Liga Alumni 2011 Division One Fourth League Match: BAT 0 SMACH 4

After the last match victory against AlumTek, we are facing our toughest opponent yet in the league, SMACH. We held against their penetrating attacks quite well in the first half but our opponent took advantage of confusions over a free kick and scored their first goal. It was a blow to our players' morale and when the second half started we were unable to continue with our earlier momentum and SMACH started to pile pressures upon us by scoring one goal after another. It was a match to forget but we knew that by the end of the season, team's position will be decided by the head to head results and that is what we are going to focus right now, by beating our lower ranked opponents such as SJAA and STAROBA when we meet them later.

Match stats:

Goalkeeper: Fairuz. Defenders: Epul, Sahlan, Madun, Pak Lah. Midfielders: Fariz, Kerambit, Mujahid, Shidi. Ayie. Striker: Wan. Subs: Abe, Jose, Ale, Paan, Fazli, Kamarul, Kalai.

Liga Alumni 2011 Division One Third League Match: BAT 3 AlumTek 2

After two straight losses, we really need a win to boost the moral of the players as well as keeping our hope alive of remaining in the first division. We started brightly when Mujahid scored the first goal but AlumTek responded almost swiftly with their equaliser. However, we managed to lead one more time through a briliant goal by Wan when he coolly sidestepped the goalkeeper to score his first competitive goal for BAT.

In the second half, AlumTek substituted their goalkeeper but even that won't stop Mujahid from scoring an audacious goal from a long range to double our lead. The opponent did eventually got another goal through their speedy winger but we are not going to be denied our first win in the league. In the end, we emerged victorious but it was not an easy one as three of our players had to be substituted during the match because of multiple kind of injuries. 

Match Stat:

Goalkeeper: Shaz. Defenders: Ale, Sahlan, Madun, Epul. Midfielder: Mujahid, Kerambit, Ayie, Shidi, Fariz. Striker: Wan. Subs: Jose, Taufeq, Abe, Kudin, Kalai, Ayie Askar, Kamarul, Farhan, Pak Lah.

Goals: Mujahid 2x, Wan. Assist: Shidi, Kerambit, Fariz. Yellow Cards: Ayie, Shidi

Friendly Match: BAT 4 St John Alumni 0

After two consecutive defeats in the Liga Alumni, we had this friendly match to boost the players morale and their fitness. We knew our opponent are not at the same level with us but I took this opportunity to try out new players and strategies. We won well today and I hope our players will be motivated enough for the next Liga Alumni match versus AlumTek next week.

Match stats:

Goalkeeper: Iskandar. Defenders: Kamarul, Ciput, Ayie Askar, Epul. Midfielders: Wan, Amir, Pak Lah, Ayie, Kerambit. Striker: Fazli. Subs: Kudin, Jose, Ale, Rizal, Abe

Goals: Fazli, Wan, Amir, Jose

Assists: Wan, Kerambit, Fazli, Ale

Football Bliss

Watching an England game while playing Football Manager 2011, what more can I ask, 

except that maybe I would love to see England win that game.

We are the Champions! 19 times!

Klang Valley League Classification Match, ILSAS B - BAT 5 - 1 Starjets

Last weekend the match was abandoned because the referees forgot to come. We ended up playing a friendly match with our opponents, Starjets and still won 2-1. However, today is the real thing and with most of our first eleven players came for this match, we should do even better. And it was proven when Mujahid scored a brace in the first half with assists from Eby and Shidi. Starjets tried to fight back with a goal in the second half but we restored our two goals lead when Kerambit scored a beautiful goal through a passing by Ayie. He added another one with an assist by Jose and then reciprocated the help by assisting Jose's goal.

I think this is one of our best performance so far in the Klang Valley league. Next weekend we will be facing Shah Alam FC for the 5th and 6th placing. Hopefully we will maintain this winning momentum.

Squad stats:

GK: Shaz. Defenders: Kamarul, Ciput, Taufeq, Epul. Midfielders: Shidi, Kerambit, Ayie, Mujahid, Eby. Striker: Jose. Subs: Firdaus. Unused Subs: Abe, Madun

LBJB 2011 League Match Nine: Eagles 2-0 Hawks

With Eagles leading only by one point, this last league match is the most important match of them all. Eagles must win to secure the championship because Harriers have no problem in beating Falcons for their last league match. Hawks also needed a win to ensure they do not finish bottom of the league. So when the match started, both teams were quite nervous but it did not take long for Eagles to take a lead. In the second quarter, Afiq finally managed to put his name on the score sheet through a precise shot to the top left of the goal. An own goal by one of the Hawks players provided a great relief to the Eagles. Hisham of Hawks nearly halved the advantage in the fourth quarter but his shot went wide. In the end, Eagles are crowned champions of the Junior Division of the LBJB with Harriers in the second place, Hawks in the third and Falcons at the bottom. As predicted, Harriers beaten Falcons by the same scoreline in following match after that.

Next weekend all teams will be participating in the One Day Tournament and it will really makes my day if Eagles can do the Doubles.

Friendly Match: LBJB Coaches & Parents 2-5 Bandar Seri Putra Veterans

This is the first time LBJB coaches and parents put together a football team to play in a friendly match with a veteran team from Bandar Seri Putra. The kids now have the opportunity to see their coaches to play football and to really find out if what they have learned so far are really practiced by their coaches. I play attacking role in the first half and we managed to get a lead through a goal by Emeel, a Major coach for Barracudas team. In the second half we changed nine of our players but we still maintained the lead although the score line is now 2-1. I got into the field again in the third half but most of us were running out of steam and we let in four successive goals without really putting up a fight. 

It was a good friendly match and I asked for this kind of match to be held more often. 

LBJB 2011 League Match Eight: Eagles 1-1 Harriers

Eagles lead has been cut down to one point and today they are facing their most toughest opponent, a second placed Harriers. Anything less than a draw will hand the title of league champions to Harriers and for the first time ever I had to change the team tactic. Eagles started the match with a very defensive mindset. We practically have three defenders sitting deep in our own half because we knew Harriers have two speedy attackers. However, in the third quarter something spectacular happened. From out of nothing Ilyas let loose a thunderous volley from his own half straight into the goal of Harriers. Firdaus managed to capture that moment in the video and Ilyas will definitely have something to watch over and over again for the next few years. Harriers responded by doubling their attack and Ilyas again did something that he never had done in the fourth quarter, which is letting in a goal. The match ended 1-1 and frankly I am quite happy with the result. In other match Hawks managed to beat Falcons 1-0.

LBJB 2011 League Match Six: Eagles 0-0 Hawks

Eagles are hoping to bounce back from their last weekend defeat to Harriers by repeating their victory over Hawks in the first round. However, Hawks have another idea. They have already beaten Harriers and drew with Falcons in the last two matches and they are not going to give in easily to Eagles. Without Hadif who scored two goals against Harriers, Eagles were finding it hard to put in the ball into the goal. There were many chances in every quarter but nothing to be celebrated about. In the last quarter Eagles went out for an all out attack. I thought Naufal did scored a winning goal, and most of the players thought the same but apparently the ball hit the post and bounced out. In the end Hawks continued their fine form by remaining unbeaten in the second round. Meanwhile Harriers demolished Falcons 6-0 and closed the gap with Eagles to only 3 points. Third round is going to be very interesting indeed.

League standings: Eagles (13 points) Harriers (10 points) Falcons (5 points) Hawks (5 points)

Klang Valley Mini League 2011 Fourth Match: BAT 1 - 3 SS7 FC

Our opponent today hail from Kelana Jaya and given that they managed to beat Shah Alam FC a few weeks ago, it is going to be an uphill battle for us. Things do not look bright for us when they took a lead in the first half. However a brilliant pass from Sahlan found Shaz's foot at the edge of the penalty box and he let in a thunderous shot right into the bottom right corner of the goal. The first half ended 1-1 and we started to think that there is a slight chance of us winning this match.

That hope was brutally squashed in the second half when SS7 FC put in two more goals through some slick passings right in the middle. We did not have a high expectation from this match so the best thing to do is to concentrate on our last league match next Saturday which will decides whether we are qualified to enter the knock out stage or not.

Match stats:

Joe (GK), Madun, Sahlan, Kamarul, Epul, Pak Lah (Defenders), Ayie, Shidi, Mujahid, Shaz, Jose, Zainal, Kalai MCOBA (Midfielders) Fazli (Striker) Firdaus, Asyraf, Abe (Unused subs)

Goal: Shaz

Assist: Sahlan

Yellow cards: Kalai MCOBA and Shidi