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