It was a strange First 11 that lined up for this game against Ampa-9 almost reading like a roll call from DRM Golf with a debut for 'Gold Tee Maniac' Kamal Bahrom in goal and a 2007 first for
'Golf El-Kapitan' Pg Ahmad (sorry for missing you out the 1st time dude!! :p), 'The Freak' Fadle and Pg Shamhary. Even DRM Golf's infamous Lord of the Putt turned up for the kick-off but stopped short of putting on his boots and the blue & yellow. The second half also saw another DRM debut, new signing Azhan coming on in the centre of midfield and his performance gave us alot to be hopeful for.
As our regular referee was missing, Renny stepped in as a make-shift and hey it ain't an easy job, you give it a try!
We played the same team way back in February, where the game was won 5 - 4 and from the onset of today's game, it looked like it was going to be another high scoring affair! There was controversy within the first 10 minutes as Ampa-9 broke through the DRM defense to draw first blood. There were protests from the DRM defenders as they felt the Ampa-9 striker was offside, but the make shift referee had made his mind up. The goal was to stand!
Ampa-9 went up by a second goal, this time as a result of some neat passing on the right which led to Kamal being left stranded, 2-0!
DRM's finally managed to pull one back after threatening to do so on numerous occassions, the ball being played into the penalty area by Khairulizan, whose incisive pass managed to find Saiful R on the run. After running the length of the pitch from his wing-back position, his square ball across was met by Rahim who toe poked into goal!
A DRM second came shortly after, and it was probably the goal of the game as Pachie & Rahim showed some out of this world understanding with a series of one-two's, and Pachie wasn't gonna miss when given the chance to take a pot with his killer instinct from just outside the box.
There were a flurry of substitutions mid-way through the half, mostly from the lack of games in the recent past, but also to give the new 'padwans' a chance to blood themselves into the team. This unsettled the team somewhat as Ampa-9 managed to score another 3 goals before half time. Hailmey Alonso was instrumental in a number of the Ampa-9 plays, playing in the middle of the park and pulling all the strings. The referee also played his part if you were to listen to the complaints coming from the bench and the DRM back line.
DRM were unlucky not to have scored a super goal after some good midfield work from Romeo, who is showing signs of improving fitness levels and G Khai pushing up from defense, who were able to put Pachie in a position to strike and his shot went under the Ampa-9 keeper only to be denied by the upright.
The third DRM goalf of the half did come eventually and it came again from the flanks, this time Pg Shamhary providing the ammunition from the right, his cross in managing to avoid the Ampa-9 keeper's gloves and Rahim was again in the right place to pounce and steer the ball into the back of the net!
For almost the third game running, we came out of half time with more than enough players to field a completely new team. G Khai who played well at the back in the first half, decided to do one better and replace Kamal, who should be commended for some good first half saves, in goal. There was belief that DRM could overturn the 2 goal deficit and inspired by Amir S coming on the field, it seemed that the team were determined to deliver the goods.
Hammry worked tirelessly as usual in midfield, and linked well with Aizul who eventually was able to put Amir S into abit of space and he wasn't going to let a small thing, like Liverpool missing a chance to add some more silverware to their cabinets, get in the way of rounding the keeper and finding the corner of the net.
The second goal of the half for DRM came when Amir S managed to evade the offside trap as his jinking run met with a perfectly weighted through pass from the centre of the field and he was only thinking of one outcome once free to run goal-wards.
It was a shame we couldn't have scored a 6th which would have been the equaliser, but it was a fairly open half especially towards the end of the game, as Ampa-9 though tired and worn out still managed to retain a fair share of the possession. We did have our chances though, and several missed opportunities will be rued.
It was a fair outcome however, the only stinker in the game was Hailmey's yellow card for 'simulating' is i think the most appropriate way to describe what happened. The students continue to improve and look to be gaining more confidence as each game goes, and that's going to be key for DRM in the future!
I'd also like to thank Kantalensa for taking time out to stop by BSRC and take snaps of the game, which did make the team feel like a bunch of professionals for a brief moment. Looking forward to the results of that!
Those of you who turned up for the Ampa 9 game may have noticed a gentleman standing by the sidelines the whole entire game with his fancy camera and lens kit. Recognised on cyberspace as 'Kantalensa' he is a friend and i suppose 'big brother' to the DRM Photography people. We'd invited him to take some shots of us DRM Bula folks in action, and he had graciously accepted the offer.
