October 6, 2013

Hi Guys,

As Ben noted afterwards, this weekend, Sunday in particular, will be a football experience we will remember for a very long time. Playing in conditions that several of you--such as Mat (who's from England, no less!)--said are the most extreme you've ever played football in, Compass battled through heavy rain, wind and mud to bring home the 2013 Red Lions 30th Anniversary Tournament Championship Cup--promptly dubbed the "Typhoon Cup" by our team.

October 5, 2013

Hi Guys,

Despite some rain and mud today, it was overall a good day for Compass which I believe went through at the top of its group with 3 wins and a clean sheet.

In our first match vs. Carnegies, it only took three minutes for Mat to get his first Compass goal, capitalizing on a cross by Ben that bobbled out of the opposing keeper's hands. At the 10-minute mark, Arnaud put in another cross that Cesar slammed into the net. At the 25-minute mark, Arnaud himself put in a very nice goal to see Compass wrap up a 3-0 victory.

September 29, 2013

Hi Guys,

I think everyone enjoyed Saturday night's match vs. the Morrison varsity team. Terry's young lads were very fit and aggressive and played well, and the home crowd was certainly cheering for them. Nevertheless, Compass played did a good job adjusting to the faster-than-usual pace and pulled off a 4-0 win.

September 15, 2013

Hi Guys,

Today wasn't the easiest start to our Central League campaign, but a successful one. Jhubei FC showed up with what appeared to a mostly-new side with lots of subs and some skilled fresh players. In the meantime, Compass started with exactly 11 guys and no subs, until Michael and Laurent showed up and, in the second half, Jose and Mat joined us.

August 25, 2013

Consider the following facts: a) today was our first real match in a couple months; b) that we were missing Oto, Hans, Lukas, Cesar, Chris and other good players; c) Tubbies beat us 5-0 in our last meeting. With all that, it was understandable that I was quite apprehensive about our "friendly" with Tubbies, who showed up with a good side, ready to put Compass in its place again.

June 23, 2013

Hi Guys,

Today's match was challenging but enjoyable for a number of reasons, not least because Compass rallied twice to come back from behind for a final 2-2 tie with the Taichung Men's All-Star Team. It was also fun to have two potent "old-timers", Ricky and Kurt, both on the pitch with us again. It was such a nostalgic moment that I almost expected to see Seb and Momo there as well.

June 2, 2013

Hi Guys,

Today's game was a hard-fought one, played in some rather brutally-hot conditions. Not surprisingly, Huiwen were fit and aggressive, giving us very little time on any ball. That being said, I thought we played fairly well and this week--unlike last week--we were glad to have 5 subs, including the Van Singel brothers from Morrison and their teammate Timothy, plus Lukas, back on the pitch with us for the first time in a month or two.

May 26, 2013

Hi Guys,

As we were enjoyings beers together after today's games, I jokingly asked who the team on the pitch wearing our jerseys today was. It certainly didn't look like the Compass team I'm use to seeing.

Our 1-5 thumping at the hands of our cross-town rivals was what it is--one of those rare, completely bad days for Compass where nothing went right for us and everything went right for our opponents. There were a few other significant factors:

May 5, 2013

Hi Compass Men,

Well, it's been a long time in coming, but Compass FC has once again been crowned Cup Champions!! It was a very long second tournament day but we ended strong, defeating Tainan Phoenix 3-1 in a 40-minute final to become the 2013 Taiwan Spring Cup Champions.

April 28, 2013

Hi Guys,

I think I was almost as surprised as the Tubbies were by our performance today, which was an amazing demonstration of Compass Spirit.

With the match moved to the small pitch because of standing water on the bigger one, we showed up with what can only be described as a skeleton squad--14 guys, minus players like Arnaud, Lukas, David, Ross and Laurent (who did show up for the final quarter). Tubbies, by contrast, had 99% of their "A" Team, with Darren the only starter out of action.