Playouts vs Barclays 24 May

Match Report by Barclays

Another very good competitive game against Playouts, but unfortunately the same 2-1 score line as the first round. Barclays started relatively well, and on balance probably dominated this first half in terms of possession and chances on goal. A quick free kick from Jason to Gaz down the left, who found Dom’s head nicely……and the rebound fell nicely for Indra to make it 1-0 after around 15 minutes…..Playouts were also putting on the pressure, and a poorly defended corner led to their opener soon after. For the rest of the first half Barclays was rotating subs nicely and a few chances were created with Tony linking up well with Gaz up front. Some good passing from Indra, Heng, and Steven in the middle ensure we kept on top, while Ian, Geoff, Chris and Khalim made sure things were
tight at the back.

For some reason, it was a completely different story in the second and clearly not one our best performances. Playouts seemed to step up a gear, whist Barclays first half energy seemed to melt in the heat despite having plenty of subs. While the effort was generally there, Playouts just seemed to be a step ahead of the tiring Barcap players and were able to carve out a number of clear cut chances. If it were not for some good goalkeeping from Scott and
some sub-par finishing, it could have easily been more than 2-1. That said, Gaz looked threatening as always and tested the keeper with 5 minutes to with a blistering shot that was parried over the bar.

Man of match goes to Ian for a solid performance in the middle, with special mention to Scott who was kept busy in the second half.

Good luck to Playout for their remaining fixtures……

Playouts Vs Old Rivals Central Park (22 Mar)

Playouts met old rivals Central Park in our first head-to-head of this season, and came away 4-2 winners, in what was a tough match against a team we knew to be a respectable oponent. Lionel Kong, in pulling all the right strings in the middle of the park, was the standout choice for MOM.

A record turnout of 20 players on the day belied the fact that half arrived just on the dot, leaving coach Isa, normally late himself but unusally early today, in a fit.

The game commenced with a blend of youth & experience, and age & wide-eyed wonder – the youthful ones brought the experience, while the aged ones watched on in wonder. Zhuang in goal; Adrian, Guoming, Lian, King across the back; Jerry, Lionel, Jansen, Ed and Han in mids; Shaun up top. The first half was a cagey affair. Play was generally scrappy, and neither team took their chances, which were few and far between in any case. Central Park had a free header go wide, much to our relief, while Playouts had a couple shots tucked away into the tree-lined boulevard behind. Or at least figuratively speaking. The breakthrough finally came when the Sharks’ keeper handled a backpass under pressure from “ho-ho-ho-ing” Lionel Kong, and Lionel duly dispatched Han’s layoff from the indirect freekick into the mouse hole to the keeper’s left. 1-0 to Playouts going into the break.

The second half saw Isa making a bunch of subs – Kong (CM), Shao(LB), Lester(S), Weiming (LM), Haoyi (RB). The result was that most of the old legs were happily seated on the bench, while the energetic, young rabied rabbits were let loose on the pitch. Not long after, Jerry’s long throw from the right bounced over the Sharks’ defence to find Lionel lurking, and he greedily tucked it home, sticking out his lapping tongue in celebration. 2-0. By now, Playouts were playing with some confidence, manifested in one-touch passing and quick layoffs, just about in the style of Arsenal. As Han quipped, this was Playouts’ “Development” squad in action – they were “developing” the senior Playouts and teaching us a thing or two about football. Soon after, Shaun took a good early pass and contrived to let 17.5sec pass before finally taking a shot and scoring to make 3. Somewhere during the half, Weiming even had time to cross from the left wing (gasp, a cross? from the left??) for Shaun to dive-header into the proverbial stands.

By now, we thought we had the game in the bag, but CP had other plans. On one of their increasingly frequent attacks, their nifty winger/striker stole a goal to start a comeback fight. Thankfully, Lester gave another mighty roar and popped up with one goal to restore the margin. Sharks’ nifty winger/striker dude later capitalised on a loose ball to loop-shoot the ball over our keeper into the top corner for a tense finish. The final whistle was blown shortly after, thus concluding the contest for this 90mins. But we’ll be seeing Central Park soon again for Round 2, or Round 4 might we say.

Circus moments in the game:
1) Ageing squad players Jansen, Edwin, Scholes, Shao, Adrian, Giggs, Chong, Han, Neville, Zhi, Isa sitting outside looking in; exuberant youngsters Lionel, Jerry, Shaun, Lester, and company running the show where it matters.
2) Adrian Yeap clocking 4.7km during this match, with 3.5km mileage stolen while taking throw-in’s on the touchline.
3) Coach Isa instructing Haoyi to warm up, and indeed he does – by warming up a cigarette.

Thanks to Central Park for the game, which, as is usual with you, was played in a competitive and sporting spirit. Till the next match, good fun and good fate.

———————————————
Match Report from Central Park:

Central Park capitulated against old rivals Playouts Reunited on Sunday as they went down meekly at Marsiling Secondary School with 2 goals from Aaron Huang, a mere consolation.

The match started with Sharks shorn of a whole slew of players and could only muster 13 for the game but they got off to a good start when Heng Li could have given his team the lead, only to miss a delicious cross from Lasser in the opening exchanges. Then on, things were on the downhill as the opposition controlled almost every aspect of the game as Sharks were put on the backfoot for almost the entire half of the game. It took a turn for the worse when Jorgensen had to limp off the game and shortly afterwards, Brendan rolled his ankle in the space of 20 minutes. With not much option on the bench, the Sharks made use of the players that is left and it didn’t help matters when the opposition took the lead after Michael and Yi Quan was caught in an uncanny situation and they converted the freekick from inside the area. The pattern of play seemed all to similar for the remainder of the half but the opposition were unable to increase their lead as Sharks looked to a very long 2nd half.

Several positions were switched at half-time but before Sharks could make any inroads to the scoreline, a mistake by Lasser giftwrapped the opposition with the 2nd goal. That seemed to be the cue as Playouts ran rings in Sharks half as the defense were caught napping on several occasions with stand-in sweeper Charlson unable to control his backline. It was 3 midway in the second-half before Aaron pulled a goal back but whatever comeback the Sharks was having up their sleeves were quickly extinguished when yet another howler from the defense make sure of the points for Playouts. Aaron however made the scoreline respectable when he found the custodian off his line to notch his 2nd goal of the game.

The manager commented, ‘This has to be the worst turnout for the team. We were clearly missing so many players out thru injuries and personal commitments and those that come in, just didn’t have that extra zest in them. The defense and midfield today was in shambles and they did little to protect Michael in goal. Overall, the team has to play better than what was on show today and the only way is up.

Playouts vs Barclays – 15 March 09

Geoffrey Swee pounced deep into normal time to clinch a dramatic 2-1 win for the Playouts at Bukit Timah Field.

Both sides were left to rue missed opportunities in a generally dismal affair in the first half when real chances were few and far between.

Edwin Lim had the pick of them – the ball was headed back across the goal and he stretched for the ball to put it agonisingly over the bar at the end of the first half. Maybe he wanted to add on another playout of the day to the list after thinking that the match was at 1pm! Any candidates for a new captain?

In the second half, it started off the way the first half went until Barclays scored. It looked like it was going to be a bad day for the Playouts when from out of nowhere, Kong took a long range shot and it ended up at the bottom left of the net. 1-1, game on!

Barclays searched in vain for a late winner. Instead, the decisive blow came when Lionel found Geoffrey at the edge of the box with a defence splitting pass. Having received the ball, he took forever to take his shot. Meanwhile, Isa was screaming for a pass from him, getting ready to punch Geoffrey if he did not score. Finally, he took a left foot shot. GOAL! What a way to come back from a lengthy lay off.

Looking forward to another tough game against the Barclays. Cheers!

MOM — Zhuang

– by Geoffrey

Playouts vs Benedetto (8 Mar)

This game had all the makings of a potential banana skin league game. Faced with a highly physical team hungry for their second win of the season, Playouts were made to work for, as outstanding stand-in goalkeeper Zhuang put it, a “hard fought victory”.

Faced with a worryingly recurring shortage of players, Playouts were once more down to their bare bones. Both teams started tentatively – Playouts with an eye on conversing energy, and Benedetto sussing the Div 6 champions out.

Playouts launched high balls into the opposition penalty area with the intention to test their keeper. It paid off in the middle of the first half with a well-taken goal via a layoff header that formidable defender-turned-makelele Chong smashed into the net.

The half time break provided a welcome retreat from the sweltering midday sun. Playouts came out of the break with aplomb. Manager-turned-Ruud Isa scored with virtually his first touches of the game, bundling the ball into the net after the opposition keeper dived to save his shot.
A few minutes later, the Benedetto defense failed to clear their lines and matured and successful-in-life rugby maestro-turned-football magician Renhan scored from 2 yards out. 3-0 and the Playouts went to sleep.

The game, by now, had been reduced to a start-stop match overflowing with bad tackles, screaming and telling-offs by the Referee. In the last 15 minutes, the physical nature of Benedetto’s game paid off as position-jostling during a corner kick resulted in a penalty. Zhuang had no answer to the penalty.

The game looked to turn from bad to worse as ever-youthful centreback Guoming was forced off with an injury and Playouts were beginning to lose their shape and composure. Thankfully, with some stoic defending and poor finishing, the scoreline remained 3-1.

It was a good, hard-earned 3 points that the Playouts of yesterseason would’ve thrown away. Chins up for the game against Barclays next weekend! Thanks Benedetto for a good game and all the best for the upcoming fixtures.

MOM — Zhicong

A World of Difference: Playouts 3-1 Madcats

Despite the strong finish in Season 1, Playouts fielded a depleted team for Season 2 without Play(out)er of the Year Daryl or Golden Boot Dunstan. One time star play and free transfer Raja Kluivert turned up with a busted ankle while Season 1’s best buy Israel was sidelined due to “prior” commitments. With the first match against old foes Madcats who had initiated Playouts to the rigors of Division 6, it was never a sure win. Madcats fielded a strong side with dangerman Number 7 and their right wingers who had previously caused problems for Playouts’ defence.

The game started hesitantly with both sides squandering chances upfront. The breakthrough came in the 20th min with a scrappy clearance from Madcat’s defence that failed to clear the penalty box. Geoffrey pounced on the chance to direct the ball towards goal with a light touch, seemingly out of the reach of the nearby Madcat Defender. But Edwin Lim took no chances and “helped” the ball into goal with a high right foot. Thankfully no whistle was blown for offside and it was Playouts 1-0 Madcats.

The scoreline was helped along by Madcat’s leftback. Lian sent an impressive goalkick deep into Madcat’s half. Under no obvious pressure, Madcat’s leftback took the ball on an awkward bounce and sent a long backpass to his keeper. Backpass turned out to be an impressive lob and the ball arced over the helpless keeper into the goal. Playouts 2-0 Madcats and it was just 35mins into the game. As the saying goes, don’t look a gift horse in the mouth.

Halftime talk was meticulously planned out. 5 mins of casual banter 5 mins of business. The second half started in the same manner. Playouts could not find an opening despite many forays into the opponents half. Madcats came close when a long ball was sent over the heads of the Defenders. Madcat’s right winger latched onto the pass quickly, sprinting clear of his marker (name shall not be revealed here) and left the entire defence backpedaling frantically. Fortunately, his shot spilled across the face of the goal for a harmless goal kick. Lian, spitting out the dirt from his mouth, took the lackadasical defence to task. The sidelines too were howling for blood.

The near-goal injected Playouts with a fresh sense of purpose. Lian sent a rare goalkick down the left flank. Bringing the the ball down quickly, Shao turned and picked out Kong (who was directly infront of him) with a simple pass. Not even bothering with his usual twists and turns, Kong powered his way through 2 Madcat defenders to put himself through on goal. With a simple flick, the ball went into the back of the net. Just like that and it was Playouts 3-0 Madcat.

One thumping shot from Madcats stole the clean sheet that the Playouts defence arguably deserved. Everyone stood still as the ball rebounded out of the penalty box, falling to the feet of a lurking Madcat player. Despite Chong’s increasingly desperate cries for Kong to close down the shot, he (and everyone for that matter) stood rooted to the spot, a spectator to the unfolding drama. A quick shuffle of feet and the Madcat player unleashed a powerful shot to the right of the keeper who, to his credit, tried to get his fingertips to the ball. A touch of class from Madcats for a well deserved goal. Final score: Playouts 3-1 Madcats.

Man of the Match: Left/Rightback Shao secures his position with a stellar performance =). To borrow a quote from Kenny “my vote to shao for man-of-the-match. instead of leftback he should be called leftflank. up and down, attacking, making supporting runs, marking, clearing, kicking opponents – did them all with the stamina only a triplet possesses.” Lets hope he continues in this vein for future matches.

Playout of the Day: Marcus’s completely honest retort “Huh, I didn’t even pass the ball to you” in response to Geoffrey’s comment that he felt more comfortable now that Marcus and Kenny were playing in the middle. Marcus proclaims to all on the pitch that Kenny will be marking their number 14..well done

Quotable Quotes
“Ref, we only shoot on target” – Edwin, in response to the Referee telling the girls sitting beside the goalpost to watch out for the balls

“Pls dont mark me, I dont get any balls anymore” – Madcat Number 7, to Adrian in response to the repeated calls to mark Number 7

“and change… 1, 2, 3, 4…..” – Israel, the youngest player on the team leading the inflexible oldies on a proper stretch routine

“I will definitely play more this season” – Marcus’ statement captured here for the record (there is no escaping now)

- By Shao

Playouts versus Central Park (Div 6 Match 5) 4-2 win

playouts reunited vs central park
man of the match: Shao
scorers: tze chong, daryl, kong (2)

another weekend, another hard fought victory. played (out) once again on a hot sunny (sun)day, the match erupted into a frenzy 10 minutes on with the playouts conceding an early goal. no matter though, as they were quickly back into the game with 2 quick shots. half-time 2-1 to the orange.
 
kickoff again under the sweltering heat saw a repeat of the same, with the opposition scoring first before 2 goals from the kong threw the game without doubt back on track. 4-2 final score - credit to central park giving the playouts a good workout.

Playouts versus Raptors (Div 6 Match 4) Win 5-2

Match report (By Jansen Chow)

Final Score: 5-2 (Win)
Scorers: Daryl Gomez; Isa Gan; Ng Zhi Chong; Jonathan Kong (2)
Cards: Adrian Yeap (yellow)

Man of the match: Jonathan Kong

The Raptors started this match the better of the two and took advantage of some early mix up by the Playouts to sneak ahead. The goal sparked the Playouts into action and the response was swift. Daryl picked up the ball in the Raptors’ half and unleashed an unstoppable 25-yard grounder into the back of the net. Building upon the equaliser, Playouts moved into the ascendancy and was rewarded with a second close to the end of the half. An early through ball by King Yau broke the Raptors’ offside trap and Isa was put through on goal with only the keeper to beat. A shimmy of the hip and he rounded the keeper with ease to smash home the second. Departing from his customary ‘DX suck it’ celebrations, Isa celebrated with an equally arrogant ‘chicken walk’ along the opponent’s goal line. At this point, Playouts was cruising and was primed to enter into the half time break with the lead. Unfortunately, the best-laid plans came to naught. With minutes to go to the break, an innocuous back pass by Chong took an unkind bobble infront of our keeper, Calvin and bobbled into the net. Two-all at the half with everything to play for in the second.

The second half began as a cagey affair as both teams were aware that the next goal would be vital. The breakthrough came 15 minutes in. A free kick whipped in was met by a rare thumping header from Chong and was past the keeper before he could even react. As Adrian described it, ‘8 years in the making’. This was followed by a quick 2 goal salvo by Kong to truly finish off the tie. The first was a fierce shot from outside of the box that went through the legs of the keeper. For the second, Kong shaped to shoot from the edge of the box but cuts onto his left foot to place the ball past the despairing dive of the keeper. Raptors threw everything they had forward in an attempt to rescue the match but each wave of attack was repealed by the resilient Playouts defence. The defence provided the platform from which the Playouts played some of their best football to date. The fluidity and movement from the Playouts broke the Raptors defence time and time again with chances going begging for the likes of Edwin and Dunstan in particular.

An excellent overall performance from the Playouts. The goals were important but it was the manner of play that was truly satisfying.

Playouts vs Gogooryo (Div 6 Match 3) Win 5-0

Written by Tan Boon Hai

The blue skies and the cool breeze were signs of the match to come. After an ill-fated start to the league, Playouts bounced back with a valiant performance to win their second match and in this third match, the guys were all ready to gain another 3 points in the bag.

Due to the Ulu-ness of Punggol, a number of teammates threatened to live up to our team’s name by arriving late; in fact there was a particular man who refused to check his street directory even when he got lost!! Talk about stubbornness… But in the end, the referee gave us a favor by coming late too, but guess what? That was the only favor we got from him that day, if you know what I mean.

Finally the match got it started. Maybe due to early match jitters, the team was engaging in largely scrappy play. Names were called, commands were given from almost everyone, but nothing seemed to work. We were largely camped in our own half during the first 15 minutes, but in true ACSian spirit, an opportunistic pass led to Edwin being freed to roam in the left flank. Our captain then brought the ball to the edge of penalty and whipped a low, menacing cross across the goal; and there arrives our top marksman, Isa, who coolly slotted the ball in mid-air to the bottom right hand corner of our opponent’s net, classic pass, classic finish, classic goal!!!

Apart from sub-standard refereeing, nothing much can be said till around the 40^th minute, Playouts gained a corner. The ball was floated to the far post, and due to some professional ‘harassing’ of the goalkeeper in the six yard box, confusion reigned among our opponents and everyone missed the ball! And just as the ball was headed toward goal, the last man of Gogooryo attempted a ‘Maradona aka hand of god’ move to palm the ball away! A penalty definitely, and of course, any self-respecting footballer would know that was a red card offence committed by the defender but just when the whole team was expecting the player to be sent off, the referee dished out a yellow card!!! Incredible or I would say, incredulous, decision!!!

But as true sportsmen, the team kept our cool, and Mr Jonathan Kong stepped up to take the penalty. The whistle blew and as expected, our midfield maestro sent the goalkeeper the wrong direction and we got our second goal!

The first half ended shortly after and we went back to our dressing room. Captain Edwin lashed at the team to remind us not to lose our cool at the decisions made by the referee and his lashing worked wonders.

Playouts went into the second half, focused on keeping our cool and to increase our goal average, uhhhumm, difference, I mean. And in a matter of minutes, a superb play involving a long floating pass from Jonathan found Dunstan at the right flank. Superb first touch and speed displayed by our right winger enabled him to have the time and space to find Renhan sneaking at the other side of the penalty box. A pinpoint cross was delivered to him and our ever reliable striker trapped it down, and with eagle’s eye vision, saw an opening and slotted the ball beyond the goalkeeper’s reach and we had our third goal!!! We were up 3-0, now playouts were on a roll.

But the best was yet to be! It was in this match we found our Ronaldhino when in the 60^th minute, we had a free kick about 40 metres away from our opponents’ goal. And never in our wildest minds would we expect the next thing happen. Captain Edwin, with his lethal left foot, struck a powerful cross, oops I wanted to say shot, towards the top right corner of the net. The ball eluded every single person and we got our fourth goal!!! Edwin, our Ronaldhino!

Now everyone was enjoying the action, and of course, our star winger Dunstan refused to be left out of the party. In about the 70^th minute, Darryl got the ball in the opponents’ half, he passed the ball to Dunstan, who was lurking around the edge of the penalty box. With the goal in his mind, Dynamite Dunstan was focused. He trapped the ball, lifted it up the ground and with his eyes fixed on the ball, coupled with his superb goal instinct, he volleyed the ball. The ball went over the goalkeeper, dipped down and we got our icing on the cake, our fifth goal!

All it needed now was the referee to blow the whistle and he promptly did that 10 minutes later and our opponents’ misery ended. Playouts once again lived up to their fearsome reputation with our task accomplished, 3 more points in the bag and goal average pulled up and goal difference increased. Good job, guys!

Playouts versus Raptors (Div 6 Match 2) Clementi Stadium 27 Jul 08 2-1 Win

It was, as cliché as it may sound, a game of two halves. The kind weather provided much relief for both teams especially after the Playouts were being assigned many scorching 1pm games.

With their pride wounded after a disastrous season opener, the Playouts arrived at the Clementi Stadium ready to right the wrongs. They started well with Daryl Gomez providing much of the attacking impetus for the Playouts. On the other hand, the Raptors were edgy and unsettled. They paid the price just ten minutes into the game when the excellent Daryl broke down the left and sent in a low cross that found the fox in the box Isa Gan who had the simplest of tasks sidefooting the ball home.

The Raptors found themselves pegged back following the goal as the Playouts pressed forward, dominating possession with a series of slick passing and penetrating runs. Their scintillating display of football paid dividends for a second time. A deep cross from the left once more eluded the Raptors centre-backs and fell to in-form Dunstan Lim who first-time volleyed the ball past the rooted keeper and into the bottom left hand corner of the Raptors’ goal. Score 2-0.

With a two-goal cushion, the Playouts changed things around with a few substitutions and finished the half strongly. Buoyed by their display and feeling confident, the Playouts started the half in a casual manner. The Raptors, on the other hand, hand a different idea. Led by the experience of their senior players, they closed down every Playouts ball and won the majority of 50-50s. Playouts custodian Calvin was called upon to save a couple of Raptors shots with the defence feeling the heat from the opposition strikers.

A bad tackle on centre-back Zhi caught the Playouts on the break and with a three-against-one counter attack, Tzechong and Calvin could not prevent a deserving goal from the Raptors. It looked like the spirit and confidence of the Playouts had taken a break too. Score 2-1 and the Raptors looking like they are up for the fight.

The Playouts spent the majority of the second half camping in their own half and needing the crossbar to save them on one occasion. It wasn’t a pretty sight as the game drew to a close with the Playouts needing to use all their subs to keep the Raptors at bay. The final score 2-1 was a credit to the Playouts’ excellent attacking play in the first half and Raptors’ fighting spirit in the second half.

A special mention to man-of-the-match new addition Lau King Yau who put in a sterling display at left-back. It would seem that the full-backs would have their jobs cut out for them.

Playouts vs Hibernians (Div 4) 6-2 Win (6 July 08)

Match was at Bedok North Secondary school. Once again, we were playing against a mostly ang moh team. Seems like the Espzen league is overrun with these ang moh players. Weather was superb, threatening to rain but just stopping short of drizzling. Field was nice, even and small.

Kick off and match started off with us Playouts controlling the game nicely. Defence felt solid for the first half and the Hibernians had little shots on target. We had a little problem with their free kicks as they were pretty darn tall compared to us. Adrian Yeap almost headed the ball into our own goal during one freekick, but luckily it hit the post and rebounded out. The Hibernians were a little slow and we basically overran them. Breakthrough came in when a Hibernian defender played back a ball to their goal keeper and the goal keeper somehow let the ball into the goal for an own goal. 1-0 to us.

Second half was more exciting with Playouts truly outshining the Hibernians in all areas. We were 3-0 up before the defence let in two goals (1st goal was through bad marking on the flanks? 2nd goal was through bad man marking during a set piece?)

Of note, the Hibernians kept on insulting the referee for the ‘bad’ calls that he made. They were also really pissed about us shouting ‘mine’. Apparently they are hardwired to respond to ‘mine’ by giving the ball to the person who shouts it and thats why they lost the match. Jansen, please check out the exact rules on this matter, Chris really wants to know, right Chris?

ok goal scorers please fill in the rest of the storey =P. i hope i got the scoreline right.