Tampines JC hold Raffles Institution to goalless draw in A Division football

By Les Tan/Red Sports

Meridian Junior College Field, Thursday, April 30, 2009 – Tampines Junior College withstood a late onslaught by Raffles Institution to hang on for a goalless draw in their A Division Football Championship quarter-final stage match.

The draw left Tampines JC with a mathematical chance of making the semi-finals while RI are now top of their group.

However, it was a frustrating game for RI who hit the woodwork twice in the first half through the impressive Gareth Chan (#11) who showed good technical control and the ability to shoot from range.

Tampines also had their chances, the best falling to their captain Jimson Seah (#15) who was left open with only the keeper to beat but he skied his volley.

Rahul (TPJC, #11) also gave his team something to cheer when he ran at the RI defence from the middle of the park, riding a few tackles, and threatening to break through on a one-on-one before the RI #5 cut him out with a last-second tackle.

The second half saw sustained pressure from RI but ironically it was Tampines who had the best chance to go ahead when Akhim (TPJC, #9) managed to get down the right and send in the perfect cross but teammate Yi Cheng (#17) missed from close range, sending the ball high and wide.

Another sustained period of RI attacks yielded no fruit and again it was Tampines who carved out another excellent chance for themselves but the RI keeper smothered the ball when faced with Akhim (TPJC, #9) in a one-on-one situation.

With no goals forthcoming and RI throwing on reserves for fresh legs, another Gareth Chan (#11) piledriver was punched clear by the Tampines keeper. Gareth then had another chance in the penalty box after a corner but his volley was high.

Then RI suffered a blow when Darryl Teo (#16) was sent off with a straight red for professional foul on a Tampines striker who was clear through on goal.

With their attack fizzling out, RI almost suffered a shock loss when Tampines defender Najiy just missed connecting with a free-kick from just outside the penalty box.

The draw leaves RI top of their group on four points but they will have to face defending champions Meridian Junior College in their final game on Monday, May 4th with everything still to play for.

“Some of the ref’s decisions didn’t go our way but TP did well, credit to them,” said RI captain Suren. “We are still in a position to qualify. We have to put in a result.”

Raffles Institution were A Division champions in 2007.

Tampines JC Coach Nordin was pleased with his players.

“They were spirited. We created a few chances but not sharp enough to convert them. In the second half, we also created a lot of chances.”

Tampines JC captain Jimson Seah reflected on his missed opportunity in the first half when he was left open in front of the RI goal.

“I was in a dilemma as to whether to use my head or foot. We are a more ball-playing team and we created quite a few chances.”

We have a very good chance in that game,” said Jimson when asked about their final game against ACJC. “We’ve definitely give more than 100% and fight hard for the win.”

Tampines JC last qualified for the semi-finals in 2002.

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Photo 4 player on the right is Najiy (#16) Photo 3 player on the ground is Edison Neo #12

N.B. If you know the names of the players, please update us in the comments section. We’ll update the post and captions. Thanks.

For more pictures of the game, go to the gallery.