Alpha Game - Nanyang JC (23/11/08)

Scoreline - 2 - 1 ! We won !

We finally register our FIRST win since this blog started on our eighth game of the year 2008. This is a new chapter of our game history and 13 players had the privilege to be part of creating this history.

Under the leadership of vice captain Lim Yong, we lead one goal in first half through Spencer's fast break and scored another one in early stage of second half through Adrian's crossing. Opponent got back one through a free-kick, but with Casey and Bronson standing firm on our backline, we persisted and kept the shape tight till the ending whistle.

The game was play under a very wet condition but against all odds we work decisively to ensure our final victory.

Players attended the game - Adrian, Bronson, Casey, Chee Toong, Clement, Colin, Edmond, Kelvin, Lim Yong, Siew, Simon, Spencer, Wan.

Alpha Inspiration - The Banker's Son

"Dad," says the banker's son, "can you lend me two thousand dollars?"

"Two thousand dollars is a lot of money. What do you have in mind?"

"I have a sure tip on the share market."

"How much profit can we make?" asks the father cautiously.

"Four hundred dollars," replies the son eagerly. "That's two hundred dollars for each of us."

The father takes out his wallet and gives his son two hundred dollars.

"Let's consider that we have made this deal and that it has succeeded, son. You make two hundred dollars, and I save one thousand and eight hundred dollars."

During time of financial uncertainty, the banker father has come up with a solution that aims not to disappoint his son but also safeguarding his hard earn one thousand and eight hundred dollars.

Do you have any alternate idea to share with the banker father?

Alpha Humour - A Cold Winter?

The Indians asked their Chief in autumn if the winter was going to be cold or not. Not really knowing an answer, the chief replies that the winter was going to be cold and the members of the village were to collect wood to be prepared.

Being a good leader, he then went to the next phone booth and called the National Weather Service and asked, "Is this winter going to be cold?"

The man on the phone responded, "This winter is going to be quite cold indeed."

So the Chief went back to speed up his people to collect even more wood to be prepared. A week later he called the National Weather Service again, "Is it going to be a very cold winter?"

"Yes", the man replied, "it's going to be a very cold winter."

So the Chief goes back to his people and orders them to go and find every scrap of wood they can find. Two weeks later he calls the National Weather Service again: "Are you absolutely sure that the winter is going to be very cold?"

"Absolutely," the man replies, "the Indians are collecting wood like crazy!!!"

Alpha Game - Pasir Ris Crescent Sec (09/11/08)

Last minutes change of venue from Greenview Sec to Pasir Ris Crescent Sec might have take a toll on us as we conceded three goals without scoring any.

Opponent consists mainly of Indian, experienced and organised. Their better skill level and good team work were the contributing factors to their 3 goals win.

Our ex-keeper Andy made his rare 10 minutues appearance in the second half as right back.

Players attended the game - Andy, Alex, Bronson, Chee Toong, Chin Seng, Clement, Colin, Derreck, Desmond, Edmond, Grant, Jimmy, Kelvin, Richard, Siew, Simon, Spencer, Trevor, Wan.

Alpha Inspiration - The Boxing Champ

The heavyweight boxing champ was strolling in the park with his girlfriend when a robber accosted them. The famous fighter gave in to the thief's demand for his wallet.

Later, the girlfriend asked, "Didn't it occur to you to save the situation by going for him?"

The boxer said, "The wallet contained one thousand dollars, and on principle I never fight for under ten million."

Each of us has a ruler in our heart for measuring things we do or wouldn't do.

Not too quick to judge one another ruler based on prima facie incidents as each has his own right and reason of forming his prefer length of ruler.

However, we might need to consider that, throughout our journey of life, our ruler should not always remain stagnant and rigid, do give it some room and flexibility to expand.

"横看成岭侧成峰, 远近高低各不同, 不识庐山真面目......."

Alpha Humour - Advertising Secretary

A well-stacked young advertising secretary wore tight knit dresses that showed off her figure, especially when she walked.

Her young, aggressive boss motioned her into his office one afternoon and closed the door. Pointing to her tightly covered buttock, he asked, "Is that for sale?"

"Of course not!" she snapped angrily, blushing furiously.

Unchanged, he replied quietly, "Then, I suggest you quit advertising it."

Alpha Humour - Code of Ethics

A defendant in a lawsuit involving large sums of money was talking to his lawyer. "If I lose this case, I'll be ruined." "It's in the judge's hands now," said the lawyer.

"Would it help if I sent the judge a box of cigars?" "Oh no! This judge is a stickler for ethical behavior. A stunt like that would prejudice him against you. He might even hold you in contempt of court. In fact, you shouldn't even smile at the judge."

Within the course of time, the judge rendered a decision in favour of the defendant.

As the defendant left the courthouse, he said to his lawyer, "Thanks for the tip about the cigars. It worked!"

"I'm sure we would have lost the case if you'd sent them" said the lawyer.

"But, I did send them" said the defendant.

"What? You did?" said the lawyer, incredulously.

"Yes. That's how we won the case." the defendant replied.

"I don't understand," said the lawyer.

"It's easy. I sent the cigars to the judge, but enclosed the plaintiff''s business card."

Alpha Inspiration - Imperfect Question

Before starting the lesson, a Science teacher casually asked his class a question "Do any of you know what is infront a woman and behind a cow?"

Immediately, the clueless expression from most of the student indicated that they felt the question was not a valid one and the teacher was going to tell them a joke.

One student, nevertheless, stand up and asked "Is it a science question?" Another asked "Is it a joke related type question?" The third one said "Teacher, I don't find anything in common in the two places."

Looking serious, the teacher replied "It might not be a very well defined question, but let comes up with a possible, rational answer that closely satisfy the question."

After a pause, a little girl who always obey and faithful to the teacher said softly " W - infront a Women and behind a coW."

In our daily life, we also constantly dealt with similar ill defined question that being asked by the teacher, be it raised by our own or others ie our boss. With OPEN HEART and OPEN MIND, we should take those question positively and attempt to come up with a CLOSE ANSWER rather than reject it outright.

In many instances, there is no perfect question or perfect answer, as there is always room for improvement. Indeed, some great invention derived from silly question. This is evidenced in the technology we are enjoying now, for example from the traditional fixed line phone to mobile, internet phone.

Don't get too agitated and defensive when there is adverse response, irritating query or conflicting opinion as it will hinder us from knowing the question further and its various alternate answer. With trust, patience and faith, it will be an encouraging option to understand each other concern and help one another in a constructive way so that collectively we ALL can improve on a daily basis.

"三人行, 必有我师, 择其善者而从之, 其不善者而改之" - one can always find a teacher among a group of people who you can learn something from. Learn the good thing and remember the bad thing to avoid repeating it in yourself.

Alpha Game - Compassvale Sec (26/10/08)

We finally got a breakthrough from our lossing streak by drawing with the opponent 1 - 1.

Alex, our undisputed striker, scored again in first half, which gave us a ONE goal lead at half time. Since this blog started, Alex had been scoring at every game he plays, a very consistent performance.

To date since 7th Sept 08 game at Bedok Green Sec, we scored total of 6 goals - Alex scored 3, Desmond, Jimmy and Wan each scored 1.

We were much committed defensively and substitute players like Edmond, Lloyd doing great jobs in safeguarding our goal post. Not to mention our regular key defensive icons like Richard, Lim Yong, Siew. They all had work hard to get us this breakthrough result.

路遥知马力.....! The race just started ...... we definitely can decide the way we race and the way we complete it ...

Players attended the game - Adrian, Alex, Bronson, Casey, Chee Toong, Chin Seng, Clement, Edmond, Kelvin, Lim Yong, Lloyd, Richard, Siew, Simon, Spencer, Wan.

Alpha Coach - Choe Choke Marina Talks

Hello Brother Takt Quees!!! 加油!!!

This is Choe Choke Marina!. Yes you will be happy to know that I can speak your local dialects "Knee how ma? 你好吗? " or "Hoe Boh? 好无?" and make you feel at home all thanks to Patrick's intensive course on "How to speak like Ah Beng in 6 weeks"

I will do my best to offer you guys some tips that will help you/your team in your future games.

Bare in mind,

Patrick has given me as you may say "Kong Ka Liao 讲够了" infact a fairly good idea of every player in the team, your strengths especially. No point talking about your Weakness cause, the only person that can help you in your weakness is " YOURSELF". I can only help those who wants or has the passion to improve.

So here goes tip number 1. - The Forward Pass

One of the biggest things lacking in soccer these days, especially at the youth level, is the willingness and ability to switch the field of play with the long driven pass.

Refer - Pic 1

Most players (Siew/Choon Seng), in this situation will play the ball to the right back and then have that player (Adrian/Loy)) play the ball forward to the right midfielder (Wan).

Refer - Pic 2

While there is nothing wrong with this (some might argue it's dangerous to pass the ball in front of the goal but it's a back pass and if the player is open and has skill, I don't consider this to be risky) it is a slow way to switch the ball. The alternative is the driven ball straight to the right midfielder

Refer - Pic 3

The advantage of this pass is it gets the ball switched and changes the point of attack much quicker than the two pass method.

The disadvantage is it requires the back to be able to drive a ball 40 yards and for the outside midfielder to be able to receive the ball.

The key to receiving a ball in this situation is to get your body behind the ball and have your body be perpendicular to the path of the ball. When the ball is played on the ground, the receiving player will want to open their body to receive the ball and have the ball going in the attacking direction with the first touch. See the diagram below for an example

Refer - Pic 4

However, when the ball is driven in the air, the receiving player can not afford to open their body and instead must keep it perpendicular to the flight of the ball until contact is made. This allows the receiver to make contact with as large a part of their body (chest, thigh or head) as possible to have the best chance of success.

As the ball makes contact with the player, the player wants to cushion the ball by pulling back to keep the ball close to their body.In the same way that the only way to get better at playing a long driven ball is to practice it, the only way to get better at receiving the long driven ball is to practice it.

Concentrate on getting your body behind the ball, perpendicular to the flight of the path and cushion the ball and it will enable your team to switch the point of attack much quicker and more effectively.

Alpha Game - Pei Hwa Sec (12/10/08)

A 2 goals lead at half time did not secure us a win or even a draw. We got stormed in 3 goals in second half and continue our lossing streak.

Quite a well match up between us and the opponent in term of age, size and speed.

Key lessons learnt from the game - ( i ) focus and consistency throughout the 90 minutes is essential ( ii ) opponent's determination and perseverance in winning back during second half.

Nevertheless we are improving game by game, in term of team work, understanding and confidence.

Our goals were scored by Jimmy and Wan through penalty and freekick. Simon and Spencer each narrowly missed open shot in second half. Richard had done a great job in clearing ball and commanding defence as the last man. We need to develop a few more such "star" players on the field to lead us into persistency.

A good turn up of 17 registered players plus 1 unregistered - Nicholas.

Players attended the game - Adrian, Bronson, Casey, Chin Seng, Chee Toong, Clement, Derrek, Edmond, Grant, Jimmy, Kelvin, Lim Yong, Richard, Siew, Simon, Spencer, Wan.

Alpha Leisure - December Holiday Vacation

Hi Guys,

Quite a few of us including Spencer, Andy, Lloyd, Clement, Lim Yong will be bringing our families for a camp in Subang, Malaysia from 4 - 7 December 2008. Pending comfirmation are Richard and Casey.

Although this is a retreat, the camp program is really fun, and most importantly, a lot of free and easy time slots which we and our families can have fun together. In addition, on the Saturday, most of the families will also be spening a whole day in Sunway Langoon. This is going to be fun and the fees are at reduced rates as follows :

And you know what, we are organizing many of the fun events and games, got time also for some serious training also. The location is at

HOLIDAY VILLA RESORT, SUBANG JAYA, MALAYSIA

Incorporating the luxuries of modern facilities in lush surroundings, this premier 5-star business resort is set amid 6.8 acres of beautifully landscaped land, overlooking a pristine lake. A leading business-class hotel, Holiday Villa Subang is ideally located in the Subang Jaya area, just 25 km away from Kuala Lumpur and 45 km away from Kuala Lumpur International Airport. Furthermore, it is just minutes away from major shopping complexes and Sunway Lagoon, Malaysia's premier water theme-park. For your comfort and relaxation, the resort features 10 food and beverage outlets, offering guests a choice of global cuisine and a comprehensive range of sports and recreational facilities, including an Olympic-size swimming pool, bowling alley, squash and badminton court, etc.

And you know, with Andy around, he will surely bring you and your family around in KL. With Clement, he will bring you to the best foot massage services so that you are recharged and will be able to kick better in our matches. Spencer, Lim Yong and Lloyd are in charge of games and we will definitely filled your time with joys and excitements.

Guys, if you are keen, we can really make this our next outing together with our loved ones. Please drop your comment to let me know if you are interested.

- Spencer

Alpha Photo - Team Photo

Finally, the team photo is here... (though not all the players are there yet) . Thank to Adrian's girlfriend, she took this photo for us.

And a few other candid shots :

This week we saw the "Passion of Wan". Usually, he is the Mr Cool, but this Sunday was too much to bear for him. We ended the game earlier due to some unwanted misundertsanding...

Hmmm, this shot was taken by professional photographers - Clement. No wonder the people in the shot appear better...

Oh our Mr Lastman. Though he was the last man, nothing can stop him from running all the way forward. We saw the magic he could do last Sunday. He was way ahead to the forwards, just that the ball did not manage to catch up with him....

Most dediccated and committed player - suppose to go for X-Ray on Monday. But wife kept calling and suspected that he was there playing the game. He had a hard time trying to explain that he was actually there to just 'support the game'. Eye-witnesses are required to help explain to his wife that he was indeed there to watch and support the team only...

Look ... this guy really got style mann... Who say our player cannot hold on to the ball?

Spencer : "Patrick, why are you not playing...?"

Patrick : "I will not play until I am 100% ready!!! Look at Lloyd, he is only 50% ready, that's why he played only 1/2 time. I will play only when I am 100% ready...!"

This was the same magic kick which Alex did to score in the previous Sunday game. But this week, he "pang chian" a bit, so the ball fall short... But action still the same, no compromise in style and aggressive. Later on, he created the magic again and scored a goal in the 1st half.

Ahhh.. our Steward Player. Trevor has been attending very regularly for the last few games. Understood that our captain gave him a few pointers that changes this guy. The latter even canceled his flight and apply to fly shorter route just to be sure he can make it for every Sunday. Hey, we should all buck-up and learn from him... Nice work! Trevor.

Alpha Game - Sengkang Sec (21/09/08)

A hard fighting game from us which saw us only defeated by ONE goal 2 - 3. Alex scored one and Desmond delivered on penalty. A total of 16 players turned out for the game with another 5 players sidelined as supporters due to injury. An impressive present of 21 players made us a "powerful gang" as we involved subsequently in a little "commotion" with the opponents during the ending stage of second half.

Our very own "Beckham" - John joined us back his first game since returning from overseas posting. He still gifted with good passing and free-kick.

Players attended the game - Adrian, Alex, Bronson, Chin Seng, Clement, Desmond, Edmond, John, Kelvin, Lim Yong, Lloyd, Siew, Simon, Spencer, Trevor, Wan.

Alpha Game - Xinmin Sec (14/09/08)

Alex is back and scored a consolation goal. Too bad luck was not on our side as we hit the goal post once and missed one open shot and eventually lost 1 - 4.

Opponent was young and fit with only 11 palyers without any substitution. Overall we are not too far behind except fitness level. Recognising this, Bronson is inviting "kaki" to join him for jogging to build up stamina and fitness level.

Players attended the game : Adrian, Alex, Bronson, Casey, Chee Toong, Chin Seng, Derrek, Edmund, Richard, Siew, Kelvin, Lim Yong, Wan.

Alpha Leisure - BBQ at Richard's Condo

Team,

Map to my place. Please take note of the following:
Tell the guard that you are attending BBQ at the Clubhouse with Richard Wong
Bus # 2, 5, 24 stop in front of my condo if you plan to take the bus.
Ensure you only part at the visitor lots if you drive
Bring lanterns for your kids as there is a mooncake festival celebration, same time, organized by my condo management committee
my mobile # is 96771313, home # is 65425516

Richard

Alpha Game - Bedok Green Sec (07/09/08)

Without much surprise, we lost again 0 - 4.

Our first artificial turf game which all of us enjoyed very much. The opponent was not very strong as compared to previous week game at Tanjong Katong which we lost only 0 - 2. But sometimes scoreline might not be a true reflection of the game!

We are still in the process of fine tuning players' position which see Kelvin taken up key position as Last Man, Colin as lone striker.

Trevor played his maiden game for us since joining us many years back. He tried up Right Back and Mid Fielder, his presence will definitely strenghten the depth of our squad.

The best is still yet to come from us as we are working towards the convergence point for our diverse category of players.

Players attended the game - Adrian, Bronson, Casey, Clement, Chee Toong, Chin Seng, Colin, Desmond, Kelvin, Richard, Simon, Siew, Trevor, Wan.

Call To Participate in Blogging!

Tuesday, 2 Sep 2008

Hi Soccrians!





Now that we have our very own web blog, all members are encourage to participate in the following:


1. Send your editorial information (items to be published, pictures or anything that you deem fit for the soccer group) to read/view. Your may do this by email your info to: patrickhsng@hotmail.com


2. Or post your comment straight away onto the blog.



Cheers and looking forward to your postings and email.


Your appointed blog uploader,
Patrick Ng
HP 96707082.

Alpha Game - Tg Katong (31/08/08)

Hi guys! Testing One, Two, Three. Something new to me.

Last week game, the opponent too strong for us...good challenge...don't get too frustrated...HANG ON!!!

Alpha Photo - Game Tg Katong

Match 31 August 2008

Man of the match... Probably the best Goal-Keeper in Pasir Ris.

The most sexiest man of the match...

Featuring others player

And our most faithful supporters...