More Thanh Words: All Hacks Indoor Soccer Team

All Hacks,

I've been ultra slack in doing this unofficial newsletter due to being very busy and having no Internet for a while. So here is a massive wrap up of 5 games. These five games will be known as "The Road To Glory" since it culminates in a historical moment in All Hacks history.

The first game (game 13) was against D.J United. D.J were also top four contenders and we wanted to win to solidify our position in the top four, preferrably sealing third spot so that a draw in the semis would be enough to win. Try as we might, we fell one goal short. However, the game did mark the start of another short but spectacular career of the latest All Hacks member, Jeff. Jeff hails from the motherland (England not Vietnam, China, Cambodia, Hong Kong or any other Asian country). Jeff showed his skills immediately and scored one of the two All Hacks goals in the match.

The last game of the regular season (game 14) was against Golden Greeks. Having done all the mathematics and gone through all scenarios, it seemed unlikely that we would finish fifth even if we threw the match as suggested by some (Justin), so we decided to play our best and try and finish third. We threw everything at the Greeks, or more accurately, some replacement players. There was goals galore with the All Hacks piling on 9 goals. It might have been more but for Kheang's uncustomary penalty misses, all three of them. Such is the way of football, when you hit those shots, you're a hero, when you miss the next time, you're a zero. Such is life (reference Ned Kelly).

The first finals match, a quarter finals in a sense since a win still meant playing two more matches for the championship, saw us up against D.J United again. With the importance of the match, a large turnout came for the game. Masum made a final appearance in what turned out to be his swan song. We fell behind shortly after half time to look in quite a bad position at 1-3. However, the Aussie (or more accurately Indian/Asian) spirit shone through and we pulled off a Socceroos type comeback in the last five minutes. A penalty by Anisha followed by goals from Khar and Anisha helped seal the match and propel the All Hacks into the semi finals. Masum played a tight game as usual and gave his all. Thanks for all his efforts throughout the years and hopefully he recovers from his surgery to maybe one day play for the All Hacks again.

The semi finals was against Yemazel. Just as the match was going to start, the umpire told us that there would be no extra time. Hence since we finished below Yemazel in the regular season, a draw would see us lose. We raced to a 4-0 lead but things would start to turn sour soon. We gave away a few penalties through errors and Yemazel capitalised, despite Justin's best efforts at saving them. It got a bit close for comfort when the score got to 4-3, with Yemazel having all the momentum. A draw was enough for them so it was far from over. They launched attack after attack but were thwarted by some of Justin's best keeping for the whole season. He dived left and made saves, he just up and made saves, he came forward and made saves. His usual one goal fumble for the match did not eventuate. Yemazel's desperate play saw them committ their 5th foul in the half, awarding us a penalty. Our regular penalty converter, Kheang, was not in good form, so Anisha stepped up to the mark and slotted the goal through. All players on the side line breathed a sigh of relief at that point as we saw the match out by holding on to the ball.

The All Hacks were through to the final. With 40 minutes to waste till the grand final, players chose to do their own thing. Jeff was getting inspiration from his ipod, while Kheang rested his injuries. Others such as Ajay, Harinder and Justin relaxed by talking. But the truly relaxed players were Anisha, Maal, Ara and myself, who chose to play some "Psychic Poker" and "Bull Shit". Anisha won "Bull Shit" for the record.

The grand final match was against ladder leaders all season, C.C. However, the All Hacks got off to a flying start. The first goal from Maal was one of the best individual goals all season. He spun around 3 players along the length of the field and calmly slotted the goal past the keeper within the first minute of play. I was also pretty happy with my rebound header goal in the first half, propelling us to a 3-0 lead. C.C regained some composure and showed why they were ladder leaders when they piled on two quick goals late in the half to make the match a tight one again.

After half time, C.C levelled the match and memories of past All Hacks losses in finals were starting to resurface. But the new All Hacks team has been made much stronger throuhg all their experiences. C.C were pushing hard but once again, Justin was in the zone and stopped all their attacking shots. He had gone from "a buffoon to a Buffon" (reference Justin). The crucial point in the game was when Jeff took a risk and timed his run forward to perfection. With C.C passing the ball around in the back half, Jeff spent his last bit of energy and intercepted a pass, and in the same flowing stride, slammed the ball into the top corner of the net. Joyous cheers erupted from the All Hacks team on the side line. The C.C supporters had been getting very loud, abusive and generally taunting us. Now we screamed back in their faces. Anisha made certain of the win by scoring three brilliant goals. Finally it was all over, the All Hacks could officially claim that they were Premiers. No dodgy buy our own trophy for making the final four, making the finals and losing or winning the "B Finals". We can now claim that we WON the division fair and square.

Trophies were given out, with a few more on order for those who didn't get theirs yet. Unfortunately, some players who have helped the All Hacks throughout the season were missing, Khar, Masum and Adrian. But the two mottos of the All Hacks team must always be kept in place or there would be chaos. The mottos are:

1. "You play, you pay" (unless you're a ring-in from another team who happened to be at the stadium waiting for or having just played your own game.)

2. "You don't play, you don't get a trophy" (so no trophies to Khar, Masum or Adrian). =( Those are the rules strictly policed by Justin, it may be cruel, but it's always fair.

It feels good to finally win, so lap up the cheers from the adoring fans while we still can. See you all next season for hopefully more glory.