Training on Wednesday 01/07/09

Attire for Wednesday's training is RED. Training starts 7pm sharp. All are welcomed.

Training on Monday 29/06/09

There will be training on Monday 29/06/09. Training starts 7pm sharp. Attire: BLUE
All are welcomed!

Schedule for the week

There is no training on Monday 22/6/09.

There is a friendly at NUS on Wednesday 24/06/09 against NUS at 7pm. Attire: BLUE. And training on Friday 26/6/09 at NUS 7pm. Attire: BLUE/RED. Please take note.

Reminder: Training Friday 19/06/09:

Training is held at NUS 7pm.
Attire: Red / Blue

Bring shoes in case of inclement weather

Jinan University emerges champion of Guangdong Universities

In the recently concluded Guangdong Universities competition, Jinan University emerged as champions of 2009. They defeated 广州外语外贸大学 (Guangdong University of Foreign Studies) in the final 4-0. Knowing that their strongest rivals Guangdong Polytechnical University had lost 1-2 to Guangdong University of Foreign Studies in the semis, they went into the final as favourites. Indeed, they demolished their opponents in style. Congrats to them on being crowned champions!

For more highlights of the final, you can go to youku.com and type 暨南大学足球队 to see their videos or http://www.qiudoo.com/newsshow.asp?newsclass=29&newsId=262 to see their pictures.

Wed 17 June Friendly Match

Combined Uni vs NUS
7pm kickoff

Please be down by 630pm for warm up. NTU players not in Jollilads are encouraged to come as well, and coach will be there.

Attire: BLUE

Training on Monday 15/06/09

Its time for us to start training again! Trainings would be held every Monday for the month of June. Yes its once per week. If you want to have additional trainings you can join Jollilads trainings Wed and Fri at NUS. Trainings start at 7pm SHARP. Attire is BLUE.

Whether you are / were in the IVP / SUNIG squad or not, you may join us for our trainings. Also, kindly spread the word to your friends and incoming freshies(if you know of any) about this blog if they are unaware of this blog. This is where you will be getting trainings and friendlies updates so go and BOOKMARK this address down.

Please state in the comments section whether you will be down for training or not.

Schedule for June

For the month of June, all trainings will be on Wednesdays and Fridays 7pm at NUS. Currently, the trainings are with the combined uni team but anyone is welcomed to join in. It is advised to bring boots and running shoes during each training. Attire is either red or blue top.

P.S: Our coach may be featured this coming week or soon so come join us if you wanna find out who he is.

China trip: Match reports by Kennard Gan

Jinan University vs. NTU match report:

Spurred on by the on-watching basketball girls (esp no. 11 and 24), NTU took on Jinan University hoping to repeat the feat achieved the previous year where NTU emerged victors.
NTU, on the back of some rather poor friendly performances in Singapore, started off brightly, being solid in defence and sharp in attacks. Within the first 10 mins, NTU had 2 golden opportunities to open the scoring, however the 10 + NTU fans in the 2000 pax stadium were left feeling a tad disappointed. Firstly, a cross from the right was met by the head Zulsian Bolt around the 6 yard area, however, he could only manage to flash the ball straight at the keeper. The next opportunity was carved by Zulsian, controlling the ball on the left before firing in a left footed cross which eluded the Jinan defence and fell to Winston, who tried to side foot the ball into the bottom left corner but only ended up shooting straight at the keeper.
NTU finally had the ball in the back of the net from another promising cross by Zulsian who was staking his claim to be the next NTU no. 7 (personally admitting to having met the pre-requisite of starting on the bench) where Winston showed his predatory instincts in volleyball to all by spiking the ball into the net. Groans and moans could be heard from both the female support and Winston himself who was given a yellow card by the referee who could not distinguish an offside flag from a pirate’s flag.
As the game grew, Jinan started to control possession of the ball by calmly spraying it around the backline till an opening was found. Twice, they managed to free their left midfielder, who was proving to be their main offensive threat but was well marshalled by the combination of Kennard, Aaron, Jin and Manfred. The NTU backline grew in confidence as the game wore on, with Kok Siong having an inspired game in midfield supported by the effective Harold, and ‘King Babi’ Gary.
In hindsight, the first half was the best NTU played since training resumed after the exams. As the first half drew to a close, a horrific injury sustained by Kennard (again, damnit) while challenging a high ball condemned him to the sidelines for the rest of the match, and of course, quite importantly, inhibited his movement during shopping.
The second half began with both sides trying to break each other down with balls down the flanks, but both defences remained solid and steady.
Donny Don Don opened the scoring via a cool side footed finish into the top right hand corner from a corner kick taken by Harold which the keeper could only palm out. With his first goal for NTU in the bag, Don decided to take his celebrations further by jumping onto the clearly and dumbfounded Aaron. As full time approached, Jinan started to pepper our goal with shots, 1-on-1, and corners, which were all repelled by the defence led by the impressive Jin and keeper Kevin ‘Outburst’ Teo. Final score read 1-0 to NTU.

Positives to take from this match:
1) We showed good character to remain solid despite the incessant pressure Jinan was putting on us towards the end of the game. The shape of the midfield and defence was impressive, with coordinated shifting and covering.

2) The team-play can only get better with the inclusion of players such as Fuhang, Feroz, Khai, KT, Peng, Boon, Lakesh and not forgetting the Manchester dude, Ferdihao.

Certain issues to take note:
1) Jinan, unlike most Singaporean teams, apply little pressure in our defensive half, allowing free passage of play till the mid line. The reason why we could not play to this standard in Singapore was probably due to the difference in playing styles. We have to cope, adapt and show more composure on the ball when playing back in Singapore, such that we are able to keep possession of the ball for longer periods of time. Of course, this is easier said than done, therefore, from the next training on, it is imperative that we understand one of the most important concepts of modern soccer, movement, involving how one supports an attack, where one runs, how to cover for a team-mate, the list goes on and on.

Man of the Match:
Kok Siong (sorry Aaron) who showed an eye for a pass, good composure in keeping possession, and of course, for ole-ing one of their defenders.



Guangzhou Polytechnical University vs. NTU

The second and last international match between the representatives from China and Singapore yielded a highly pulsating 2-2 draw which in truth, could have gone either way and was a story of 2 halves.
NTU started the game on the backfoot, giving their opponents too much respect which resulted in gifts of time and space to the Guangzhou outfit. Passes were not made sharply, nor with any intent, instead over 50 mis-placed and mis-timed passes were made by the whole team. Indeed, from a reporter’s point of view, one must admit it was the worst half NTU played ever since the inception of the bi-lateral exchange programme. NTU’s sloppy play was punished in the 20th minute (I made that up) after one of their Chinese players skipped past 3 half-hearted challenges in midfield, and played a 1-2 with another Chinese player and went through on goal. The Chinese player rounded off the ‘Barcelona’-like passage of play by coolly slotting the ball past Kevin.
At this stage, one must have feared for the NTU team, for a lesson in football was dished out akin to that of the Champion’s League Final. However, against the run of play, the ball was sprayed wide to the right onto the onrushing Winston, who in turn fed a low cross into the 6 yard box, which was met by Don, calmly stroking the ball with the outside of his foot past the helpless Chinese keeper. For the second match running, Don celebrated in style by jumping onto the stunned and surprised Aaron. (It’s a good thing both of them are not roomies)
The score again changed when Guangzhou was awarded a corner and again, slack marking allowed another Chinese player to power a header into the top corner. Half time soon came, with Mr Chiang presenting a case to be nominated as the next NTU coach with camera-man Kennard providing vital insights and views towards the how the second half should be approached.
The half-time team talk was not wasted, as NTU came out firing, wanting to prove to the 10, 000 strong fans that Singaporean teams aren’t pushovers. The tempo was raised, passes were made with much attacking intent, the defence line was solid with good movement and covering led by the impressive Jin and Aaron, the attack was much sharper and decisive with Harold, Zul and Winston playing their hearts out. It was only a matter of time before NTU equalized.
One such opportunity came when Torrence fed Manfred through on the left. Swinging one of his trade-mark left-footed, Beckham-like, banana crosses into the box, Manfred found the head of Winston, who managed to power a header, but alas, it was saved spectacularly ‘Tianci’-like by the Chinese keeper.
The next chance was not to be wasted as again, Manfred swung a cross into the box, which was met by a brilliant, superb, breath-taking, mind blowing, pulse defying, right footed volley into the bottom corner by Harold.
NTU had further opportunities to increase the scoreline, however, a combination of last-ditch headers and tackles made by the China Chinese players prevented the ball from crossing the line before the referee blew for full time.

Positives to take from this match: (mostly from the second half)
1) The intent cum mindset of the NTU players was commendable, spraying sharp passes with attacking intent while remaining defensively solid.

2) Guys, please feel free to add in.

Certain issues to take note:
1) We started off very slowly, against better teams like NYP, we would surely be finished even before we are allowed to take a 10-minute breather during half time. This probably resulted from inadequate mental preparation, focus and confidence. I’m sure that after hearing we might be playing a team that won Jinan 5-0, we were already mentally affected, not knowing how the game might turn out to be, or which team might actually turn up. However, like what my coach used to tell me: Don’t worry about who you are facing, good or weak, what is most important is that we, as a team, play to our strengths and dare to play. To put it in a context which most of us will grasp at instantly, look at the recent IVP final, NUS didn’t really put too much emphasis on how well or how good NYP is, they just went and played their game. Therefore, it doesn’t matter who we are facing, let’s play our own game, then see how we adapt. Perhaps some of you might disagree and say you were mentally prepared for the game and that you weren’t affected by the opponent, but if you were to see the replay of the first half, it is what strikes me most.

2) This might be a little out of point, but allow me to input this. While we might be a University team, unlike SAFFC or Super Reds, we have to constantly remind ourselves the ultimate goal, which is to win IVP. Therefore, train and play as such. Know the strengths and weaknesses of each player, know how Zul likes the ball to be played to him, know intuitively what kind of ball Winston plays into the box, know when to make a run. All this stems from training. Therefore, learn to progress as a team, while at the same time, we progress to become better players individually.

Man of the Match:
Harold (again, sorry Aaron) 5% for providing attacking impetus, 5% for that swing of the boot that will live long in your memory and the other 90% for doing gymnastics during the celebration.