Sunig Closing

Keen observation by the sometimes drunk philosopher Sudhershen Hariram:

This year's Sunig results -
1st SMU
2nd NUS
3rd NTU
4th SIM

Last year's Sunig results -
1st SIM
2nd NTU
3rd NUS
4th SMU

Mirror image no?

Plus Ultra (This far and further)

Jollilads 0 - 2 SCC

Putting a long week behind them, the lads from Jollilads marched into Queenstown stadium with their chests puffed and heads held high, knowing that their brilliant FA Cup performances in the past weeks have brought them the reward of a semi-final berth against the Div 1 Champions, SCC (the alphabetical twin of SRC). The grass was green, lush and flat, lights bright, and the biggest surprise being that there was a personalized changing room for the Jollilads team.

The team, although jaded and tired from playing 6 games in a short period of 12 days, were keen to leave an impression on the game, putting pressure every single SCC player, keeping in mind what Coach Arasu said during the pre-match talk. Although high pressure was put on SCC, they showed their technical and tactical intelligence by spreading and passing the ball around their back 4 and midfield quartet effectively, keeping Jollilads at bay. Attempts at Aziz’s goal were thwarted by the Jollilads defense, with Feroz and Rafi protecting the back four like how an eagle would look after her eggs, biting and sniping at every tackle. However, SCC finally managed to break through the iron cast defense when a cross from the left was whipped in with pace towards the ‘sweet spot’ (between the keeper and 6 yard line) and Andrew, alledged to have been shoved by the striker, glanced the ball past the helpless Aziz. Showing grit and determination, Jollilads tried to push men forward and take the game to SCC, but alas, the vastly experienced back 4 of SCC managed to hold them at bay till half time.

Coach Arasu made tactical changes during the interval, taking Rafi off and introduced Khai into the fold. The second half followed in the same demeanor as the first, with SCC stroking the ball around and letting Jollilads chase both game and ball. The sucker punch finally came when SCC doubled their lead, a cross whipped in from the right was cushioned by the left winger, and the striker stood tall to power the ball into the back of the net. Jollilads proved to be a tougher and more determined opposition than SCC thought, when they came close twice to pulling the deficit back to 1. First, Sudi drilled a trademark low cross into the ‘sweet spot’, and Chengwei’s header was barely kept out by the keeper, Fuhang’s and Winston’s follow up were subsequently block. Second, a low, driven free kick was knocked away by the legs of the keeper. The late salvo proved too late, as full time crept up.

Allow me to be emo alright?

Personally, I think this season has been a tremendous success. Firstly, I’m sure everyone made new friends, lifelong soccer buddies whom we have friendly competition with, friendships we will treasure for the many more years to come. I personally enjoyed my time playing for Jollilads, even though I’m always kept out by my niggling injury problems (a.k.a Daniel Agger, Jonathon Woodgate, Ledley King), but everytime I played, I really had great fun playing with such good friends who always serve to help and provide advice. I never once felt left out cause I didn’t play much, or because I’m not good enough. From the bottom of my heart, I thank each and every one of you, for providing me with such memories which I will treasure and look back upon graduation or retirement from the game. While most of the seniors have probably played their last game in the colours of the Combined Uni, please join me in applauding their unwavering commitment, evergreen enthusiasm, unbreakable friendship, and unquestionable leadership. Let us continue to strive for top honours together, and may our friendship stand the test of time and hopefully, despite our busy schedules, we are able to meet up for coffee, tea, or a soccer session in the future. Till next year, Ying Ni!

Contributed by: Kenmostdedicated player

Line Up: Aziz (GK), Chris, Andrew (Bolt), Daowei, Aaron, Rafi (Khai), Feroz, Fuhang, Manfred (Chengwei), Sudi, Winston

Unused Subs: ‘Away Away Away’, ‘Orange peeler’ Kok, Weiming, Kennard

FA Cup - Road to Jalan Besar 2009

Match Details
SCC vs JAFC
Venue: Queenstown Stadium
Kick-off: 7pm
Date: 09/10/09 Friday

Attire: Bring both sets of jerseys (including white socks)

Be there by 615pm latest for warm-ups.
The lads await their biggest rivals to date, the newly crowned Div 1 champions. There is much history between both clubs, for SCC having won the Div 2 title last year without conceding a loss, but losing to JAFC in last year's FA Cup match. This year, the lads have gone hungrier than ever. Having beaten this year's Div 2 champs and Div 3 champs already, JAFC will be looking to complete their collection.

Please state in the comments section on whether you are available for the match.

The road to Jalan Besar 2009 continues...

FA Cup 2nd Round Bracket

Message of the day from Jollilads: Durex is not 100% safe

Yet another piece of history was carved into Coach Arasu’s CV and Jollilads Arsenal record books when a semi-final berth was booked via a heart-stopping/heart-thumping/heart-pounding 4-3 penalty shootout win over SRC. This quarter-final clash was also marked by the introduction of orange juices, with Kok volunteering his finesse at squeezing oranges, and the return of NUS striker/tag-board abuser Fu Chengwei.

With the gameplan set to apply as much pressure on SRC whenever they were in possession (achieved by a greater force divided by a smaller area), and the focus being on individual behavior on the field, Jollilads looked to take the game to SRC from the onset. Coach Arasu’s tactical plan almost paid off within the first 10 minutes when Steven Lam took 2 shots from dispossessing SRC. As the game progressed, the tempo was likened to a sinusoidal wave with either side not being able to find the penetrative ball in the final third. The closest both sides came to opening the scoring was when an intentional header from Daowei back to Tianci rolled past the keeper’s eyes/body/legs/feet, however, showing his supreme speed of thought, Tianci scampered back to prevent the ball from rolling into the net. The first half was also marked by Kok whispering to Andrew that peeling oranges was indeed his favourite past-time.

A few changes were made during half time when Coach Arasu sacrificed pace for speed when substituting Zul for Durex Khai. However, it was SRC who dominated the opening exchanges of the second half when Tianci was called into action, first, to attempt to save his first penalty of his ‘illustrous’ career (which he duly failed, not that it made any difference, the post came to the rescue) and second when he sprang across to his near post like a spring to keep out a header, drawing the ‘ohh’ and ‘ahh’s from the onlooking spectators. And true to the call of the wind, SRC took the lead when a bullet shot from the edge of the box flew in via the post, leaving Tianci stranded and gasping for air at the sheer might and velocity of the ball. If the fairytale ending was really ending, Jollilads weren’t listening or reading the script, when they again raised their game and attempted to equalize. Boosted by the introduction of Chengwei and Kok (he finally stopped peeling oranges), Jollilads raised their game. It was almost rewarded in the 89^th minute when a cross by Winston was just a teeny weeny bit too high for the man mountain to glance it into the open net. While heads/bodies/ears were down, hearts weren’t, as the final corner of the game from Sudi found Winston unmarked, who finished with aplomb, sparking wild celebrations amongst fans, coaches, and Uncle Sam alike, who proceeded to ‘tau-pok’ Winston even though he was complaining of chest pains and the slight distortion of his ‘you-know-what’. That proved to be the final kick of normal time as Jollilads were taken to penalties the second time in this season’s FA cup.

With Tianci hoping in desperado to finally break his duck and save a penalty, and the looks of excitement still cast on the faces of the Jollilads, Sudi ran up to take his first spot kick, sending the keeper the wrong way. This trend of hitting the back of the net was followed up by Fuhang, Aaron and Chris, until Khai stepped up (with the odds of scoring and sending us through to the semis: 1.00, and the odds of missing: 100) and added to his collection of misses when he placed the ball past the left post. With all the pressure in the world, galaxy and solar system placed on the shoulders of the final SRC taker, who would equalize if he scored and send Jollilads through if he missed, he took a long run up, saw the cheeky face of Tianci, had Kok peeling and squeezing oranges in his mind, and missed, sending cheers and volcanoes erupting.

Through the progress of the FA cup this year, we have shown grit, spirit and team togetherness in grinding out results when needed, words of encouragement was heard at all corners, available to every ear. Thus, with the ‘luxury’ of sitting on the bench and hoping to hear Coach call out my name, I hereby remind everyone of us that the road ahead of us is tough, no doubt, we’ll have to dig into ourselves and raise our game to another level, but like every other saying, the ball is round. It’s time to stop hoping and start believing, time to stop wishing and start visualizing. We can do it! Jalan Besar, here Jollilads come!

A few pointers to take note, Kok’s fingers have been severely bruised by the oranges he abused. Winston has scored in every round of the FA cup thus far. Tianci still likes to shout ‘away away away’, and sings it during bathing and murmurs it in his dreams. That’s all for now, stay tuned to more!

Lineup: ‘Away Away Away’ (GK), Rafi (Kok), Daowei, Aaron, Chris, Manfred (Chengwei), Feroz, Zul (Khai), Fuhang, Sudi, Winston

Unused subs: Tim, Andrew, Nadeem, Kennard

Cannot be used subs: Weiming, Jerome

Match Report written by Kennard Gan

.. and the journey continues - so does our wining (:

Jollilads 2 - 1 Gambas

Amidst all the rivalry from the ongoing SUNIG competition, the four universities came together putting aside our differences to sealed a quarter finals spot in the FA Cup by beating Gambas 2-1. Knowing that a win would ensure Jollilads some television coverage, the boys were all hyped up for the game. (especially so after the recent crowning of Mr Durex to you know who)

Coach started off with a fresher attacking squad while keeping the SPEEDY attacking players like Khai and Winston plus Zul on the bench. Hoping to use their PACE (or the lack of) as a strategy in the later stages. Nevertheless, the match started off slow as many of us were still recovering from our recent SUNIG games. However it didn’t take long before Jollilads started to get momentum with weiming chasing down every ball that was sent to him. His efforts was soon rewarded as he manage to latch onto a loose ball from the defence before squaring it to Feroz who took a shot that was rebounded into Manfred’s path to slot it into the exposed goal. However, the lead didn’t last long as a lapse in concentration at the back resulted in the Gambas striker running free on goal. He then made no mistakes and smashed the ball past Aziz and into the net. It was unfortunate that the half ended 1-1 as we had a lot of chances in front of goal only to be denied by the iron giant Gambas keeper.

The second half was pretty much the same story with Jollilads having most of the possession. Again there were several chances for Jollilads to slot in our second goal, the closest being weiming’s one on one with the iron giant who stood tall and big denying any space for weiming to shoot through. As the match went on, our speedy substitutes started coming in with Winston coming in first, followed by Zul and Khai (order not according to speed of players). As if to prove coach's strategy to use our fast attackers to change the game, Khai was set free down the right, using his PACE he stormed towards the ball and send in a prefect cross that was met by the on rushing Winston who headed the ball into the top corner for Jollilads second of the night. Gambas then surged forward looking for the equaliser pressing the Jollilads defence, sending balls to almost every corner of the field but to no avail.

All in all, it was a good win again, we had lots of possession and made good use of the REALLY HUGE! but nice grass pitch. However, lets try to make better use of our possession like coach mentioned and lets make all our chances in front of goal count. This is especially critical for our next FA Cup clash with SRC who would definitely make us pay for our miss chances. For now, rest well boys.

YingNi!

Lineup: Aziz, Chris, Aaron, Sudi, Andrew, Feroz, Rafi, Kok (Winston), Manfred, Nadeem (Zul), Weiming (Khai)

Unused Sub: Tian Ci

Quote of the day: “we should be playing in the European league, we are playing more games than Liverpool or Barcelona.”

Arasu Advice: “don’t go play your inter-school or your inter-hall or your inter-COLOR games. Because come Saturday you will become COLORLESS”