ANSARA Taiping vs Alumni SMS Tengku Muhammad Faris Petra

Today is the first match of the season for ANSARA Taiping (Tepen) football squad. We are currently in the Division Two of Liga Alumni Malaysia after narrowly avoided relegation last year. Our opponent is Alumni SMS Tengku Muhammad Faris Petra (SEMESTA), the runners-up of Division Three last year so it's going to be a tough match. And indeed it was very tough. The opponent started to attack in the beginning and after many chances they managed to lead through what I'd call a freak goal, something that is similar like Ronaldinho's free kick against England in that famous World Cup match, although this one is coming from an open play. After that Tepen started to push forward and we had several chances but all went wide. The first half ended with only one goal on show.

In the second half Tepen continue to attack and we finally managed to get a break when our star striker broke through the defense and scored. Interestingly, he also scored our first goal of the season last year. Things turned ugly afterwards as heavy tackles came from both sides. However, only one player from SEMESTA got punished when he received two yellow cards and thus given a marching order. I thought it will be easier for Tepen to get the winning goal but the opposite happens. SEMESTA doubled their attack and we got lucky not to get behind again. The weather also turns to worse with heavy rain and the field became flooded. When the referee indicated that the match is over, I think both teams are quite relieved to share a point each.

I'm supposed to play a part in this match by coming on as a substitute but looking at those young and rugged opponents, not forgetting the rain, I thought that I should delay my maiden appearance in this season in the next match.

Half time

Young and young-at-heart supporters

The Tepen manager in the rain