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Match report for Summer Palace vs French LE B

Nov 28
Posted by admin in News, Summer Palace

Match report for Summer Palace vs French LE B, 26th November 2011, Lido

The weather keeps getting colder, but Palace came to the game with a red hot string of results. Joining them on the sidelines, however, were perennial contenders and longtime rivals French LE B. It was the game of the week according to many commentators and many a Chinese person was seen peering through the fence, obviously having been unable to acquire any of the sold-out tickets.
Palace may have felt edgy from all the hype before the game, but captain Ben Roberts found the right words to calm the team and get everyone focused. As a result, Palace came out firing on all cylinders and quickly put their stamp on the game. Palace’s more physical brand of football quickly led to the lion’s share of possession and eventually to Jim So taking a ball from half and passing 3 defenders to put the ball in the back of the net. Almost before French LE could adjust to Jim So’s ability to dribble, he then showed that he is clearly not a one trick pony by bursting past the last man to collect a through ball and calmly finish for his tenth goal of the season. You can’t spell SCORE without S.O. Jason Dorey also showed his class at this point by making a superb one-on-one save. Lee Russell also nearly had a fantastic goal, but his left footed strike off a Giovanni cross caromed of the corner of the goal. Then it was Barrie George up front giving the French headaches from headers, but none of his attempts yielded a goal. Oddly enough it was Ben Roberts who finally found the goal as he directed a cross into the bottom corner with his head. Yes you read that correctly, with his head. 3-0 Palace at the half.

The second half started much as the first had finished with Palace enjoying a greater part of the possession and looking far more threatening. Although none of their chances were converted at first, the pressure was building and the French defense looked ready to concede another. Finally Olliver Chesterman had his opportunity with a ball coming to him in the penalty area. The French keeper could only watch as the ball shot just inside the left post. Regardless of the score at this point French Le B were not going to lay down, and they kept pressing and defending till the end. A great run near the end of the game from Ollie produced the last goal, which Lee R knocked in with his left foot. 5-0 Palace

After watching City come from behind against Vikings, the palace boys went to Lugas where they were soon joined by the rest of the club. After much drinking and fun they voted for men and donkeys. Jim So and Giovanni were voted Men of the Match, with 5 votes each. Lee Russell got Donkey with 5 very ridiculous votes.

For people who like stats:
Palace leads the league in goals against with 6 goals conceded in 10 games
Jim so is the leading goal scorer with ten in 6 games played
Lee Russell has the highest donkeys per game average at 40%


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Summer Palace – remaining dates before the winter break

Nov 27
Posted by admin in Summer Palace

Palace,

Well done to all involved in our game yesterday against French LE B. Match report from Lee Russell to follow later.

Meanwhile, please see below the schedule for the period between now and the winter break:
- Wednesday 30th November, 8-10 pm at Lido, training session
- Saturday the 3rd December, starting at 8pm, Christmas party at Luga’s
- Wednesday 7th, 8-10 pm at Lido, last training session
- Sunday the 11th, 3pm kick off at the Lido, last league game vs Barbarians B.

Cheers,
Patrick

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G9: Summer Palace vs French Le

Nov 22
Posted by admin in Summer Palace
Palace,
This week is our penultimate league game before the winter break. We are playing the French LE, who for sure will be a much tougher opposition than King World. The game is scheduled for Saturday 26th, in the morning, 11 AM kick off and the venue is the LIDO.
I repeat, the LIDO. I repeat the venue will be the LIDO.
Adam N., Jim So : please text me back to acknowledge that you understood where we will play, thanks.
Who is available, please reply ASAP and don’t forget our training session on Wednesday 8-10 pm at the Lido, as usual.
Patrick
PS: This will be the last game of Aaron T., who is returning to Singapore.
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Match report for Palace vs King World

Nov 20
Posted by admin in Summer Palace
Match report for Summer Palace vs King World played on Saturday 19th November, Chaoyang Stadium
It was a clear, blue Saturday morning but it was a freezing day as the blistering wind tore into into Chaoyang Sports Complex. Many Palace players were deceived by the blue skies as all came a little under-dressed (Felipe turning up only in the team kit + sandals/without socks) except for the evergreen Jim So, who remarked that it was nice and warm while basking in the morning sun. Things did not bode well as Palace suffered a huge setback even before the game started as our stand in goalie, Patrick, injured his winkie in the warm up and Pikey volunteered to be our stand-in’s stand in while our resident goalie Jason started on the bench.
Palace had a jittery start as they struggled to impose themselves in the first 10 minutes while King World managed to cause some panic in our defence in the early minutes as Peter slipped over the ball, but he recovered just in time to play the ball away. Just when doubts started to creep in and with Palace’s reknowned ability to choke against underdog opposition, Olly put some calm into the nerves by tucking away the first goal of the game. This was followed shortly by Lee Xiong’s brilliant volley, that looked like it was going through ‘bullet time’ as it floated in the air (like forever) and dropped just under the bar, leaving their keeper no chance. Plaudits to to Lee X though, as he chose to celebrate the goal ‘Adam Nowak’ style, jogging discreetly back to the centre-circle. As King World struggled to keep up with Palace’s quick movement, Jim So showed everyone how to do it with his ‘move’ of the day, making use of Lee R’s decoy overlapping run, and with a pull-back on the ball, he fooled 3 King World defenders before stroking the ball so gently and delicately, spinning and dipping it into the top corner, beyond the reach of the goalkeeper (it looked like art). Shortly after, Jim struck again from a cross by Basti, followed later by a goal from Olly, who couldn’t decide which foot should he used while the ball dropped from the heavens, he did score by smacking the ball in with his left foot though. King World did provide a threat and reason for Pikey to demonstrate is keeping prowess in the last minute of the half though, as their forward sprang through 1-1 while Pikey dived and saved at his feet, only for offside to be blown after all the action.
5-0 at HT
The manager ran through some changes for the second half as Palace look to seal the game off, introducing Gio back into the fold after a long injury layoff.
Shortly after the restart, Lee R, not one to miss out on all the action and always at the right place at the right time, scored from a goalmouth scramble and celebrated in style, with his trademark Jack in a Box jump-celebration. As everyone thought the goals would dry up, up stepped Jim So, who added three more goals, one with his left foot, spinning 2 defenders and tucking it into the bottom corner, another with his head off the post from another cross from Lee and finally the third with his right foot tucking the ball away from 5 yards out.In between, Olly sealed his hat trick, smashing the ball with aplomb after some neat interplay between Jim, Ben and himself.  We still had time for a penalty though as the King World defender thought he was the goalkeeper when he punched the ball away from a corner. Arguments were abound between the Palace players on who should take the penalty while King World swapped their goalie. Amid the chaos, up stepped the legendary Edou who was looking to break his Palace duck. As the world watched and with bated breath during the run-up, Edou’s body-move and shimmied as he hit the ball. All were fooled except the goalkeeper, who guessed correctly and saved the penalty! (and Edou’s duck continues..) The game tapered off towards the end as the King World offside trap suddenly worked and Palace eased off, only to concede a last minute goal from a scamble, which proved to be the only blemish on a 10-1 scoreline.
The squad proceeded to Luga’s for post-match proceedings as Jim So took home MOTM by a mile, with his performance drawing comparisons to the mythical ‘Pippo” Inzaghi (Mythical only because not everyone knows Pippo!) and also giving the squad a footballing lesson: Prepare by dressing well, keeping warm and then scoring with every legal movable part of his body (left, right foot and head) which he mentioned that it also demonstrates that he is a ‘good lover’. Donkey was a closer affair though as there were many last minute inclusions, but Pikey emerged from the front-runners to take Donkey by a single vote for not ‘being involved enough’ in the game! He did promise that he will be more involved in the next game as we look to take on tougher opposition in the French while both winners downed their B-52s.
Thanks
Aaron
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G7: Palace vs King World

Nov 15
Posted by admin in Summer Palace
Palace,
Our next league game is against the Chinese team King World on this coming Saturday, 19th of November.
The time of kick off is 2 PM and the venue (please pay attention to this) is: CHAOYANG STADIUM.
Can you play?
Please reply ASAP and remember to come to training on Wednesday evening 8-10 pm at the Lido as usual.
Cheers,
Patrick
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Match Report Summer Palace vs ISB Dragons

Nov 14
Posted by admin in Summer Palace
Match report for Summer Palace vs ISB Dragons, League game, 12th November 2011. Side Gongyuan
It was a beautiful sunny day when Summer Palace met to face a high school team for the second time this season.  On the squad were faces new and old.  Hailing from old Mexico was Felipe, a young midfielder full of promise, and from Forbidden City we had our old friend Barrie George in goal. In a shocking decision, the captain showed up to the game sans facial hair, perhaps wanting to appear closer in age to the day’s opponents.  This flies in the face of the tenants of Movember (moustache month) and everything his club represents (teamwork, accountability, etc.).  The defense was also missing some parts, with Peter unavailable and Adam needing to conclude some business at Chaoyang sports complex before coming to the game.
After play commenced both trams began trying to impose their own style of play.  Palace opening by trying to work possession and use dangerous wing play to their advantage, and ISB using quick passing and probing with their quick strikers.  Both teams had some chances and Palace seemed more like to score after a series of set pieces.  Finally after Ben Roberts took a fine free kick, Lee Russell found himself in the right place at the right time and sent a shot through the crowd in front of goal, 1-0 Palace. Palace had no time to relax however, as the young ISB only seemed to grow more threatening after conceding and they had plenty of 13 year old firepower waiting on the sidelines. The score remained the same until halftime, despite ISB having a couples of one-on-one with only Barrie George to beat.
The halftime talk was optimistic, but it seemed that everyone knew there would be more goals in the game.  But if more goals were to be had, they would be bloody hard to come by.  Time after time Palace’s attacks came away with nothing, and Barrie George kept stunning the ISB forwards with gut wrenching saves.  These same young forwards who had taunted the City standout after the halftime whistle by calling him lucky were now finding that Barrie George makes his own luck.
Luck can go both ways, and just when it seemed that ISB simply had to have a bit of luck, Andy Mo found himself with the ball and an open net gaping.  No one needs to tell Andy Mo where to stick it 2-0 Palace. That was only justice in fact as minutes before that, the (half-blind?) referee managed to miss that one of the ISB defender had cleared the ball from behind his goal-line using both hands!!  Palace then saw the tireless Jason Dorey taking a turn at striker and doing his best to cover himself in glory and getting booked by the ref. Joining him was Felipe who showed a good deal of flair and a penchant for flick-ons.  Amir showed everyone he loves being offside as much as he loves herbs.
The game ended 2-0 in favor of the Palace, and the majority of the team stayed to see City give the Barbarians a 4-0 thrashing and then went to the traditional spot afterwards. At Lugas the voting commenced over a bottle or two of tequila and the usual amount of wisecracks. Adam walked away with the donkey with a massive nine votes for being at the wrong field at the right time.  Ben Roberts got the Man award with five votes for good play and leadership despite a woeful gaffe with the whiskers and also forgetting sunscreen again.  Really, if I looked like that after sun I would wear sunscreen to bed.
Go on Palace!
Lee Russell
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G7: Summer Palace vs ISB Dragons

Nov 08
Posted by admin in Summer Palace
Palace,
Our  next league game is scheduled for this coming Saturday, 12th of November. We are playing the high-school team ISB Dragons. Kick off is in the morning at 11AM at the LIDO, Who can play? Please reply ASAP.

Remember to come to training tomorrow, Wednesday 9th, 8-10 PM at the Lido pitch as usual.
Cheers,
Patrick

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Match Report for Summer Palace vs Celtics

Nov 07
Posted by admin in Summer Palace
Match report for Summer Palace vs Celtics, League game, 5th November 2011. Chaoyang Stadium
The rain stopped just in time for the league’s curtain raiser of the weekend, the showdown between the league’s ‘lethal-est’ attack and league leaders, Celtics, against the league’s tightest defence, Palace. The game started with Celtics playing their aggressive and physical brand of football, preventing Palace from playing their free-flowing pass and move game. City initially struggled to adapt as dangerous challenges were flying in from everywhere, and the game was in danger of spilling over as Celtics were getting away with some studs up challenges and Palace getting increasingly frustrated with the inept refereeing standards. A Palace goal on 15 minutes managed to calm some nerves, though no one could make out who scored, as Adam chose to coolly stroll back from the melee leading to the goal (Adam was the scorer, if this is still unclear). Shortly after, Ben put in a defence splitting through pass to Olly, who tucked it coolly under the advancing Celtics keeper to make it 2-0. As the half wore on, Palace upped the tempo and their pressure was rewarded with a stunning first time volley (Paul Scholes style) off a corner, hitting the inside of the post and nestling in the top corner of the net, from Gio right at the stroke of halftime, def a nominee for goal of the season. 3-0 HT.
The Celtics started quicker off the blocks in the second half, particularly posing a threat from their giant striker (flicking long high balls)-quick forward combination (Duncan Ferguson kinda stuff), but this was effectively neutralised by Peter, sticking to the tall guy like glue (and irritating the hell out of him). Totally against the run of play, Palace made a quick counter attack with Kieran squaring unselfishly to Amir who tapped in from close range. 4-0 to Palace. As the game threatened to taper off, Palace scored again through another blistering attack down the wing, albeit this time through an O.G as the Celtics defender deflected Ben’s cross into his own net. Palace was about to run riot though, as they turned on the style, moving the ball around, resulting in Nils, putting in a MoM worthy performance, rounding the Celtics goalkeeper Robin Van Persie style and rolling the ball into the empty net. He was not done though, as minutes later, he hit a first time half-volley which hit the base of the post. Celtics were still posing a threat though, coming close with well-taken free-kick that rattled Jason’s crossbar before earning a dubious, soft penalty (by a Peeri Weepu lookalike). Not to be undone, and preserving his awesome Palace penalty record, Jason (nursing a terrible hangover and injured wrist) saved the penalty, but unfortunately for us, the rebound rolled back out to the Celtics forward who put it away, which took some gloss off our scoreline. The game tapered out till the end, as we wish Jason all the best in recovering from the kick he got on his hand from the Celtics forward. Full-Time score Palace 6 – Celtics 1. That result makes us top of the league table (although Dong Ren have a couple of games in hands).
In fairness, it could be said that Celtics fielded a weak squad as they were without their star player Johnny White (who played in goal for the first 15 minutes), and their talismanic fleet footed winger. But this should not take any credit off the Palace performance as all 18 players put in a good game with the goals coming from different guys. Perhaps, Palace’s role model player of the game award goes to Adam, who demonstrated his commitment to the cause by not only tracking the Celtics winger all over the park and also from one end to the other, as the Celtics guy was getting substituted off the pitch! Brilliant! Votes for Man-of-Match and Donkey were in-part done at Luga’s just after the match and in part done in the evening at the Teppanyaki near Gongti. The combined result of the votes for MoM went to Adam, Nils and Peter (with 3 votes each), while Donkey was awarded to Adam alone.
Aaron
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Match report for Palace vs Red Cards

Oct 31
Posted by admin in Summer Palace
Match report for Summer Palace vs Red Cards, Sat 29th October 2011, Chaoyang Stadium (old pitch)
It would seem fitting that on the 29th of October, palace found itself playing a night game on the dimly lit, some would say spooky, old field at the Chaoyang Sports Center.  An eerie mist hung over the field during a vigorous warm-up that left some (Gio) short of breath.  The late arrivals joined an ample crowd of around six in watching the opening minutes of the game.  Although Palace enjoyed most of the possession at first, we only managed a few looks at goal and none were truly threatening.  Making matters worse, the red cards were not ready to capitulate so early and showed real menace for about 15 seconds, which was all it took for a neat pass to find a streaking forward who belted a brilliant ball over Jason, who had to that point been merely a spectator.  In response, palace turned up the pressure.  After making some substitutions, Palace began a renewed attack that put the Japanese on their heels for the remainder of the half. So it was, Palace 1-0 down at the half-time whistle.
The second half began with more droves of attacking from Palace.  Red Cards were doing all in their power to stave off the determined palace forwards, at points wasting time simulating injuries.  The equalizer finally came when an on form Ben Roberts put a ball into the middle.  Lee Russell came to meet the ball and volleyed it off the post.  Fortunately the rebound fell to him and he stuck it in the back of the net, after which he promptly celebrated by sprinting back to his own side and then accepting high fives.  It then seemed that Red Cards would be happy to end on a tie as they didn’t seem interested in a go ahead goal as much as wasting the rest of regulation. Giovanni changed the equation with 15 minutes to play when, following Kieran outflanking the Japanese defence from the right, he took possession of the ball in the penalty area and showed us a tricky finish which sliced under the keeper.  Lee R celebrated the Italian’s beautiful goal by running off by himself and having a geriatric fit.  Red Cards finally seemed to show some urgency, and managed some probing attacks, but left themselves open when good defence yielded a counter that started by Jim So. His lobbed pass send Amir to run free towards the goal, who, instead of “shooting like [he] should have” passed the ball to Lee Russell for a tap in goal. Final score: 3-1 for Palace.
After the game, a large gathering made their way to Luga’s where they voted while watching the English premiership (and memorable Arsenal vs Chelsea).  It looked as though Giovanni would take both man and donkey honors, but Lee Russell eventually got Man with 5 votes (Gio with 4), and Giovanni walked away with the Donkey on 6 votes earned primarily for his manful attempts to fit his posterior under the fence at training on Wednesday.
Good Game, Good Goals, Good God get the man some cheesecake
(a report from Lee Russell)
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G6: Palace vs Celtics

Oct 31
Posted by admin in Summer Palace
Palace,
Well done to those involved last Saturday when we got a well-deserved win against the Japanese from Red Cards. A match report for this game will follow soon, Lee Russell is writing it up. In the meantime you can have a look at the attached Excel spreadsheet that summarizes our season so far.
This coming week-end we are playing Celtics, who among the title contenders. We can expect a tough game as usual when we play them. The match is scheduled for Saturday 5th November, kick off at 12 noon, the venue is Chaoyang Stadium (on the new pitch).
Who is available? Reply ASAP and don’t forget to attend training this Wednesday (8-10 pm at the Lido). We should have a good session this week.
Also, if you fancy a game of  5-a-side, and especially if you cannot make it to training on Wednesday, please make an effort to play 5′s. Their next game is tomorrow evening , Tuesday 1st of November, 8PM kick off at Chaoyang PARK. Please contact Jason Crawford if you want to play tomorrow.
That’s all for now,
Patrick
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