Dasch's second match of the season was an improvement over the first. Well, improvement in the sense that we scored 1 goal more and conceded 2 less in this match than in the previous one. The result was a 1-1 draw, exactly the same standard... er, I mean scoreline as the England-Brazil friendly the night before.

The attendance was fair, with 12 players turning up. Daniel "NOT Michael Owen" Ding notched his first (and we hope, not only) strike of the season, which was also Dasch's season opener. Vice-captain Jiamin made a rare but much-welcomed appearance too. In the absence of Ruibin, Chek Keng stood in as keeper, thus depriving us of his potential match-winning outfield services *sob sob*. The rest of the guys were the usual suspects in a 4-4-2 line-up: Cheng Cai, Minheng, Raymond, Desmond, Kenneth, Zixin, Lester (sub), Eng Kiat and Alvan.

Kicking off against Evertech - this team consists of Kenneth's attachment colleagues aged between 25-35 - we youngsters were dominant for the first 5 mins before the tide turned. And turned again. And turned.. To elaborate, both sides had their periods of possession before losing the ball and allowing the other to make fast-breaks/counter attacks. Sort of like, ping-pong football. (Or as some might say, kampung football.) As is normal for our matches, it was a generally scrappy affair with occasional bouts of neat play amid lots of insanely wild and wide (off-target) passes, crosses and shots.

Evertech's initial attacks and crosses came mainly down our left flank, and their lively central striker had a couple of firm headers either wide or straight towards Chek. At the other end, Dasch's build-up play - by Raymond on the left, Minheng on the right, Daniel and Cai up front and Jiamin, Desmond and Kenneth supporting behind - was quite alright, though the final decisive pass/shoot was lacking (cos we got robbed of the ball! in board daylight somemore!), or mistimed (player and ball travelling in same direction, but at different speeds), or misplaced (player and ball travelling in opposite directions), or too fast or slow (erm, depending on the direction and strength of the wind). All too frequently, the final move was to attempt to dribble past a mass of defenders or a high through ball which always came to nothing, being intercepted either by the opposing defenders or keeper.

Except for one. Our goal came midway in the 1st half when Daniel got himself in a one-to-one with the Evertech keeper and happily for Dasch, Anti-Goal for once failed to live up to his name, coolly slotting the ball in. Yes, I do mean into goal - defined as the area bounded by the ground, the left post, the right post and the string crossbar. Sadly, for the rest of the match, our forwards seem to think 'goal' refers to anywhere except the area thus defined. Ok, first goal of the season. Great achievement. How exciting. (Yawnnn...) Still, time not to celebrate, but consolidate: Lester came in to provide more muscle at right back, Alvan shifted to left back to provide less muscle there, Zixin moved up to left wing, replacing Raymond who went for a rest at the sideline. With the revamped positions, we managed to hold out for the remaining minutes.

Half time saw Dasch clinging on to a rather fragile 1-0 lead. Time to regroup, cool off our heads and be entertained by goal hero/comedian Ding's stand-up routine and hilarious parodies of our guys' 1st half play.

The 2nd half started off with Raymond rejoining the action in place of Alvan (who came in again for the last 5 mins for Eng Kiat). Not much difference from the previous half, except maybe Evertech were the more motivated side, seeking an equaliser. There was a scary moment for us when an Evertech volley crashed off our right post, rebounded and rolled across our goalmouth and luckily our defenders were on hand to clear.

However when Evertech (kind of inevitably) drew level, we couldn't really complain. A strong run by one of their guys down our left, our marker desperately trying to cover, a sweetly-struck shot from an acute angle, a startled Chek reacting too late, and the score was now 1-all. Our play then became rather predictable, either trying to find our strikers with hopeful lobs or attempting to muscle our way through. A few close shaves resulted, but we just couldn't find the target again.

It has to be said that goalkeeping is arguably Dasch's strongest department, with our 2 recognised goalies, Ruibin and Chek, generally outstanding between the posts (ie. ignoring the occasional stupid error). This game proves it once again, Chek Keng pulling off a few excellent saves to keep us alive when the defence failed to contain Evertech's rampaging frontmen. First was a fine low dive to the right to punch away a stinging shot by an Evertech player who had been allowed too much space. In the last minutes of the game, Chek made another great reflex save with his outstretched leg in a one-to-one situation after the defence had been caught out yet again. In the end, drawing 1-1 was a rather fair result for both teams.

On the whole, for all the pretty (ugly) patterns weaved and chances created, the shooting was horribly inept (like something straight out of the Chris Sutton Scoring Manual.) This was applicable to both sides, but more so for our opponents as we didn't create as many shooting chances. The defence of Kenneth, Zixin, Eng Kiat and Lester did well to pressurise and hinder the opposition attack, putting off their aim by getting those tackles in or by throwing themselves in front of the speeding opponent bodies. Of interest was Jiamin showing his defensive qualities as well as his ability to give away the ball near our penalty area (a trait shared by the entire defence). Also to note is the need to find someone in our team who can take proper goal kicks, so can anyone practice kicking a stationary ball high and far? ("High and far", by the way, means above chest level and beyond the half-way line.)

It was good to see our guys looking sharper and fitter this time round. All (except Jiamin and Alvan) had played in the opening game 2 weeks before. So, with match experience and more PT (I think), the sissy weaklings from the 1st match had transformed into lean, mean fighting machines (ok ok, maybe I've been digesting too much SAF propaganda). As always, we can do better. One of Dasch's strengths, in recent history at least, may be our superior fitness level which enables us to (heheh) outlast other teams, especially during matches played under the blazing sun, and which is also advantageous against (heheheh) younger, pre-NS sides which tire faster.

Now, I would like the stupid captain to note that Euro 2000 will be starting soon (on June 10), so he better not schedule any Sunday morning games if there are 'live' match telecasts on that particular Sunday morning. I doubt anyone (us or opponents) would turn up anyway. (Oi! Are you paying attention, Kenneth?)

Lastly, manager Eng Kiat incidentally left his jersey behind after the match. His jersey number is 3. Anyone who sees it around RJC please return to its rightful owner. If it's indeed lost (touch wood), Daniel "Wahh! I look fat in the Dasch jersey!" Ding can maybe give his away to Eng Kiat, since Ding hates to wear it anyway. After all, how can our manager go without a jersey right? Also, the sight of his hunky bare bod will spark off mayhem among the female fans, and we don't want that to happen right?

Ok, let's strive to score still more and let in less stupid goals and hey! we're looking at a win in our next game (to be announced).