FLOORBALL

National ‘A’ Division Floorball Championship 2007
Meridian Junior College vs Yishun Junior College
Friday, 13 July 2007 at Tampines Sports Hall

Story by Leslie Tan. © Red Sports/soulbreath pictures

Pictures by Red Sports volunteer Lai Jun Wei. Thanks!

Meridian Junior College (MJC) beat Yishun Junior College (YJC) 3-2 in a recent Championship game at Tampines Sports Hall.

Tan Kiat Yun of MJC (centre, in red) goes for the ball while a YJC player keeps up with her.   © Lai Jun Wei

Vice-captain Charlene Chow (#4) of YJC got her team off on a bright start with a crisp shot from near the centre line which the MJ goalie Pearlyn Yep was alert enough to save. YJC’s pressure soon translated into a goal at 4:23 on the clock when MJC’s Renee Ong (#99) deflected the ball into her own goal to give YJC a 1-0 lead. But MJC came charging back straight from the restart. Tabitha Carthigasu charged down the left and shot high into the top left corner of the net to even the score up at 1-1 a mere seven seconds later. MJC then exerted pressure of their own and soon went ahead at the 5:16 mark when Rasyidah scored from a loose ball that was spilled by the YJC keeper Kellie Lee from a long-range shot. At this time, YJC switched keepers, with Samantha Neo coming in for Kellie Lee. That did not stop the MJC attack however and a good shot by Umaira (#21) was saved sharply by Samantha.

Then it was YJC’s turn to go on the offence. A good pass from Vivian Ng (#16) to Syuhada (#32) resulted in a one-on-one situation but  MJC keeper Pearlyn came out and saved with her feet from Syuhada. Maintaining pressure, YJC captain Suhaidah (#31) found Joan Hia (#12) with an accurate pass. Joan showed nice control, turned to shoot but MJC’s Renee Ong intercepted at just the right time. Suhaidah herself then had a shot on target but MJ goalie Pearlyn was up to the task and saved it. With competitive juices overflowing, MJC’s Rasyidah found herself sent to the penalty box to cool down for two minutes at the 13:20 mark for a foul.

A YJC player looks for an open teammate while her teammates look on from the bench.   © Lai Jun Wei

YJC maintained their attacking momentum in the 2nd Period with Captain Suhaidah raising the excitement level by waltzing through three defenders. The beautiful move ended unsatisfactorily though when she could not get her shot away. MJC then made a mistake with a line change that left them short-handed in front of goal and YJC exploited the opportunity with a goal from Sharon Lee (#6) to make the score 2-2 at 18:36 on the clock. Fighting back, MJC’s captain Yeo Liyin (#7) had a shot on target saved by YJC’s keeper Samantha Neo. MJC’s continual pressure however soon paid off when Tabitha took control of the ball just inside the YJC half, turned her defender, took one look at goal and let fly with a reverse slap shot that flew over the outstretched arms of keeper Samantha to make the score 3-2 in favour of MJC. Buoyed by the goal, MJC continued their attacks with Captain Farah (#4) deftly moving the ball around the back of the net and sending it across the face of goal. However no teammate was on hand to finish it off. Teammate Tan Kiat Yun (#9) then had a reverse flick shot at goal but YJC’s keeper Kellie saved.

YJC’s Dora Claire (#11, in white) pumps the ball straight at the goal while Syahida (#6) and Renee Ong (#99, third from right) of MJC try to block it.   © Lai Jun Wei

When play resumed in the 3rd Period, YJC applied early pressure but could not translate that into goals or shots on target. MJC’s Umaira then executed a sweet cross-court diagonal pass that found teammate Tabitha but YJC successfully blocked her from getting her shot off. YJC’s Captain Suhaidah then took control of the ball at the centre line and outmuscled her opponent to drive clear on goal. She let fly with a stinging shot but MJC goalie Pearlyn saved successfully to cheers from her bench. Both teams were unable to score in this period and the clock wound down and MJC eventually emerged 3-2 winners.

A YJC player tries to steal the ball from an MJ opponent.   © Lai Jun Wei



The YJC players form a wall in front of their goal during a MJC free hit.   © Lai Jun Wei



The MJC players celebrate their victory while their YJ opponent contemplates
defeat.   © Lai Jun Wei

More pictures in the gallery.
Editor’s note: If you recognise yourself or your teammates, or if we’ve got the names wrong, let us know and we’ll update the captions. If you have the latest details of the Floorball Championship, please update readers in the "comments" section. Thanks.