North Zone B Div Volleyball: Yishun Town beat Punggol to top current group standings

By Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports

Xinmin Secondary, Wednesday, February 1, 2011 — Yishun Town Secondary came back from one set down to defeat Punggol Secondary 2-1 (19-25, 26-24, 25-20) at the North Zone B Division Boys’ Volleyball Championship.

Yishun Town’s win put a dent in Punggol’s chances of replicating or bettering their 2011 runner-up achievement in this year’s round-robin competition as they have upcoming matches lined up against Anderson, Sembawang and defending champions Xinmin Secondary.

From the start, Punggol were the ones firmly in control as their dished out several powerful spikes into the Yishun Town court. Yishun Town were largely on the defensive but still could not overcome Punggol as the latter took the set 25-19.

The second set was a different story as Yishun Town stepped up pressure to force mistakes off Punggol. The exchange between the teams was a visual treat for the spectators as Yishun Town eventually took control of a 21-16 lead over Punggol.

Punggol were not going to go down easy and fought hard to close the gap. Their efforts paid off as they drew to within one point after Yishun Town had a position-fault. The next rally however, sparked controversy. Yishun Town had spiked the ball out of bounds but the referee’s decision was contested by the Yishun Town bench who believed that the ball had touched the Punggol blocker before it went out. However, their protests proved futile and Punggol were able to draw level at 21-21.

Punggol turned the tables on Yishun Town and took a two-point lead at 23-21, but mistakes in their play prevented them from finishing off the set. Rather, they had to contend with Yishun Town catching up and stealing the lead after a deuce in the set. Yishun Town secured the last point as Punggol subsequently sent their spike out of bounds.

Yishun Town took the lead in the third set as they capitalised on Punggol’s errors. Punggol however proved that they were no easy pushovers as they fought hard to keep the scoreline close. After an intense first half, Yishun Town eventually found themselves tied 18-18 with Punggol.

Yishun Town subsequently put themselves in the driving seat after embarking on a five-point streak to lead 22-18. Despite Punggol’s valiant efforts to fight back, they could not turn things around as they had to settle with Yishun Town taking the final set 25-20.

Final score
Yishun Town 2 Punggol 1
19-25, 26-24, 25-20

In the earlier matches, Xinmin Secondary dominated in their match against Evergreen Secondary as they won 2-0 (25-8, 25-8). Sembawang Secondary, fresh from a victory against Anderson Secondary last week, defeated Chung Cheng High (Yishun) 2-0 (25-14, 25-22).

Yishun Town currently top the table with eight points from three games played while Punggol are second with seven points from three games played. Defending champions Xinmin Secondary are third with six points from two games played.

Group standings (correct as of February 1) [Teams who win by a scoreline of 2-0 are awarded 3 points. Those who win 2-1 are awarded 2 points while their opponents are awarded 1 point]

For more photos, go to the next page.