Today marked the clash of two contenders for this year’s Inter Hall Games Soccer Championship. Kent Ridge Hall fielded no less than seven current and former Inter-Varsity players and were expected by many to rout a less experienced Temasek team. Yet again, true Temasekian grit and determination won the day with our boys putting up a grim attempt to ultimately thwart the Kent Ridge onslaught.
Coach Ben opted to rest his cautioned players and play a more conservative game. His rationale of resting players for the more important semi final might have been viewed by some as a veiled attempt to meekly concede the battle to Kent Ridge but was in actual fact a tactical masterstroke that almost yielded us a famous victory. The impressive defensive line remained unchanged from the KE VII match, with Amos, Jesper, Cowan and Yong Kiat providing an impressive barrier for Bobby in goal. The midfield sported a change look with Captain Hatta, Andy and Yuan Zhang in the centre of the park flanked by Roy and Glass on the wings. Our towering striker Ze Yan was left as a target man up front. The bench held the likes of Nicholas, Tobias, Yu Chong, Yasin, Melvyn, Hong Wei and Yu Yuan.
Kicking off promptly at 1830, the first half proved to be a cagey affair with few real chances created. Our first real opportunity proved to be our best chance of the half with a Roy cross flapped at by the KR keeper. He eventually caught the ball but landed inside his own goal area. However, the referee disallowed this obvious goal claiming Glass impeded the goalie in the air. Our next chance came in the thirteenth minute when Glass broke down the left wing before cutting in and beating the KR goalie. With an empty net at his mercy, Glass let loose his shot only to have it blocked by a well positioned KR backline.
Sustained pressure by an impressive Temasek midfield led to a corner in the nineteenth minute. Roy’s delivery was neatly met by Ze Yan, who was dominating the entire KR defence in the air, whose header was just wide of the target. KR again found no answer to the imperious running of Roy Chen who managed to bring the ball past three KR defenders at one point! His expertly taken free kick in the twenty first minute was headed just wide by Yong Kiat. Having had all the chances thus far in the game, KR then proceeded to deliver a devastating sucker punch with their first chance of the game. A looping high ball into the box was not adequately dealt with by the Temasek defence. The misjudged ball was left to bounce in the Temasek penalty box before being stabbed into the goal by a KR striker. However, this looked to be similar to our earlier disallowed goal with Bobby being fouled in the attempt on goal, although Coach Ben did concede that it was a 50-50 chance that could have gone either way. Indeed,Bobby had to come off the field shortly after with a sprained knee sustained during the collision. With the white half of the crowd silenced, the referee gave the goal. 1-0 to Kent Ridge.
Following this debacle, the KR Warriors mounted a sustained spell of pressure that saw their shots in the twenty sixth and twenty eight minutes sail just outside the woodwork. Our defenders recovered well from this initial setback to force shots from outside the box, frustrating the KR attack. The twenty ninth minute saw a snapshot from Ze Yan from way outside the box sail wide of the left hand upright. This came to be our last chance of the half with the only other significant event being the substitution of Yu Chong for Bobby. For avid readers who might think Bobby and Yu Chong are in fact the same person, it is just a happy coincidence that both are keepers and share the exact same name! With that substitution, the first half action came to an end.
Coach Ben’s half time talk was a far cry from the previous match. Opting to stay silent, he allowed Captain Hatta rouse the spirits of our players and point out that we simply had to wait for our chances and that momentum would swing in our favour. One point to note during this break was the efficiency of our Sports Comm, who once again kept our players well hydrated and tended to their niggling aches and pains. Coach Ben opted not to make any substitutions at half time as most of our boys were playing their hearts out and having good games.
The second half started out badly for Temasek with sustained pressure from Kent Ridge seeing four shots on goal in the opening ten minutes. These were easily dealt with by our stalwart defence and replacement goalie, Yu Chong. In fact, the testing high balls from free kicks and lobs were ably dealt without a hint of early game jitters. In a bid to swing the game in our favour, Coach Ben opted to change our formation by sending on Tobias for Yuan Zhang, who was having an excellent defensive game, in the fiftieth minute. This signalled a turn of the tide for Temasek as we launched a persistent wave of attacks against the KR goal. Excellent crosses from Roy saw shots from Jesper and Ze Yan go just wide.
Then in the fifty seventh minute, the crowd gathered around the NUS field witnessed something magnificent. The ball had come loose, from a Temasek attack, to the midfield where it landed at the feet of our left back Jesper. He let fly a half volley that sailed beautifully into the top corner of the goal, completely bamboozling the KR keeper. This reporter believes that attempt might well be the goal of the tournament. 1-1 all. Amidst the rapturous applause from the crowd and the ecstatic cheering on the field, our boys began to really believe that the game was there for the taking. They turned that belief into dogged determination, looking for the go ahead goal. They were justly rewarded just scant minutes later.
The fifty ninth minute saw yet another Roy corner sail beautifully into the penalty box, it sailed over everyone’s head, except one. Ze Yan powered over everyone to nod the ball into the net at the far post. 2-1 to Temasek. The white wall by the side of the field went delirious and took their cheering up a notch. Every Temasekian sensed a monumental upset in the making. Alas, this was not to be.
Just two minutes later, a swarming Kent Ridge attack saw their striker sandwiched between our two centre backs. Knowing that he had nowhere else to go, he stormed into the box looking to draw the foul. When he went to ground, it seemed apparent to everyone on the field that the call should have gone to Temasek as our defenders had gotten to the ball first. However, the referee decided otherwise, and duly blew for a penalty.
The penalty was well struck but still almost saved by Yu Chong who guessed right and got his finger tips to the ball. 2-2 all. Just after the restart, Coach Ben replaced a fatigued Glass with Hong Wei, who by comparison was bursting with energy. Following this, was some disjointed play with both sides failing to find any headway into the opposing penalty area. The one highlight came in the sixty seventh minute when a goalmouth scramble, from Amos’ knockback into the box, saw Tobias facing an open goal. His snapshot skewed off his foot and bounced away safely.
In the seventieth minute, some tired legs were beginning to lose the ball in the midfield. At this point, Coach Ben substituted Andy, following a rightfully deserved yellow card, for his latest signing, Yasin. He brought an immediate impact to the game with his quick feet and constant pressure on the KR midfield. With the game winding down, KR were simply holding onto the ball and defending deep with their only chance in this period coming from a long range shot that shaved our right upright. Late shots from Tobias and Captain Hatta could have sealed the game for us but both saw their efforts go wide of the mark, resulting in a 2-2 stalemate.
Having qualified second in our group, we turn our attention now to Sunday’s semifinal against our Fong Seng neighbours, Eusoff Hall. They too boast their own contingent of Inter Varsity players and will definitely put up strong opposition to the Temasek effort. As all Fong Seng Derbies go, this match promises to be an exciting one, and our players need your support! See you this Sunday evening at 7pm at the field!
Wayne Sandhu