post-season analysis

our a-div season is over..
lost to ACJC 1-0 yesterday. i think NJ is an unlucky ground for us. we've played 4 matches there in the last two years and lost every game by one goal (last year 1-2 to ACS(i), this year 0-1 to NJ, 1-2 to AJ and 0-1 to AC). the two matches we won this year were played at SR (3-2 against dunman) and VJ (2-0 against NY).
so our final standings for this year is played 5, won 2, draw 0, lost 3, scored 6, conceded 6, pts 6. LLWWL. scorers: justin 3, me 2, caleb 1.
i think in our group we were like 5th out of 6 teams. unlucky if you ask me. i'd say we bounced back pretty well from the first 2 defeats. all our losses were down to defensive errors. some stuff that just can't be helped. all these little details make the difference in a tight competition like the a-divs. the teams that we were expected to beat this year like NJ and AJ have improved alot as well.
we really had high hopes for the season. expected to at least make it to the next stage. but well, the first two games really cost us, and by the time we bounced back, it was too late. had we not made the mistakes against NJ and AJ i think it would have been a much different story. but as it is, we're out and have to hope the next batch does better next year.
one thing i feel about our guys is that we're too "nice". we don't go into tackles hard enough. we have to put our head and body in more. if you go 100% into a tackle you're less likely to get injured. i'm probably the meanest tackler in the team (rahim and floyd tackle harder, but i tackle MEANER. there's a slight difference lol). and for some reason i just love going in really hard into a challenge.
although one good point about us is that we don't play-act or whine to the referee (in fact i quarrel with the refs haha). well, i don't mean to stereo-type, but there's a reason why we don't like schools like NJ and AC. even in a soccer match, you can see their people dropping onto the floor the whole game and hear them crying and complaining to the ref. AJ and NY didn't do that. for dunman, they just kept sucking-up to the ref ("good call ref!" i've never heard that phrase more times in any soccer game i've ever played). so yeah, CJC are really the a-div nice guys (except for their vice-captain lol).
for me, it was only a satisfactory a-div. the bad point is that i didn't get to attack as much as i, or even coach, would have liked. the teams we played just didn't allow it. the only match where i produced match-winning goals was the dunman high game. i had 4 shots the entire competition and i scored with 2 of them. the two misses were a header just over the bar and a long-range effort which the keeper saved. the good point is that i probably held my position really well. none of the teams bossed our midfield. and i'd like to think that i was more than a match for any centre-midfielder i was up against. against AJ and dunman it was easy meat. in the NY game i outplayed their big guy and he had to be subbed off. and against NJ and AC i was up against their combined schools team players and i matched them pretty well, if not better. so yeah, i'd like to say that i'm one of the better centre-midfielders in this year's a-divs. (i can't make the bolder statement that i always love to, cos we didn't play all the teams. haha..)
so for me, it was good tackling, passing and positioning. not enough attacking. and although my air challenges are not that great, i've improved alot in a short space of time as compared to last year when i didn't win a single header.
well, i'd say the experience of playing competitive soccer again was a good and enjoyable one. despite the early disappointments, the way we came back was encouraging. and so, i've played my last game in a CJ shirt.. haha. proud to have been vice-captain of a CJ team and wore the no.7 shirt for 2009. and not to mention the no.39 in 08 too! haha.
ok, time to throw away my soccer socks and hang up my boots..
byebye

easter and A-divs

whoops.. haven't posted anything for a long time!
it's good friday weekend! and for PLH, that means easter retreat!:)
this easter retreat was actually more fun than i expected. the youth comm really organised it well. i think the new people we've put in have contributed with quite a few new and fresh ideas.
on friday everyone came at about 3plus and had the usual registration and groupings. paul and shona were in charge of the ice breakers and they had some nice interesting games:)
my group was rebecca chan, michelle goh, colin, darren ho, coco, daniel and justin. grace foong and becky koh left early.
after ice breakers we had 1 hour for wash up time. and paul and i decided to use this time to have our wrestling match!! the undefeated giant vs the plh undisputed champion! lol. it was arguably the greatest match in our plh wrestling federation history lol. i think it comes quite close to the first match we ever had at bbc 07 (the 6-man elimination match involving me, jeremy, tim leong, shaun, david and jon, which i won and became champion). for the fact that paul and i went on for an amazing 40min (5.30-6.10pm). i got paul in some arm bar on the ground early on. twisted his arm and stuff and he was like shouting in pain on the ground. heh. i'm really shocked that he didn't tap out. that was definitely the most gutsy thing i've ever seen. but it helped me cos he played the rest of the match with a weakened left arm, preventing him from having the strength to lift me at times. i don't remember much details, but i somehow got paul on the ground and managed to pin him in a 3-count. wow. haha. just wow.
now my back, neck, and right arm are aching alot from the match. lol. paul is like the hardest guy ever to get onto the ground. my spinebusters almost didn't work!! good thing i had the submission move haha!
then it was dinner. and at night we had a passover meal thing. we kinda did it before during the easter retreat that i was sec1. and then we had a reflection time for 1hour-plus in the sanctuary which quite a few of us found helpful.
oh yes, then at night we were about to have our first-ever PLH wrestling tag-team championship match. i was partnering paul! i'm pretty sure we were favourites to become the first-ever tag-team champs of PLH, but just before the match could start my dad came in and stopped everything... in the end our room was super guai. lights off by 1145 and most of them slept by 12plus. the twins, paul and i were awake til 1plus then we got hungry. we decided to come down to the kitchen and we found the leftovers from supper haha! we finished everything!! four hungry boys at night. what do you expect? lol. yes and after some heart to heart talks we were asleep by 2plus with full stomachs. i love that feeling:) eat and sleep. lol.
the next day i woke up in the morning at 530 cos i needed to pee. then i decided might as well take a nice morning bath. shiok! haha. breakfast was at 7am. then we had devotion and worship too. after that the groups split up to plan for their presentations. the skits were not bad, considering the amount of time they had to prepare. my group got second for it:)
then it was lunch time. paul and i ate at a fast pace so we could go up to the youth comm room early to take a wrestling video. lol. a fake one. our acting is quite lousy but funny too! haha! it was supposed to be a hardcore match and we used lotsa weapons in the room. even the tables! haha!!
then it was the group games which were pretty fun. and musical chairs too! it's fun at the part where the people wear blindfolds and you can mess with them by taking away the chairs haha!
and we ended the camp by 5pm.
today went to church for easter sunday service. there was baptism and confirmation. congrats to michelle, amanda, shaun, and serene! these are those from plh who went.
then went up to mph to jam for awhile.
ok i'm running outta time. needa speed up my posting pace haha.

anyways, we've been having a-division matches the past 2 weeks.
lost to NJC 0-1
lost to AJC 1-2
beat dunman high 3-2
beat NYJC 2-0
our last group game is against ACJC on friday. despite losing our first 2 matches, we've still got a good chance of qualifying for the quarter-finals after winning in our last 2. we were quite unlucky in the NJ match. lost to a headed goal from a freekick. i'd like to think we were equal with them the whole game.
for the AJ match, it was defensive mistakes that cost us.
i scored 2 goals in the dunman match. i think we played kinda badly and were fortunate to come away with the 3pts.
but in the NY game we really played well. fully deserved the 2-0 win.
i think if we win on friday we're through. gotta take a look at the table when i get back to school this week.
ok that's all for now. i think i'll post again after a-divs end.
byebye:)