August 7, 2023

Tampines Rovers again put us upstairs in the top tier, but it was them who ended up in tears at the end of the night. After an electrifying performance, especially in the first half, we went in 3-0 ahead at half-time, and I think many will be forgiven for thinking that it was game over. Credit to Tampines Rovers of course for making it slightly difficult, but when our attack is in this type of form, it is very hard to stop us from picking up maximum points, and so it proved, as Maxime Lestienne and Richairo Zivkovic picked up a hat-trick and a brace respectively, to see us score 5 goals at Our Tampines Hub. Electrifying. This season, we have scored 5 or more goals 5 times – 10 April 2023 – Hougang 0 LCS 5 1 June 2023 – Balestier 4 LCS 5 1 July 2023 – Tanjong Pagar 1 LCS 7 31 July 2023 – LCS 5 Balestier Khalsa 2 4 August 2023 – Tampines 2 LCS 5 Amazingly, none of these 5 times was against Young Lions, the whipping boys this season. These goals have contributed to our very-impressive tally of 68 goals. Electrifying. Not only is there quantity when it comes to goals, there is quality as well. And speaking of quality of goals, let’s start right there with Maxime’s performance and three goals. Electrifying. Chips Ahoy! (Maxime Loves his Chips) Yes, in case you were wondering about the relevance of using a picture of Chips Ahoy! cookies for this article, this part should explain it. Maxime is a Sailor. Sailors shout “Ahoy”. Maxime tried 3 chips against Syazwan Buhari and scored two goals. My tangled gluttonous mind immediately thought of chocolate chip cookies when I saw this happen. Yes I know, I am weird. Sorry not sorry. Moving on. As early as the 2nd minute, Maxime had already tried to chip Syazwan and was unlucky not to hit the target. It was Kyoga Nakamura who made the error, giving the ball away in the face of some heavy Sailors pressure. Without missing a beat, Maxime immediately hit the loose ball over Syazwan, but unfortunately over the bar as well. 1st out of 3 chips unsuccessful. The 2nd of 3 chips, in the 18th minute, was rather more successful. Tampines once again lost it in defence, and Lestienne robbed Yasir Hanapi who didn’t know he was right behind him. Once again, without missing a beat, and with just a very quick glance, Maxime utilises his left leg like a sand wedge (golfing term) to achieve just the right amount of height to get it up and over Syazwan for a lovely goal. 2-0, 18 min gone, Tampines are well and truly rocked. The audacity and quick thinking to chip it in from that range? Electrifying. The 3rd chip came as a result of some brilliant defensive work by Hariss to win possession in midfield. A quick measured ball over the top from Diego Lopes into the box sent Lestienne free, and with the keeper coming to close down the angle, Maxime chipped him. Now if that were me in that spot, I would’ve just admired how the ball arced nicely over Syazwan and get ready to celebrate. But not Maxime, he continues his run and when it comes off the post, he is in position to tap the rebound in. Elite. Hat-trick goal. Oh, and lest I forget, electrifying. Stadium Announcer for Tampines If by now, you’re wondering why I am using the word “electrifying” in almost every damn paragraph, it’s because days after the game and even though we won 5-2, I still cannot get over the fact that the Tampines Rovers stadium announcer described Boris Kopentovic’s penalty as “electrifying”. So let me address it now so that I can scratch that itch and the word “electrifying” won’t have to appear again. Now, if you think that I raise it up to say that the stadium announcer is shit – far from it. In fact, I give him a 9/10 because I think the energy was on point. In a game where there was nothing much for Tampines fans to get excited about, the 2nd goal after being 3-0 down needed some hyping up – the crowd was already excited at the tantalising prospect of a comeback, and the announcer had to feed the fire a bit more, to really get a rousing atmosphere going. What I especially liked was the repeated chant of “BORIS”, leaving the fans to fill in the blanks with shouts of “Kopitovic”. It is engaging, and it really got the crowd going. Of course, the small criticism I have is of the word “electrifying”. Someone buy the man a thesaurus or a dictionary so that a more appropriate word can be used there. How on God’s green earth is that penalty an “electrifying goal”? It was a good penalty, but you know, you’re expected to score those. Minor quibble! Still, major props to the stadium announcer, who probably won’t read this. Post-match I chatted with Brandon and Barry, and Barry said that he felt the announcer was doing a good job of delivering excitement to the fans, rather than just saying what he needs to say in a drab tone. Let’s see more of this at other stadiums! Pressing from the Front Look at these two images. You can see that the Sailors really tried to keep a compact block in the middle to force Tampines to play it wide. However, Tampines are very good passers and this season a lot of their success has come because they’ve dared to play even in congested middle areas. Usually this is aided by Kyoga Nakamura – who is a steadying presence in the midfield, always resisting the press with short sharp movements to manipulate himself into a position to get his team out of trouble and then to facilitate the attack. However, he did not have a great game, and