Relentless Unknowns march on.

It was business as usual for the Unknowns this morning, emerging 3-1 winners at Northview Secondary thanks to goals from Vincent, Yuanji and Botak.

A total of 17 players made the trip to Yishun in what was possibly the highest turnout of this season.

Unknowns went up 1-0 in the eight minute when Vincent hammered home a Botak corner. The towering defender's aerial prowress has been a very lethal weapon during corners this season.

Pacy winger Yuanji continued his rich vein of goalscoring form in the second half. In the 56th minute, he latched onto a Becky through ball and within a few quick strides was face to face with the onrushing keeper.

With the fans screaming for him to lob the ball over the goalie, he brilliantly rifled his shot past the legs of the keeper to make it 2-0!

Credit to the opposition, who never gave up even at 2-0. They managed to chase back a goal to try and make it a nervous finale for the Unknowns.

However there was to be no further comeback. Botak broke free down the right hand channel when he beat two defenders off the dribble and charged towards the goal. With a number of Unknowns players queuing up at the goalmouth, fans screamed vociferously at Botak asking him to cut the ball back for an easy tap-in.

Wily Botak had other ideas though. He took his time and dropped several feints to fool the keeper into thinking that he would really cut the ball back. With the keeper in two minds, Botak cheekily clipped the ball into the net for an easy finish.

3-1 the final score, and the Unknowns march on.

Sleepless Unknowns defy logic for rousing victory

WITH almost half the team devoid of sleep, Unknowns United defied all logic and came away with a rousing victory this morning at Sengkang Secondary.

Rising starlet Sherman celebrated his 21st birthday at Pasir Ris Chalet yesterday, a joyous occasion that almost all Unknowns attended. It was also Leslie's 22nd birthday on match day. As such, as many as five members of the team went without sleep prior to the game.

But the 50000 fans from neighbouring HDB flats, watching from the comfort of their own balconies or on the corridors, really couldn't tell that they were sleepless, as the Unknowns blitzed the opponents with four goals to wrap up the game by half time. The icing on the cake was added during the second half, when Birthday boy Leslie received his present with a simple tap-in goal, courtesy of Alvin's square ball.

Unknowns flew off the blocks right from the kick-off, wasting no time to go on the offensive. They took the lead when Zhenrong fed a delightful square pass for long-time strike partner Jianhua (AKA Raul), who provided the finish for his fourth goal of the season.

Yuanji then raced on to a Leslie through ball and fired past the keeper to make it three goals in two matches for the pacy winger. 2-0!

Zhenrong played the role of provider again for the third goal, laying off the crucial pass for Hanwei. The muscular midfielder held off the desperate challenges of a couple of opposing defenders and fired past the keeper.

Botak then delivered a "Rory Delap" long throw down the right byeline. Zhenrong chased it down, beat a couple of defenders and fired past the keeper to make it four.

In between, defender Tinky was guilty of racking up about 148 foul throws.

With the game all but over at halftime, Unknowns fielded Leslie up front in search of the birthday goal he was due.

In the 70th minute, the opposition had a player sent off for lashing out recklessly at Botak.

The goal finally came late in the second half. Alvin provided a wonderful square ball for the lurking Leslie who finished with the simplest of tap-ins and celebrated with aplomb.

With the game all sealed up, Botak, being the perfect gentleman that he was, probably felt 5-0 was too ruthless, and decided to let the opponent score one so that they wouldn't feel too upset.

5-1 the final score, and the Unknowns roll on.

Unknowns overcome early setback to triumph 3-2

At Northview Secondary on Sunday morning, the gutsy Unknowns overcame an early setback to eventually emerge triumphant.

A superb first-half double by Yuanji and a great freekick by Becky gave the Unknowns a deserving 3-2 win on this pulsating "post-vday" match.

Unknowns had fallen behind as early as the first minute, when an uncharacteristic misplaced pass led to a goal.

Despite the setback, Unknowns kept their heads up and battled hard. They were rewarded when Yingjie aka "David Seaman" delivered a gigantic goalkick upfield that was touched on by Jianhua for strike partner Yuanji. Yuanji burst through the defence and fired home for the equaliser. 1-1!

Minutes later, Unknowns took the lead. A swift counter attack saw Leslie spraying the ball upfield to Yuanji. It was 2 on 2 now with Jian hua providing the decoy on Yuanji's left. The two opposition defenders were expecting Yuanji to pass the ball but were totally wrongfooted when he dropped them a shoulder fake and jinked to his right to free up plenty of space for himself. But there was still plenty of work to be done as the opposition keeper was alert to the situation and managed to force Yuanji out wide. From the tightest and narrowest of angles, Yuanji skilfully squeezed in his shot for the lead! 2-1!

After half-time, the opposition fought back and managed to steal an equaliser. But the Unknowns were not going to be denied. A free kick was awarded some 30 metres out. Becky planted the ball into the back of the net with a ferocious strike. 3-2!!

A deserving win for the Unknowns.

Unknowns fight back.

Coming off the back of a 1-2 defeat at Bishan Park last week, the Unknowns went into yesterday's game at Northview sec with only 9 starters.

Unknowns were without their leaders at the start. Captain Apple, secondary leaders Jianhua and Zijie were still on the way. SIM top student/banking manager/fitness instructor Becky stepped forward to lead the way and organized the team to play a defensive 4-3-1 formation that often turned into 5-2-1, which was an understandable tactic given the lack of players.

Through sheer determination and good defending as a team, the 9 men somehow managed to hold out for 0-0 while waiting for the reinforcements, who arrived midway thru the first half.

With 11 men on the pitch now, the game was on. Unfortunately, the unknowns found themselves a goal down soon after.

After the half-time break, Unknowns tried very hard to find an equaliser, but were denied by some robust defending and sometimes, lacklustre finishing. Leslie came real close with a diving header, but otherwise the opposition were holding firm and looked good value for a win.

Just when it seemed time was running out, up stepped defender Vincent. Becky delivered a sublime corner and Vincent popped up in the right place, at the right time, to hammer home an unstoppable header. 1-1!

A well-deserved draw, as neither side really deserved to lose this one.