Bloxsara

Liga-A 2005 have officially kicked off. Our first match was against Ansara Jasin. RRI B was the venue. We were the home team. This year, RRI will be our home ground - games where we are the home team (mentioned first, i.e: Muar vs Jasin) will be played in RRI.

It's been a while since I went to RRI. It's changed a bit - they've converted the cricket field to a football field. I think a football field gives them more returns, heheh.

Back to the match. There was a heavy downpour right before the match. I was still at the rendezvous point, in UM, at 4.15PM waiting for the players to arrive. Can't really blame them for being late, they are on motorbikes. So, I waited. Luckily, around 4.20PM, the heavy downpour slowed down to a drizzle and the players started arriving one by one. Joe deserves a special mention here. He braved the heavy rain on his motorbike to arrive in UM from Sentul - drenched to the bone. Hats off to you Joe.

KL traffic post a downpour, I don't need/want to talk about it. However, we still managed to arrive in RRI at 5.00PM. Which field is RRI B? Had to make some phone calls to determine the exact field. There were still no signs of the opponent, and I thought we were late, phewww. We got to the field and the players quickly got into their gears. The opponent was still nowhere to be seen. Oh well, at least we got time to do some warm-up session until they arrive or the referee calls.

I was in the midst of selecting my first 11 when the referee came and asked the team to enter the field. Still no sign of the Jasin players. Then, Najib (Jasin manager) arrived and told me that they'll have to give the game to us (walkover) as his players failed to turn up. The referee then blew his whistle and we got our first three points for the season. I was glad and disappointed. Glad because we now have three points with the walkover. Disappointed because I don't really like winning a match this way.

So, since the players were all there, instead of just going home after the walkover, we decided to play a friendly with the available Jasin players. Thus, instead of playing an official Liga-A match, we ended up playing a friendly match - Muar vs Jasin + Muar.

Liga-A League Match I: Ansara Muar 3 - Ansara Jasin 0 (walkover)

To Najib and Ansara Jasin, thanks and sorry it had to end up this way. However, it's still early in the season, more games to come. As they say, the ball is round.

Our next league match will be on May 21st. We're playing against Ansara Beseri in MARDI B. That's two weeks from today. Note to self and the players - it's the third Saturday of the month. If it rains like today, traffic conditions will be somewhat similar to today. Hoping to see a few more Muar supporters at the game. You game?