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Bedok Green Sec 3pm - Luchaz Locos adjourned their potential title-clinching match with us, so it turned into a friendly match with JSFC instead. We had our best turnout for some time, with 9 players on the bench, including an extremely rare replacement for Azmi, and since this was a friendly, it avoided a likely mess, as past experience has shown how disruptive an oversized squad could be in the course of a match. That being said and set aside, after suffering a loss against a team that was clearly inferior to the opponents we defeated last week, we must show more consistency if we kick off a likely journey in a lower division next season. Indeed, we were guilty of spurning the best chances throughout that included Fairuz's missed penalty in the closing minutes of the first half and my sitter in the second.

We were the better team in the opening minutes and registered 4 back-to-back shots in a 4-3-3 formation on the smaller than usual familiar pitch. JSFC responded with some hard running off and on the ball deep in our half as the balance of the game went back and forth. James was a formidable presence in goal yet again while AJ impressed on his debut (no surprise as I have seen him play for my Saturday team) and the combination alongside our ever-impressive backline of Azmi, Kevin and Farid was crucial in keeping the score at 0-0. Rahman was influential at both ends of the pitch, going in for the tackles while attempting to drive the attack. When the rotation from the bench finally completed its first cycle, the deadlock continued. We continued to threaten in the final third though there was no significant bombardment on goal, although Huang came close to scoring, and JSFC also pressed to break the tie. Minutes before half-time, we were presented with that chance, when Fairuz was bundled over clumsily in the penalty box. He stepped up to take the penalty but his kick was straight high and direct at the GK who palmed the ball upwards over the bar, when either side of the goal would have been better options in my opinion.

The '2nd team', except for Ben and Azmi, took to the field for the 2nd half and the game became stretched as JSFC suddenly found space on both flanks of the pitch and continued to do so far too often. To our credit, our defence stood up to the test, led by none other than James, while Raymond and AJ reprised their Saturday's team combination at the heart of defence to head away any aerial balls. When the rotation from the bench completed its second cycle, the score remained goalless. Soon after however, JSFC took the lead following yet another flank play on our right side of defence. The opponent somehow managed to break through despite Kevin's close attention and powered a piledriver across James into the far side of the goal. Again, to our credit, we did not let our head down and foraged for an equalizer. The best chance came when Rahman, continuing his influence on the game, controlled Nas' throw-in and dribbled into the penalty box. Just as he almost ran out of space on the byline, he pulled back a low cross, and just like last week, it deflected off a defender's heel, into my path this time, but my left-footed shot packed too much power as it sailed harmlessly across goal.

We kept up the pressure as JSFC suddenly found themselves back against the wall during our best spell of the match perhaps, apart from the opening minutes. We were attacking hard in the final third and our efforts were rewarded with a desperately deserved equalizer. 3 players were involved in this play. James, having made a routine catch in goal, released the ball to Nas in midfield, who in turn fed my run with a perfectly-placed through pass, and I atoned for my earlier miss to calmly score. We found our voice both on and off the pitch as we called for a goal that would give us the lead. Try as we might though, despite the ball firmly staying in the opponents' half and JSFC clinging on to dear life, we could not score that goal. Instead, JSFC regained their lead in a controversial fashion.

We had given the ball away cheaply which led to the opponents' counterattack. It appeared to be offside when the scorer received the ball in our penalty box and again, the goalbound shot was drilled across James' goal into the far side of the net. Our appeal was waved off by the referee and we have to come from behind again. There was a chance of a penalty appeal when Raymond appeared to have been manhandled in the penalty box following our corner but the referee blew for a foul in the opponents' favour instead. JSFC was now closing out the game efficiently as tired legs took its toll on us and we lacked inspiration to revive our earlier momentum before the opponents' 2nd goal. Our hope of getting at least a draw died out in the dying minutes when JSFC scored from a freekick to secure a 3-1 victory.

Akim