A masterclass display showing by Tusser Rangers in another wet drizzling morning.
Tusser continued their march towards being champions of the division as Hibs simply had no answer to Tusser power. Playing the same field and timing, it rained yet again just before the match but ceased just before the match started. At last, we achieved our target, The Ultimate CLEAN SHEET.
After feedbacks from last week game, we decided to stick back to the same formation. Jit Tong was asked to deputize for the sick Derek and with Hao returning to the centre of the park after missing a few games to partner Jerald.
Tusser started the early period with smooth passing and some intrigue play. It was not too long before Tusser opened their account. Hao after shrugging off his marker, with time & space unleashed a supenduous long shot from 30m. The dipping shot managed to beat the keeper and lobbed into the far corner.Definitely one for the collector's item and Goal of the Season nomination. Tusser was criticized for not making more use of some of the free kicks outside the penalty box. They could only muster weak shots or even ballooning some of those. Tong was terrorizing the Hibs defense with his dazzling skills and in one move, he beat off 5 players however he shot wide. He managed to get one the score sheet after cutting in from the left to latch on to a through pass from Hao and shoot. The ball took a wicked deflection off a falling defender and into the net. The whole team played and stuck to their task. Towards the end of the first half, both the tired wingers are taken off in bid to let them rest and give the players to warm up. Tusser finished the first half strongly, still determined to score more goals and Hibs have no shots on goal to show for.
The half time team talk was greeted with cheers for the good first half display but was told not to suffer the same mistake again from last week, letting the opponent to come back into the game. Tusser made some changes as we have 4 subs, something we consider as a luxury these days. Tusser started the second half with a more attacking formation. The 3-5-2 formation with instructions clearly to kill the game off early was adopted. To our disbelief, Hibs took the game to Tusser. They began to attack in swamps and Tusser had to struggle with playing 3 men at the back. Hibs was unlucky not to break the duck after one player was clear but Wenjie spread himself well and prevented a goal. It did not take long for the manager to correct the team play, as we shuffled the formation to a more stable 4-4-2. Tusser was starting to steady themselves again. Hibs was playing with a high defense line and one in attack. Tusser caught the Hibs napping again when Shern was put clear of the defense but with still a lot of work to be done. He was faced with a one-on-one situation. And this time he did well, placing the ball coolly under the keeper.
With the score at 3-0 and far beyond salvation, the usually hard tackling Hibs looked as though they have given up. However, Tusser were no saints as they continued their onslaught. Chances came in bags and some players ought to be blamed for missing them, Tusser still managed to increase the score line. Shern added another goal with his bag, this time rounding the keeper in flamboyant fashion before slotting the ball home for a 4-0 lead. The last goal came after Peng released Tong on the break. In a familiar mazy dribble, Tong powered past 2 tiring Hibs defenders before squaring it for Daniel to slam the ball into the empty net. I think Hibs will have no complains.
The MOM was a difficult choice simply because everyone played well, nevertheless the clean sheet target is achieved. The vote goes out for ZhenHao, for playing his personal best today. He has clearly improved in leaps and bounds and is beginning to stake a claim in the first eleven. Let’s hope he can build on this and improve more from here.
Let’s look forward to the coming Airtech Challenge and see if the team can play well against the Seniors.
