The Men In Black Are Back in Business..

After a painstaking ten years of white jerseys and yellow kuppeh tops, MiB FC returned to its roots with a pristine all black Adidas kit on a warm Saturday afternoon. The fact that everyone was early, all kitted out professionally and even had reserves on the bench was too much to ask for.

Harvey lined up in goal in front of a back line of Shyam, Sat, Riz (who spotted a new number, 23) and SK. We welcomed back after ages Puvan in midfield, partnered by Farhan. On the wings were our fitness warriors, Chan and KK, while Harry who was back from UK, played just behind Maran in a totally new look MiB attack.

The fact that we were early meant we could warm up, and even get a kick about going. This was really crucial as the opponents seemed frightened by our professionalism and could not get started for the first 20 minutes of the match. The game kicked off with MiB enjoying the good pitch, spraying the ball around, some lovely passing and link up play. I dare say it was one of the best ever opening minutes of a game we have ever had.

Harry looked lively and could have scored a couple before Chan rattled the crossbar. With a squad of 14 to choose from, it was heartbreaking to leave out the likes of the newly wed Philbert, who was captain for the day. But it was going to be impossible to leave out hat trick hero Maran and he repaid the favour with a beauty.

The opponents tried a through ball that was well read by Harvey. Instead of ballooning it he sidestepped the striker and chipped it to Chan. Chan controlled it immaculately and released Harry, who cut the ball back for Maran. It was all Maran after that. Cleverly shielding the ball, he evaded the defender who was pulling his jersey and kicking him. Before the ref could blow for a penalty, he slammed the ball home into the top corner. A goal the likes of Torres would have been proud of and almost, almost as nice as our new jerseys. What a start!

In almost the very next attack, Harry laid off the ball to Chan, who surprised the keeper with an audacious shot from 30 metres. With the keeper getting his bearings all wrong, the ball sailed into the net to make it 2-0! We got the goals our good start deserved. At this point Bert was in for Maran, Prak for Sat, and Harish for Chan.

Whilst doing most things right, MiB perhaps could not believe we were playing so well. We tended to rush things and get caught offside. On hindsight, holding on to the ball a bit better would have definitely helped. In one such moment of haste, a long ball by Prak was headed back into our half and with one pass the opponent striker broke through. Having missed an exact chance ten minutes earlier, he made no mistake by burying his shot in the corner, leaving Harvey with no chance.

MiB started to lose our heads a little with the opponents sensing an equaliser was on. But we settled ourselves and could have extended our lead with shots from Harry, Chan, KK and Maran. Sat even had the ball in the net but the ref had already blown the whistle for a foul. Farhan and Puvan were outstanding in midfield leaving their stud marks all over the opponents while Shyam and SK were safe in defence and comfortable going forward. Half time and it was 2-1.

After some photo taking (they will be up soon) and some wise words, MiB approached the second half buoyed up. We started well but the opponents started to throw men forward searching for an equaliser. They came close a couple of times but Harvey and his defence dealt comfortably with everything the opponents could muster. At the other end, Maran and Bert were working tirelessly to chase long balls, while Harry and KK never stopped running for the cause.

Sat and Maran came close to adding a third goal but some good goalkeeping denied them. At this point the game was getting too open and the opponents were getting closer. With one corner, Harvey totally flapped at a cross and was lucky to see the ball go wide. Farhan and Chan were also tiring from running up and down on the huge field and our shape was disintegrating.

With about 5 minutes to go, MiB had a free kick on the edge of the area. Instead of consolidating what we had, MiB threw men forward unnecessarily, leaving Riz alone with 3 men. As expected, the free kick went straight to the keeper who launced the counter attack. The opponents then broke through and with just Harvey to beat, the striker squared the ball to his teammate to tap into an empty net. But miraculously Rizvi had scrambled back and blocked with his trailing leg. Mayhem ensued in the box and MiB finally cleared, with Harvey, Sat and KK all getting something off the ball in that melee. We survived!

With a few more minutes of play, including Harish seemingly getting a yellow card for what the referee deemed as a poor first touch, the game ended 2-1 and a hard fought victory in the new kit.

It was hard to argue who was the man of the match, but Maran and Chan run it close with their running and goals.

So guys, as you can see, coming early and having a good warm up has tremendous benefits. We started the game today really well, and the opponents seemed psyched out too. Please make it a habit from now to come at least 30 minutes before kick off to get ready for the game. Thank you.

And one last thing, please take care of your jerseys. SK said that today will be the last time everyone is kitted out 100% correctly. For his sake and MiB's, I hope he is proven wrong.