By REDintern Amir Yusof
Jalan Besar Stadium, Tuesday, May 24, 2011 — Slight favourites Meridian Junior College (MJC) narrowly beat Victoria Junior College (VJC) 1-0 to retain the A Division Football Championship crown.
Despite failing to display attractive fluent play like their opponents, MJC took their chances in their rare ventures forward and their overall approach to this close encounter was intelligent and well calculated. However, VJC cannot be faulted as they clearly persevered to the end and were ultimately denied by the odd goal.
Appearing In their seventh successive final out of only nine years in this competition, the MJC side of 2011 created history by being the first MJC team to successfully retain the A Division title.
MJC lined up at the start defensively, playing a narrow 4-4-1-1 formation while VJC were intent on attacking with a 4-3-3 formation that mainly utilised movement through the flanks.
Unlike in earlier rounds where both MJC and VJC had the larger share of possession against weaker opponents, they had to fight tooth and nail against each other to maintain any sort of passing fluidity. As a result, the game was scrappy with genuine chances far and few between.
VJC’s offensive line-up saw them attacking ferociously but all they could muster were long shots by Dilip Thapa (#10) and Santosh Magar(#11) that sailed wide to the relief of the MJC fans. Although VJC had more shots at goal, MJC’s counter-attacking in the first half was more threatening with Naufal Nur Hakim (#25) coming close on two occasions.
In the 10th minute, the MJC skipper mustered a low shot at goal after fine control by forward Mohd Amsyar (#8) down the left flank. However, his effort lacked power and was gathered well by VJC goalkeeper Raj Tilwa. Soon after, Naufal spotter Raj off his line and from 40 metres out, tried to lob the ball into the goal. However, his audacious effort saw the ball just creep over and land on the roof of the net.
Finally, after 22 minutes of play, MJC swift counter-attacking movement paid dividends. Amsyar was again the playmaker, brilliantly controlling a long ball from defence and flicking it unto the space for Muhd Hairi (#23). The VJC defenders had a lapse in concentration and Hairi was left with only the keeper to beat. He did not disappoint. Hitting the ball with a half volley, he smashed it into the top left hand corner of the goal to the delight of the MJC fans.
VJC seem fazed by this setback and appeared more cautious with their play after the goal. Coach Azrulnizam Shah then replaced one of his forwards Shijudeen (#14) with another offensive player Shen Hao (#7). Shen Hao was instrumental in VJC’s 2-0 semi-final win over Saint Andrew’s Junior College, scoring one of the goals, and his coach must have hoped he could inspire the team for a comeback win.
Nevertheless, the half ended 1-0 to MJC with the Meridians happy with the lead but wary with another 40 minutes to go.
The second half started brightly for VJC. It was evident that whatever was said to the VJC boys at half time had given the team added drive and motivation to achieve victory. Their increased sense of urgency and determination paid off when a through ball left VJC skipper Dilip Thapa clear in a one-on-one situation with Daniel Lightfoot (#18), MJC’s superb goalkeeper who had yet to concede a goal in this year’s competition.
Lightfoot was quick to rush out of his box but he failed to connect with the ball and caught the VJC captain instead. The referee then had no choice but to send him off for a professional foul to leave MJC down with 10 men with 35 minutes to go.
However, instead of replacing one his outfield players with another goalkeeper on the bench, MJC coach Fabio da Silva allowed stocky forward Amsyar to be his man between the posts for the remainder of the game. With a man down but holding a slender lead, MJC then shaped even more defensively, putting nine men behind the ball. Lone striker Jordon Tng (#10) cut an isolated figure upfront as the meridians packed their own half to fight off the Victorian onslaught.
Despite their numerical advantage, VJC only managed to test Amsyar just once. Resolute defending by centre halves Ang Bing Quan and Mohd Khair left VJC strikers frustrated as time wore on.
MJC players at times did resort to time wasting in an effort to protect their narrow advantage and skipper Naufal was duly booked for doing so. As a result, each time an MJC player went to ground in agony, boos rang out from the VJC supporters who were clearly unimpressed by such antics.
Then, in the closing moments of the game, a spectacular overhead kick by VJC’s central defender Khairul Anwar (#5) from inside the penalty box smashed into the crossbar and the rebound was turned in by striker Santosh Magar. Just as the players and staff thought they were heading into extra time, the offside flag was raised to the frustrations of the VJC bench and supporters.
It appeared that Santosh was in an offside position when Khairul released his overhead shot. It was admittedly the right decision by match officials at a high pressure point in the game.
MJC Starting Lineup
Daniel Lightfoot (#18), Mohd Khair (#16), Ang Bing Quan (#9), Derrick Lim (#3), Kelvin Chan (#6), Mohd Hafiz (#11), Jeremy Tang (#7), Naufal Nur Hakim (#25), Mohd Amsyar (#8), M Nava Saati Vel (#19), Muhd Hairi (#23)
VJC Starting Lineup
Raj Tilwa (#1), Jaren Thun (#2), Khairul Anwar (#16), Parvesh (#5), Shuvod Rai (#6), Clarence Chew (#8), Dilip Thapa (#10), Santosh Magar (#11), Shijudeen (#14), Anuruddhan Arunan (#15), Kelvin Hieng PK (#18)
Raj Tilwa is from VJC’s Integrated Programme.
Hi,
I don’t mean to be difficult, but i felt as though the article’s tone was slightly biased against MJC, with terms like “Slight favourites”, “failing to display attractive fluent play”, “resort to time wasting”, “unimpressed by such antics” and “admittedly”.
As a meridian, hearing this tone of voice used on our own players hurt, and i hope you’ll be able to revise it.
Thank you.
hello. Its unfortunate that you seem to think the phrases were one sided because I felt that they were reflective of what happened in the game.
I truly believe that MJC were ‘slight favourites’ and predicted they would win by a narrow margin as evident in the match preview- http://redsports.sg/2011/05/23/mjc-vjc-preview-a-division-football-final/ The final did prove this fact as it was indeed a tight affair throughout and MJC did win by the one goal. You are entitled to your opinion if you think that MJC were major favourites but in the matches that I have reported for Redsports(for both MJC and VJC), I predicted that when these 2 teams square off, it would be a close and interesting game.
As for the term ‘failing to display attractive fluent play’, I felt that MJC were playing a more counter-attacking strategy. They indeed spent most of the time in their own half but whenever they ventured forward, they were menacing and ultimately effective. Watching the finals, I felt that MJC were not as fluid and fluent as compared to matches in the earlier stages of the competition.
As for the terms relating to time wasting, it is my view that MJC players were indeed engaging in time wasting antics when protecting their narrow lead. I believe that any team leading by one goal in the final minutes of a cup final will be in no hurry to keep the ball in play. However, it was not in the spirit of fair play and I believe that the referee was correct in booking MJC players for brief delays in the game.
To conclude, I do not believe the phrases used were biased and thus, I will not be making any changes. As an independent observer, I believe my report was a fair representation of the game. However, if any reader is dissatisfied with the level of objectiveness, I urge you to contribute with your version of a balanced match analysis and we at Redsports would be happy to take any pointers. Thank you for your feedback.
Your article is excellent! I think Meridian misunderstood the term ‘slight favourites’…..
Your prediction tt MJC wud win was indeed true…..nice one!
IMO, mjc showed more grit than Vjc and that’s why maybe they deserve the title. Both teams stacked up pretty evenly but the battle was lost in the midfield for Vjc, they depended too heavily on Dilip and in the centre they had no one to destroy the mj play. They didn’t have a mascherano to Dilip’s gerrard and mjc’s naufal fully exploited that in the first half of the game when they still had 11 men!! But on the whole, it was a good game played!! Kudos to both teams.
Star ur a lame piece of crap. Just shut up already. Don’t act all smart, try running ur own website. Do us all a favor and jus disappear, this website dont need someone like you
Will Jeffrey Lightfoot join VJC and play against his brother, Daniel; or join MJC to be in the same team as Daniel next year?
A compilation of the starting 11 of both teams and their secondary schools:
MJC Starting Line-up:
Daniel Lightfoot (#18) – Victoria School
Muhammad Khair (#16) – St Gabriel’s
Ang Bing Quan (#9) – ?
Derrick Lim (#3) – ?
Kelvin Chan (#14) – ?
M Nava Saati Vel (#19) – St Joseph’s Institution
Muhammad Hairi (#23) – ?
Muhammad Amsyar (#8) – Victoria School
Muhammad Hafiz (#11) – ?
Muhammad Naufal Nur Hakim – Singapore Sports School
Jeremy Tang (#7) – Victoria School
VJC Starting Line-up:
Tilwa Raj Udaykumar (#1) – ?
Jaren Thun (#2) – Victoria School
Parvesh Singh Dhillion (#5) – Victoria School
Shuvod Rai (#6) – Victoria School
Clarence Chew (#8) – Tanjong Katong Sec
Dilip Thapa (#10) – Victoria School
Santosh Magar (#11) – Victoria School
Mohamad Shijudeen (#14) – ?
Anuruddhan Arunan (#15) -Victoria School
Khairul Anwar (#16) – Victoria School
Hieng Pheak Kdey (#18) – Victoria School
ang bing quan from dunman sec
derrick lim from tanjong katong sec
kelvin chan from holy innocent’s high
hairi from tanjong katong sec
muhammad hafiz from tnajong katong sec
shijudeen form tnajong katong sec
PARVESH from TANJONG KATONG SEC
Thanks for the update. Only one unknown is Tilwa Raj Udaykumar.
.
MJC Starting Line-up:
Daniel Lightfoot (#18) – Victoria School
Muhammad Khair (#16) – St Gabriel’s
Ang Bing Quan (#9) – Dunman Sec
Derrick Lim (#3) – Tanjong Katong
Kelvin Chan (#14) – Holy Innocents’ High
M Nava Saati Vel (#19) – St Joseph’s Institution
Muhammad Hairi (#23) – Tanjong Katong
Muhammad Amsyar (#8) – Victoria School
Muhammad Hafiz (#11) – Tanjong Katong
Muhammad Naufal Nur Hakim – Singapore Sports School
Jeremy Tang (#7) – Victoria School
.
VJC Starting Line-up:
Tilwa Raj Udaykumar (#1) – ?
Jaren Thun (#2) – Victoria School
Parvesh Singh Dhillion (#5) – Tanjong Katong
Shuvod Rai (#6) – Victoria School
Clarence Chew (#8) – Tanjong Katong
Dilip Thapa (#10) – Victoria School
Santosh Magar (#11) – Victoria School
Mohamad Shijudeen (#14) – Tanjong Katong
Anuruddhan Arunan (#15) – Victoria School
Khairul Anwar (#16) – Victoria School
Hieng Pheak Kdey (#18) – Victoria School
For the record:
2011 MJC 1-0 VJC
2010 MJC 2-1 SAJC
2009 VJC 3-2 MJC
2008 MJC 2-1 VJC
2007 RJC 1-0 MJC
2006 VJC 4-2 MJC
2005 MJC 1-1 VJC (MJC win 5-4 on penalties)
2004 VJC 4-1 SAJC
2003 JJC 1-1 VJC (JJC win 4-2 on penalties)
2002 VJC 1-0 JJC
2001 VJC 3-0 ACJC
2000 RJC 1-0 VJC
1999 NJC 0-0 CJC (NJC win on penalties, score unknown)
1998 RJC beat JI (score unknown)
@Samsung, NJC won the frist edition in 1998 (after ITEs were allocated to take part in IVP instead) at the Clementi Stadium. I was there and I also watched highlights of that match on Sports City (TV channel) that evening. RJC beat JI in 1999. RJC also won in 2000 so RJC retained their title first. RJC were also eliminated in the 2001 competition despite not losing a single match. In 2002, VJC beat JJC 1-0 after extra-time with a golden goal. That match was played at the Teachers’ Network pitch (horrible pitch!!).
In 1998, NJC beat CJC 4-3 in penalties to win the title. In 1999, RJC beat JI by a golden goal. Cannot remember the final score, whether it was 1-0 or 2-1 though.
MJC is definitely not the 1st JC to retain their title.
2011 – MJC
2010 – MJC
2002 – VJC
2001 – VJC
2000 – RJC
1999 – RJC
Credits to MJC for their achievement. Wishing them to be the 1st JC team to do a hat-trick. Good luck for 2012.
1999 was won by NJC, not RJC.
VJC was the first to retain title. MJC the second to retain title.
2011 MJC 1-0 VJC
2010 MJC 2-1 SAJC
2009 VJC 3-2 MJC
2008 MJC 2-1 VJC
2007 RJC 1-0 MJC
2006 VJC 4-2 MJC
2005 MJC 1-1 VJC (MJC win 5-4 on penalties)
2004 VJC 4-1 SAJC
2003 JJC 1-1 VJC (JJC win 4-2 on penalties)
2002 VJC 1-0 JJC
2001 VJC 3-0 ACJC
2000 RJC 1-0 VJC
1999 NJC 0-0 CJC (NJC win on penalties, score unknown)
1998 RJC beat JI (score unknown)
actually, mjc is the first jc team to retain the title IF you consider since mjc was create/existed. if you compare 2001 and 2002 results, it’s not fair because mjc have not existed and at that time, A div soccer wasnt that competitive. so mjc IS THE FIRST JC TO RETAIN THEIR TITLE SINCE 2004, when they just started off! =)
What’s the difference between this article and the previous one?
well only cause mjc wasn’t around back then 😀
Agreed. Hope they will work hard for 3 straight titles. Will they be the first JC to do it?
Hopefully 🙂
and no not the first JC but first MJ team.
it will be the first jc, not first mjc team, it’s a hat-trick championship dude.
By the way, Khairul Anwar is #16, and you’re missing Parvesh #5 from the starting line up. Zheng Yee didn’t start.
And it was Hieng PK #18 that scored the opener when VJ played SA, not Shen Hao.
And yes, MJ wasn’t the first team to retain the title.
I suggest you double-check the facts fin the future.
*in the future
The author meant that it was the first MJC team, and not the first A Division team, to retain the title. The correction has been made.
No. The author made a mistake. He stated clearly that it was the first A Divison. When a mistake is made, just need to correct it. No point making excuses.
Do you know what’s going on behind the scenes?
The author submits the story for checking. A sub-editor goes through it before posting.
The sub-editor added “A Division”. The sub-editor made the mistake. It was not the author’s fault.
When it’s not the author’s fault, we make it clear so that people like you who don’t know what’s going on behind the scenes don’t abuse the writer unnecessarily.
Has any one abuse the author? Please show it to us. If it is the sub-editor’s mistake. Why don’t admit it in the first place? Why does sub-editor have the right to amend author’s contribution without checking the facts, when the author had done so himself? Don’t give the impression that it meant some other thing when it was stated clearly otherwise.
We had already admitted earlier, before you jumped in, that we had made the mistake. We wrote earlier on May 27 at 12:21 am: “The author meant that it was the first MJC team, and not the first A Division team, to retain the title. The correction has been made.”
That’s when we indicated it was the subs’ mistake.
Don’t muddy the waters.
The reply gave the impression that it was a typo, that the author meant it as “the first MJC team”, but typed it as “the first A Div team”. Redsports only admitted later that it was the sub-editor who had amended the author’s contribution. Author checked the facts but what about the sub-editor? Is this Redsports way of amending authors’ contributions without checking the facts?
Don’t come here and split hairs with us.
Whether it was the sub’s fault (which in this case it was) or the author’s fault, we already admitted up front it’s our collective fault that there was a mistake in the initial post.
We put out stories that sometimes contain mistakes which we always admit to and thank our readers for pointing out, as you can see from this comment thread.
Redmaster, just ignore STAR. There are many of us out here who appreciate the effort that your team have put in to keep us updated on school sports. At times information is hard to come by and tight schedules to satisfy our insatiable appetite for information mean that corrections are inevitable. Thank you for this site. We appreciate it.
Yes Redmaster……I totally support Cougar!!!!!
Thanks for the wonderful effort……We truly appreciate it….without u, we will not have any comprehensive updates at all….cos newspaper articles r all so brief.
KUDOS TO ALL @ Redsports!!!!!
Must be hard dealing wz the people from the TOP JCs in Spore….SIGH…:(
I think for a website which depends largely on reader contributions, the attitude accorded to honest and frank opinions leaves much to be desired.
While contributor Star may also be privy to this lack of civility, statements such as ‘don’t come and split hairs with us’ denotes undesireable exclusivity and snobbery.
Having a tight rush for deadlines is no excuse for making mistakes. Given that the site relies on advertising or at the very least is largely reader centered, editors should take care to clear and not create mistakes in the editorial process.
In addition, the logical thought process of this redmaster leaves much to be desired in terms of demonstration of cerebral quality.
‘we already admitted up front it’s our collective fault that there was a mistake in the original post’.
By tarring the entire team behind a publication with a same brush, it seems ethically untenable as one affixes the blame onto an innocent party, especially if the innocent party had taken care to avoid such an error.
Perhaps it is splitting hairs; yet perhaps it’s a question of principles, and of professionalism and work ethos.
Yes, you are quite right — the innocent party, the writer, did not make the mistake. It was an error in subbing. And that was acknowledged before. You are demonstrating a lack of clarity in your argument.
Just to correct a factual error you are also making: this website does not depend largely on reader contributions, even though readers are welcome to contribute. 95% of our stories, especially on youth sports, are generated by a very small team of volunteers. While we are constantly asking readers to contribute, the reality is that their actual contributions are very small. We tell you not as a complaint, but to state the facts.
We again state for the record that we are sorry that there were errors in the editing process (which in this case was not the fault of the writer) and that when they are pointed out, we happily accept the correction and make it a point to always acknowledge the reader who takes the time and effort to point them out to us.
Thank you to all the supportive readers who understand that we are doing our best with thread bare resources. We, the very small group of volunteer Red Crew, enjoy what we do and do it for the love of our youth sports community, and we will continue to do so until we run out of breath or money.
It is harsh that you are taking to task the website, the author and the sub-editor for a honest mistake. Redmaster has openly admitted the error of the people behind the scenes and it would be gracious of you to let it go, not that he/she has to appease us readers in the 1st place. It does not affect the outcome of the game and neither does it change any of the facts so lighten up.
Many of you do not bother to read the facts.
When it was pointed out that the author had clearly made a mistake, Redsports simply said that was not what the author meant. What kind of explanation is that? You said one thing but meant some other thing? And there is no apology at all. (See Redmaster reply May 27, 2011, 12:21am
It was later revealed that a Redsports sub-editor had edited the author’s contribution. I wondered why the sub-editor bother to do this.
Why can’t Redsports be more transparent about it in the first place?
Let me clarify please. The author (me) submitted a draft of this match analysis to the sub editor. The statement with regards to the MJC 2011 side being the first team from their school to retain the title was phrased in a confusing manner. The sub-editor misinterpreted this and re-phrased. Unfortunately, this changed the meaning implying that MJC was the first side among all colleges to retain the championship. Although on the surface it was a simple error in language, we acknowledge the fact that it was a mistake and rectified it as soon as it was highlighted by one of our readers. Redmaster have already apologised in an entry on 2011/05/29 at 1329hours and so let’s put this matter to rest.
After reading through, it’s quite clear that Star’s comments are quite confusing and contradictory.
He can’t seem to grasp simple English.
I think all the players can make it to the S.League really. But they wouldn’t because this is probably the end of their playing career. Ever.
sorry but your line up for the vj team is wrong. parvesh is vj’s #5 and he started the game and finished it, he played alongside khairul who’s no. #16. tan zheng yee didn’t start and had little impact on the game.
thanks victorian, correction been made
In the 10th minute, #23 (Hairi) shot the ball.
MJC #3 is Derrick Lim
thanx laaaaaaaaaaaa, correction has been made
Who are the players that you guys think can make it to SLeague?
To the author:
“the MJC side of 2011 created history by being the first A Division team to successfully retain their title. ” – this is not true. VJC won in 2001 and retained it in 2002.