Death is a delightful hiding place for weary men.

Monday, March 20, 2006

Champions of THE CAGE

Disclaimer: this is gonna be long. So if you cant stand long posts, i suggest u dun read it.

Headed down to kallang for this futsal tournament organised by the NUS Arts and Social Science Club on saturday. Had a hard time getting to the venue but luckily (shen) weiming was driving else god knows wad time i wud haf gotten there. Was supposed to be there by 8 in the morn for registration but as it turned out to be, only one of us needed to be there. Got tricked by (chua) weiming, our gaffer. lol. So this is it - "THE CAGE".

So since we were so early (our first game slot was at 1030), we walked over to the Mcdonald's nearby for breakfast. I could say this was the only meal of the day for me besides the 3 Mcvities biscuits i ate before leaving house and the half a portion of Pig's Organ Soup i shared with the "gaffer" later in the afternoon. Saw Selva (former JJC player who scored the winning goal in our 'A' Division game a few years ago) there and of cos it was natural to start chatting and stuff. We got a total shock when we found out that his team were our first opponents!! I mean it's even harder than striking 4D man. That done, the gang [me, bingxun, habib, lizei (who gladly gave up his place for andre, our keeps), king yao, andre, (chua) weiming and (shen) weiming] headed back to the venue for warm up.

This was to be an extremely long day cos jus considering our group matches alone, we had to stay until 3 plus. There was an overwhelming response of over 30 teams in the whole tournament. There was even a Women's League! Some of those ladies really kick ass man, play better football than some guys i know. You ought to be ashamed! LOL.

And so, the first game got underway. The pitch was difficult to play on cos we were wearing shoes and it was kinda like astro-turf/carpet grass. Our feet sunk in everytime we stepped on the ground. It really took some getting used to. The pace was disgustingly fast and the game, physical to say the least. We started with me, king and shen in defence with habib upfront. Both sides couldnt muster a goal until chua was brought on and he scored with virtually his first touch of the game! that being said, we went on to triumph Selva's team 2-0 after the 8minutes of flurry.

Second game (dun worry i ain't gonna comment on every game), we lost 0-1. Gaffer's mistake!! he decided to "rest" me and still wanted me to say "thank you gaffer". I say "UP YOURS, GAFFER!!" LOL. it was really a game we should haf won cos the opponents were some kok-kok pple from duno where hahaha.

Ok so even though we got through the group stage, it was only thru goal difference of one goal over Selva's team. We won the following games 2-0, 1-0!!! lol ahaha we have a MEAN defence mind you. =p

While waiting for the quarter's, i went around and took some fotos of the place. Here are some of the "grafitti" i found. I personally liked the last one the most, pretty cool eh?

So the quarters was up next. We won 3-0, courtesy of a habib brace and a red card for the opposition early in the game. I was kinda frustrated but happy at the same time by now cos it was evident i was shooting the most in the team but i have yet to score! But still, wad really matters is that the team is winning. =)

Semis: Against this all malay/indian team and they were kinda powerful to say the least. We managed to pull off a 1-0 victory yet again.

Finals: We were going crazy by now cos we certainly did not expect to find ourselves in this situation esp after andre and shen left. Oh we got another keeper from gary's team by the way. We were to face off with jerry's team. Nothing much was known bout them. We were given a real treat when they scored within the first 2 minutes. Powerful shots, quick running and plenty of off the ball from the opposition threw us off our feet. And being pegged down by that early and good goal certainly did not help to boost our morale. We continued to press on seeing that they were tiring bit by bit. And....................... I SCORED!! from the right side of the court, the ball dropped and i whacked it with all my might, the keeper got a shock judging from the reaction i saw LOL. And bingxun scored the winner jus a minute before the final whistle went. We went nuts, abso-fucking-lutely nuts.

Prizes for the champions were pretty good i must say. 100ml Davidoff Cool Water per person, $20 Voucher for this salon per person, $150 in cash for the team, $500 worth of expenses to Batam (not Bata) and of course the all-important medal. So we will be going on the Batam trip soon, yay!!! =)

WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS OF THE CAGE!! I know its kinda ego to be saying it lidat but it's really been a tough fight, literally. The whole thing ended bout 7pm. Credit mus be given to king yao (our top scorer) who scored 4 goals and provided lotsa running. Lizei who so generously gave up his initial place so that we could haf a proper keeper on our side. Chua, our gaffer who made the decisions regarding the starting line-up, subs etc. Our supporters, Gary and co. The last minute addition, Thomas who so gracefully accepted playing for us and not taking anything.

This is it. We conquered THE CAGE. It's been a really wonderful experience and i certainly dun mind playing there again!! ahahah

astrocow
07:06