Al-kinki

7 hardened individuals plucked their courage, peeling

their bodies of their soft, luscious mattresses to converge

in the unearthly hour of 8AM.

Faizal, Yamin, Shahril, Dinie, Shihan, Peng, Ahmad and

Aiman form the tandem cheekily, and yet stylishly

named Elham al-Kinki.

We arrived at Henderson Park to the stares of many.

Us in the royal blue hues of Innova, and them in a

kaleidoscope of colours.

We're fifth in line with the 1st match pitting us against

Kaki Bangku FC.

It was al-Kinki most of the time as our defence absorbed

their rare forays upfield and we plotted several delicious

counter attacks.

Resilience the key as their defender rammed the ball against

my right foot and the ball flew into the right hand corner

of the goal.

Advantage al-Kinki.

Subsequently, we won the game 1-0,2-0 and 1-0 to reach

the tournament's semis.

Up against Caltex SS, we were more than a match for them

but towards the end they exerted a wee bit of dominance

but thank God for Faizal's heroics we're kept in the game.

It ended in a stalemate and the match was to be decided

on penalties.

Sudden death penalties.

Their taker beat Faizal with ease but Aiman shot straight

at their custodian, the pressure really sinking into

him.

Nonetheless, a great team effort and Aiman was faultless

to say the least.

From that match on, things didnt seem to click.

Our unbreached defence was tested numerous times by

the enemy and they duly scored amid a scramble from a

kick-in.

The only goal al-Kinki conceded in 5 matches.

We finished fourth.

Playing our hearts out, waiting out butts off,

we returned empty handed, but with pride and

dignity intact.

Kudos Elham Al-Kinki!