Nnamdi, Binns (McLaren), McVeigh, Street, Schmidt (Childs), Poutakidis, Saad (Bennett),Townsend, Pinz (Shaw), Karaljevic (Loney), Sejdic.

Despite conceding an early goal against the SCC, the Hotspurs rallied well on Saturday at Dempsey to produce a good performance over 90 minutes and come away with all the points.

Conditions were almost perfect on a cool afternoon (by Singapore standards) and a good pitch with a decent bit of ‘give’ - ideal for free-flowing football.

It’s fair to say that conceding in the 7th minute from a corner provided a wake up call for some sleepy Hotspurs players, who went on to dominate the rest of the half, scoring 3 and restricting the SCC to long range efforts.

Abbas equalised on 21 minutes – his diving header being set up by Esad who looked (from the 8th minute onwards) as though he was up for this one and was going to enjoy his afternoon. Kudos to Abbas who was brave for the finish, and could easily have been on the end of a Scotty right hook.

Esad then made it 2-1 to the Hotspurs less than 5 minutes later, bamboozling the SCC defence and then dummying the keeper before slotting home, and Marko made it 3-1 before the break – a relatively simple conversion after Esad (once again) had done all the hard work.

The half-time talk was a relatively easy one – focusing on not getting complacent and keeping it tight at the beginning of the second period.

No surprises then that the SCC pulled one back within a couple of minutes of the restart – a goal of great quality, with most people happy to stand back and admire a sweeping attack that ended with a spectacular diving header at the far post.

Unfortunately, by ‘most people’, I may be referring to Hotspurs players as well.

There could have been panic in the ranks at this stage, with the Hotspurs lead cut to one goal, and the SCC dominating the game. Much credit then goes to the back 3 of David, Barry and Chris, who kept their shape and discipline throughout, and to Daniel S and Florian who covered an enormous amount of ground to add their weight to what was turning into a rearguard action.

Having said all that, Tony in goal only had to make a couple of saves – one rasper from distance was about the most troubling – and the Hotspurs hung on manfully, and when we eventually switched to a more conservative formation, the complexion of the game changed once again.

The SCC had put in a huge effort to get back on terms, and Hotspurs managed to deliver the sucker punch on the break.

Almost every Hotspur midfielder was involved in the transition from the back, but it was Jimmy who threaded the perfect ball into the box for Esad to control, weave his magic, and tap in – taking enough time to grow moss and compose a light opera in the process.

A typical Esad goal, taking his total for the match to 2 goals and 2 assists in the 4 scored – surely enough for the Man of the Match nod?

If our 4th goal was a classic counter attack, then Number 5 can only be described as the Deluxe version.

Sam picked the ball up in our left corner, kept possession while going past about 5 players before releasing Phil down the right wing. His delivery was met by Esad (who else?) who found Jamie on the end of a lung-bursting 70 metre run, who in turn found the back of the net with his shot of the season so far. OK, it was only from 3 yards and he did have the entire goal to aim at, but his accuracy was unerring and his goal an appropriate reward for an excellent performance.

The 5-2 score line may flatter the Hotspurs a tad – especially given the amount of possession the SCC had in the second half, but the game plan worked, and we took a fair proportion of our chances, which is always good to note, and not particularly characteristic of our season.

All 16 players in Hotspurs’ shirts put in good shifts on Saturday – David, Barry and Chris were outstanding at the back; Jamie played the holding role as though he was to the manner born; Dan S and Sam worked their socks off and then some; Abbas and Flo were superb (particularly in the first half); and Marko put in yet another great performance up front. Jimmy, Phil, Dan B and Ally gave the side exactly what was needed coming off the bench, and made a real difference in the latter part of the game.

MOTM though has to go to Esad; 2 goals and 3 assists out of 5 goals scored is not a bad return over 90 minutes.

Many thanks to the SCC for a physical but very enjoyable game. There was no quarter either given or taken in a match that was very well handled by the referee. We look forward to when we next meet in the Cup Final.

Most importantly perhaps, the quality of football on display at Dempsey was of the highest order – something in which the Cosmoleague should take great pride.