Anthony, Sam, Chris, David, Aran, Anis, Flo (Dan), Jorg, Jamie, Ally and Esad

A dry and charred looking pitch at ITE Tampines greeted the Hotspurs and Casuals for this top-billing Quarter Final clash. The Hotspurs team talk revolved around keeping possession and being tight in midfield. 20 Seconds into the half and Aran easily robbed by Mal and Hotspurs spent the next ten minutes on the back foot. The main threat was Greg with his raking cross field passes up to Messrs Mooney and Hobbins in behind Aran at right back. The deadlock however was broken when Hotspurs were exposed on the opposite flank, Casuals had four to choose from in the centre and a neat side foot from Hobbins made it 1-0 to Casuals.
 
Hotspurs responded well and within minutes were level. Esad, who had just been fouled, kicked the ball away in disgust at not being allowed to play on and was rightly booked, rose highest to nod a comfortable cross into the bottom of the net. It was now Hotspurs who were beginning to dictate the play as Flo and Jorg realised that they speak the same language and can play next to each other. Aran had shaken off his first 15 minutes of where am I, who am I and was now finding a blue shirt with each and every pass.
 
And just as we were taking control was there a moment of madness, was it cunning forward play or was it blatant cheating? Mooney goes down in the box – penalty! Those closest to it, two Hotspurs players and a Casuals player all saw it as a premeditated jump with the trailing leg deliberately clattering into Anthony. The linesman seems to see it that way, but the referee, who was twenty yards further away from the action was adamant that Anthony was at fault and produced the second yellow of the day. In fairness to Dom, he despatched the penalty with aplomb despite being slagged by every Hotspurs player and official inside the ground.
 
Hotspurs heads didn’t bow like the previous week when we were tamed by the Lions and pressed on the Casuals goal. New boy Sam, who didn’t take any time to find his feet in Singapore’s Cosmoleague, launched a long ball in to Esad, who stumbled from a 'nothing' challenge from the Casuals centre-half. Penalty! It was the slightest of shoves that wouldn’t have budged a ha’penny but the referee again saw it differently to those closest to the action. After Esad’s “bleep awful” penalty in midweek, duties were passed to Jorg (and we know that Germans don’t miss penalties). 2-2
 
Half time 2-2 and some inspiring words from the Gaffer, before he had to go and powder his nose (literally), had Hotspurs pumped up for the second half.
 
There were two incidents of note in the second half that stand out for their rarity. Esad  passed the ball twice in the area and we scored two goals. Jamie and Anis notching with relative ease. At 4-2 things should have been easy, however we missed several chances to put the game beyond reach and Mooney and Co were still making life difficult for the back four. I was personally thankful for the strange decision to substitute Greg, as it was his long well-placed passes that were causing the Hotspurs defence the most distress, and we were also fortunate that Mr Mooney was not having the most productive day in front of goal.
 
A game that was competitive and hard, which is the norm between these two teams was marred by a deliberate stamp on Sam by the Casuals substitute. Not the smartest thing to do on a Muay Thai champ mate! But your dive and clutch of the face was priceless. Fair play to Mal who threatened to kick the player out of the game but the ref had that under control and rightly produced a straight red.  With ten men, Casuals did most of the pressing as Hotspurs sat back and relied on the counter-attack. There were no more goals and Hotspurs moved into the last four.
 
Anthony made some good saves and his faultless handling provided great reassurance for the defence. Jorg sprayed the ball all over the pitch, which contributed to the openness of the game, Jamie ran tirelessly yet again and Esad passed. All worthy of the MOM award, but that goes to Sam on his debut. His link play, energy and no-nonsense tackling made for a very impressive debut.
 
Thanks to the Casuals for yet another tough encounter and for once in my six years here we came out the victors on this occasion.
 
The man in the middle didn’t have his best game and the less said about the penalties the better.