Friendly: NUS 4-2 SMU

Under assistant coach Tan's first match in-charge, NUS carved out a convincing 4-2 victory over SMU on the rough and bumpy field 2.

With only 12 players available at the start, coach Tan didn' have much choice to tinker the starting line-up. Boosted by returns from andy and bul, NUS dominated the midfield right from the start. Slick, simple 1-touch passing from defence to attack was evident as bul, andy, nick, vincent and se wei brought about some passing moves which would make even barcelona stare in awe.

Ironically, it was SMU who scored first against the run of play. After 17 min, a corner was headed in by SMU's centre-back at the far post. NUS picked themselves up immediately and in the 25th min, a good run down the right by se wei provided a tricky cross which hit the arm of a SMU centre back in the penalty area. The penalty was duly converted by nigel, who had a stunning game to say the least.

With 10 min to go in the 1st half, nick rampaged down the left flank and sent in a looping cross. Andy challenged the keeper and the loose ball was headed home by andy. 2-1 to NUS at half time.

With a few tactical changes and fresh legs in the form of Muhadher and Nasri, NUS started the 2nd half brightly. At th 60th min, a cross from dillion on the right saw Song Kiu challenging the SMU's centre-backs. The pressure paid dividends as one of the centre-backs headed the ball into his own goal. 3-1 to NUS. But the highlight of the match came in the 65th min when nigel went on the right, nutmegged a defender with a backheel, shimmied past 2 defenders and sent a left foot shot which seemed hell-bent into the top left corner. An acrobatic save from the keeper denied Nigel his brace. 5 min later, Muhadher added in the 4th goal with a half volley at the edge of the area, which creept into the bottom left corner. With a 3-goal cushion, the NUS backline became a little sloopy at times and a slight miscommunication allowed a SMU striker to slip through and pull one back.

Overall, it was a good team performance from the NUS lads, who battled well in the tough conditions and brought home a good result. Regards to shaun, who fell rather badly on his elbow.
The lads will look forward to the next training and prove to the head coach that they are ready for the next challenge.

Players who played: sham, nigel, eng, song kiu, shaun, dillion, se wei, bul, andy, nick, vincent, max, nasri and muhadher