All Hacks Indoor Soccer Team Vol. 801 & 802

Welcome to the All Hacks Indoor Soccer Team. Our humble soccer team is in its eighth season (usually 2 seasons a year) and have won the premiership once. You can read up on all the stats and past glories at our Official Website run by our captain, manager, accountant and statistician, Justin. You can follow the trials and tribulations of this soccer club from week to week through the Unofficial Newsletter, which I will post each week. The unofficial newsletter is less focused on the stats but rather is focused on the lighter side of the game.

All Hacks,

Welcome all to another season of the All Hacks Football Club, the original and best Nerds FC (this Friday SBS 7:30pm).

This season kicked off last week officially after we refused (couldn't find enough people) to participate in the stadium's money making "pre season classification match" and asked to be put directly into the lowest league. We are currently in the second lowest league I think.

Last week we welcomed yet another member to the All Hacks team, Khai, Ajay's workmate. The match was also apparently Kheang's 50th match according to master stat keeper Justin. Why Justin isn't work for the tax office is their lost. Anyway, Kheang made it a match to remember for himself but going coast to coast (or is that net to net) and scored a great solo goal. That goal also helped us to win the match and get off our long bogey losing streak and a good start to the season. Suddenly, enthusiam was regained (on my part anyway, I don't know about others) for the forthcoming season.

This 5 a side soccer is very different to 6 a side game. With the field narrower, the goal circle smaller and the keeper able to throw the ball over half way, the game is much more open and free flowing. We all felt this added pace and even with 8 players to rotate around, we all got tired very quickly. Ajay also joined the "CHUCK" Norris Hall of Fame with fellow two time inductee Justin. Ajay managed to make it to the toilet though unlike Justin in past incidents.

This weeks match was suppose to be a stark affair with many players saying they couldn't come, hence the call out for anyone and everyone to come. We welcomed yet another member to the All Hacks team in my workmate John. Khar and Mohamad also heeded the All Hacks distress call and came to help the team. Mohamad took time out from his hectic university studies (see, Mohamad playing for us did not cause him to fail high school) to help a team in need. "Mo" was also sporting a very large "Fro" and looked like one of his power labs experiments at uni had gone wrong (only joking Mohamad).

Much to everyone surprise, our supposed bare bones team ended up being one of our largest turn outs ever, with Justin, Maal, Ajay, Nish, Mohamad, Khai, Kheang, Khar, John and myself. This meant we basically subsituted the whole team during the first change.

This game was also my 100th match as I was informed by Justin. I was enquired by Ajay and Nish separately "How does it feel to know you have spent $1000 on soccer?" Well when you put it that way....nah its been a great ride, some highs, quite a lot of lows, but overall very enjoyable and its been great meeting some many new friends throughout this journey.

With the actual match, we won another close one, 4-3. I also managed to score a goal on my 100th match through a great lob pass from Khar. Other notables from the match were a couple of disallowed goals from Khai and Mohamad (I think, someone correct me if I'm wrong). Justin also threw out a pass that hit Khar without him knowing and went straight back into the goal area, hence a back pass and penalty. Justin managed to save that penalty brilliantly but unfortunately couldn't save the second penalty that was given away by John for entering the goal area. Hands up anyone who hasn't gone into the goal area on their first match? Its just one of those things, you can tell someone 100 times but inevitably they will not be aware of the goal area when they are playing and go into it in their first match.

So its been a good start to this new 5 a side season, hopefully we will get back to the days of old and win another premiership.

Thanh