Contact FireAnts vs. Frontliners Spartans
28th July 2009, Tuesday
6-2 (4-2, 2-0)
28th July 2009, Tuesday
6-2 (4-2, 2-0)
0358 0-1 Own goal by Nicholas Yeoh (CFA)
0548 2 mins bench penalty for Header: Joerel Marcus(CFA)
1040 0-2 Lee Su Rong (Khor Kuan Yang)
1208 1-2 Nicholas Yeoh (Bryan Looi)
1402 2-2 Bryan Looi (Nicholas Yeoh)
1422 3-2 Nicholas Yeoh (Edward Lim)
1640 4-2 Bryan Looi (Nicholas Yeoh)
0457 2 mins bench penalty plus 10 mins personal penalty for Unsportsmanlike Behaviour: Henry Cheang (CFA)
0551 5-2 Nicholas Yeoh (Bryan Looi)
0836 Time out by Frontliners Spartans
1434 6-2 Bryan Looi
1746 2 mins bench penalty plus 10 mins personal penalty for Unsportsmanlike Behaviour: Henry Cheang (CFA)
It looked like a case of the culmination of two trends: one upward and another downward. Contact FireAnts reached their peak. Frontliners Spartans hit their bottom.
Contact FireAnts, after starting poor and slow, hit jackpot that day. Frontliners Spartans, after starting on turbo boosters and having had all cylinders firing, finally grinded to a rude stop.
Too bad this game counted for nothing.
Let’s look at the different reactions from the team managers.
BBF talked to Kuan Yang (KY) of team Frontliners Spartan about the match and the league:
KY: Yes, our first loss. To some it might mean no chance for gold; a halt in our unbeaten run, but coming into this match, as a team, we have already exceeded our own expectations. Plus, realistically, I don't see Ztec throwing away their last game (laughs). Because of that, I have decided to tweak the team a little for the final match. First, is to give some of the players who have sat with the team throughout the league and yet had played little time extra game time; and also to expose certain players to different positions as it is important for me, as a coach to understand my players more and so hopefully to improve the team as a whole in the future. Did we achieve it? I would yes, to a certain extent, but as the result suggests, there's a whole lot of areas to work on.
BBF: As a coach for your team, what do you think is the biggest hurdle against a team like Contact FireAnts with the types of players you have currently?
KY: Contact strength has always been their team play. Their movement as a team, with or without the balls and their team synergy is their main weapon. Compared to Spartans, well, we have always build the team based on physical fitness and speed but we always have big headaches tactically. We often pressed up to high and failed to dropped back quickly enough or we would run around, headlessly as the ball is being move around. Which I thought was well proven in the match. FireAnts capitalised on us pressing high, and hit us hard at the counter.
BBF: Looking back at the league as a whole, which match do you think was the hardest one for the team?
KY: Hmmm.. I would like to say all games are hard (laughs). But to pick one, I would have to go for the match against UniHawks. Boy did they make us sweat. In truth, I was well aware of Minden's ability to hit us at the counter but not with that kind of effectiveness. Down by 3 goals within the first 10 minutes and crawling back up and win by a goal, it was the craziest match ever!
BBF: This is your last game of the league and it's safe to say that Frontliners, without a doubt, has been one of the few teams that have risen to the occasion. As a coach, how do you feel your team fare and what do you have to say to them?
KY: It seemed to be a trend for Frontliners to struggle and fight for our life in Penang League, and if things go too well, normally we would fall at the very end when it matters most, like last year. This year, the team faced a lot of setbacks in preparation and personally, we were expecting the worst. However, with the Spartan spirit burning and raging, it kind of gave the team an extra kick during matches, and with a few calculated gambles, it brought us unexpected results. Getting a medal was never in the plan, so looking at where the team is on the league table, I would say we have way way surpassed expectation.
As for players, congratulations and see you in training! (Laughs)
BBF: Lastly, who would you vote as the man of the match for team Contact FireAnts and why?
KY: I would have to go for Nicholas Yeoh. He together with Bryan was sizzling throughout the match and had a hand in all the goals, but I though Nick was sharp that day, getting into the danger zone, hitting rebounds and often speeding towards over goal on the counter, a real trouble maker for us that day.
Borak says:
Carrard:
Contact FireAnts made Spartans look like a very ordinary, schoolboy team. Spartans simply had no answer to the attacking trio of Bryan, Edward and Nicholas, and more importantly, FireAnts’ overall teamplay.
And there’s the word-- FireAnts simply outplayed Spartans that day.
Even with not one, but two, 10-minutes penalties for FireAnts, it never looked likely that Spartans could summon up another miracle.
Why?
Maybe if there was still something to play for, things would have been very different. But with nothing to play for, FireAnts really unleashed all their potential upon the hapless Spartans, and Spartans… well, they’d already won the silver, hadn’t they?
Yet even circumstances cannot change the flavors of the game, for victory tastes as sweet, and defeat just as bitter.But for the neutrals that day, true floorball triumphed over hit-and-run floorball.And that is how it should be.
MoMs
It’s been Bryan Looi who’s been hogging the spotlight since day one, and rightfully so, but this time Nicholas Yeoh just edges him out. Take nothing away from Bryan—it was his playmaking and vision that created holes for Nick the poacher to take advantage of. However, Nick was chosen because of, strangely, his own goal in the opening minutes. Most players would not be able to pick themselves up and move on, but Nick rebounded quickly and scored three and assisted in two, making him FireAnts’ man of the match.
It was Nicholas Yeoh for FireAnts, now, it’s Nicholas Teoh for Spartans. Always willing to run, always willing to cook some trick up then try it, always willing to do the unorthodox—that’s Nick Teoh for you. Not as perfect a game as Nick Yeoh, but a good one, if held up to his team’s standards.
Contact FireAnts, after starting poor and slow, hit jackpot that day. Frontliners Spartans, after starting on turbo boosters and having had all cylinders firing, finally grinded to a rude stop.
Too bad this game counted for nothing.
Let’s look at the different reactions from the team managers.
BBF talked to Kuan Yang (KY) of team Frontliners Spartan about the match and the league:
BBF: Your first big loss in the league. Tell us, what was the primary objective in this particular match, and do you think your team achieved it?
KY: Yes, our first loss. To some it might mean no chance for gold; a halt in our unbeaten run, but coming into this match, as a team, we have already exceeded our own expectations. Plus, realistically, I don't see Ztec throwing away their last game (laughs). Because of that, I have decided to tweak the team a little for the final match. First, is to give some of the players who have sat with the team throughout the league and yet had played little time extra game time; and also to expose certain players to different positions as it is important for me, as a coach to understand my players more and so hopefully to improve the team as a whole in the future. Did we achieve it? I would yes, to a certain extent, but as the result suggests, there's a whole lot of areas to work on.
BBF: As a coach for your team, what do you think is the biggest hurdle against a team like Contact FireAnts with the types of players you have currently?
KY: Contact strength has always been their team play. Their movement as a team, with or without the balls and their team synergy is their main weapon. Compared to Spartans, well, we have always build the team based on physical fitness and speed but we always have big headaches tactically. We often pressed up to high and failed to dropped back quickly enough or we would run around, headlessly as the ball is being move around. Which I thought was well proven in the match. FireAnts capitalised on us pressing high, and hit us hard at the counter.
BBF: Looking back at the league as a whole, which match do you think was the hardest one for the team?
KY: Hmmm.. I would like to say all games are hard (laughs). But to pick one, I would have to go for the match against UniHawks. Boy did they make us sweat. In truth, I was well aware of Minden's ability to hit us at the counter but not with that kind of effectiveness. Down by 3 goals within the first 10 minutes and crawling back up and win by a goal, it was the craziest match ever!
BBF: This is your last game of the league and it's safe to say that Frontliners, without a doubt, has been one of the few teams that have risen to the occasion. As a coach, how do you feel your team fare and what do you have to say to them?
KY: It seemed to be a trend for Frontliners to struggle and fight for our life in Penang League, and if things go too well, normally we would fall at the very end when it matters most, like last year. This year, the team faced a lot of setbacks in preparation and personally, we were expecting the worst. However, with the Spartan spirit burning and raging, it kind of gave the team an extra kick during matches, and with a few calculated gambles, it brought us unexpected results. Getting a medal was never in the plan, so looking at where the team is on the league table, I would say we have way way surpassed expectation.
As for players, congratulations and see you in training! (Laughs)
BBF: Lastly, who would you vote as the man of the match for team Contact FireAnts and why?
KY: I would have to go for Nicholas Yeoh. He together with Bryan was sizzling throughout the match and had a hand in all the goals, but I though Nick was sharp that day, getting into the danger zone, hitting rebounds and often speeding towards over goal on the counter, a real trouble maker for us that day.
**************************
(BBF could not get Contact FireAnts representative for a chat about the match, hence, the exclusion of their interview)Borak says:
Carrard:
Contact FireAnts made Spartans look like a very ordinary, schoolboy team. Spartans simply had no answer to the attacking trio of Bryan, Edward and Nicholas, and more importantly, FireAnts’ overall teamplay.
And there’s the word-- FireAnts simply outplayed Spartans that day.
Even with not one, but two, 10-minutes penalties for FireAnts, it never looked likely that Spartans could summon up another miracle.
Why?
Maybe if there was still something to play for, things would have been very different. But with nothing to play for, FireAnts really unleashed all their potential upon the hapless Spartans, and Spartans… well, they’d already won the silver, hadn’t they?
Yet even circumstances cannot change the flavors of the game, for victory tastes as sweet, and defeat just as bitter.But for the neutrals that day, true floorball triumphed over hit-and-run floorball.And that is how it should be.
MoMs
It’s been Bryan Looi who’s been hogging the spotlight since day one, and rightfully so, but this time Nicholas Yeoh just edges him out. Take nothing away from Bryan—it was his playmaking and vision that created holes for Nick the poacher to take advantage of. However, Nick was chosen because of, strangely, his own goal in the opening minutes. Most players would not be able to pick themselves up and move on, but Nick rebounded quickly and scored three and assisted in two, making him FireAnts’ man of the match.
It was Nicholas Yeoh for FireAnts, now, it’s Nicholas Teoh for Spartans. Always willing to run, always willing to cook some trick up then try it, always willing to do the unorthodox—that’s Nick Teoh for you. Not as perfect a game as Nick Yeoh, but a good one, if held up to his team’s standards.
(A big thank you to KY for the interview!)
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