11th RSC Hockey 9s Tournament... The story of the RSC Dogs

And finally it begins, after months of meticulous planning by the organising committee led by Ommen Koshy. The field looked good, thanks to the hard work of our groundsmen and the weather was very kind over the weekend, remaining mainly cloudy most of the time and more importantly - NO RAIN!


Green field and clear skies!


The Admin and Medic tent.


The Teh sisters setting up the score board.


The rest of the organising committee and helpers

As the organising committee got to work on early Saturday morning, the teams began to arrive and started setting up 'camp' under the marquee.


Kansai Paint our T-Shirt sponsors


The marquee

Our RSC Dogs team was scheduled to play the first game of the tournament against SJAA at 9.30am. Traditional slow-starters, we were no different this year, as we lost 0-3 despite the valiant efforts of our backline of Bobby Ho and Mohan. It was too early in the morning... and our opponents were too fast!

Judith - The water guardian!



MAPA players warming up!


MAS Aircrew enjoying the game!


The Sentul team

Our next game was against the foreign legion from Vietnam, who surprisingly had players who could speak our native tongue! We played an improved game with Sambu and Charles playing up front, and Dato Poon holding the midfield. Alas, against the flow of the game, the Vietnamese broke through our defence and scored the solitary goal of the game.

With 2 games done, the boys proceeded to lunch and started to imbibe the golden liquid from the green cans which were readily available from our main sponsor - Carlsberg!


Simply lovely!


Carlsberg all stacked up!

At 2.00pm, we finally faced a team that was equal to us in terms of age, weight and speed - Barkerites, from Singapore. The RSC Dogs finally broke the duck through an unpracticed penalty corner 'set piece' via a tap-in by Vishnu. But the lead did not last, as Barkerites soon came back with a goal of their own. Final score was 1-1 and it was good enough a reason for us to increase the beer consumption!

Barkerites Keeper with
a Malaysian souvenir

The last game was against Liquorice All Sorts (LAS), a mixed local team. Captain Bobby decided to impose a new tactical 4-4-2 formation for this game, only to be reminded that this was a 9-a-side competition (Thanks Colin!). Our pace-maker, Alex Voon took to the field, as RSC Dogs dominated most of the game, only to allow our opponents to score 2 easy goals from our defensive errors. With that disappointing score and Vincent suffering a cramp, we proceeded to the club house to drown our sorrows further... to the delight of the Carlsberg girls!

Conclusion - The RSC Dogs team qualified for Bowl competition.

Our attention then turned to the proceedings for the night, which started at 6.00pm. Dinner was served followed by the presentation of the tournament tee shirts sponsored by Kansai Paint to all participating teams. The main event of the night was the vertical acrobatic artistic performance, or better know as POLE DANCING by 2 highly skilled dancers (do not try this at home!).

 

RSC GC members in attendance!

Thankfully, our semifinals in the Bowl competition on Sunday against the Indonesian team - Dipo, was at 11.20am, which gave us plenty of time to 'warm-up' in the morning. An early goal by Charles after some great work by Sambu, followed by a goal from Dato Poon sealed the game. The Bowl final beckons!


RSC Dogs resting before the Bowl final.


Dato Poon planning his next move!


Sexy Legs - Compliments from Naren

With the sun on our backs at 12.20pm, we headed on to Pitch A to play the Bowl competition final against TPCA. It was a tightly contested match, with a good show of defensive play from both teams, as neither side could make any significant breakthrough in the game. With just a minute left to play, a long pass from midfield found Jay at the top of the 'D' facing several TPCA defenders. Using his usual deceptive weaving dribbling skills, Jay managed to bring the ball to the by line and placed a pass directly onto the stick of our centre forward, Sambu who tucked the ball between the keeper's pads and into the opponent's goal. Sambu certainly kept his best (and only goal!!) for last i.e. last minute of the last game.

Tucking in after 2 long days of hockey 

Charles having a rare beer after the finals 

 



Chilling out at the club house


The RSC Dogs emerged as Bowl champions. Whilst the Plate and Cup winners were MAPA and Sentul respectively.




Bowl competition champions!


Captain Bobby and his Coleman!


Sambu not smiling!


Sentul - Cup Champions


MAPA - Plate Champions


VP Julie Hoh with our Mascot


Our VIPs


Dato Yogeswaran giving a few tips

The team - Colin (Manager), Bobby (Captain), Dato Poon, Darljit (Keeper), Mohan, Naren, Vishnu, Jay, Sheeda, Vincent, Charles, Sambu, Alex Voon.

A big thank you to the Organising committee for a job well done and to all our sponsors!