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