
Kampong Bahru - Myjia stormed back from 2 goals down to triumph 4-3 over Team YCK on Saturday.
Inspired by the first generation of academy graduates namely, Eugene Low, Vincent Low and Eric Low, Myjia took an early lead into the match with a sublime through pass by Jerry Lim to provide Chia Junhao with a glorious chance at the edge of the six yard box.
The topscorer for Myjia looked up and picked his spot with precision into the far bottom corner to repay Jerry's brilliant surge from defence and dribble past 3 defenders.
Playing reasonably well on a hot afternoon, Myjia looked to hang on to the slender one goal advantage and also tried to increase the advantage with chances falling with regularity to forwards.
It looked to be a different Myjia side from the previous week and with keeper Raymond Tan in commanding form, Myjia almost just did enough to hang on to the lead until halftime when a momentary lapse in concentration from the Myjia defence allowed a Team YCK striker to shoot from distance and when Raymond parried the shot, no one was in sight to play the second ball thus allowing Team YCK no. 9 to tap in a simple rebound.
An equaliser for the opponents coming in the 44th minute, the goal sapped the confidence out of Myjia's play.
When the second half restarted, Myjia's continuing lethargy from the restart resume its work.
A quick succession of goals in the space of 10 minutes saw Myjia trail by 3-1 and by this time, it had appeared that we are looking at the same old Myjia of previous weeks.
However, a masterful stroke of tactical ingenuity from manager Vincent Low saw himself pushed up to attack and Junhao dropped to defence. Jackson Seetoh and Delvin Ng swapped flanks and both to devastating effect.
Vincent was the first to benefit from the switch as he latched on to a ricochet off a defender from Kenneth's pass to round the keeper and slot home for his first goal of the season.
3-2 and game on! Vincent's goal appeared to rouse the fire back into Myjia's game and Uncle Eric Low soon played his part in Myjia's comeback.
A right wing ball was whipped crossfield and instead of chesting the ball down while in the penalty box, Eric showed immense awareness as he dummied the ball for an overlapping Delvin to speed past the bewildered defender and fire in Myjia's equaliser.
3-3 and the crowd were beginning to sense an incredible match on hand as chants of "Myjia, Myjia" rang around the stadium.
Shocked by Myjia's comeback, Team YCK piled on the pressure hoping to get something out of the game while desperately trying to plug the holes on the left side of their defence as Eugene and Vincent wrecked havoc.
The pair of brothers turned back the hands of time with a display of intelligence, movement and great understanding as they tormented the YCK leftback throughout the match.
With 5 minutes remaining on the clock, Vincent controlled a long punt from Junhao and when Leong Wai Meng picked the ball off Vincent and surged into the box with purpose, time appeared to stand still as the midfielder shuffled his feet past two defenders before launching a shot from the edge of the box for a shocking comeback by Myjia.
4-3 at this stage, Team YCK refused to give up and Raymond was repeatedly called into action as he returned to top form to preserve Myjia's lead and victory.
A very satisfying victory to end the recent run of poor results for Myjia and credits must go to the entire team for playing above themselves to lift Myjia out of the doldrums.
In particular, regular striker Ronnie Low was deployed as an emergency rightback and did brilliantly in an unfamiliar position while Wilson Tan is fast improving into a quality midfielder with a sound footballing brain. Wilkin Tan, often criticized for his lack of composure on the ball, too played a blinder, nullifying the opposition threat from the wings though his composure on the ball still leaves much to be desired.
Nonetheless, a win is a win despite conceding three goals. What's more important is this win has lifted Myjia's morale and with another match coming up on Saturday 2nd May, Myjia is just eager to play and build on this result while the Uncles continue to lead the way in the Myjia revival.