Gurkha FC 3 – 2 Malaysian Team A
Manish (2)
Amar (1)

Gurkha FC maintained their unbeaten streak with a hard fought and well earned 3 – 2 victory over Malaysian Team A. With this win, GFC has now gone undefeated in 6 games. This was a match in where all the players showed great mental strength, determination and energy to string a comeback having been 2 -1 down.

The opening 20 minutes was dominated by GFC with the midfield retaining most of the possession without really making any headway. Within this time, from a seemingly inconspicuous play, Amar tried one of his trademark long range shots a few meters into the halfway line. Normally his shots would end up either in the AFL pitch or the block of apartments behind each of the goal. This was a bit different though as, not into the AFL pitch did the ball fly, but right over the keeper and into the net! 1 – 0 to GFC!! Our players seem to be making a habit of scoring fantastic goal!! Wonderful stuff from Amar which David Moyes would have been proud of!

Did that kick the players up for more? Apparently not, as the opposition seemed to settle more into the game and raised their level of play. With their neat intricate passes they had the GFC players chasing shadows for much of the time. Such was the state of play that within their first real attack they had the ball in the net. A lovely shimmy from their winger followed by an inch perfect cross was calmly side-footed into the far corner by their striker, who had arrived on the blind side. 1 – 1 and it was back to all square.

The Malaysians had much of the play in the 2^nd part of the first half without really making any clear cut thanks to dogged defending by our defenders, with Ashok and Dipen making last ditch tackles to clear dangers and Bikram  making his “it’s either you or me baby” booming clearances. GFC soaked up all this pressure whilst launching a series of counterattacks well, with Gakul and Upesh in the heart of it all. Andrew’s blistering pace was causing the opposition’s defence all sorts of problems with the only thing lacking being the final ball, whilst Pata’s clever play was continually being foiled. All this while Manish was cast as a frustrated lone figure upfront and it was this frustration which probably boiled over with him exchanging a series of verbals with the opposition. Aray Manish, Just Chill…

Half-time whistle blew and it was a frustrated atmosphere within the GFC camp as the general feeling was, that we could play a whole lot better than this! To change things around, Pradeep and Andrew were subbed in favour of Sunil and Pramod (who was also making his GFC debut! Welcome to the club Pramod!).

Half time started and the play improved slightly with Pramod getting into the thick of things, one of which was playing a one two with Manish, which the latter fired over. Amar and Bikram both tried their trademark long shots which both flew skywards. With our defenders up in attack, intelligent play from the Malaysians saw them start a counter attack from our left wing. With Bikram rushing back to halt his progress, the opposition player took a shot at goal from long range before he could be reached. Our normally reliable keeper, Thulo, totally misjudging the height of the ball, and although it lacked the power to be a belter of a shot,allowed it to slip from his fingertips and straight into the net. 2 – 1 up to the Malaysians!

As the Malaysians gained in confidence, they started a series of attacks with one creating a one on one situation with the keeper. Bikram’s last minute presence was sufficient for the player to hurry his shot with Thulo saving well with a one handed stop. Next they had a free-kick outside the penalty area, which one of them belted over the wall and straight onto the crossbar. SMACK!! Lucky shave for GFC!

The contest in the 2^nd half was much more evenly matched and with one of GFC’s attack, Pramod was sent clear but it was judged to have been offside by the referee and in any case, he missed the shot. A few minutes later, with the ball in the penalty area, Manish was on hand to guide the ball into the net beyond the keeper’s despairing dive. 2 – 2 and it was evens stevens again! What a match this was turning out to be!! An El Classsico??!

With both teams going for the win, it was the Malaysians who again got another free-kick on the right of the penalty area. The same player again stepped up and rifled the ball over the wall which Thulo managed to get his fingertips to help it onto the crossbar. In their next attack they had a shot which pace was taken off by Amar’s foot with our keeper making an easy save. Within this time, Sunil suffered a foot injury and was replaced by Andrew.

The last few minutes of the 2^nd half was one of pure excitement. Manish, who had been taken off for treatment on his foot after a collision, had just come on again and was putting himself out and about. Within a few moments, he found himself free in the penalty area and tried to place his shot to the left of goal. What followed was something one would imagine watching in a slow motion replay, with their keeper diving to reach the ball, but just touching his fingertips, before making its way into the corner of the goal (imagine all this happening really slowly and you get my gist). GOAL! 3 – 2 to GFC. What a turnaround it had been!! There were scenes of jubilation on both sides of the field, as well as off it, as the players and fans rejoiced in celebration!! 2 goals to Manish, Arsene Wenger did you say you needed another striker??

With the clock seemingly taking forever to reach full time, the Malaysians gained another free kick right on the edge of the penalty area. Up stepped their now all-too-familiar free kick taker who bent the ball over the wall and which seemed destined for the top corner. This time, Thulo made amends for his earlier gaff as he stretched and flung himself to tip the ball over the crossbar! A wonderful save! From the resulting corner, one of their players managed to get his head onto the ball, with our keeper stranded on the ground (that idiot had slipped while trying to challenge for the ball!!). Our hearts stayed in our mouths as we saw the ball thankfully fly way above the crossbar. Seconds later, the referee blew for full time. GFC wins again 3 – 2 and the streak continues…

Our next match will be against Black Star Roasters and it’s about time we did something about beating “khuiray” teams ,as stated in the previous post. This game was a good workout in preparation for the next match with the boys showing great grit, determination and bravery (just like the Gurkhas!) to grab a win from the jaws of defeat. Kudos to the Malaysians for making a great game out of it! (I probably wouldn’t be saying this had we gone on to lose the game!)

Gurkhali Ayo!!

Next Match

Gurkha FC vs Blackstar Roasters FC

Date: 29th August (Sunday)
Time: 11.00 am
Venue: Mt Gravatt

Please be at the field by 10.00 am!