Yusof Ishak - In what is fast becoming a worrying season for Myjia, the team played well below expectations despite the presence of a record crowd.
Much has been expected from Myjia after player-manager Vincent Low promised a much improved performance after weeks of lacklustre display from the family team - and they almost did not disappoint.
As early as the fourth minute, hopes were raised when energetic midfielder Kenneth Koh raced through the Diethlem defence only to land his finish over the crossbar. The miss was to mark a series of wasteful finishing by Myjia which to the team's credit, totally outplayed the opposition in the first half but had only a goal to show for.
After missing a host of chances which were more than the fingers on both hands, Myjia finally broke Diethlem's resistance with a rare goal by utility player Ng Yongchun.
Latching on to a cross field pass from centreback Jerry Lim, Yongchun outpaced the last man before slamming his shot past a hapless keeper for his first ever goal in Myjia's colors and Myjia's first in the match.
The goal was to a certain degree, an unjust punishment for a Diethlem side which had done brilliantly to keep out Myjia's attacks despite being outplayed for large portion of the first half. Myjia were to carry a slender one-nil lead into the second half and one suspects complacency might be a reason to explain the poor goal output.
Carrying on their good work from the first half, Diethlem continued to frustrate Myjia with their keeper in top form. To their credit, Diethlem displayed a positive attitude despite the one goal setback and were duly rewarded when they pulled a goal back from one of their rare attacks to leave Myjia in shock.
Launching a quick counter attack in the 75th minute, Diethlem FC had decided it was time to teach Myjia a lesson in the art of finishing when their striker struck a sweet shot to the bottom corner after beating the Myjia defence. One real attempt in the second half and one goal to the good. One goal apiece and Myjia were momentarily stunned.
Just as it seemed the misses were to haunt Myjia, the homegrown trio of Vincent, Waimeng and Ebenzer had other ideas.
Ebenzer found space down the right flank in the 80th minute and evaded a challenge before finding Waimeng in the penalty box. The midfielder's late surge into the box caught the Diethlem defence by surprise and before they could react, Waimeng's cutback was met powerfully by team captain Vincent Low to steer Myjia back into the lead.
The goal appeared to take the punch out of the resistant Diethlem side. For all the effort and hardwork they had put in to put themselves level, a goal so late in the game proved to be the breaking point for them.
Recent signing Jerry Lim soon added another goal for Myjia after Waimeng put him through before the latter wrapped up a labourious victory with a injury time goal as he rounded the keeper to slot into an empty net.
A completely unconvincing 4-1 victory to Myjia, the one bright spark was the debut of another product from the Myjia academy, Mark Ho - scouted by Myjia local scout Kelly Koh.
The young forward showed glimpses of his ability and with a few more appearances in the first team, Mark could well be hitting the net for Myjia with regularity.
MYJIA STUTTERING FORM CONTINUES
7/22/08, Report by Anonymous
Yishun- After a stuttering form throughout the season, pressure was rapidly increasing for Myjia to deliver. However the situation was not assisted with the absence of key players Seetoh Jackson, Leong Waimeng and Ng Yong Chun.
Despite missing several key players, Myjia started off the match brightly with Junhao leading the attack. However the series of attacks came to no avail.
Myjia persistence finally paid off on the 14th minute with a swift counter-attack movement. The ball cleared by the defence was picked up by Kenneth Koh who ran close to half the pitch before releasing the ball for Junhao. Beautiful first touch by Junhao allow him to set the ball up nicely for a shot. With a recent dip in form, there was increasing pressure for Junhao to deliver and he made no mistake and fired an unstoppable shot past the keeper.
However instead of building on the 1-0 lead, Myjia allowed Yishun Malays to dictate the tempo of the game. Yishun Malays' left winger was a constant torn for Myjia's defence with his blistering pace and silky skills despite his small frame.
On the 25th minute mark, Yishun Malays finally crawled their way back into the match with a quick break down the left wing and a defensive lapse.
1-1 was the scoreline with 20 minutes left on the clock before halftime, Myjia began to sense the importance of having a lead during a break. Myjia then regain composure and began to build up their momentum.
The breakthrough came on the 35th minute when Youngster Ebenzer put the finish touch to the end of a wonderful cross by chief striker Chia Junhao. 2-1 was the the scoreline and it was Ebenzer's 3rd goal of the season.
2-1 was the score displayed on the scoreboard as both team heads for half time. During half time Player/Manager Vincent Low made his usual half time teamtalk.
Minutes after the restart, Yishun Malays piled pressure and won a corner. A wonderful delivery from the corner resulted in a wonderful header by a Yishun Malays' defender. For the second time during the match Yishun Malays had drew level.
With the score levelled at 2 a piece, Myjia made a tactical reshuffle with Plyer/Manager Vincent Low pairing up with Junhao up front and new signing Jerry and Delvin marshalling the defence. Troubled by the flank play of Yishun Malays, Myjia defence were force to drop deep.
The tactical reshuffle almost paid off with a couple of wonderfully built-up attack only to be denied by poor cutting edge infront of goal. On the 70th minute, Jerry was denied his 1st goal for Myjia when his goalbound freekick was saved by fingertip of the keeper.
Yishun Malays also had their share of chances also to be let down by their finishing touch infront of goal and the heroics of shot-stopper Raymond.
In the closing minutes of the match, victory seems destined for Yishun Malays with a one on one situation with Raymond. However the shot was superbly tip away by an outstretch arm of Raymond. Besides, there was a sequel to the attack and a thunderous followed up strike seems destined for the back of the net. Yet again, the strike was punched away by Raymond and was safely cleared by Myjia's defender.
Due to the heroics of stop-stopper Raymond Tan, Myjia avoided defeat with the scoreline of 2-2.
LATEST NEWS: MYJIA DRAWS WITH YISHUN MALAYS
7/13/08, Report by Weuji Hikikomori
Yishun - Myjia FFC drew 2-2 with Yishun Malays on Saturday afternoon with goals coming from Chia Junhao and Ebenzer Low.
Full match report was unavailable at press time.
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