
Myjia pictures: Sunny being substituted out.
Myjia let slip two-goal lead
Chua Chu Kang - Myjia FFC squandered a two-goal lead against The Players Republic of China after Junhao had plundered in two second half goals to finish 2-2.
Myjia had chances aplenty throughout the match but were unable to convert a single chance until the introduction of Junhao at halftime. The team were seemingly superior in every department in particular the left side of defence where Man of the Match Wilkin Tan denied the right winger a single opportunity to get round him. The first real chance of the game fell to guest player Ian who unluckily failed to beat the keeper after he had been put clean through. Midfielder Wai Meng, pushed forward in the continued absence of Kenneth, carried on in the same vein with two half chances from distance that cleared the crossbar. Minutes before the end of the first half, Eugene Low who had been in a great run of scoring form failed to add on to his tally when put through by Wai Meng. The veteran attacker attempted to lob the keeper the first time round but saw his shot saved before meekly shooting the rebound into the keeper's arms.
The second half saw Myjia intent on scoring at least a goal when Chia Junhao came on for a tired Ian. Junhao immediately terrorise the Chinese defence with his lung-bursting run and on one such occasion almost got into a goalscoring position before he was tackled by the defender. The Chinese defence was finally unlocked when Wai Meng picked Wilson out in the 68th min. The improving right winger escaped the offside trap and sent in a pin-point cross for Junhao to slam in the opening goal.
Wai Meng, enjoying much freedom in the attacking midfield role, soon found Junhao for his second goal of the game and twelveth of the season. Junhao latched on to the pass and scored with a lob after his initial effort was blocked.
Player manager Vincent got into the act soon and was presented with a superb opportunity when Jackson cleverly dummied the ball into his path. The final ball lacked the touches of a trained predator as it sailed over the bar. Lanky striker Ronnie Low was next to be guilty of a horrible miss as he shot wide of the goal post with no keeper to beat.
The defensive pairing of Vincent and Sunny were substituted with ten minutes remaining and were replaced by guest player Allan and stand-in stopper Jackson. The Chinese players launched wave after wave of attack and were finally rewarded after Allan failed to communicate with Raymond resulting in a gifted goal for the opponents. Another attack hit the post before Myjia finally succumbed under the pressure when the opponent's Malay import, Ah Bang, scored from a corner with a well-timed volley.
"It was disappointing to let the game finish that way. But credits to the defence, in particular Wilkin for a very resilient showing," remarked a disappointed Wai Meng. "One of my personal pluses from the game was the usual gathering of my relatives and this time round, also my conversion back to my attacking role," he grinned.