Today [the 25th of April 2004] was breezy and cloudy with sunny streaks in between hours - the prefect weather to have the inaugural match between the scouts' and the parents' team. I had the honour to photograph this event at the University of Hong Kong's Stanley Ho Sports Centre - the only sportsground with a view of the sea.

The team, I think, began practicing this year and so the organization was a tad loose. A tad fatal too considering that defence was non existent before the second half. All the scouts were eagerly at forward positions but this cost them three goals by the end the first half ended.

The second half was more strategically planned. The scouts decided to have a more balanced formation and there were some defenders in between the forward and rear making it more difficult for the big guys to get in. This formation was good and it only cost the scouts two goals. Still, there was a problem: the big guys' goalkeeper was too fast- catching the ball just as it was going to scrape the post. In short, the big guys' goalkeeper was too good.

All team members put great effort into this match and following are a few photos I took of them. We congratulate those who have participated in the match and we sincerely thank those who have helped out logistics at the Stanley Ho Sports Centre.

229ers go forward!

- Photographs and commentary by Cliff Lui, XTL -

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