Woohoo. . .hahaha, had enjoyed the tournament yesterday. . .though we didn't reach the semis but as a whole, we had fun. . .in a group of 8, we got 3rd, won 4, drew once and lost twice. . .scored 10, conceded 6. . .actually, that is quite of a feat, given that its the first time the team played together and we were facing quality opponents. . .wow, cheers 'Arsenal Red'! ! !

For the tournament, what preparations I had. . .the night before, had night shift and it was Sir Ken's last day also, there was an little party after operations. . .ohh boy, Fye prepared something special for sir. . .went around the buffet counter, took a little from every container and mixed it up in a bucket. . .ohh man, try getting splashed by that. . .got 2 pails standby from what I seen. . .lolx. . .sir saw the pail, knew what we were planning. . .lolx. . .then ran around the outlet. . .lolx. . .didn't really knew what happened excatly, still finishing up the closing. . .when we were done, place is like cleaned up, as though nothing happened. . .but seen some food scraps lying around. . .ohh. . .probably its good that I am still doing closing. . .then had large pizzas. . .ohh boy, stuffed in 4 pieces. . .full up. . .later headed off to coffeshop for drinks and chat. . .chat chat and chat till 3am I think. . .ohh man, getting drowsy. . .tournament coming up. . .nice. . .got home, showered and intended on resting but fell asleep instead. . .holy shit. . .bad move. . .wanted to be up by 0600, overslept by 0700. . .lucky Jeff bombed my mobile, or else I wondere what time will I get up. . .quickly rushed preparations and only reached City Hall near 0800. . .ZzZ. . .better late than never. . .and duh, wondered why reach Siloso so early. . .got there, got people there already, but I think its after 0900 then the rest starts to arrive. . .ohh. . .quite a group for my side. . .senior and junior Gunners. . .lolx. . .2 teams. . .'Arsenal Red' and 'Wenger Boys'. . .and our kits. . .woot! ! ! Gunners jersey are the standard issue! ! ! As time approaches 1030, our first game. . .tension and excitements building up. . .afterall, in my 18 years of life and nearly a decade of football life, that was my debut tournament. . .soon enough, first game goes. . .against the Newcastle fanclub. . .ohh my, they seemed to be playing like a professional club, got a captain leading warm-ups and a manager there. . .ohh boy, we are in for a good time. . .indeed, we were in for a good time. . .2 goals down, team in a mess, 50-50 balls lost out. . .ended up losing 3-1. . .anyway, no complaints, we were outplayed. . .physically, they got the edge and technically too, afterall, they trained together. . .whereas for us, I suppose its the first time we play together as a team, communication were lacking, so are the passes. . .anyway, it wouldn't badly affect us. . .but for me, I was abit pissed with myself. . .cant do much to pull ourselves together. . .anyway, game end, resting time before next match. . .ohh nice, walkover. . .this team 'One Leg Kicking FC'. . .yah, they got 'One Leg Kicked' out of the tournament. . .got our first 'win'. . .meanwhile we tried to come out with strategy and tactics, 6 games left, chance there to reach top 2. . .but holy shit. . .

Next team we met, Southampton's fan club. . .we started off brightly but somehow luck wasn't on our side. . .I got sandwiched and had to go off to clean up my wound. . .soon after, the Saints break and got a goal. . .against the run of play! ! ! We were doing well, passes reaching the players, more possesion and importantly, more attacking play. . .but again, luck was not with us. . .their lead extended to 2 and dying moments, their 'keeper made a good save off my shot. . .was about to celebrate but his hands managed to parry it out somehow. . .good game for them and us. . .though we resent it later on. . . Again, break time for us to cool down and calm down. . .2L and a W isn't a good start to me. . .still waiting to break my duck. . .seen the French team demolishing teams at will. . .ohh boy, can't imagine that they were in the same group with us. . .anyway, waiting for our next match. . .wow, I am really too outdated for Sentosa. . .seems like its getting more fun and lively now. . .and entrance fee is quite cheap. . .hmm, probably hold an outing there? ? ?

Long time since enjoyed myself in such condition. . .woo. . .ok, next game up. . .ohh man, we started off brightly and I fired in shots after shots, but my vintage finish eluded me. . .but I wasn't ready to throw in the towel. . .finally broke the duck and ohh boy, what a nice feeling it was. . .soon, few more chances to wrap up, but missed. . .and almost costly as well. . .we conceded one near late. . .but somehow, we took the lead and desperate defending finally earned us the victory. . .no time to slack though, French team next. . . As usual, they dominated the proceedings. . .but thanks to our defence, we managed to shut them out and we almost grabbed the lead. . .I fired in a curling shot towards the bottom corner but it got parried out. . .2nd half also began like the first, but we managed to find more space to fire in shots. . .but ended up in a goaless draw. . .one thing though, we stopped the winning run and held them to a goaless draw! ! ! Woohoo! ! !

Haha. . .well, got an long break before next game, head off for lunch. . .and ohh boy, hungry even after gulped down an pack of fried rice. . .anyway, can't eat much, still got games coming up. . . Next up was this team made up of malays and indians. . .as usual, we started off brightly, but somehow, my finishing was off, 2 one on ones were off, and one of them cannon off the post. . .grr. . .good thing that Jeff whacked one in. . .or else I probably wouldn't forgive myself for missing those chances. . .crunch time. . .last game coming up. . .our opponents, apparently, Liverpool fans. . .and they were involved in some ugly scences earlier on. . .hmm, lets mess with their temper. . .true enough, their aggressive ways and temper seemed to paved way for us to have an easy time against them. . .by first half, 2 goals up for us. . .in second, as usual, we started off attacking. . .and damned, brought down hard. . .wanted to tell off that guy but I let it go, we were here for football, not brawl. . .got a freekick as well. . .I placed the ball, looked up at goal. . .soon after, whacked in a thunderbolt. . .sweet, sent that up in the top corner. . .and almost, I suffered recurring cramp in my left calf. . .I was taken off soon after my goal. . .apparently, they thought I was going to blow off. . .never mind, use that time to stretch my calf. . .lolx. . .Aeikost playing. . .hahaha. . .but he almost got a goal. . .wow. . .hahaha. . .soon back into action again, now trying to fend off their attacks to keep a third clean sheet in a row. . .aww. . .almost added a second goal for myself. . .grr. . .but never mind, the 4th goal came soon. . .and referee blew the whistle and as usual, handshakes being exchanged around. . .what a way to end our final game, 4 goals and a clean sheet. . .hehehe. . .

Waited eagerly for the final group standings. . .argh. . .missed out on the second spot. . .but overall, I enjoyed this experience of beach football. . .at last finally got a day to relax out in the sun instead of kept inside my house. . .since we were out, might as well pack up and head off for a well deserved rest. . .showered, bade farewells to my fellow Gunners and went off to fill our stomach. . .got off and Harbourfront, went to dine in at Mac. . .spent the time chatting then ok, road to home. . .argh. . .took bus home. . .and the journey seemed long. . .left Harborfront with skies still blue, reached home with skies dark already. . .ohh, 2030. . .nice. . .hahaha, reached home, both legs limping, sun burnt and extremely tired. . .managed to stuff in food. . .must be really tiring after all these fun out in the sun. . .hahaha. . .now I wished for more tournaments like these. . .hehehe. . .

--~^kEnBoA^~