They say in Chinese culture that 7 is the lucky number, believed by many that the seventh day of the first moon of the lunar year!

I hear yourself ask how the relevance of such a fact is applicable to the game between SCC and SWISS… well it could be said that with both teams ahead of this game sitting mid-table displaying 7 points both express the luck defined by the number 7… or could it be that SCC are positioned 7^th in the league, is the luck on their side… or maybe that the SWISS having scored 7 goals at home this season swinging such luck in their favor…  however my personal favorite is more of a scientific theory based on the evidence of a well known mathematician and philosopher ...

Pythagoreans called 7 the perfect number, with 3 and 4, the triangle and the square, the perfect figures… however perfect figures when displayed together! Unlucky for the Swiss these figures did not combine so perfectly and the game at St Josephs International School Pitch showed that the triangle and the square were far from together. It was incidentally Bowden from the familiar TRIANGLE of SCC in midfield that unlocked the scoring from a penalty half way thru the first half. Unlucky in this instance for the Swiss!

First half was mixed bag of possession and opportunities hampered mainly by a very hot afternoon sun and the length of the grass on the pitch, saying that both teams had chances and in my opinion SCC had the better clear cut chances BUT Swiss had there moments but only thru some mistakes across the SCC back 3. A controversial moment which led to the penalty has to be raised to give an SCC perspective… As the story goes Swiss felt the ball was out, prior to that the ball was flagged out twice which we felt was still in, so SCC felt at least one decision should go our way. However the ball was sprayed wide across the Swiss back four where Hutcho worked hard to get there and kept the ball in play (according to the linesman), he took the ball some 15-20 yards inside where he was met finally by a Swiss defender who made a foul later in the box. Penalty!  The issue here is that our referees and linesmen will make mistakes, when balls that seem to go out are against us then we can appeal however unless the Swiss team were positioned on that line and not parallel to it then I cant understand the cause for complaint… the view of the ball and line was in the favor of the linesman! Bowden stepped up and made it 1-nil.

The second goal came after a free kick from Bowden, Hutcho got on the end and returned a ball back SQUARE into the box that most players would have not got to but Nahar “I punch you in your face” Daud seem to show a extra special quality with a acrobatic back flip swivel kick in to the unmarked Swiss goal… 2-0… Well done Nahar “quite clearly not a boxer but a gymnast” Daud.

Credit to Swiss for there goal, a skillful piece of play from their forward who turned and shot past Star’s far post. The rest of the half and the duration of the second half remained goal less leaving the final score 1-2. Both teams made substitutes to try and influence the game and although there were hair standing moments for both teams the possession and opportunities where consistent with the first half. I will agree with the Swiss that this was their closest encounter with us for some time and their effort was constant and sometimes a challenge. The return fixture will a very heated match which is very much all games for SCC due the willingness of the other teams to succeed against us… we expect this and I felt that we controlled our tempers well and in all cases challenged with fairness.

I mention fairness to highlight some instances thru out the game that are definitely not needed…

1. Attempting to distract Bowden’s kick by first encroaching in the penalty box and secondly a loud coughing noise as he was about to strike the ball… This is for sure the lowest remark I have heard during a COSMO game and the player who did it should know a lot better!
2. Constant moaning at the referee by one of the Swiss players in particular which was embarrassing to watch and hear… shame we wasn’t playing on the Padang as the F1 would have drowned out the constant Blah!

Finally word, Swiss will definitely challenge the top teams this year if they focus on their game and not the opposition!