Tusser maintained their 100% record and continued the proud march towards the Espzen championship title. The 2-1 win this morning against Barclays Capital Football Club gave Tusser FC its 4th consecutive victory in as many games.
Tusser showed up for the match with only 13 players, a far cry from its usual big turnouts. With Francis still recovering from a first half tackle in the Real match, Derrick out with overseas commitment, Alvin on coaching course and the rest with a very serious sleeping disorder, the squad really looked thin.
However, Tusser looked as ready as ever to take on the best with Zhenhao and Roysten, who are more than capable, stepping into the first XI playing in the stopper and left full back positions respectively.
The game began with both sides trying to gain the upper hand with tackles flying as Barclays were eager to prove their superiority in their physique. Tusser shaked off an unimpressive first 5 mins and began to dictate the game. Hao had a glorious opportunity to break the duck after just 10 minutes into the game. With the ball nicely controlled down after a Daniel knock on, he sent a disappointing volley straight into the arms of the custodian. The half proceeded with Tusser looking the brighter side, trying ways and means to break the stubborn Barclays.
A well worked short corner by Wanyuan distracted the men in red and found Kar Fatt unmarked to head home his third goal of the season. 1-0 to Tusser Rangers into the break.
Second half was somewhat the most disappointing and forgettable display that the Rangers have churned out this season. Play was going on in drips and draps as Tusser looked disorganised and lost. If not for the experience of Man of the Match, Weida, to foil the attacks of a very inspired Barclays, the result would have gone another way. Not only was the play unimaginative, Tusser played to the pace of Barclays and at times made silly decisions by punting aimless balls to the two front men who have absolutely no chance against the giants of Barclays. The midfield was having an exceptionally lousy afternoon with Hao and Lanxer not playing up to mark.
Despite the discouraging effort throughout, Wanyuan lit up the game with his moment of brilliance. His visionary throughball managed to beat the offside trap for Daniel to latch on, who never looked close to missing with only the keeper to beat. 2-0 to Tusser.
Then, it was back to the boring kick and chase game and it wasn't long before Barclays produced a goal to match their efforts. Although the striker came from an offside position, the referee allowed the goal to stand.
Kian Peng had a few chances on the wide right and the rest of the game was rather even with both sides threatening to score on many occasions. Fortunately, Tusser manage to hold on to the lead to the relief of manager Steven.
Credit to Barclays for a very outstanding and inspired display. They looked like a more capable team than the table standing suggests and should be off the bottom of the league in no time.
Well, Chelsea grinded out many unimpressive and sometimes undeserved wins last season, yet they still went on to finish as the runaway champions. I guess thats what that always call the Champions Luck. Perhaps these are signs of a successful season ahead for the Rangers. Haha...
