FLOORBALL

POL-ITE Games 2007
Temasek Polytechnic vs Ngee Ann Polytechnic (Women)
Monday, 22 October 2007 at Republic Polytechnic

Story by Red Sports reader Muhammad Hannan.

Temasek Polytechnic (TP) notched their second straight win of the POL-ITE Games when they beat Ngee Ann Polytechnic (NP) 4-2 on Monday night at Republic Polytechnic. TP improved their win-loss record to 2-2 while NP dropped to 1-3.

TP was fired up against NP and the players were cheered on by their male counterparts as they took control of the game in the first period. Putting the team in the lead as early as the 5th minute was TP’s Wani. Dribbling from behind the NP post, she evaded player after player before placing the shot beyond the keeper’s reach. A great deal of possession gave TP another goal. This time, Cheryl's good vision to spot an open Janice whose first time shot beat the keeper to give her team a 2-0 lead. NP’s defence looked shaky throughout the first period.

Wani got her second goal and TP’s third in the 14th minute with a well executed shot from halfway despite the NP keeper getting a hand to it. NP finally got themselves into the game from the third restart. A good shot from them was blocked by TP’s keeper Pris. At the end of the first period of 15 minutes, TP led by a comfortable 3-0.

The 2nd period was an even affair with NP coming out with guns blazing to score in the 5th minute. TP’s defence fell asleep and they lost the ball to NPs #19 to let fly a drag shot past the helpless Temasek keeper. Despite the lapse in concentration, the TP players were eager to redeem their three-goal lead. TP’s #28 controlled the ball brilliantly behind NP’s post despite the attention of two defenders before slotting the ball to teammate Wenna (#58), only to see her shot whiz pass the post and keeper.

NP’s defender (#4) did fantastic defensive work to thwart TP’s counter-attacks on goal despite being outnumbered 3 to 1 at times. Ngee Ann kept possession of the ball for long periods but were left exposed in defence at one point when Temasek's Farah (#66) stole possession to race down the middle but only to have her shot blocked by the NP keeper. Teammate Hazirah (#57) could not capitalize on the rebound and had her shot comfortably saved. From that point on, Ngee Ann played well as a team but were unlucky not to have scored because of Temasek's keeper Madura being in top form. The 2nd period ended with Ngee Ann looking the better of the two sides despite Temasek's 3-1 lead.

The 3rd period saw Temasek being the more lively of the two teams with Wenna shooting over the goal. TP’s Karmen (#22) tried her luck at goal from halfway after intercepting a Ngee Ann pass only to see her weak shot easily dealt with by the keeper. Ngee Ann's #23, after some good individual work must be kicking herself to see her shot miss the bottom left of Temasek's goal. TP counter attacked from there, a tactic they used all night. Temasek's defender got the ball from behind her own post to find an open Hasirah (#57). A quick pass to Hasirah saw her turn her opponent with ease before shooting on goal with the keeper's trailing leg helped the ball in. Temasek now led 4-1.

Temasek started to dominate the game as they did in the first period but saw their shots blocked well by defenders and the goalie of Ngee Ann. NP’s second opportunity at goal in the 3rd period saw them score after a shot by Woanyan (#17) was judged to have crossed the line after hitting the top post. A timeout was called by Temasek's coach Ngasti for him to pass last-minute instructions to the team, in a bid to ensure Temasek didn’t leak in anymore goals. The last 2 minutes of the game were controlled well by Temasek to ensure their second victory of the season.

Editor’s note: If you know the names of the players referred to only by their jersey numbers or positions, please feel free to update us in the comments section. If you would like to share a picture or two of your team, please do send it to me at lesATredsportsDOTsg. I’ll post it. Also, does anyone know how the league works? Do the top four go into semifinals? Or is just a round-robin league?