ESPZEN Cup Final, originally uploaded by Lobinhoot.
I had a great game today! Though I only featured in the first half of the game between Barbarians and Racing FC. The pitch was excellent! Kudos to Lee Taylor, the Espzen director, for organising the match at Jalan Besar Stadium.
Barbas started slowly in the first 15 mins or so, and later gathered some pace but were not that sharp with our finishing. I didn’t have much stuffs to worry about at the back (my defenders were excellent!). Except for a scorcher from Simon, the Racing midfielder, which skimmed my crossbar, I only had to gather some loose balls and tame shots in the first period. We’ve got about 18 players(reminds me of last week’s game) and its a Charity match, therefore I was told beforehand I’d only feature in 1 half. HT, 0-0.
Second half got underway and we started brillantly. Midway thru, we broke free and Andy Taylor stucked his boot in to give Barbas the deserving lead. 1-0, Barbarians. Just minutes later, Andy T again rounded the entire Racing defence and thought he had scored, but Jonny Wright was in an offside position. As a matter of fact, Wrighty didn’t need to be there. He shouldn’t have touched the ball. Oh well… Anxiety got the better of him, I guessed.
Just when we thought we’d wrapped the game up, Richie(Racing FC) caught our defence napping and punished us with a clever chip over Paul to equalise for Racing FC. 1-1. It was end to end stuff from then, but neither team managed to capitalise and full-time it was, with the game at one a piece.
Penalties were to follow. Paul took the first one and blasted it to the roof of the net. 1-0, Barbas. Simon took the next kick for Racing and he skimmed the upright this time. 1-0, Barbas still. Chister strode up and toko the 2nd kick for Barbas and smashed it in. 2-0, Barbas. Racing got 1 back in their 2nd kick. 2-1, Barbas. I actually lost count by then, but I know Timo missed his kick. But Racing missed theirs too. And so, we won. Haha… Barbarians hasn’t been receiving any silverware for while now, so its heartening to be getting something. 
We played well today, lads! *pat on our shoulders*
The 1NiteStand Cup Final match between Screaming Irish and Remix followed our match it was a definitely a thrilling match with lotsa action. Remix were reduced to 10-man after their defender got 2 bookings in quick successions. Bad luck to Remix, I guess. But it wasn’t easy playing against the Irish, though the majority of their team doesn’t consists Irish. They’ve got like 2-3 ex-S League players in their stables. But Remix did put up a good fight. Mike, you did well. You guys came this far and you should be proud of yourself! But then again, nobody remembers the losing team in a cup final. That’s the cruel fact of life…. and how ironic for the game to be played at Jalan “Bizarre” stadium.
