The Lions will be playing in front of their home fans for the first time in almost a month, and the support from the stands might just swing the tie in favour of the LionsXII.

The match got off to a slow start but both sides began to find their groove mid way through the half after raising the tempo. Shaiful Esah put the LionsXII ahead in the 32nd minute when his freekick eluded everyone in the penalty area to find its way past Felda’s goalkeeper Hamsani.

Felda were quick to regroup and tested Hyrulnizam several times. Their best chance of the match came in the 44th minute, but the LionsXII goalkeeper made an incredible save to stop a powerful goal-bound volley just over a metre away.

The LionsXII started the second half eager to attack and they came close to scoring in the 52nd minute through Khairul Amri, who made his first start since a long injury lay-off, when he struck a powerful shot from outside the penalty area. Felda’s Hamsani fumbled the save but was fortunate to get away with it.

Goal-scoring opportunities see-sawed between the two sides before the LionsXII extended their lead in the 77th minute. Skipper Shahril Ishak cut the ball back to the edge of the penalty area and the advancing Shahdan Sulaiman curled the ball into the top corner.

Felda refused to be beaten and kept pressing. The Malaysian side were incisive in their passes, but a lack of ideas in the final third proved to be their downfall. The LionsXII extended their lead over second placed Kelantan to five points with the win, but the Malaysian side now have four games in hand.

Teams lining up for the pre-match formalities. Photo by Shamir Osman

After three long weeks, the LionsXII are finally back in action.

But their return was marked with a defeat, after defending champions Kelantan trounced them 3-0, and in the process cut the visitors’ lead at the top of the Malaysian Super league to just two points.

The LionsXII almost got off to a disastrous start when in the third minute, Kelantan earned a penalty. Thankfully, LionsXII custodian Hyrulnizam pulled off a great save to keep the scores level.

Fans barely had time to catch their breath when the LionsXII mounted an attack of their own, but all three of their attempts were cleared off the line.

The home side continued to dominate for the rest of the half but it was the Lions who had the best opportunity to break the deadlock in the opening period.

Hariss Harun’s header crashed against the crossbar following a Shahdan Sulaiman corner and the acrobatic follow-up by Khairul Nizam was well saved by the Kelantan goalkeeper.

Kelantan continued their dominance into the second half, and once again Hyrulnizam had to pull off a fingertip save in the 55th minute to deny the home side the lead.

But after that it went disastrously wrong for the Lions.

Kelantan took the lead in the 75th minute when striker Norshahrul’s cross was volleyed in by winger Chanturu.

Barely four minutes later, Norfarhan broke free of the LionsXII defence and fired past Hyrulnizam to double his side’s lead.

The result was but beyond doubt when substitute Rizal Fahmi smashed in a thunderbolt from outside the area to put his side 3-0 up.

Kelantan now trail the Lions by just two points, but have three games in hand and few will be betting against them reclaiming top spot in the league in the weeks to come.

But unlike the first match which the Media Team won 2-1, the Parliamentarians exacted some measure of revenge this time with a 3-1 win at the Jalan Besar Stadium last Friday.

The media team, with their new kits thanks to the kind folks at adidas Singapore. Photo by WEE TECK HIAN/MediaCorp Press Ltd

The Parliamentarians were missing some regulars, but still had captain in Minister of State (Trade and Industry) Teo Ser Luck (front row, extreme right). Photo by WEE TECK HIAN/MediaCorp Press Ltd

Despite missing a few regulars, the Parliamentarians still featured the likes of Minister of State (Trade and Industry) Teo Ser Luck, and Members of Parliament (MP) Janil Puthucheary, Edwin Tong and Zainudin Nordin, who is also president of the Football Association of Singapore, as well as “guest” players such as S-League chief executive Lim Chin.

The Media team were also missing some regulars due to work commitments, but still managed a decent turn-out with journalists from the major media organisations here, consisting mainly from MediaCorp’s TODAY and 938LIVE, as well as from The New Paper.

The Parliamentarians' Fu Cheng Wei (in red) impressed with his mesmerising skills. Photo by WEE TECK HIAN/MediaCorp Press Ltd

TODAY journalist Leong Wee Keat (extreme left, in white) attempts to stop Fu Cheng Wei on another one of his mazy runs. Photo by WEE TECK HIAN/MediaCorp Press Ltd

TODAY's Shamir Osman (centre) continued where he left off from last year's friendly -- with another no-nonsense, crunching tackle, this time on Minister of State (Trade and Industry) Teo Ser Luck (in red). Photo by WEE TECK HIAN/MediaCorp Press Ltd

An unfortunate own goal and deflected shot put the Parliamentarians 2-0 up at half-time, but the Media team pulled one back mid-way through the second-half.

But as the old adage goes, you’re at your most vulnerable when you’ve just scored, and that proved correct again as the Parliamentarians scored again almost immediately to lead 3-1.

We had numerous chances to even win it late on but for a mixture of excellent goalkeeping and bad luck.
Nonetheless, there’s still nothing quite like a game of football.
Until the next friendly match!

Whilst Chelsea deserves all the credit for a magnificent display of grit and teamwork, Liverpool’s spectacular comeback in Istanbul against AC Milan and Man United’s incredible last-gasp goals against Bayern Munich were just as unbelievable.

So which match has your vote?

Man Utd vs Bayern Munich

Liverpool vs AC Milan

Chelsea vs Barcelona

David Beckham's wonder goal against Wimbledon is among the nominees for the best goal award. GETTY IMAGES

The English Premier League is celebrating 20 seasons of existence and have published what they believe to be the top 10 goals scored so far.

Southampton legend Matt Le Tissier is the only player appearing twice, whilst the likes of Tony Yeboah, David Beckham, Eric Cantona, Paolo Di Canio, Thierry Henry, Alan Shearer and Wayne Rooney all make an appearance.

Here are the videos of the goals, and if you want to vote for your favourite, just visit http://www.premierleague.com/en-gb/20-seasons.html

Matt Le Tissier
Southampton vs Newcastle United – Oct 24 1993

Matt Le Tissier
Blackburn Rovers v Southampton Dec 10 1994

Tony Yeboah
Leeds United v Liverpool – Aug 21 1995

David Beckham
Wimbledon v Manchester United – Aug 17 1996

Eric Cantona
Manchester United v Sunderland – Dec 21 1996

Paolo Di Canio
West Ham United v Wimbledon – March 26 2000

Thierry Henry
Arsenal v Manchester United – Oct 1 2000

Dennis Bergkamp
Newcastle United v Arsenal – March 2 2002

Alan Shearer
Newcastle United v Everton – Dec 1 2002

Wayne Rooney
Manchester United v Manchester City – Feb 12 2011

*Videos taken from The Daily Telegraph

First XI team trooping out to a morning training session at Scarborough beach. Photo courtesy of First XI production team

So there were snores aplenty on the First XI team bus as we took to the road after stepping off a red-eye flight from Singapore to Perth on Saturday (March 30). A meeting with Perth Glory players at their training ground, followed by lunch and a unique challenge at Sandalford Estate did little to wake up the sleep-deprived bunch of MediaCorp Channel 5 producers, crew, players and media alike.

I had forgotten how painfully long filming work for television – and the First XI sports reality television series – was, and doing the shuffle in 10 deg Perth weather was no help to this coffee-deprived reporter.

The next three days of this whirlwind training trip with the First XI players were a blur of travelling, sleeping, waiting, and more waiting.

Sunday: Scarborough beach morning training, Fremantle market, King’s Park. Monday: Early morning training session, friendly match against Perth Glory selection team, team dinner. Tuesday: Early morning flight back to Singapore.

But witnessing First XI coaches Steve McMahon and R Sasikumar bickering like a 70-year-old couple certainly made up for it. It was Monday night and we were headed back to the Rendevous Hotel at Scarborough beach with Sasi at the wheel and Liverpool legend Steve dishing out directions – his only advice was to “go straight and it will lead you there”. Oh oh – we (an amused lot of host Gurmit Singh, 8Days writer and I) were in trouble, especially when Steve begun singing along to Simple Mind’s “Don’t you forget about me” on the radio.

We lived to tell the tale, hours later, when we finally made it to the hotel and dinner.

Aside from the unlikely football marriage, other things were uncovered in Perth: Brazilian midfielder Bruno Marmo’s goofy side, Gurmit’s love for mussels, the First XI unofficial anthem “Ai se eu te pego” – a popular Brazilian tune that the players sang everywhere – and how hard it was to buy a beer in Scarborough.

And then there was the trip to the Perth Airport, where our lovebirds continued to squabble. As the clocked ticked down to our departure time, I learnt that one can drive with the handbrake up – Sasi demonstrated – Steve still can’t sing, and that it takes a really really long time to get to the airport.

We survived again. And methinks a comedy starring Steve and Sasi should be next in line for Channel 5, set to the soundtrack of “Ai se eu te pego”.

Catch First XI on Channel 5 every Wednesday at 8pm. Visit www.xinmsn.com/firstxi for more details.

First XI players participating in the challenge at Sandalford Estate. Photo by Low Lin Fhoong

Time out at the Fremantle market for the First XI. Photo by Low Lin Fhoong

Coaches Steve McMahon and R Sasikumar giving the team a prep talk ahead of the Perth Glory friendly. Photo by Low Lin Fhoong

First XI in NIB Stadium, Perth. Photo by Low Lin Fhoong

First XI captain John Spackman taking a tumble during the match against Perth Glory. Photo by Low Lin Fhoong

First XI supporters at the NIB Stadium. Photo by Low Lin Fhoong

It’s not a bad thing to have and it’s something intrinsic in everyone.

It enables us to make rational decisions that would seemingly benefit us in the long term, it keeps our sanity intact and it prevents our wallets from going too empty too often.

In fact, the whole idea of proposing to your significant other with the classic question “Shall we get a HDB flat?” is derived from the very essence of pragmatism, which essentially means to play it safe with the future in mind.

And pragmatic I was. During my secondary school days, I chose table tennis over football as my ECA. Thinking back, it seems rather scary how I was already so attuned to the ‘system’ despite my youth. I took up table tennis because I knew I could make the school team. And making the school team meant taking part in national competitions, which then means extra ECA credits which would ultimately help my progression into a Junior College.

Hindsight can be such a wicked thing, because it makes us see the painful irony to life at times.

I guess I did pretty well in the team, winning medals and even making it to the nationals once. At the end of it all, I got those credits I joined the team for and even a Colours Award to boot. But all those didn’t matter – I chose to go to a Polytechnic instead. If I had known (who am I kidding, no one can predict the future, right?) that those darn ECA points wouldn’t matter in the end, I would simply gone with the sport I’ve loved all my life.

It was football.

During those humid training sessions in the school hall where we had to bat ball after ball that was spat out of the machine, the only thing that went through my head wasn’t how to improve my game or react faster to the approaching shot. Rather, it was all about the kickabout my team-mates and I would have after the training session. I would sometimes forget to bring my table tennis bat to training. But I would never forgot the 20-cent “mama shop” plastic ball we used for football. I can only remember my best goals. I cannot remember the best side-spin serve I made. I spent the weekends watching Robbie Fowler and Stan Collymore in action for Liverpool. I hardly ever bothered to watch table tennis.

Even today, I’m still mad about the sport. In fact, I’m thinking of Wednesday’s football match as I’m typing out this blog entry.

It’s too late for regrets now. I’m never going to be able to chase the dream of playing in the La Liga at this age. In fact, I’d be pretty lucky not to go home with yet another busted ankle or sore back.

I’m pretty sure not everyone was as practical as I was during those days. But I just cannot help feeling that if we can, somehow,  extricate ourselves from the sterility of this culture that favours grades and progression over passion and dreams, we might just be able to emerge as a true sporting nation.

Things are of course very much different now. The Sports School is a brilliant initiative to marry one’s love for sports with the need for educational progression. But even so, we still need to be mindful of the effects that I mentioned earlier. An athlete’s pursuit of sporting excellence, in my opinion, should be a passionate, honest and willing adventure. It pained me to hear that years ago that our national paddler Li Jiawei does not even like the sport she so excels in. I couldn’t help but feel she could’ve scaled greater heights if she possessed a true love for it, because a healthy obsession, I feel, is the flint upon which dreams are ignited.

So what about you? Did you play the sport you love?