League

Rayleigh Park
Spectators: 5000 (Terracing: 4000, Seating: 1000, VIP seats: 0) The field was rather wet after several days of rain when Rudy Tan took the kick off in the first half of the match. In the 3rd minute, Felix Chan hit a crossing free kick to the open man running down the field. John Cheng made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Rudy Tan in the 5th minute of play. After having played for 12 minutes, Dale Pieng managed to get in a good position for a shot on goal. Prudhoe's supporters crossed their fingers, but Dale Pieng was, after a quick turn that froze the defenders, out of balance and shot the ball just to the right of the goal. Dale Pieng received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 18th minute. Bryan Hian tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere. John Cheng didn't have a chance when a screaming shot from Mark Yip went, in the 21st minute, to the upper right corner, 1-0 was the resulting score. A collision led to Prudhoe getting a freekick after 28 minutes play. Shah Sum hit a great ball. 29 minutes into the match, Noh Dhanabalan sent off a long shot that looked like it was going straight into the goal, but because John Cheng threw himself in his full length he managed to grip the ball by the left post, and there was no goal for Noh Dhanabalan this time. Alan Chandran sent away a hard shot on goal in the 34th minute, but the ball went just over the crossbar and out. A very good chance. 42 minutes into the match, Prudhoe's goalkeeper John Cheng had to clear away a ball on his right side after a cunning shot by Mark Yip. 47 minutes into the match, Mark Yip had an open shot that he just couldn't miss and scored to the right of John Cheng. Prudhoe's manager could be seen yelling to the referee that Mark Yip was offside, but the referee ignored the protest. 2-0. Af the end of the first half the score was 2-0. The first half had gone as expected for the home team.

The hometeam waved at the audience when it was time for Dale Pieng to strike the kick off in the second half. Rayleigh's Mark Yip got a good chance for a goal in the 53rd minute, but he totally mistimed the shot and it went over the crossbar. In a very dangerous position, a player in Prudhoe fell when an opponent tried to get the ball from him in the 54th minute. Penalty! If Mark Yip had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 61st minute. The ball went over the crossbar and out instead. 63 minutes into the match, Prudhoe's goal looked a bit too open when Mark Yip came free, but John Cheng reached the ball before it rolled over the goal line. An unexpectedly hard shot by Rudy Tan in the 64th minute of play forced Prudhoe's goalkeeper John Cheng to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. Rudy Tan sent away a hard shot on goal in the 71st minute, but the ball went just over the crossbar and out. A very good chance. John Cheng took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Rudy Tan, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. Samuel Ching received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 74th minute. Bryan Hian tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere. 79 minutes into the match, Prudhoe's goal looked a bit too open when Rudy Tan came free, but John Cheng reached the ball before it rolled over the goal line. John Cheng showed his good apprehension of the play when he made a fantastic save on a shot from Mark Yip, who was totally free with the ball in the 80th minute. Shah Soon's late challenge caught a Rayleigh's player on the shin and left him crawling around in pain. The referee blew his whistle and produced the yellow card. Shah Soon helped the player get up and apologised. In the 83rd minute, Rudy Tan made a precise shot to the right of John Cheng. Prudhoe's defense was at fault, and the scoreboard reflected the new score, 4-0. The supporters of Prudhoe booed when Rayleigh was adjudged a doubtful freekick after 86 match minutes in a wonderful position. Rudy Tan didn't get a good kick on the ball. After 92 played minutes Rayleigh got a freekick which was hit by Mark Yip. After a defensive mix-up in Rayleigh's zone, Dale Pieng stole the ball and had only the goalie to beat. Bryan Hian came out of the goal and Dale Pieng tried to chip the ball over his head. To his dismay, the ball went over the crossbar and out of play. The Rayleigh players were eager to celebrate when the final whistle sounded. They had somehow managed to win, even though the away team had held the majority of the possession.