ISCI Tournament 2010

This year’s ISCI tournament was all about the New !  New pitch, new hotel, new team... However, it started pretty much like the last and all those before.  Teams gathered at the Park Lane Hotel for Welcome Drinks.  It was enjoyable seeing old friends and making new ones.  It really is what these tournaments are all about.  The hockey is important, but it’s those contacts and lifetime friends we all make that make these tours so worthwhile.  As teams drifted off to sample Jakarta’s nightlife, various ISCI members joined separate groups to enjoy the good times.

Day 1

Day 1 started early with many ISCI players comparing hangovers before the games started.  Luckily for D’Regulars, they weren’t out the night before and dispatched Royal Selangor 1-0 with a goal from Ijan, something that was to be repeated a lot this weekend.  A bit of a gift in the D left Ijan alone, with only the goalie to beat and as he often does, he put it away comfortably.  ISCI started strong defeating the Bakerites 4-1.  A couple of great one touch shots from Tom Bellamy, a neat deflection from Drew and a simple tap in from Scott allowed ISCI to dominate.  A skeptical ‘leave’ by Otong in the D, resulted in a goal for the opposition.  Thankfully Otong started to look behind him after that.  Scott decided to open his campaign for best miss of the tournament, with a simple open-goal miss from about 2 yards.  Luckily it didn’t matter and ISCI rolled on.

Round 2 brought D’Regulars up against the Singapore Veterans, aka Hurricanes.  Once again it was an Ijan goal which broke the deadlock and gave the Regulars their second win.  ISCI then came up against a tough Singapore Exiles team, who had just about recovered from their evenings antics.  A hard fought game was pretty much all ISCI, who just couldn’t score.  Credit to Drew for missing the easiest chance this game.   A quickly taken free hit from Deny put Thomas in at the top of the D, who fired a strike which flew into the top right corner, past the outstretched glove of the goalie.

Round 3 started with the Hong Kong Football Club Pirates taking on D’Regulars, and it was no contest with D’Regulars racking up 4 goals,  3 from Ijan (5 for the day) and 1 from Theo (Tiff enjoyed saying someone else’s name for a change).  That left D’Regulars at the end of Day 1, already qualified for the Cup finals, scoring 5 and conceding 0, looking like early contenders to do well in the tournament.  ISCI’s last game was against HKCC, who were dealt with easily through a couple of goals from Tom and Thomas.  This result also meant ISCI had secured its own place in the Cup quarter finals.  With this sealed, ISCI moved onto the beer and the new ISCI funnel was unveiled and christened for the first time. 

Other notable ISCI moments from Day 1 were Thomas’ yellow card whilst playing for HKCC. Scott scoring HKCC’s first ever goal on tour, which gave them their first ever win on tour!! They enjoyed that one!  RJ and Steve D had good runs for Teabaggers, but hard opposition resulted in three loses.  Also loved Tiff’s goal shout outs, especially the ones for Tom, ‘Yay’, in the most sarcastic voice ever !!! However, the most surprising thing of the day was seeing Ichang passing the ball in the D so many times while playing for the Rolls-Royce Juniors !! Why do we never see that for ISCI ??  After showing everyone how to perform with the funnel ISCI retired for dinner at Dallas and discussed the day’s events. 

Day 2

Day 2 definitely started better than day 1, with clearer heads and happier smiles on everyone’s faces.  The first game of the day was a grudge match between D’Regulars and the Rolls-Royce Juniors, both wanting to show that they were the better Indonesian side.  A close game that was won 2-1 by the D’s thanks to another goal from Ijan and one from Nyayan.  ISCI’s first game of the day was versus Satya.  A strong start from ISCI set up a 2-0 lead, with goals from Tom and Deny.  A yellow to Gaddy gave ISCI little headache, as we set up at halfway and attacked on the break.  This strategy proved successful with a third goal from Rob, put through well by Tom and Shervo rounded the keeper to score, and finish the game 3-0.

This meant that both ISCI and D’Regulars went into the Cup Quarter Finals as top of their respective groups.  D’Regulars had planned this well and came up against Satya in their Quarter and knocked the Malaysians out of the competition, with goals from Ijan and Nyayan.  Unfortunately ISCI hadn’t quite worked their strategy as well.  Although winning their group, they had to face Intermovers, champs from 2009, in the Quarter Final.  A tough draw, but they would have to be beaten at some point for ISCI to win the Cup.  The game started well with ISCI creating chances in midfield and attacking the D.  Unfortunately ISCI got careless, while searching for the elusive breakthrough, and pushed too many players forward, and were caught on the break, resulting in a goal for Intermovers.  Finding themselves chasing a game for the first time, ISCI got a little panicked, resulting in a second goal for Intermovers, sealing ISCI’s fate.  Early drinks and early baths, of the ice variety !!

On a side note, RJ grabbed the Teabaggers first goal in their Plate Quarter Final with the Bakerites, much to the dismay of the rest of the team.  They were looking forward to more beer and shopping, but they didn’t really seem to mind another game.  Well done RJ.  Fortunately they were defeated in the Semi Final, much to the pleasure of the rest of the Teabaggers.  Deny and Thomas also cameo’d for Valley, with Deny providing a very important assist in a 1-1 draw against SCC.  They didn’t like that one did they Deny ??

So it was left to D’Regulars to represent ISCI’s fortunes at the tournament, which they did in style.  Up against Intermovers in the Semi Final, they played very well, dominating the play and scoring early through Nyayan.  They created numerous chances, but couldn’t seal the match.  Intermovers scored with almost the last touch of the game, resulting in overtime.  D’Regulars started strong and won a valuable short corner, especially as no goalie was in the goal, which was converted by Ijan to the delight of the watching crowd.  Intermovers kept up their Malaysian reputation by complaining bitterly after the game, and I believe some lovely words were spoken to Chris !

So it all came down to one game.  The final between D’Regulars and Singapore Cricket Club was probably not the expected final, but credit has to be given to the two teams for getting there.  The game started off at a frantic pace, both sides wanting to score that all important first goal.  Both keepers made a handful of great saves.  Unfortunately the deadlock couldn’t be broken and golden goal overtime was to be the decider.  A yellow card just before full time for Epi of D’Regulars meant they started the overtime 5 v 6, so you would think D’Regulars would defend for 3 minutes and attack once back to full strength.  Unfortunately the team couldn’t quite get that message, too many stepped up leaving an undermanned defence, which was deservedly punished by SCC on their first attack of the overtime period. A real shame, as the D’Regulars had played very well to make the final.

To summarise, it was a good two days of hockey and everyone played well, whether it was for ISCI, Teabaggers, D’Regulars, Rolls-Royce Juniors, HKCC or Valley.  As always, we showed our delight at playing hockey and it didn’t matter who it was for.  Well done to Ijan, who almost certainly was the top scorer of the competition.  Thank you to everyone who came down and supported.

Just like to put a shout out to Ken, Chris, Deny, Tiff, Sil, Unyil and everyone else who helped set up and run the tournament.  Thank you...