBF: Lastly, who would you vote as the man of the match for team Minden UniHawks and why?

EL: Christopher. He was the pillar at the back leading the defense. Without him the defense would be even more loose.


BBF also took some time to have a chat with Christopher Koh (CK) of Minden UniHawks:

BBF: Your third game and I'm sure you knew both your team as well as Contact will want a win desperately. What was your expectation of team Contact?

CK: We were definitely aiming to win. Nothing less. Like Edward, I honestly thought that it would be a close and tight match as well, especially since we have a couple of our players back from the semester break.

My expectation of team Contact was just like anyone else's - great team play and tactically smart. I knew however that we were mentally stronger than most of their players and I was banking for my team to score first just to get on to them. But turns out, they scored early in the first minute (laughs). That's floorball!

BBF: What was your approach this time around as a coach?

CK: The Dalat match proved that as a team, we just weren't there yet simply because as individual players, we lack technical skills. I approached the team differently this time around. I focussed more on the individual than the team this time. For each of my players, I specifically gave out 3 objectives for them to achieve and by the end of the match regardless of whether we win or lose to tell me if they feel they've achieved those objetives. Some did and some did not. I did this because I feel it will help them to focus a little more in the game rather than just dump a collective objective in which, some of them who are still new to floorball can't relate to due to. Having said that, I still did give them a team objective to harness a sense of team spirit and team goal.

BBF: As a coach, what are your feelings now that you've lost three games in a row with this being the biggest score line?

CK: First off, I must give credit to Contact FireAnts. They played beautifully as a team and to win 12-0, as hard for me to chew it down, it was a deserved win.

How do I feel? Depress! (Laughs). It's never easy losing three games in a row, what more with the fact that we have not scored a single goal on our part! As a coach, I must admit that it's not the most enjoyable ride and it's not easy for sure. It's not so much about losing the game 12-0 that depresses me but more so of reflecting back after each match and thinking to myself if I've made the right decisions and the right calls. That's the challenge for me as a coach. Nonetheless, I'm proud of my team. Go UniHawks!

BBF: What do you foresee for the upcoming matches against Frontliners and Ztec?

CK: It will be interesting. I'm looking forward for the one against Frontliners just to see if history will repeat itself (laughs). Hopefully we'll be able to pull off a surprise on them and bag a win back.

The one against Ztec will be interesting as well since it's the closing match. No doubt it will be tough but I think it will be good for the team to get a feel of playing against a good team like Ztec as the closing match. Tension will probably take a notch higher what not with all the supporters around. It will be quite something I reckon. Looking forward to it!


BBF: Lastly, who would you vote as the man of the match for team Contact and why?

CK: Bryan. This lad had a key link up with Edward Lim and Nic Yeoh. He understood the gameplay well and with his technical skills above average, he made full use of it to earn himself the vote as the man of the match. Great job!

*************************

Borak Says:
Jose:
It was a matter of how many Contact FireAnts would score in this game. It was totally a game for Minden UniHawks to forget as they gifted some really easy goals to Contact FireAnts throughout the game. FireAnts on the end were on fire from start to finish and were all over the opponents half of most of the time. It was really tough for Minden to get out of their own half, what more taking shots at the Contact goal. The off the ball movement from the Contact line 1 really made the difference as the notched up 10 out of the 12 goals. Constantly switching caused alot of headache for the Minden UniHawks defenders who many times left a player wide open for them to score from the slot.

Minden UniHawks must keep their heads up as they continue to battle for survival in Div 1. They are the only team that has yet to score a single point on the league table and surely will have alot of hardwork to do in the coming weeks. Hopefully they can get a draw or a win against Frontliners Spartans this coming tuesday or else they will have to leave it to the game against Ztec, which would definately put the final nail in the coffin for Minden UniHawks quest to survive Division 1.

MoMs:
Bryan Looi - The boy has been a pillar of strength for Contact FireAnts and in this game got himself 8 points (5+3). Constantly threatening the opponents with his flair and good ball control definitely a player to watch in the coming years as he mature in his game. Had a superb performance throughout the 40 mins. Hope to see more of such performances from him in the coming games.

Christopher Koh - He was rock solid on in this match trying to cut out wave and wave of attacks coming from Contact FireAnts. If it wasn't for him, Minden might have suffered a bigger trashing.

Match Review: Ztec too high-tec for Eagles.

Ztec 8cers vs. Dalat Eagles
9th July 2009, Thursday
20-1(6-0, 14-1)

0214 1-0 Oliver Cedric (Chiam Ter Min)
0856 2-0 Daniel Cheah (Chiam Ter Min)
1144 3-0 Oliver Cedric
1200 4-0 Jason Mark Selvanayagam (Own goal)
1324 5-0 Chiam Ter Min
1726 6-0 Chiam Ter Min
1827 2mins for roughing: Robert Thorne(DLE)

0131 7-0 Jeremy Yeap
0146 8-0 Chiam Ter Min
0229 9-0 Loh Jo-Wyee
0312 10-0 Yeoh Jun Wooi
0345 Dalat Eagles' Time Out
0454 11-0 Oliver Cedric (Chiam Ter Min)
0505 11-1 Jason Mark Selvanayagam
0610 12-1 Jeremy Yeap (Loh Jo-Wyee)
1037 2mins for incorrect hit: Robert Thorne (DLE)
1103 13-1 Daniel Cheah
1103 Ztec 8cers' time out
1240 14-1 Chiam Ter Min (Daniel Cheah)
1426 15-1 Daniel Cheah (Chiam Ter Min)
1538 16-1 Chiam Ter Min (Yeoh Jun Wooi)
1605 17-1 Jeremy Yeap
1649 18-1 Wong Ken Wye
1852 19-1 Daniel Cheah (Yeoh Jun Wooi)
1943 20-1 Oliver Cedric (Wong Ken Wye)

What a score line!
BBF had a hard time listing down the goalscorer and assists in this match.

..............

Hmmm....


Really, if you think about it, the score pretty much sums it up! Nonetheless, we caught up with Jeremy Yeap of Ztec 8cers to talk a little about the game and how his team performed.

BBF intervew with Jeremy Yeap (JY) of Ztec 8cers:

BBF: The biggest win in the league. Did you guys expect to win this big? What was the strategy?

JY: Indeed it is the biggest win in the league. We were actually hoping to get about 12 goals only, so 20 goals is really a blessing to us. We want to win big, but we really did not expect to win this big, 20-1. Especially when we only manage to get 6 goals in the first period. Our strategy was simple, to play as a unit and have a fast paced game.


BBF: I'm sure you guys were aiming to keep a clean sheet for the keeper. What happened to the first goal?

JY: We wanted to try our best to keep a clean sheet. That's for sure, but we also know that it's a tough job to do especially when we are focusing hard on scoring. The goal was really unexpected. It came from nowhere. Nevertheless, it was a superb shot taken by Jason. It was actually a defensive error caused by me as I was asking Daniel to fall back to mark a running man which eventually caused an opening in the wall. Jason saw that opening and took that shot which then resulted to the goal. All in all, it was a good shot and quick thinking by Jason.


BBF: After the draw against Frontliners, this game would surely boost your team spirit. 2 more games to go. As far as a team is concern, do you think you guys are improving after each match? Is Ztec consistent in its performance? If so, why?

JY: Yes, it did boost our team spirit. It gave us a lot of confident to perform better, but it might be a stumbling block for us as well. This is partly because our players might get too comfortable and be too confident in themselves. Being confident is not a bad thing, but it could risk our players into playing individually with the aim for self glory. This is what happen to our previous games. We manage to win big in our game against Contact and then the following game we messed things up as a unit when we played against Frontliners. We really do hope that we have all learned our lessons well and that history will not repeat itself again. Our players have been improving a lot, not as an individual, but as a team. So far, we have been very consistent in having an up and down performance. I hope the up and down trend will end in our following games. We want to continue to give our very best in the remaining games until the very end. I believe that if we try hard enough we could break that see-saw jinx soon.


BBF: Surely to have a squad with the most national players in it is a threat to the other teams. And you guys have proven that by staying unbeaten so far. Personally and honestly, do you feel Ztec may be a little too strong for the rest?

JY: I personally do not think that having a "National Player" tag on most of our players play an important role in winning games nor do they provide a threat to the other teams. Yes, mentally it might scare some other teams off, but if every player truly believes in himself and his team, I'm pretty sure that particular team will go a distance. We might have been unbeaten so far, but we're not unbeatable and Frontliners have proven that point to all of us. Therefore, I seriously do not believe that we are too strong for the rest. We are where we are right now because we strive to play as a team. More often than never, our captain will remind our players will shed their "National Player" label and "I'm The Best" mentally when we play together because we truly believe that everyone of us plays an important role on court. National or not national, we need each another's help and services when we step onto the court. I really believe that no man is an island, but I do believe that Together Everyone Achieve More.


BBF: Lastly, who do you think is the man of the match for Dalat and why?

JY: This is a very hard question for me as I have two players in mind, Jason and Edwin. I thought about Jason not because of his goal against us, but because of the way he led the team and guided them through the entire game. As for Edwin, he was really brave and he gave his all in the game. If it wasn't for him I believe we could have gotten a few more goals. I think personally I would go for Edwin because of his bravery and also because he was left open many times by his defenders to handle our hard hitting forwards alone.

Borak Says:
Jose:
Ztec 8cers showed exactly why they are the best team in the league by crushing Dalat Eagles with such a huge scoreline. From start to finish, there was never a moment of doubt who was going to win this match as they totally dominate every single department on the court. Goal after goal and there was just no stopping them.

Dalat tried to hang on in there by playing abit more defensive in the second period, but just couldn't control the game as they were getting tired of the 8cers constantly 'zooming' around them. The final stats for the shot on target was 57 against 15. Ztec 8cers will be hoping that they will continue their good run of form when they meet Innebandy in one and a half weeks time.

MoMs:
Termin Chiam for 8cers. He was on 'fire' in this game has he managed to get 10 points (5+5) out of this game, which puts him on top of the point chart. The Ztec's line 1 attacks were mostly started by him and Jeremy and they were very effective in opening the Dalat defence time after time. Scored 3 superb slap shots against Edwin, which he couldn't do much about.

The Eagles top performer for the night would be Edwin. The goalie had TOO much to do on the receiving end. Hardly a moment to rest for him as he tried his very best in stopping every shot that came his way. Managed to make a few spectacular looking saves for the spectators to cheer about. It is quite often that a goalie receives the MOM title, when a team gets hits by a huge goal margin.

(A big thank you to Jeremy for taking time out with BBF!)

Match Review: Spartans too strong!

Frontliners Spartan vs. Innebandy! Co.
7th July 2009, Tuesday
3-2 (3-0, 0-2)

0255 1-0 Kenny Ng
1315 2-0 Kenny Ng
1735 3-0 Kew Pei Li (Nicholas Teoh)

1400 3-1 Deswyn Wan (Sam Teoh)
1938 3-2 Deswyn Wan

The cursed match.
Innebendy has never beaten Frontliners before.
And so the end of a gruesome fight between the both, the curse stood unshaken, unbreakable.

The mighty Spartans continued their victorious endeavour yet again, toppling the Inne-credibles. Surely, they must be on a high by now. Let's see what both managers have to say about the match.

BBF interviewed Sam Teoh (ST) of team Innebendy:

BBF: Frontliners managed to steal a point when they played against Ztec. They have definitely surprise all of us in the league. Were you more cautious in your approach against Frontliners? What was the strategy?

ST: Not really. Because I believe in my team that we are capable to play them. Besides, most of us played floorball longer than most of the Spartans. The strategy was to play like how we played in the previous two matches. But I guess this strategy wasn't good enough as we were down 3 goals in the first period.


BBF: Your defensive line has been a major issue in this league. Besides inexperience, what else do you think contributed to the goals scored by Frontliners against Innebandy?

ST: Our defensive line played the tightest so far compared to all the previous games. However Spartans was able to capitalised on their strength which gave them the lead. We were not playing hard enough against them on the 1st period.


BBF: There's a huge dependency from your team mates on Deswyn and yourself. Is it a good thing or a bad thing? How does this affect the team as whole?

ST: To people the team seems to rely on both of us more, but to me all the Innebandiens played to their best potential. The score board doesn't only show both of our names. Captain E, Valerie, Nic, Andrew, Darien and Rooban made it as well. Just because we are the ones creating the opportunity doesn't mean that they are not playing their role well. All of the teams in Div 1 are also relying on their national capped players. If it affects my team, it will affect every clubs and the whole Div 1 as well.


BBF: Your first loss of the league. How did the team take it? As a coach, what is the one thing you would want your team to improve to play against a team like Frontliners?

ST: The team wasn't shaken by the defeat at all I would say. As long as Innebandy!Co played together and tight as a team, it will not be a defeat to us at all. It was a good game of Floorball after all. In my opinion it wasn't hard to play against Frontliners at all. We made 2 easy goals against them on the 2nd period. However they managed to maintain the lead over us until the end of the game. As a coach, I would like to see my team to improve on their ball possession during a game playing against team like Frontliners.


BBF: Lastly, who would you vote as the man of the match for Frontliners and why?

ST: Kenny Ng. He is just full of energy.

At the other end, we caught up with Jason Chan Ming Hwee (MH) of team Frontliners for the interview:

BBF: Coming out against a team like Innebandy is never easy. Apparently you gambled once again? What was the game plan this time around?

MH: We gambled, because our coach loves to gamble. Innebandy has beaten us before during the pre-league friendlies, 8-3. The gameplan was the same, line one, defensive, line two getting out there for the goals. True enough Line two scored all the goals. Spartans play in a very simple and straight forward play reason being, were not so good technically. :)


BBF: You guys pushed really hard in the first period but then played more conservative in the second half with a tighter defense. However, you guys still let in two goals. What happened? Was that a case of bad strategy?

MH: I think people assume our strategy was to play aggressive first half then lie low in the second half. Hmmm... not true. We "tried" to play hard all the time. BUT the general fitness of the team got PUNCTURED in the second half. So relatively, it looks like defence was tighter because we played more in our half. Innebandy pushed harder the second half, knowing that they've got nothing to lose with 3 goals down. With Deswyn organising the attacks, we hunted him down every step he took. Anybody running against him will always get tired because you know he's fit like a bull. Good call by their coach. They capitalized on our slowdown. If the game was to be played another period, we would have lost to Innebandy. It was all "mental" at the end of the day.

I think that the 2 goals we conceded were not due to wrong strategy, but small petty mistakes which proved to be costly. First one, because Kuan Yang (mental tak kuat) went out of the court at the wrong time. Second goal was due to Steven's assumption (terlebih relax) that there's no one around when suddenly Deswyn appeared to score.


BBF: What do you think was Innebandy's weakness and how did you capitalize on those weakness?

MH: Innebandy needs time to build up in their attacks. In the past, they've always played in a very organized manner - quick passes, well coordinated game play. However, this style is only played within their stronger line.

They use to have Deswyn, being the centre, Sam being the forward and Nick being the marksman. That trinity no longer exist when Nick could no longer play due to injury. Deswyn can supply the ball, but unfortunately, the finishing was lacking.

Lack of defensive strength, made Sam a little more conservative than his usual style. Perhaps, due to that , he made less run ups than during the pre-league friendly match.

Innebandy is generally not a physical team. Side by side, Spartans are more physical. That's also why the game was faster because there were not many fouls.

We were gambling from the start. So I wouldn't say we capitalize on anything. Its a gamble. That's it.


BBF: Frontliners have been cruising in this league and have definitely surprised all of us. What do you expect of the upcoming matches in hand?

MH: Surprised all of us? WE ARE ALSO SHOCKED.

Borak-borak has already written us off since day one. Our pre-league games have sold us off. Team had low morale. Technically we're inferior to the other teams around. Coach had a headache with lack of players.

Because of all these, we didn't have expectations from the start. Our challenge was about getting the team together, work together as one, support one another, and get ourselves super highly motivated. That was the challenge.

When we stop thinking about winning that's when we play better. We just want to play like SPARTANS. Doesn't matter who's the opponent, we will play them hard.

So what's the expectations? Well, we don't really care because we just want to play our game and develop our new and younger ones.

Next few games will be tough because we will lose 2 important players but we will try our best to win every game and take it a step at a time. All opponents in division 1 are strong or else they wouldn't be here.


BBF: Lastly, who would you vote as the man of the match for Innebandy and why?

MH: I would give Deswyn Wan for the man of the match. Do I even need to explain???

****************************************

So at the end of the day, it was really a close fight, it all came down to 'mental'.
Frontliners still at their peak while Innebendy faced their first loss of the league.
Seems to us that Frontliners is messing up the league table.
But they sure won't mind, and will be glad to be doing so until the league ends!
Bravo to team Spartans!

Borak Says:
Carrard:
It was Spartans who raced into a shock 3-0 lead very early on, making it a nightmare opening for Innebandy.

There was good distribution and penetration in attack, but when the ball came into their own half, the players kept backing and backing, giving Spartans seemingly all the time in the world to waltz through their static line. Not enough cover from the center in defence, and no cutting edge nor creativity, if compared to Spartans’ direct approach.

The two goals conceded by Spartans were schoolboy errors by two of their most experienced players. Credit is given where credit is due, and both teams deserve equal credit: Spartans for extending their fairytale run (they do seem to have a lot of those..), Innebandy for never giving up.

However, this 3-2 scoreline is like a pretty cloth covering a whole lot of questions and shortcomings.

For Innebandy, it just takes an off-form Deswyn and Sam for the team to look very ordinary. It will be interesting to see how they can rebound against a flying Ztec. Win, and the title race stays wide open. Lose and all but hand the title to Ztec. All of Penang will be waiting for this match with bated breath, I can tell you.

For Spartans, how long can this crazy streak last? Will they stumble against winless UniHawks, like last year and forsake all chances of getting a medal? If they win, it will most certainly be an entertaining final round in this league!

Jose:

Kudos to the Spartans as they continued their amazing run of form by beating Innebandy by 3 goals to 2. Frontliners has always been the nemesis to the mighty Innebandy and has not lost to Innebandy for almost a year now (NOT including the 8-3 Pre-season Friendly). In this match, Spartans started the match just like how they played Ztec 8cers, defending tightly using their 1st line and going gung ho with their second line. And it was the second line, that got the goals for them all in the first period of the game. The Spartans really defended like Spartans in the first period, getting to every single lose ball and neutralizing Deswyn from the center. Innebandy weren't able to get a single shot at Sharon's goal.

The 2nd period saw Innebandy not giving up as they tried to close the gap of the scoreline. Tired legs and a lost of focus saw Innebandy reducing the 3 goal deficit to 1, but it was all too late as the Spartans were able to survive the onslaught in the dying minutes of the game. Innebandy were really lacking both in defence and attack on that day. They would have done better, if Nicholas was available for this league as they sorely miss his goal poaching instincts in front of goal.

MoMs:
Kenny Ng, who shows you what cutting edge really means. No opening? He makes one. And in this game, he waltzed through Innebandy’s defence, took one look up and coolly lifted the ball past Lin Ken. Twice. He wins this title hands down.

For Inne, a pretty obvious one. They too boast a 2 goal hero, Deswyn Wan. The centre was the rise and the fall of the team. Tightly marked and without sufficient support, the team look ordinary in the first. But give him an inch or two, he'll turn tables and punished you. Spartans were at the receiving at as they huff and puff in the second period, conceding goals via silly mistakes, almost cost them the game if not for the final whislte.

(3 cheers to Sam and Jason for their insights!!)

Match Review: The Eagles preyed on the Hawks

Dalat Eagles vs Minden UniHawks
2nd July 2009, Thursday
5-0(3-0, 2-0)

0700 1-0 Norman Arno Kiehl
1432 2-0 Robert Thorne (Robert Nollan)
1458 Repeated offences - Lim Chin Jeck(MDU)
1701 3-0 David Alain Thomas

0508 4-0 Norman Arno Kiehl
1520 5-0 Robert Thorne (David Alain Thomas)
1625 Time Out - Minden UniHawks

The Eagles proved too strong for the young Hawks in the match that saw them preying a 5-0 win.
How did they do it? And what went wrong with the Hawks? BBF took time out with both team managers for a brief interview.

Jason Selva (JS) team manager of Dalat Eagles shares his thoughts with BBF:

BBF: Congratulations! Your first win! Just like UniHawks, this was probably a match in which you guys stood a chance to win. What were the expectations prior to the match?

JS: Thanks. No expectations. Just came to play, give our best and have lots of fun as well.


BBF: Frankly speaking, you guys are way older than most of the UniHawks players (age wise). Knowing that you will be coming up against a young team, what were the strategies that came to play?

JS: Strategy…. Just keep shooting and keep trying to score whenever possible.


BBF: Dalat Eagles surprised all of us by scoring the first goal. What were the strengths of Dalat Eagles which contributed to the goals and what were the weaknesses of Minden UniHawks that granted you that opportunity?

JS: No expectations of winning was a big contributing factor, we surprised ourselves as well. Altho’ old, most of our guys have lots of stamina which halfway through the 1st period we saw lots of the UniHawks players sort of gasping for breath already. So we took full advantage of that.


BBF: Your first win of the league. How far do you want to take Dalat Eagles in the league? Is there any set expectation/objective as a team?

JS: No expectations….. Just playing to stay in the division.


BBF: Lastly, who would you vote as the man of the match for Minden UniHawks and why?

JS: The team and our fans that followed us that evening voted Sarah Ng man of the match. They liked her style of playing and the way she sort of looked for pockets to pass the ball to and generally played like a guy.


Lee Wai Wai (WW) team manager of Minden UniHawks shares her thoughts with BBF in the following interview:

BBF: Facing Dalat Eagles was probably a good chance for the Hawks to steal a win. What were the expectations prior to the match?

WW: Definitely to win, no doubt.


BBF: Defensively, you guys weren't as strong as your first match. While at the other end, offensively, you guys did manage to penetrate several times but just couldn't convert them into goals. What were the strategies given and what do you think went wrong?

WW: The strategies were 1) Pass more and shoot when there is opportunity. 2) Players play high with a last man. 3) EVERYONE runs down for defense.


BBF: Apparently, you guys did score a goal but it was beyond the referees view point, hence, they disallowed it. What is your take on that?

WW: Referees are not perfect. They can be crappy too sometimes. Just have to live with it.


BBF: 2 losses in a row. It seems like a tough run in the league for the Hawks. As a manager, what are the challenges you face in such times?

WW: Losing 2 games in a row is tough. Losing this match especially is tougher. Challenges I face in such times? 1) Contact 2) Frontliners 3) Ztec. Three more challenges to go. The toughest challenge is not to win a game/league. It is to get the players to be disciplined to play the plan.


BBF: Lastly, who would you vote as the man of the match for Dalat Eagles and why?

WW: Edwin, the goalie. Though not many nice shots were taken from us, he was able to block the few nice ones (top corner) by Sarah.


Borak Says:
Bendy:
A match of equals. Both teams have their own strengths and weaknesses and have the ability to outdo one another. Unfortunately for UniHawks, the fragile squad depth has once again lead to their down fall.

The Hawks started brightly with threatening offensive display led by Chris and Sarah who both tested Edwin in the Eagles' goal early on. The Hawks even had a superb goal that went unnoticed by the referees as it hit the inner bar and bounce out in a flash of a second. The Eagles then took over as they punished the Hawks through fast counter attacks, capitalising on their superior speed cum some sloppy defending from the other camp.

The inability to provide sufficient rotation meant that UniHawks were left chasing shadows as they struggle to keep up with their opponent as Dalat dominated the second period. Although the more established players like Chris and Sarah tried hard to penetrate, they failed to add the finishing touch, and their supplies of ammunition up front often ended up in disappointment as the forwards failed to convert.

UniHawks boast with better core players, but prefer to "distribute" rather than "deliver". The distribution failed due to the broken chain in the offences as the forwards did not "finish" their job. Although the shallow squad depth played a huge part in their defeat, they certainly would have boosted their chances if they had a few proper shooters.

Eagles, although made up of majority inexperience players, won the match because they took their chances. With Jason pumping the ball upfront, and Norm and co. converting it. Man to man, the Hawks were more technical, but the Eagles care not as the muscled through and whack the balls in sight. In the end, it was the more clinical team that won.

Jose:

This might be the match that determines, which team will get relegated to Div 2 next year. And Dalat looked like the better side on that night, putting 5 goals pass Minden UniHawks. From the start of the game till the final whistle, Dalat were able to control the game for long periods and used their young players up front to constantly put pressure on the UniHawks defenders keeping them on their toes.

UniHawks missed their "absent" players alot as they did not have enough people to change with and were looking rather tired coming into the 2nd period of the game. Besides that, they would need to bolster up on their finishing as they rarely threaten the Dalat goalie throughout the match. Having their full squad back would be a tremendous boost for the UniHawks as they will be playing tougher teams in the coming weeks and hopefully they will be able to pull off a surprise by upsetting the odds and staying up in Div 1 next year. GO UNIHAWKS!

MoMs:
Norm from Dalat Eagles was lively as ever on court. Having adequent experience with the game, he was the main threat of Dalat as he was constantly on the run for loose ball and poucing onto Jason's long clearance. If not, he himself will be on the move, dribbling the ball up and releasing venomous shots on goal, pocketing 2 goals for the night.

Sarah Ng, the State and National player from Minden UniHawks proved to be the vital key player. Her tireless effort up front was courageous, unleashing several laudable shots that really tested Dalat's keeper. She kept their defensive line busy with her audacious runs. Moreover, her contribution in defense was priceless as well. She covered well in the centre, to help her rather shaky defensive line. Great job to the Captain!

(Big thank you to Jason Selva and Lee Wai Wai for their time!)

Match Review: Spartans 'whoosh-ed' out Ztec.

Ztec 8cers vs Frontliners Spartan
30th June 2009, Tuesday
3-3(1-1, 2-2)

0636 Hands - Chan Ming Hwee(FLS)
1112 0-1 Kenny Ng
1551 1-1 Ter Min
1902 Incorrect pushing - Chong Wei Jian(FLS)

0352 1-2 Su Rong
0529 1-3 Algin Tan
0649 2-3 Oliver Cedric
0931 Lying play - Kenny Ng(FLS)
1148 Incorrect hit - Kuan Yang(FLS)
1354 Incorrect entering of the rink - Sanjanvan(FLS)
1409 3-3 Jo-Wyee(Oliver Cedric)
1655 Incorrect hit - Stevan Tay(FLS)

SOTs 16-15

Definitely the most entertaining match so far.
The story of the underdog rising up to the occasion against the best team in the league almost came true for Frontliners Spartan.
But it just wasn't meant to be. So near yet so far. We shall leave the reviews to both the teams. BBF caught up with Ztec's captain of the night, Oliver, and Frontliners Spartan's coach, Khor Kuan Yang, for further insights on the match.

The following is the interview between BBF and Ztec's captain, Oliver (O):
BBF: Frontliners came out hard with a point to prove. Did you guys expected them to play that hard offensively or did you guys expected them to go for the defense instead? What were the expectations prior to the match?

O: We did expect a tough match as we knew they had hard hitting and fast players. We also knew that it would have been a challenge for us as we did not have our full squad there that night and that we would be tired out. We have speed that can match theirs, however, how long can one keep running like that? It was obvious that we were tired out. We knew that they had their runners like Nicholas and Kenny back with them, so we expected a tiring and tough match ahead.


BBF: You guys were without the presence of Sjaiful and Hafiz. Did that actually affected the team's spirit, performance and game play?

O: Well, first and foremost, Ztec is a TEAM. Not having just one of its players there would mean a lot. In this case, two of our players were not able to make it. I would say yes, the team was affected. However, the spirit of Ztec was still alive. We did what we could, played with all our hearts. WE also definitely had to come up with a new game play that would suit our situation. So the answer is yes, Ztec was really affected without the presence of two of our players.


BBF: Frontliners pulled a surprise by hitting in the first goal. Obviously that affected your team's confidence. But they didn't stop there. They extended their lead by 3-1 later on in the game. Did you and your boys dropped mentally after that? And if so, what were the strategies or steps taken to counteract those situations?

O: Well, every team dreams of scoring the first goal. In this case, Frontliners had that dream come true. Kudos to them. It was obvious that our mental dropped as we were already tired. And you know that when you're exhausted, your mind and your thinking would not be working well. The match against Frontliners was not Ztec's best game. We were going too fast and playing not as a team. After the half time, Jeremy, our coach, gave a few words, that really boosted us up. And that was when we made a comeback. We started playing as a team again. Movement, flow, that's what Floorball is all about. We played with our heads and also our hearts.


BBF: Much has been said regarding Ztec's capability of winning every match in the league. However, you guys almost lost in this particular match but in the end, emerged strong and manage to grab a point a piece. Is it right for BBF to say that the confidence that you guys have as a team has, to a certain level, been dampened after this match? How will this draw affect your team?

O: Well, it is true that the morale of the players after this match has been a little dampened. Which team wouldn't feel that way? But this will NEVER keep us down. We may feel down for awhile, but I know my guys, and I believe in them. This is just a wake up call and a trigger that would make us come back roaring louder than ever. Ztec will never want a repeat of what happened. And we will NOT allow it to repeat itself. Individual players in Ztec are good, but put us together and Ztec becomes a team that is a force to reckon with. We will perform again. This will not hold us down.


BBF: Last but not least, who do you think should be voted as the man of the match for team Frontliners? And why?

O: Man of the Match would definitely, in my opinion got to Kenny. I believe He was the one running the most. His speed and Good positioning was reason of Ztec having a hard time due to fatigue. His presence was truly felt. Great job Kenny. Awesome runs.


The following is the interview between BBF and Frontliners Spartan's coach, Khor Kuan Yang (KY):

BBF: Going up against a team like Ztec is never easy. What more when the odds are against you. What was the strategy that you came up with to play against a team like that?

KY: One word, Gamble (laughs). Gamble with some tight defending from the first line, with one lone forward harassing their defender; gamble with counter attacks by supplying long ball; gamble again with the second line with our speedy forwards to get some goals.


BBF: Obviously, your strategy worked for you since you guys banked in the first goal and later on, led by 3-1. Do you think the gamble your team took paid off OR do you think Ztec wasn't at their best? What do you think was Ztec main weak link in this particular match that has helped you guys earned the draw?

KY: Weak line? Do they have one (laughs)? I believe there were several elements that determine the result for the match. Sjaiful and Hadfiz's absence certainly played a part as Ztec had less rotation in defence which resulted in offensive players like Ter Min dropping down to fill the void; their finishing was pretty off on that night, fortunate for us, especially the close range ones; and I was banking they would start slow like they did in our previous friendly, and press them early on.

On our side, I tried and get the players' mind set correct and urged them to put on a fight against Ztec. Which they did. Especially in defence, the defending although at times desperate but they showed more discipline in tracking back and keeping it as tight as possible compared to the previous match. All this, adding on to our gamble have contributed to the result.


BBF: You guys led... twice! 1-0 and then 3-1. But eventually, succumbed to Ztec's attacking forces and ended up gaining a draw instead. As a coach, are you upset with the results when you're this close from clinching a win from a team like Ztec? What do you think went wrong?

KY: I would say we led a bit too early. It was just 5 minutes into the second half, and against Ztec, it would be a bit too dangerous to drop down too deep, so we continued to press on, but this time it just didn't work out like the first half. How I wish the game would have ended when we scored the third (laughs).

The consecutive sending offs later on certain didn't help and there were a lot tired legs on the court. Some were pretty dubious and frustrating, but that is the nature of the game, these are things that you cannot control so we move on and thankfullly, we managed to held on for the draw.

Upset? No at all.
It was a gamble from the start. You gain some, you lose some. 3 goals was totally out of the blue and way above expectation. Although it was a bit disappointing, but I am still happy with the draw nevertheless.


BBF: Your team is definitely boosted for the games ahead after this rather unexpected draw. Fancy going for a silver or bronze now?

KY: Its a tough call. It is always a coach's nightmare when expectations are building up fast and high, where players become overconfident and lose focus during the match. And I must say, Frontliners have a long history of crumbling when things go too well (laughs).

Definitely a booster for the team, but I hope they keep their heads down and look forward to the coming matches. The league is still an unfinished marathon. Innebandy, UniHawks, FireAnts, all formidable foes. The highest quality of focus and the same attitude and fighting spirit is much needed for the games ahead, I hope the players would give their best in the remaining matches like how they did on Tuesday, and only by the final whistle, we look back at the result. Let the process determine our final standing.


BBF: Finally, who would you vote as the man of the match for team Ztec? Why?

KY: This is really testing me because there was barely anytime to focus on the opponent during the match.
Jeremy and Oliver did caught my eye in the match. Jeremy with his mazzy runs and threatening distribution up front. Oliver, like always, hard runner and took quite a number of shots.

I would have to go for Oliver. Was continuously on the run, and not afraid to go in for a tussle, a pain for defenders. Moreover, tested Sharron on numerous occasion and scored one pass her.

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If you guys missed this match, it's really a blow. Wonderful match and great floorball from both sides.

This draw could well be in favour not just for Frontliners, but also for the rest of the teams in the league to know that, the much talked about Ztec 8cers can be stopped. For Ztec, however, it is a wake up call. And will they wallow in defeat after this draw? We reckon not. Just like their captain said, they will definitely be more cautious and furious than ever from hence forth.


Borak Says:
Carrard:
On paper, it looked like only one side could win.
On court, it was anything but that.

And that’s the whole beauty of it.

Frontliners Spartans took the game to Ztec right from the very start. Throughout the first half, Ztec looked nothing like the team they were against Contact. Lacking imagination and drive through the center, they gave Spartans too much breathing space. The ball was moving very well in Ztec’s own half, but once it crossed the half-way line, there was only one way to go: down the sides. A Ztec onslaught was expected in the second half, but whatever magic Kuan Yang had in him, he certainly turned it on in his half-time talk. In the first few minutes, Spartans hit Ztec with a double, and it looked like Ztec were staring at an embarassing defeat. Yet they slowly but surely gained ascendancy in the game, pressing forward and pushing the Spartans further back, stringing some great cross-court passes together. Inevitably, they levelled the scores, but only after another scare when Kenny of Spartans had the ball in the net only for the goal to be called off.

In a way, it was sad to see Spartans ending up with just one point after an amazing fight where Spartans posed many questions about Ztec’s title credibility. Some might consider this draw as a victory for the Spartans, but it is up to them to hit the ground running and show that this wasn’t a one-off thing. And who better to prove it to than against undefeated Innebandy? Fresh from their great win over Contact, Ztec were brought down hard to the ground and given a dose of humility. They now know what not to do in a match against underdogs. This will help them against Dalat Eagles: another team that plays hard and keeps fighting. Will they have learnt their lesson by then?

MoMs:
Steven Tay. What a day for the captain marvel of Frontliners to roll back the years. Each time he plays, he manages to exude an aura of calmness, bringing a positive feeling to the defence, but in this game, there was something extra. Making block after block, enduring cramp after cramp, and he still managed to do it all with a smile. Perhaps a little at fault for the second goal, giving Oliver too much time and space to shoot. So not a perfect game, but an excellent one, by any standards.

From the opposing end, Jeremy Yeap of team Ztec 8cers seemed to get the nod from everyone else. Spending months in the States without much exposure to floorball, one would wonder if this guy has anything to offer for Ztec. Well, wonder no more. This guy showed how valuable he is with his versatility in the team.

With his team down 1-3, he stepped up his game, playing more forcefully in defense while at the same time daringly pushing himself up front to help the attacking line in some fire power. Although his shots were all over the place, his effort caught our eyes. In addition, he seemed more compose than the rest of his team mates even though they were down by two goals. His presence both in defense and attack was a constant threat to Frontliners. And considering the fact that he's been away for quite a while, not bad at all.
He's got two thumbs up from Borak Borak!