"These newsletters are starting to become nag sessions, where I bear all my grievances…" - Justin

For upcoming fixtures, past newsletters, our illustrious history and more…

Season 2 Record

Matches Played: 17
Matches Won: 8
Matches Lost: 8
Matches Drawn: 1
Goals For: 55
Goals Against: 64
Goal Difference: -9
Bonus Points: 11
Total Points: 45

Points System:
Win = 4 points
Draw = 2 points
Bonus Point = 3 goals

Overall Record

Matches Played: 32
Matches Won: 9
Matches Lost: 22
Matches Drawn: 1
Goals For: 92
Goals Against: 163
Goal Difference: -71

Season-by-Season

Final position at the end of each season:

1 (2002): Div 6 - Last
2 (2002): Div 7 - Third

"Platinum Moccasin"

More prestigious than the seasonal "Golden Boot" award, this honour is bestowed upon the player who has kicked the most number of goals in the brief, yet illustrious history of the All Hacks!

25 - Alan
13 - Sung
11 - Alain
9 - Adrian, Ajay
5 - Chi, Francis
3 - Peter, Thanh
2 - Alex, Gerald, Shan
1 - Ian, Justin, Siwei

The "Dunce Cap"

Like the "baggy green" of the Australian cricket team, the All Hacks also have their own traditional head accessory, the "dunce cap".

Each cap is numbered to represent the order in which each individual has played for the All Hacks.

Where does your favourite player stand in the proud history of the All Hacks?

01 - Alain (13,26)
02 - Francis (4,17)
03 - Huy (2,3)
04 - Ian (1,12)
05 - Justin (16,28)
06 - Keong (10,15)
07 - Peter (13,26)
08 - Shaun (10,25)
09 - Sung (14,28)
10 - Adrian (14,24)
11 - Chi (2,11)
12 - Danny (8,19)
13 - Gerald (0,5)
14 - Justin (Scrub) (0,3)
15 - Simon (0,3)
16 - Nick (0,3)
17 - Shan (0,4)
18 - Alex (0,2)
19 - Alan (12,16)
20 - Rob (1,3)
21 - Jonathan (0,1)
22 - Masum (1,2)
23 - Marco (3,3)
24 - Thanh (14,14)
25 - Sam (1,1)
26 - Sandy (2,2)
27 - Siwei (1,1)
28 - Abhrajit (Abi) (3,3)
29 - Ajay (9,9)

Comments please!

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All Hacks FC

Season Winter/Spring 2002

Welcome to another long season of Indoor Soccer. Now in Division 7/8, the All Hacks are now a seasoned unit familiar with the cut-throat nature of amateur football.

Squad: Alain, Danny, Francis, Ian, Justin, Marco, Masum, Peter, Shaun (GK)

With a few late withdrawals unsettling the starting line-up, Marco made his debut for the All Hacks in the season opener. Masum was a last-minute inclusion and played admirably in his trakky-daks. Since the All Hacks politely refused to spare a substitute player to The Roger Corbett Experience, the opposition played the game throughout minus one player. Unfortunately, the All Hacks weren't able to capitalise on the extra player advantage. Hmm, where have I heard that before...

Shaun was again brilliant as goalkeeper and kept the All Hacks within striking distance of The Roger Corbett Experience. Unfortunately, our main striker, Sung, went AWOL for the night. However, Alain seized his opportunity to star in the absence of Sung and scored the All Hacks' first and only goal of the first half. Francis cleverly earned the All Hacks a penalty shot by luring the opposition into tackling him from behind, but unluckily missed the conversion as the ball ricocheted off both side posts. Nice party trick though...

In the second half, Alain turned up the intensity and had several close shots for goal, and finally climaxed to have multiple ... goals that is, by calmly slotting a penalty. Marco had a solid debut for the All Hacks, but for some inexperience, had an early momentary loss of orientation and conceded a penalty by trudging into Shaun's goal-keeping territory, the sacred D. Down but not out, Marco redeemed himself in the second stanza, and marvellously crossed the ball to a well-positioned Francis, who converted on top of the D.

2 - Alain
1 - Francis

Welcome to the latest addition to the All Hacks' squad, Thanh. With a wealth of indoor soccer experience from the rough-house stadiums of Springvale, Thanh adds a new dimension to the All Hacks' spasmodic forward line-up.

Squad: Adrian (GK), Alain, Danny, Justin, Marco, Peter, Shaun, Sung, Thanh

With late withdrawals becoming flavour of the month, the All Hacks were again behind the eight ball before the kick-off. Our heartfelt thanks should be given especially to Adrian and Danny, who were very late inclusions to the team facing Coconut Wireless. Virtually playing on one fit leg each, Adrian and Danny were brave warriors in a match played out with plenty of spite. By virtue of his injured foot, Adrian was our goalkeeper for the match.

In a bruising and physical encounter, the All Hacks took the ascendancy early on. The All Hacks rued a miss from the penalty spot in the opening minutes and were subsequently punished with Coconut Wireless exposing our napping defence and scoring the opening goal. The All Hacks were able to meet every challenge from Coconut Wireless in the first half, with two clinical finishes from Alain at the penalty spot. Debutante Thanh was wreaking havoc in attack, while Coconut Wireless reeked of poor sportsmanship (and hygiene too!). Marco presented himself with some opportunities to strike - unfortunately, fresh air shots don't result in goals!

Luck and fortune were definitely not on the All Hacks' side, as several chances from Alain and Justin went beggingly close to scoring - unfortunately the ball slammed onto the woodwork on umpteen occasions. Coconut Wireless played outside the spirit of the game, however the All Hacks were fair enough to shake the hands of the perpetrators after the match. We can forgive, but we won't forget... The All Hacks went down 5-2, but the score could have been far more different.

4 - Alain
1 - Francis

With Alain taking his well-deserved RDO (finally, giving someone else a chance to kick a goal!), the All Hacks took on the currently 2nd-placed Mustapha's Kebabs. The All Hacks welcomed back Rob and Huy, the latter making his long awaited comeback after a much publicised health scare. The All Hacks introduced another debutante in Sam ... and he did have a ball (excuse the pun!).

Squad: Huy, Justin, Marco, Peter, Rob, Sam, Shaun (GK), Sung

The All Hacks began proceedings where we left off last week (i.e. out-classed and out of luck), by conceding a freakish goal that spun wickedly (like a Michael Bevan wrong 'un) from a deflection and trickled into our goal. Our fortunes didn't improve when another deflected goal and our struggling defence left Shaun's superb goal-keeping efforts in vain. There were glimpses of encouraging moments in the first half with Rob, Sam, and Sung combining well in attack to bombard Mustapha's Kebabs' goalie. However, that elusive goal was still just that, elusive, as the All Hacks trailled 5-nil at half time.

The All Hacks kept plugging away in the second half, culminating in Sung's "Hand of God" effort, (a handball to the untrained eye), by controlling the ball with his well-hidden arm, and striking the ball into the opposition's net. Rob and Sam continued to trouble Mustapha's Kebabs, but were thwarted by fine saves from the opposing goalkeeper and by the wrong side of the goal posts.

Please, don't be perturbed if your valuable services are not called upon for any upcoming match, as we are attempting to implement the revolving-door policy that the Australian one-day cricket team do so successfully. Let's hope some of their success rubs off on the All Hacks.

4 - Alain
1 - Francis, Sung

The All Hacks welcomed back a few familiar faces, with their invaluable services sorely missed during the past few, arduous, long rounds. The All Hacks took on a junior-looking team in S.T.B., and were intent on teaching them a lesson of respecting a seasoned, semi-professional team.

Squad: Adrian, Alain, Alan, Francis, Justin, Keong, Shaun, Sung (GK), Thanh

Struggling with a leg injury (no doubt exacerbated by the pre-match shots of vodka), Sung donned the pair of gloves (literally!, we finally have a pair of goal-keeping gloves) and kept for the first half of the match. With the emphasis on playing solid defence, the All Hacks began cautiously. However, S.T.B. penetrated our much-feared defence early on and scored to go one-up. A defensive error by S.T.B. minutes later allowed Alain the opportunity to equalise from the penalty spot, however, Alain's recent case of the yips struck again. Adrian's freakish attempt at a half court round-house strike, stunned the crowd, and forced the opposition goalie into finger-tipping the ball just over the cross-bar for a fine save. Despite conceding the early goal and our near misses, the All Hacks showed tremendous resolve, and played out the rest of the first half without major incident, but also not troubling the scorekeeper.

In the second half, the All Hacks had a few more cards up their sleeve, unleashing Thanh to play out the match. Sung was also freed from his keeping duties to add more impetus (or impotence???) to the attack. Thanh's adventurous, yet risky, runs from defence paid dividends, with a fine combination move which culminated in Sung finding Alan wide-open at the top of the D, who calmly slotted the ball past the opposition goalie for our first goal. As the saying goes, "fortune favours the brave".

The All Hacks' defence was rock solid throughout the match, especially in the second half, snuffing out many S.T.B. attacking forays well before Keong was required to make a save. In his moment of truth, Keong kept magnificently to deny S.T.B. a chance to go ahead with a brilliant save from the penalty spot. With the match up for grabs, S.T.B. committed an innocuous foul that allowed Justin to bomb the ball forward with a "hope and pray" cross-court long kick. Fortunately, Alain was tuned in to Justin's intentions, and with a narrow window of opportunity, struck the ball past the dazzled opposition goalie. "Centimetre perfect". The All Hacks protected the lead in the final minutes, and notwithstanding some nervous moments, triumphed in the end of a hard-fought, epic struggle. More importantly, both sides had fun and played in the spirit of the game, and football was the ultimate winner.

The All Hacks' victory was spearheaded by Alan's tremendous play-making skills, despite playing the match with a niggling hamstring injury. Alan was one of many contributors to our first victory of this season, as every All Hacks squad member played accountable football. Our commitment could also not be questioned; exemplified by Shaun's one-percenters in defence and his courageous will to continue despite having had his glasses dislodged after receiving a knock on the noggin'. Our defence, while still permeable, was much better than previous performances, and was complemented by Keong keeping a clean sheet in the second half. Keep it up!

After such an emotional high, the All Hacks must focus on the next match. Let's continue the All Hacks' juggernaut for another week!

5 - Alain
1 - Alan, Francis, Sung

The All Hacks' recruitment drive netted two new players into the squad this week, with Sandy and Siwei bringing their wealth of soccer experience into the team. Surely, our salary cap of $0 will come under intense scrutiny...

Squad: Adrian, Huy, Justin, Sandy (GK), Shaun, Siwei, Sung, Thanh

The All Hacks were again unsettled pre-match by late withdrawals. However, from adversity comes opportunity, with Huy offering his kind services to be our substitute defender.

Sandy donned the pristine-conditioned keeping gloves, and the match was underway. Siwei had an immediate impact in midfield, scoring the All Hacks' first goal with a powerful strike that gained a fortunate deflection to leave the keeper stranded. We'll take what we can get. The All Hacks tried to consolidate their early and unexpected goal, but for a momentary loss of concentration, conceded a penalty that allowed Bacon Boys to level at 1-all.

That minor setback only spurred on the All Hacks, with Adrian being rewarded with a penalty after receiving several crude fouls by Bacon Boys. With our semi-regular penalty striker in Alain taking another week off for personal reasons, who was going to step up and take the penalty (and miss???)? Adrian finished what he started and converted to give the All Hacks a 2-1 lead at half time.

In the second half, after an inspiring half-time address to his teammates, Sung led by example and struck the ball sweetly to put the All Hacks 3-1 up. The All Hacks dominated play thereafter and had several opportunities to put the match beyond doubt. However, the All Hacks were left to rue the missed opportunities, as Bacon Boys lifted and crept to within a goal after a fine long range strike, and soon after equalised from another All Hacks' defensive mix-up.

With the "five minute warning" alert approaching, the All Hacks regained their focus, and an opportunistic Thanh seized his chance in the corner, and snuck in a goal to save the All Hacks' "bacon". Watching from outside the enclosure, the last few minutes were nail biting, but worth every minute, as the All Hacks' held on for a 4-3 victory.

Our newest additions to the All Hacks, Sandy and Siwei were magnificent on debut. Sandy was frugal as our goalkeeper, and Siwei created many opportunities for the attackers and also had a few chances of his own. A most pleasing aspect was our frequent interceptions of the opposing goalie's throw-ins, which kept Bacon Boys on the back foot. In defence, Huy and Shaun were "cool as a cucumber" composed, and frequently turned defence into swift offence for the All Hacks.

I am heartened by the fact that some people are very eager to play for the All Hacks. Please, don't be disappointed if your valuable services are not called upon in some future matches. The All Hacks will try their best to give every current squad member a run. Thanks for all the encouraging support.

The All Hacks have now won an unprecedented 2 matches-in-a-row. This could be the start of something big... From little things, big things grow…

5 - Alain
2 - Sung
1 - Adrian, Alan, Francis, Siwei, Thanh

Although scheduled to play at the graveyard timeslot, the All Hacks had a full squad hungry for another glorious taste of victory. Having learned some hard lessons from our previous bruising duel with Coconut Wireless, the All Hacks came prepared for a no-holds-barred physical match against the current division leaders.

Squad: Adrian, Alain, Alan, Francis, Justin, Keong (GK), Shaun, Sung, Thanh

The tournament bigwigs enforced their "zero-tolerance" policy this week, with the All Hacks being the major benefactor. The "uniform police" penalised Coconut Wireless 3 goals, i.e. 1 goal for each player wearing incorrectly coloured attire. The All Hacks sympathised with Coconut Wireless' somewhat harsh punishment, but in the words of Jerry Seinfeld: "That's a shame...". So even before a ball was kicked, the All Hacks led 0 to -3.

As so often happens, the All Hacks failed to capitalise their opportunities early on after having the bulk of possession, however, our persistence was most encouraging. After a fine build-up, Adrian was awarded a penalty after his attempted header was misdirected after collecting a dangerous kick to the head from the opposition. Unfortunately, the All Hacks narrowly missed the target, and soon after conceded the opening goal. However, the All Hacks re-grouped and after a series of fine passes threaded Coconut Wireless' defence, Alain was free on top of the D and duly converted.

Alain scored his second goal from the penalty spot, after Sung's wails from being tripped echoed around the stadium, just loud enough for the referee to hear and award the All Hacks another penalty. Coconut Wireless became frustrated and resorted to cheap shots, which did not go unnoticed by the referee. Alan copped an elbow from an opposition player, who was subsequently sin-binned for several minutes.

In the second half, some clumsy tackles from the All Hacks (present company included) presented Coconut Wireless the opportunity to score from the penalty spot. However, Keong was again safe as houses, and managed to deny Coconut Wireless twice, however, some lackadaisical defence allowed Coconut Wireless to gather a rebound and score.

In the closing minutes, the All Hacks re-established their dominance, with deft passes resulting in Alan scoring a fine goal. Francis and Shaun were again pillars in defence, blocking countless attacking thrusts from the opposition. Unfortunately, in the final play of the match, Keong slightly tarnished his up-till-then flawless performance with an ill-directed throw-in, allowing Coconut Wireless to strike the ball unopposed into our net. However, the goal was purely academic, as although both sides scored three goals, by virtue of the 3 goal deduction, an All Hacks victory was a mere formality.

A hollow victory it may be, but one we will graciously accept. The All Hacks have now strung together 3 wins-in-a-row! Keep it up!

7 - Alain
2 - Alan, Sung
1 - Adrian, Francis, Siwei, Thanh

The All Hacks were thrown into turmoil during the week, with the sudden semi-retirement of Francis, one of the pioneers of the All Hacks. His sudden departure leaves a gaping hole in the All Hacks' defence, however, the team is always bigger than the individual, and the All Hacks will soldier on in his absence. The door to return is always ajar Francis, so whenever you get itchy feet to play again, the ball's in your court...

Squad: Adrian, Alain, Alan, Justin, Keong (GK), Peter, Shaun, Sung, Thanh

With a position in the top four to cement, the All Hacks began as slight favourites against F.C. Sambos Utd., especially after the opposition played most of the first half with only five players. However, the All Hacks failed to take advantage of the situation, with F.C. Sambos Utd. discovering our kryptonite: converting penalties. The first half was a classic example of making the most of your opportunities. The All Hacks missed four penalty kicks, while with limited attacking opportunities, F.C. Sambos managed to score twice in quick succession. In the final minutes of the first half, F.C. Sambos Utd. rubbed salt into the All Hacks' wound by showing us how to kick a penalty properly. The All Hacks trudged off the court trailling 3-nil at half time.

The second half was a different affair, with Adrian finally converting an All Hacks penalty. The margin was then reduced to a solitary goal, when Alan scored after a fine passage of play that saw the All Hacks carry the ball coast-to-coast. Despite keeping F.C. Sambos scoreless in the second half, the damage had already been done in the first. The All Hacks received a reality check by tasting defeat for the first time in four weeks.

7 - Alain
3 - Alan
2 - Adrian, Sung
1 - Francis, Siwei, Thanh

Our defeat this week is a timely reminder of the dangers of becoming too complacent. We crumbled under the weighty expectations of being a top four side. Until we make the finals, we will continue to be the underdogs of Division 7/8.

First up, I'd like to extend a big welcome to our newest soccer-punk
recruits, Abi and Ajay. With his trademark tough-ass physique, and his unmatched Punjabian facial hair, Abi joined the team on extremely short notice, so a big thank-you to him! Ajay was also a late and indeed welcome addition, adding some serious firepower and clout to the team. Nevertheless…

Squad: Abhrajit, Adrian, Ajay, Alain, Alan, Chi, Danny, Keong, Peter, Sung (GK)

Well, I'll keep this short and sweet, because the game was most definitely short and sweet (and besides, I've forgotten most of the game anyway!). Stepping up to the plate after last week's rather disappointing loss, the All Hacks were ready to teach the 'boys' of S.T.B. a lesson in ass-whooping… to which they happily complied.

After some great set plays and passes by various members of the team, the All Hacks led early in the match to assert their dominance on the team of young upstarts. A few lapses in concentration led to some opposing strikes on goal, which were expertly saved by both Keong and Sung who were alternating as goalies. By the end of the
game, the All Hacks ran out 7-1 victors, with the only goal conceded a well deserved and executed goal by the opposition. It's also interesting to note that NO penalties were conceded in a clean and friendly match.

EVERYONE starred in this game: from Alan and his solo efforts on goal; to Abi and his miraculous (or totally unexpected?) dribbling skills; to Danny and his defensive prowess and ESPECIALLY his perfect pass to Alain who subsequently scored a goal (haha!); to Adrian and his trademark double-bursts which now seem to be progressing towards triple-bursts; to Ajay and his fancy footwork and striking abilities; to Chi and his typically good set plays; to Peter who showed a more assertive side to his play (good stuff Pete); and finally to the two goalies Sung and Keong who kept the rampaging juniors at bay. Now that's a mouthful!

Honestly, it is good to see that the team is LEARNING from their mistakes and actually progressing in terms of skill level, teamwork, and reading the play. And this doesn't just apply to this week either; it's great to see that we have been progressing over the weeks (especially people like Shaun, Thanh, and everyone else!), because it is very encouraging and perhaps indicative that we really do have a chance in the finals. Nevertheless, please do NOT get complacent after this game because do remember that we played the bottom team, and they only had 5 players. If we can keep up the intensity for the rest of season, then I'm sure we can run out premiers.

It's just a matter of working together, supporting each other, and never giving up until the final whistle. Let's play out the rest of this season with our heads held high, and our boots ready to whip ass. Who's with me?

8 - Alain
6 - Alan
3 - Adrian
2 - Sung
1 - Ajay, Chi, Francis, Siwei, Thanh

The All Hacks welcomed back "the bloke who collects the money" into the squad, who performed so well without his services (or should it be disservice?) last week. Congratulations to all involved for playing so admirably last match, but let's hope for my sake that this isn't the start of things to come...! The spectre of an impending mutiny haunts me... ahhh!

Squad: Adrian, Ajay, Alan, Danny, Justin, Keong, Peter, Sung (GK), Thanh

Our opponents Fast & Furious lived up to their name early on, with both sides playing at a frenetic pace. The All Hacks missed an opportunity to take the lead with an early penalty, and were almost made to pay if not for Sung's brilliant "windmill-style" save that denied Fast & Furious. Sung must have been playing with an extra prosthetic limb, because his flexibility was surely not human.

The score was still deadlocked at nil-all late in the first half when Justin entered the fray, and a seemingly clean challenge was considered otherwise by the referee, who blew his whistle to the dismay of Justin. Nursing his arthritic joints at goalie, Sung saved the penalty... much to the relief of Justin. Several promising attacks later, the All Hacks took the lead at half time after a brilliant solo effort from Adrian.

The All Hacks dominated the second half, with Fast & Furious thinking we were playing at an abattoir, as they continually hacked and butchered the very lean but tender Alan. Alan's hard yakka was rewarded with a converted penalty. Not to be out-done, the All Hacks served it up to Fast & Furious by beginning to carve up and slaughter the opposition. Ajay and Thanh floated across half-back and continually presented problems to the fragile defence of Fast & Furious. Danny and Keong's rock solid defence allowed Ajay to venture forward without inhibition, and an excellent strike from Ajay at the top of the D earned the All Hacks a vital bonus point.

The final minutes were an unaesthetic affair with Fast & Furious conceding penalties at will. Thanh stepped up to the penalty spot and sealed a comprehensive victory, placing the icing on the cake to a good night's work. Sung kept a clean sheet as goalie, the first time the All Hacks officially did not concede a goal for the entire match. Great work guys!

I was very impressed with the chemistry the All Hacks are developing. Our substitution system was working well, with every player contributing to an excellent team effort. We now face tougher opponents in the next two rounds (i.e. the top two teams), so we can ill-afford to be complacent, and touching up on our penalty executions would be a good idea too! However, we shall not feel intimidated, as we have shown in the past, (given a three goal advantage) we can topple any top side!!!

8 - Alain
7 - Alan
4 - Adrian
2 - Ajay, Sung, Thanh
1 - Chi, Francis, Siwei

With another chance to cement a top-four position, the All Hacks faced a giant obstacle in Dirty Sanchez, this season's pace-setters and current league leaders. With a name like Dirty Sanchez, we were expecting dodgy Espanols or Mexicans with curly mo's, pot bellies and a hint of porn-star potential. However, as the All Hacks found out, they were clean-cut youths with superior fitness, and worthy of their status as tournament leaders.

Squad: Abhrajit, Adrian, Ajay, Alain, Alan, Chi, Justin, Keong, Sung (GK), Thanh

The All Hacks took it up to Dirty Sanchez early on, with both teams trading early shots on goal. However, it was Dirty Sanchez who opened proceedings via an opportunistic goal. The All Hacks swiftly equalised through Alan's penalty conversion. The All Hacks were on the receiving end of harsh handball decisions, which ultimately cost the All Hacks two penalties. The referee's inconsistent decisions were magnified as he literally took a blind eye to Dirty Sanchez's handballs. Trailling 2-1, Justin found himself in the corner with an open path to centre the ball to Ajay, who clinically scored to put the All Hacks again on level terms.

Dirty Sanchez imploded in their own frustration, and after having won a contested ball, a Dirty Sanchez player deviated from his position and took a bee-line towards Keong. With a player sin-binned for the rest of the half, Dirty Sanchez re-grouped and scored in the last seconds of the half. The trend for the match was set, as the All Hacks played catch-up football in the second half. The All Hacks never seized the momentum, as Dirty Sanchez duly punished our defensive lapses. Hobbling on one leg, Sung was brilliant again as goalie, denying Dirty Sanchez some shots that appeared to be certain goals. Alan scored three goals in the second half, however they were negated as Dirty Sanchez pounced on an unusually disorganised All Hacks defence.

On a brighter note, the All Hacks enjoyed a valuable practise session after the match, giving an opportunity to unwind some built-up frustration, and also a chance to fine tune our penalty shots. Upon reflection, losing by one goal in a high scoring affair to the competition leaders is nothing to be disgraced about, however it hurts to be so close, yet so far.

11 - Alan
8 - Alain
4 - Adrian
3 - Ajay
2 - Sung, Thanh
1 - Chi, Francis, Siwei

Our opponents this round, Posse, were a multicultural "melting pot", comprising of players from many corners of the Earth (and from other teams too!) - a great example for the world game. However, some of their players did not embrace their own kind, as Ajay found out the hard way during the match.

Squad: Adrian, Ajay, Alain, Alan, Justin, Keong, Peter, Sung (GK), Thanh

The "fashion police" were out in force again, praising the well-conditioned All Hacks' bright whites, while being very critical on Posse's poorly co-ordinated dress sense. The All Hacks were gifted with a one goal head start; one goal which proved to be crucial in the end.

Like champions in a boxing ring, both teams sparred early on, exchanging attacking forays and shots on goal. Alain's long range effort was a highlight in the early stages of the first half. Substitutions during the middle of the first half brought upon immediate success, with a well-constructed passage of play ending up Alan scoring the All Hacks' first goal. Posse had most of the possession in the first half, however, possession does not translate into goals.

Posse began the second half with renewed spirit, and scored soon after the resumption of play. Adrian, Alain and Thanh fed the ball to the forward zone on numerous occasions, however, the All Hacks were unable to capitalise. With the game finely poised, Posse's temper began to boil, and Ajay received a cruel, upending tackle. An innocent foul by Ajay minutes later was met with retaliation from a member of Posse, who deservedly received a yellow card and two minutes in the sin-bin. Alan raised the irony of the whole incident of self-cultural intolerance, which as jovial as it seemed to the All Hacks, did not improve the relations between the two teams.

The All Hacks took advantage of having the extra player (for once!), with Alan's greatest sympathiser and perhaps biggest fan, the referee, awarding the All Hacks a penalty, which Alan calmly converted. The All Hacks conceded a late goal, but held on grimly for a hard-earned victory, thanks to the one-goal buffer gifted to us by the "fashion police" rule.

An observation from the sidelines: two goals found the back of our net this match, and it may have been more if not for Sung's goal-keeping. Our defence this match was much better than last week's sub-standard effort. If you are designated a defensive role, I am understanding that you would like to contribute to the team's attacking forays... (I can vouch for that!) However, when a defender ventures to the forward half to help out in attack, please be ready to run your arse off back to defend and close down the opposition forwards when our attacking play has completed. Having said that, ALL players need to man-up when we are defending. Preventing a goal from being conceded is just as vital as creating an opportunity for the All Hacks to score. We need every player to fulfil their team role if the All Hacks are to surge into the finals! Let's keep it up!!!

13 - Alan
8 - Alain
4 - Adrian
3 - Ajay
2 - Sung, Thanh
1 - Chi, Francis, Siwei

In one of those rare, unique occasions in sport, the All Hacks' squad was out-numbered by the opposition this week. However, it's the quality, not the quantity of the team that counts!

Squad: Adrian, Ajay, Alain, Alan, Justin, Peter, Sung (GK), Thanh

With an interchange bench decimated to only two players, the All Hacks had to conserve all their collective energy to last the entire 34 minutes. The All Hacks eased through the opening minutes, and gradually moved into top gear as the game progressed. The All Hacks created several opportunities to score early on with Alan again leading from the front, but uncharacteristically, skewed his penalty conversion. Minutes later, Adrian scored an excellent goal to open proceedings, pouncing on a loose ball in our forward line. Soon after Ajay intercepted a throw from Bacon Boys' goalie, and the ball rocketed back into Bacon Boys' net. Ajay became our focal point up forward, and minutes before half time, scored his second goal after weaving and dribbling his way through a loose Bacon Boys defence. The only dribbling Justin was doing was from the mouth, so much was he in awe of Ajay's skill.

Bacon Boys mounted a comeback in the second half, scoring early in the second half after Sung finally succumbed to the pressure of Bacon Boys' forwards. Their surge was short-lived however, as Ajay returned to the field with immediate dividends, scoring a well-deserved hat-trick for the evening. With only minutes remaining, a brilliant save from the opposition goalie thwarted a powerful strike from Alan. Alan was still goalless for the evening, and his uncanny record of having scored in every match this season was under serious threat. In a fairytale finish, Alan's saviour came from guess who...? our favourite referee. A converted penalty from Alan maintained his streak for at least another week, and put the match beyond any doubt.

Tonight's match was a particularly pleasing team-orientated effort. Our discipline in defence was first-class, with Alain, Peter and Thanh's great efforts in defence allowing Sung to make the odd minor blemish to his otherwise near-perfect goalie performance. Their versatility in combining their defensive duties and presenting themselves as a rotating forward was also a key to tonight's solid victory.

Our victory tonight edges the All Hacks closer to securing a finals position. However, we can't look too forward ahead. As the old saying goes, "Let's take it one week at a time."

14 - Alan
8 - Alain
6 - Ajay
5 - Adrian
2 - Sung, Thanh
1 - Chi, Francis, Siwei

With a chance to secure a spot in the finals, the All Hacks this week faced a challenging task in defeating Coconut Wireless without the luxury of a 3-goal head start, as was the case in our previous encounter.

Squad: Adrian, Ajay, Alain, Alan, Justin, Keong, Peter, Sung (GK), Thanh

The All Hacks began positively in the first half with several early encouraging attacking plays. Alan converted a penalty after he was crunched into the side-netting by Coconut Wireless' defenders. Soon after, Alan was on the other end of a harsh penalty decision from our favourite referee after he had tip-toed into Sung's goalie zone. Coconut Wireless equalised, however, Alan made amends with an excellent strike from a free kick, which penetrated through Coconut Wireless' wall of one. In a 9-minute burst prior to half-time, Coconut Wireless began to take charge of the match and scored 3 goals from an ambushed All Hacks defence.

Trailling 2-4 at half-time, the All Hacks relieved Sung of his goal-keeping duties in a bid to strengthen our defence. Keong donned the pair of gloves during the second half, and his skills were put to the test, after Sung's mis-directed header almost found the back of the All Hacks' own net! Coconut Wireless managed to score again from a penalty after an All Hacks minor indiscretion. With a 3-goal buffer, Coconut Wireless tried to run down the clock with lengthy substitutions. However, the All Hacks mounted a last gasp surge with brilliant goals to Ajay and Adrian closing the margin back to a solitary goal. With all the momentum in the final minutes, including some courageous plays from an exhausted Sung, the All Hacks staged a tremendous comeback, but unfortunately were unable to find the equaliser. A thrilling finish to a closely fought contest.

Although we didn't cement a position in the finals, we were able to earn a bonus point, which might prove to be invaluable in the final wash-up of determining our fate. Our match next week is a virtual elimination final for us: a win would assure the All Hacks a place in the finals. Our destiny is in our own hands...

16 - Alan
8 - Alain
7 - Ajay
6 - Adrian
2 - Sung, Thanh
1 - Chi, Francis, Siwei

The All Hacks were forced to make some changes to the squad this week, as Alain and Sung were struck down with the much-feared lurgy, "exams". Let's hope with a bit of mid-week studying and exam preparation, and less last-minute cramming, other All Hacks players won't have to suffer the same fate! However, the All Hacks welcomed back Danny and Shaun, who both needed no time at all to slot right back into the All Hacks' familiar groove. Thankfully, Shaun showed no signs of his leg injury that had threatened to prematurely end his career with the All Hacks.

Squad: Adrian, Ajay, Alan, Danny, Justin, Keong (GK), Peter, Shaun, Thanh

The All Hacks began brilliantly with Danny mesmerising the opposition with his dribbling skills, effortlessly caressing the ball past several opponents and then having the presence of mind to spot Ajay free on the right flank. Ajay's trusty right foot slammed home the All Hacks' opening goal. F.C. Sambos Utd. then sprung into action, with several fortuitous flick shots that surprised the All Hacks' defence and slipped through Keong's reliable goal-keeping. Trailling 2-1, the All Hacks pondered whether we would rue Alan's missed penalty opportunity, however that thought was soon extinguished after a clever half-court throw-in from Keong and deft footwork by Alan to turn his opponent inside-out, resulted in Alan having a free, and accurate strike for goal. Scores were level 2-2 at half-time.

The All Hacks carried on their momentum in the second half, with Peter delivering a superb long-range pass to find Alan in front of the goal. Alan did the rest, and the All Hacks were up 3-2. The All Hacks consolidated their lead with a freakish goal by Ajay, who toe-poked the ball from deep in the left corner to the side-post, only to be fumbled by the opposition goal-keeper into his own net. F.C. Sambos Utd. rallied in the closing stages, scoring late to leave the scores 4-3 at full time.

Despite all the pre-match hype (from me!) about this match being an elimination final, and how the All Hacks would secure a finals berth if we won this match, several extraordinary results from other matches last round still leaves the All Hacks with a mathematical chance of relinquishing a top four position. A win next round would silence all the statisticians with their calculators busily working out the possible permutations of other match results required for the All Hacks to stay in the top four.

18 - Alan
9 - Ajay
8 - Alain
6 - Adrian
2 - Sung, Thanh
1 - Chi, Francis, Siwei

Needing to lose by at least 18 goals to miss out on the Division 7 finals, the All Hacks played with a degree of arrogance and undiscipline against S.T.B. this week. However, as the All Hacks found out the hard way, S.T.B. were the shadow of the team who we had annihilated 7-1 in an earlier encounter.

Squad: Ajay, Alain, Alan, Danny, Justin, Peter, Sandy (GK), Shaun, Thanh

The All Hacks began sluggishly, conceding the first two goals of the match before Alan began to rectify proceedings with a brilliant goal to stem the tide. Alan had the opposition defenders in a trance and scored another goal from his lethal right boot soon after, however, the All Hacks' continually shot themselves in the feet in the first half with ill-directed passes in defence being fully punished by S.T.B..

Two goals by S.T.B. early in the second half made the scores 6-2 in favour of S.T.B.. The All Hacks were facing an embarrassing drubbing, until S.T.B. lapsed long enough for Justin to not trip on his feet, dribble and deliver the ball to Alan, who scored to bring his personal tally and the All Hacks' tally to 3 goals. Thanh made an unguarded charge down the left flank, and a pass from Alan was fully accepted from Thanh, who had enough time to compose himself and brilliantly slot the ball from deep in the corner into the goal. However, that was the last hurrah, as S.T.B. scored two more goals to condemn the All Hacks to their biggest defeat since Round 3.

It's official! The All Hacks have qualified for their first finals series in only their second season! Congratulations all-round for a mighty effort. However, the job is not yet complete, as we have to win three cut-throat finals if we are to be Division 7 premiers.

After this match's performance however, we may not even progress past the first final. Defensively, there are still some concerns regarding how easily we conceded goals. We need to tighten up our defence again, and rediscover our ability to play accountable football. Philosophically speaking though, it was "a loss we had to have", as any thought of complacency must surely be extinguished now! Hopefully, this week's loss will sting the All Hacks into action for the upcoming finals! C'mon fellas, it's do-or-die from now on!

21 - Alan
9 - Ajay
8 - Alain
6 - Adrian
3 - Thanh
2 - Sung
1 - Chi, Francis, Siwei

The All Hacks' game plan was thrown into disarray minutes before the kick-off, as Peter and Thanh were involved in a motor vehicle accident along the notorious streets of Springvale. The driver of the offending vehicle was an inexperienced L-plater, who cannoned into the side of Thanh's car. Fortunately, everybody involved escaped unscathed, with the only pain suffered being the large crater on the side door of Thanh's. Reduced to 7 players for the first half, the All Hacks used this setback as a source of inspiration in our first ever final.

Squad: Adrian, Ajay, Alain, Alan, Danny, Francis, Justin, Peter, Sung (GK), Thanh

With Justin on the sidelines warming the bench, the All Hacks began cautiously. After last week's wake-up call of conceding 8 goals, defence was a high priority. Seasoned campaigners in Alain and Danny patrolled the defence, and after a two match hiatus, Sung returned as goalkeeper to mop up any Posse residue. A free-flowing affair it certainly was not, as both sides were careful not to concede the first goal. However, it was Posse who cracked first under the intense pressure, by conceding a penalty that was calmly converted by Alan. The All Hacks had the better of play for the remaining minutes of the first half, and had another opportunity to score via a penalty. However, the opposition goalie brilliantly saved Alan's strike to keep scores 1-nil in favour of the All Hacks at half-time.

Prior to kick-off, Francis answered the emergency call to bolster our depleted line-up. Quicker than a pizza delivery, Francis arrived just in time for the second half. Just like Paul Salmon, Francis dragged his aching, weary body and returned from the comfy confines of retirement to play a crucial, cameo role for the All Hacks.

Posse's relentless waves of attack early in the second half were rewarded with a questionable (well, I conceded it so I questioned it!) hand-ball decision against the All Hacks. The resultant penalty was converted and the match was back on level terms. Peter and Thanh arrived midway through the second half and injected some life into a tiring All Hacks unit. Thanh was a man on a mission, and played as if every opponent was an L-plater. Adrian and Ajay were continually winning possession in the midfield, and their efforts contributed to a frustrated Posse defence, who eventually conceded a second half penalty. Alan's nerveless kick deceived Posse's goalie and the All Hacks were up 2-1. Unfortunately, the All Hacks weren't able to hang onto the lead in the final minutes, with the referee awarding a soft penalty to Posse, who converted to send the match into extra time.

Having finished in third position at the end of the home-and-away season, the All Hacks would progress through to the Preliminary Final if scores still remained deadlocked after extra time. Hence, our game plan during sudden-death extra time was to stack the defence and play out the two three-minute halves. With the match balanced on a knife-edge, tempers from both teams threatened to boil over, with Alan offering to continue the battle at the car-park outside after the match. Both sides had several opportunities to score the "golden goal", however it was the All Hacks who held on grimly for a most famous draw.

The vital bonus point we earned despite the thrashing we copped last round was in the end, the difference between both sides this match. The All Hacks finished the season with 43 points, while Posse finished with 42. The wonders of the bonus point system have catapulted the All Hacks into a Preliminary Final!

For all the remarkable progress the All Hacks have made this season, Alan has played a vital role in our resurrection. Alas, while the All Hacks are on the verge of creating history, we must continue our journey without Alan's services, as he takes a well-deserved end-of-season holiday... albeit one week too early!!! Indeed, there are other things more important than soccer, and we'll hopefully see a refreshed Alan sometime next year! For the rest of us, there's still a Preliminary Final against our arch-rivals Coconut Wireless to prepare for!

23 - Alan
9 - Ajay
8 - Alain
6 - Adrian
3 - Thanh
2 - Sung
1 - Chi, Francis, Siwei

How's it all going? Just wanted to raise an important issue before our
match on Sunday. Justin forgot to add something in his last match report - i.e. the 2 penalties that were scored by Alan were fouls committed against ME, by the SAME person (and no, I'm not trying to take credit here for the penalties!).

The lesson here: if you FUCK UP (God forbid) on Sunday, try to "learn" something from your mistake. We didn't win on Sunday because we were good. We won because Posse didn't learn from a simple mistake. Would we have drawn with them, and subsequently made it as far as we have, had we not got those 2 penalties?

On Sunday, go the extra mile to stick to your man, lay off the dirty
tackles, etc. Last week's umpiring decisions were a bit suspect - still, got to keep on our toes. Play the whistle - if you think a decision hasn't gone your way, don't just stop there waving your hands disputing the decision. Keep going. The time lost while getting angry over a decision can not only cost us a goal, but also the final.

In summation, play hard, fair, and smart soccer. Oh, and don't forget the teamwork. Time to kick some COCONUT ass.

With our main strikers, Ajay and Alan, unavailable for our cut-throat final, the All Hacks were forced to find another avenue towards goal. However, standing in our way on the path to glory was a formidable opponent, Coconut Wireless, who appeared to have a re-grouped and re-stocked line-up.

Squad: Abhrajit, Adrian, Alain, Danny, Justin, Keong (GK), Peter, Shaun, Sung, Thanh

The All Hacks struggled to sustain pressure on Coconut Wireless throughout the first half, with their silkier and polished skills on full display. Adrian and Alain battled tirelessly in attack, but Coconut Wireless were able to absorb every attacking play. Trailling 2-nil midway through the first half, Sung left his goal-keeping duties and was immediately thrusted into attack. Sung was fouled on the whistle to end the first half, and subsequently scored the All Hacks' first goal via a penalty, but at half-time, the All Hacks trailled 4-1.

Despite various substitutions to find the right on-field combination, the All Hacks were unable to bridge the gap between both sides. The All Hacks manufactured some very promising moves in the second half, however, some dubious refereeing decisions went against our favour, culminating in Alain amazingly managing to rebound the ball off the back goal post without scoring a goal. However, refereeing decisions aside, the All Hacks were simply out-classed and out-gunned by Coconut Wireless' multi-pronged attacking line-up.

Unfortunately, our last match for the season happened to coincide with equalling our heaviest defeat this season. Some people may say, "you are only as good as your last performance" (and at times, I agree!), however, in our case I beg to differ. The All Hacks have made tremendous strides this season. From last to third is a remarkable achievement! Let's enjoy our off-season, and hopefully we'll be all refreshed for another assault on the premiership next year!

23 - Alan
9 - Ajay
8 - Alain
6 - Adrian
3 - Sung, Thanh
1 - Chi, Francis, Siwei