Matchday 2: Irrational Exuberance 1-4 Swanston Street

In a game both sides had to win to maintain any qualification aspirations for the knockout round, it was Swanston Street that emerged the victor, breezing past Irrational Exuberance by four goals to one.

Starting with an adventurous lineup of Robin, Vincent, Daniel, Munhong, Weian and Gabriel, Sant's Six dominated early proceedings and kept the Irrational goalkeeper busy. It was no surprise then when Swanston Street took the lead.

A great team move starting from just inside their own half saw the ball reach the outside of the opponent's penalty box. Sweeper Vincent, who had made a run all the way from defence, popped up deep in the left wing, and was tee-ed up with a incisive through ball. Running towards the keeper, Vincent made no mistake, finishing cleanly into the far post.

Sant's Six did not let up, constantly getting into good positions, only failing to add to their lead due to poor finishing, and an inspired performance in goal by the opposing goalkeeper.

Enter the debutante Jaya, who recently completed a big-money transfer to Swanston Street. Showing the composure and experience the club forked out big bucks for, Jaya controlled the midfield and proved to much for the Irrational defence to handle. By halftime, Swanson Street raced to a 3-0 lead, both goals coming for Jaya.

The second half was no different from the first. A defensive mix-up let the Irrationals pull a goal back, but majority of the proceedings were Swanston Street forays forward. On the occasions the Irrationals did manage to make space to get their shots in, they found Swanston Street keeper Robin on good form, showing confidence and steady shot-stopping.

They eventually got the goal their second half performance deserved when a brilliant ball from the right found Gabriel with space on the left. He finished clinically to the far post to make the score 4-1, thus sealing the win.

Once again the keeper came to Irrational's rescue, preventing the score from resulting in what would have been an enormous trashin. Fulltime, and a 4-1 win for Swanston Street. But more importantly, a big boost for their confidence and morale, and their qualification aspirations back on track.

Lineup: Robin, Vincent, Daniel, Mun Hong, Wei An, Gabriel, Farrell, Jaya, Eng Hui, Darryl

post match round-up

Following the 3-5 loss on matchday one, sants-six.blogspot.com decided to go round the dressing room to see assess the atmosphere after the defeat. surprisingly, it still remained positively upbeat.

captain lim weian revealed that he was pleased with the second half comeback, and when asked if he felt qualification was still possible, he replied "it is still very likely, just watch us bounce back next week."

manager daniel tan shared his views, stating that the team had to do away with the nerves in order to play better. revealing that he felt they were the better team but struggled with nerves in the first half, daniel also said they were going to take one game at a time, and that with such an approach, qualification was still very much a likelihood.

forward gabriel tan, who netted two goals, was also interviewed and while saying that he was pleased to have hit the back of the net twice, he would much rather have had a win for the team. nonetheless, he remained upbeat, saying "as long as we keep calm and stick to the game plan, we should be able to rough it out and stand a good chance reaching the knockout stage".

Matchday 1: Krodkiew Ski's Eleven 5-3 Swanston Street

Swanston Street went down valiantly to Krodkiew Ski's Eleven 5-3 after almost incredulously going down 0-3 in the first 5 minutes.

Starting with a defensive lineup of Robin in goal, Farrell, Soon Seng, Darryl, Wei An and Munhong, manager Daniel Tan's tactics seem to backfire when Krodkiew scored three quickfire goals in the 2nd, 3rd and 5th minute.

A change in gameplan then saw Daniel, Gabriel and Eng Hui brought up to no avail. Wei came close midway through the second half with a near post shot that just glazed past the near post, and Darryl also contributed a couple of efforts on goal that failed to test the keeper. The closest Sant's Six came to scoring was when Gabriel curled a shot onto the post. To add further difficulty to the task already ahead of them, Swanston Street conceded a fourth goal just before half time.

The second half saw a different lineup emerge, with Vincent and Daniel marshalling the defence, Darryl in midfield, and Wei An and Gabriel up front. This more attacking formation paid dividends with Wei running onto a long ball and slotting home past the keeper within 2 minutes of the restart. And with Krodkiew still smarting from conceding that goal, Sant's Six decided to go one better when Gabriel came out on tops from a tangle of legs with the last man, and raced through to finish past the keeper.

With the Krodkiew defense in sixes and sevens, the stage was then set for an unlikely comeback when a counterack saw Wei An feed the ball through to Gabriel. His left foot shot was poor but the keeper fumbled it into the back of the net. 4-3, with the momentum shifting towards Sant's Six, the belief was starting to grow.

Alas, it was not to be when Krodkiew scored a fifth goal. Sant's Six barraged the goal to no avail, leaving them with an uphill task for qualification to the second round.

Lineup: Robin, Soon Seng, Farrell, Darryl, Mun Hong, Wei An, Eng Hui, Daniel, Gabriel, Vincent

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legends-sant

#14. SANT
Name: Vasant Bomarlboronitchyakul
D.O.B: 25/09/83
Height: 177
Weight: Two feathers
Jersey Number: 14
Country of Birth: Thailand
Nicknames: Wah, Santiago, Rievomit

Previous clubs: Trinity College (2001)
International Career: Uncle Mai Tai's Team
Caps: 97 Goals: 1


undoubtedly the most graceful player to ever grace hockey pitch, sant burst onto the scene as a classy left-back and after a successful debut year as the star of trinity college, he was spotted by then vice-captain ong siong ian, and immediately recruited to swanston street football club.

since his arrival, sant formed an almost telepathic understanding with his defensive partner ian on the left side of defence. also equally capable of attacking, sant's only weakness was that he didn't want to shoot. not that he couldn't shoot, but that he didnt want to.

nonetheless, sant regularly was high up in the assists rankings, and this didn't go unnoticed. other teams targeted sant for a big-money move, and fake galatasaray even loaned him for a match earlier this year. however, sant's loyalty and love for peking duck saw him stay at hockey pitch.

at the start of 2006, sant resisted a move back to hometown club bangkok jam fc to stay at hockey pitch for another six months. as previous captain ian had retired at the end of the previous season, there was only ever going to be one choice for the new captain.

forming a partnership with new signing danikumar, sant captained the team to a great ratio of 52 wins, and 0 losses in the 2006 first half season. he was further rewarded by being capped by uncle mai tai's team, where he played every game in the thai world cup, scoring his first and only goal for them in the third place playoff, where they won the bronze medal.

sant's off the pitch model behavior was only slighty affected by his addiction to coke. suprisingly, he was addicted not to the drug, but the drink!! having recently hung up his boots, sant has handed on the captain's jersey to weian, but has also left a legacy for many more defenders to follow.

legends-nicky!!!

#2. NICKY!!!
Name: Nicholas Wan Wei Zhi
D.O.B: 18/09/85
Height: Not that tall Weight: A feather
Jersey Number: 2
Country of Birth: Lalaland
Nicknames: Kyyyyyyy, Uncle Nick
Previous clubs: Trinity College (2002)





known around the scene as a hardworking fullback, NICKY!!! was one of the greatest attacking defenders to ever wear the white of sant's six. whilst he wasnt the most stable of defenders (due to being born in lalaland, he was naturally abit cuckoo), NICKY!!!'s work rate and constant running saw him rise to second in the club's history of goal-scoring defenders.

although some may point this out to the fact he often spent large portions of the match out of postion in the opponents penalty box, it cannot be undermined how significant a role NICKY!!! played in gaining freekicks and penalties. known to tumble from the slightest of breezes, referees gained a reputation of giving fouls to NICKY!!! more easily than to other players. it was rumoured this was because he always gave them his trademark friendly yell, "REEEFFFFFFF!!!"

off the field, NICKY!!! fully carried out his superstar status, frequently being spotted in the clubbing scene, as well as Crown Casino. overall, he never let his private life get in the way of his brilliant performances on the pitch. a true great servant to the club, and one of the players of the game that really gave referees a fun time.