What a Game!

The battle of the generations began not on the pitch but in the hallways of Head Office, the smoking corners, the canteen and on the golf course. This was always going to be about men who had been there before, won the wars, and have taken their rightful place in the football club and the pretenders, the new kids on the block, who feel that it is time now for their place in history and for them to be writing the chapters and calling the shots.

This was always going to be not just about a football match, and goals scored, there was more to it than just that. If only life were that simple! This was about bragging rights and the privilege of walking the halls with your head up high and a smirk on your face. And what a game it turned out to be!

The Gen X-er's signalled their intent, by not only turning up en-masse before kick-off, they had specifically chosen their battle-colours and were driven to prove that it was going to be a red massacre. The Gen Y-er's took abit more of a laid back approach, turning up in trickles and even then not looking like they were in any rush to get anywhere, typical of the traits you would come to associate with the Digital Generation.

All the friendly banter and jokes were dropped though, the moment the referee signalled for the kick-off. As in all great football matches, it was blue versus red, men verus boys, kings versus the pretenders. And you could sense the heightened tension building up around the BSRC grounds. This was not going to be friendly at all.

The X-er's kicked us off, and the action immediately got underway. They had a strong midfield presence with anchorman Samsul pulling the strings in the middle of the park ably assisted by some more creative players around him, and they held on to the ball for what seemed like hours. They made the boys run for their lives and didn't give away anything. Upfront Pachie & Rahim seemed hungry for space and really exploited the Y's defensive naivety with quick passing, and that understanding you can only develop after playing with each other for awhile. Infact, it had always looked like X would draw first blood.

They had several missed opportunities in the early minutes, though none really troubling the Y keeper who was a stand in last minute replacement. This was perhaps a quick sneak peek at what was to come. Complete domination of possession but an inability to finish off the goods when it mattered.

The Y's however looked dangerous on the counter attack and were ready at an instant to pounce on any loose balls with vigour and pace that only come with youth. We had speedy boys upfront, and they were keen to run the X defense ragged. This really added to the pace at which the game was played in the first half. Very quick passing and movement, and really no chance for both sides to stop and take a breather.

An so the first goal of the game came, after some good hustling from Khairulizan and Jame in the middle of the park, which led to a quick one-two passing counter attack. Zai who had so far been industrious with his running, put in the perfect weighted pass from centre for lanky striker Mizi to run on to, and he wasn't going to miss from another one-two with keeper Fakhrul, after having several chances previously to put the boys in the lead. His carefully slotted shot went under the keeper and into the back of the net! It was a dream start for the young pretenders, and who better to open the scoring than one of the youngest on the pitch.

So it went till the end of the first half. Tackles flew in from all over the place, and the referee was definitely kept busy throughout the opening 45 minutes.

The second half looked more promising for the X-er's as they were now attacking the better half of the pitch, after the torrent downpour from the night's previously. The team's line-up had changed considerably over the period of the game, and it was an opportunity not to be missed to throw on all the new legs who had been patiently waiting on the benches for a piece of the action.

There was more defensive stability in the X defense this time round, with the introduction of Hailmey Alonso, Saiful Bulan and Hammry - big guys who would be able to boss the smaller boys with their body size and weight.

Hazman and Aizul were a combination from days past upfront for X, and they were looking like they had not stopped playing together at all. If it weren't for some good defending from Y captain of the day, Azlan, there definitely would've been some goals added to the scoreline.

So it stayed at one nil, until Danan popped up out of nowhere and his quick one two with Hammry broke the offside trap and caught both Azlan and Renny flat footed, and his was a simple toe poke home, and suddenly X felt that this was theirs for the taking.

Aizul in particular had a chance to latch on to a cross, after Renny had missed the defensive clearance altogether, but could only watch his glancing header go just wide off the upright frustratingly.

Khairulizan however put in an outstanding performance in midfield, orchestrating Y's plays with quick turns and fancy footwork and he was able to hold together the guys for huge periods where there was some unrelentless pressure on goal from the old boys. The last ten minutes where it went right down to the wire was as tense as any finals could be. The guys on the bench cheering their guys on the pitch on, and it really looked like it could be anybody's game as the minutes wore out. Both sides had plenty of controversy, first Azlan's supposed hand ball in the area was waved off by the referee despite protests from the X front line.

This was followed by Fakhrul's yellow for dissent as he was protesting the ref's call after not calling the offside trap and allowing Azhar to slip past and on to a one to one which fortunately for the X's didn't result in the ball in the back of the net.

Most DRM games have moments that are worth recalling and this game had it's fair share too. Saiful Goku who made his first DRM appearance in decades turned up and will instantly be remembered for that air-kick in the middle of the park, though much credit to him for being able to recover from that by not losing possession of the ball. Saiful Bulan lived up to his bruiser reputation and he was brushing off the boys all evening from his stride like as if they were flies. And there were several comical errors from both sides that should be best left unmentioned!

The controversy didn't end there, as it turned out that at the final whistle, there were actually 12 X players on the pitch, and apparently for the whole 2nd half which would explain alot! But the final score line was a just outcome for a game where everyone gave it their all and played with the most sportsman like of conduct. A rematch awaits!