Story by REDintern Christy. Pictures by REDintern Zhijia.
National Inter-School A Division Boys Floorball Championship: Semi-finals, Tampines Sports Complex, Monday, July 21, 2008 – Meridian Junior College (MJC) pulled off a stunning scoring raid with two goals in the last thirty seconds to secure a place on in the final. Victoria Junior College (VJC) played a mean and aggressive game which effectively riled up the MJC players and messed up their usually neat formations. MJC, not used to such a playing style, were at a disadvantage, with VJC leading for the majority of the game. This was the first time MJC had such a hard time winning a match this season but ultimately they held on and triumphed 4-3.
Spurred on by the large number of supporters, VJC’s energy was at an all-time high. VJC Captain Dennis Wong (#19) gave VJC a head start by scoring with a brilliant free-hit that flew straight into goal to huge cheers. Despite numerous tries by MJC to find an equalizer, the VJC goalkeeper Amos Nadan (#21) and defense thwarted MJC splendidly to ensure that the first period ended 1-0 in VJC’s favour.
Of course, having earned this lead, VJC were not going to relinquish it so easily. A rare penalty was given in the second period to provide MJC an opportunity to equalize. A hush of silence swept across the court as Glendon Phua (#20), MJC captain stepped up to take the penalty. Despite the fact that Glendon Phua was MJC’s scoring machine, the VJC goalkeeper Amos Nadan (#21) was unfazed and remained calm and collected. The mind games had started. As MJC Glendon Phua (#20) inched nearer to the goal, the VJC goalkeeper bellowed a “HEY YOU!” (or at least that was what I heard) and shook the nerves of Glendon Phua, resulting in a penalty miss. This penalty save gave VJC another morale boost and at the 07:31min mark, Derrick Tay (#18) of VJC widened the lead by scoring a goal after a melee in front of the penalty box. VJC were now 2-0 up.
It was a tough time for MJC as they have been in the lead for most of their games. Still, it was impressive to see how strong MJC were, not just physically, but also mentally. Despite the deficit, MJC ploughed on to find a chance to equalize. VJC’s hostile style of play soon came back to haunt them. A VJ player was sent out for 2 minutes which allowed MJC a power play chance. MJC took advantage of the opportunity and an own goal by VJC gave MJC their first goal of the game to make it 1-2.
Motivated by the goal, MJC searched relentlessly for a chance to equalize. That chance came at 13:15 when MJC captain Glendon Phua volleyed such a hard and fast shot that it bounced off the VJC keeper’s body and into the net. At the end of the second period, the score was now two-all.
VJC started strong at the beginning of the third period with VJC Jonathon Tan (#9) smacking in a unstoppable goal that eluded the usually vigilant MJC keeper Lionel Boey (#30) to make it a 3-2 VJC lead. Again in this period, MJC had two power play chances due to repeated offenses by the VJC players. MJC failed to take advantage of the first chance they had but they made up for it with their second chance.
With less than two minutes left on the clock, MJC embarked on a power play and gave teammate Toh Zuan Ming (#9) chances to score. The MJC team worked hard to send assisted passes not just once, nor twice or even thrice for him to score. Unfortunately for them, it was all near-misses. Nonetheless, the MJC team did not lose faith in him and gave him a fourth chance and this time round he did not disappoint as he whacked the ball into goal with precision. 3-3.
Just when everyone thought that the game would go into extra-time, MJC captain Glendon Phua (#20) snatched the ball in the face-off and breathtakingly sent the ball flying into the net with deadly flair at the very last second.
It was the most thrilling match all season with emotions flaring up and the referees’ whistles going off every few seconds due to the high number of fouls committed. Kudos go to VJC for managing to lead most of the game and firing three goals into MJC net, given the fact that before this match, MJC had only let in a total of three goals for the season. Still, the most impressive part of the match was the “never give up” mentality of the MJC players. Before this match, we have only seen them as leaders, but after this match, we will not just see them as leaders but also, fighters.
Victoria Junior College will meet Yishun Junior College tomorrow, Tuesday, July 22, 2008 at Tampines Sports Complex for the 3rd and 4th placing clash at 1530hrs and Meridian Junior College will meet Raffles Junior College on Wednesday, July 23, 2008 at Tampines Sports Complex for the final at 1530hrs.
hello. although the whole season of floorball is over, I would like to comment on the match =)
sorry for being lag!
I was there during the match and my heart went out to the Victorians. I personally do not feel that their agressiveness has led to their downfall.
Firstly, they are very strong in terms of their physical. This aid them throughout the whole match because of close man-marking.
Also, being agressive is a way to win the ball, this cannot be done with pushing and stuff.
Secondly, in terms of skills, VJC floorballers are as good too. Hence, there is no reason for them to use violence to win the match. It is their team spirit that made the fight a very tough one for the meridians.
Thirdly, I would like to say that VJC floorballers have played a very fair game throughout the entire match. Yes, they may have pushed people down and gotten their penalties. However, there are times when the MJC players pushed but they did not get a penalty at all.
I feel that the refereeing is very unjust. The worst thing is, the referees for the YJC – VJC match are two secondary school kids. Why arent the referees professional people? ._.
I feel that this is totally unfair.
Lastly. I would like to mention that I am not being biased towards any side. These are my heartfelt opinions so no offence 😀
yes, the match is over. So let’s put all these behind us and look forward to the next season alright?
Thank you for the kind attention.
floorball, Quoted : “once again, like diqiang said, the shout the goalkeeper made would classify under misconduct. It’s a technical foul, not a game foul, and hence it’s not in the rule book. and i agree with anon- the shout really do reflect alot on VJC, and also their tactics they’re willing to use to win.”
Reply: Do you think such a thing was planned and are you suggesting that we are coached to do such things in our trainings? What my keeper did may have been debatable but it was within the heat of the game, and it was a one-off occurence. I do not appreciate your insult of my team, and furthermore, you are in no position to comment on our fighting spirit. Kindly refrain from directly insulting my team in the future. Thank you.
come on la ur speak as if vjc noes nothing but being aggressive, dey are among the top la if u wan to tok about technical abilities, its juz tt dey choose to use agression to aid dem in their game wad, its juz a matter of preferences wad such as chelsea likes to play long ball, arsenal likes to play quick n short passes, some juz like offensive, some defensive thats all. becuz of being more agressive sometimes its easier to be misunderstood by refs to be pushes instead of shoulder checks. im not trying to say dey ALL their pushes are correct, but some of dem are definitely legal, juz tt ur not use to seeing ppl “flying off the boards”. tts how u play wen u go to international level like e swedish leagues la. aiya i dun wan to tok about any ref stuffs la, if not another essay will be replied la..
afterall, wen 2 teams dont have a huge difference in strength, the winner will be determined by wich team wans it the most haha
aiyo relax man guys..the season is over, ended, fullstop. if ur want to argue can argue until nxt season one sia
but wad i wan to say is tt true enuff, the fighting spirit of vj at the 3rd/4th placing match was low la, well kinda objective la. some may tink “no, even if its 3rd/4th, we muz still fight on, at least get 3rd”..but for some is “aiya, trained so hard played so hard but cannot get first, although 3rd/4th is still one placing different, but the fact is its still not the first, so it doesnt really matter la”, well up to everyone lor, whether wich one dey wan.. but i saw how vj played for their last 2 matches and i noe their strength, in my personal opinion only la, yj won not becuz dey were stronger den vj, but cuz they were more eager to win tt match. cheers
to floorball: you completely missed my point when i said blaming the ref for losing. i meant when you lost cuz of the ref’s bad decisions. and i dun have to watch the RJ-MJ match to know how good they are. i have never criticised MJ even though we lost, because i know they are good, they played clean and fair and i respect them for that. and about anon, i know he’s supporting MJC, and @floorball, you have completely missed the word sore. does sore only apply to ‘sore losers’ ? no, go check your dict for the meaning. Since MJ has alr won, why come talk bad about VJ when none from VJ has talk bad about them? mocking?
and regarding the 2-min penalties, if you see from my previous comments i said they are just, but there are ALSO those that are unjust. im speaking for myself and not for everyone. as for the unjust ref call that u said, about getting a 2-min penalty for the first slashing, i do know a VJ player who have got a 2-min penalty from his first pushing. and once you said ‘this shows so much about vjc fighting spirit’, it shows yourself because now you’re attacking a school.
@c
you said that anyone would blame the referee for a loss in any game?
just take a look at the MJC-RJC game and i believe you’ll be convinced that MJC #7 have displayed a great deal of sportsmanship by blaming nobody else but themselves for playing a game not good enough to win, and even seals off all flames about the 3rd RJC controversial penalty.
If you’re wondering what’s sportsmanship, that is.
also, from anon’s point of view, i believe that he’s supporting MJC, and since MJC won, what’s there to be sore about? do you hear about sore winners? i wonder.
once again, like diqiang said, the shout the goalkeeper made would classify under misconduct. It’s a technical foul, not a game foul, and hence it’s not in the rule book. and i agree with anon- the shout really do reflect alot on VJC, and also their tactics they’re willing to use to win.
In the game, you cannot control the referee’s call, but you can make a choice about your attitute toward’s the referee’s call.
@everyone saying that the number of 2mins penalty VJC received is unjust:
I must say, that if your tactic is to go in hard and pressure, with the sole intention of preventing the players from playing the ball, you have to be prepared for the 2-mins offences already. look at mjc, they’re the ‘cleanest’ team in the whole tournament. i didnt even see them get into box play once, until the finals. are you going to say that the referee’s biased towards mjc again?
and, i’ve talked to the referees taking the match. They have told me that they have repeatedly warned the VJC players about slashing and pushing, some even roughing. the 2mins came in because of the repeated offences, and there is nothing wrong with it. unless you say it’s the first slash, and the referee awards the 2mins penalty, it would, then, be unjust.
quote: [All these factors ultimately made the VJ team mentally and physically exhausted, and they felt 3rd/4th was not as important anymore] from c
this shows so much about vjc fighting spirit
i agree with ex-floorballer, he has a good grasp and insightful opinion of the situation.
to fbfb: yes i agree we pushed and we were aggressive in the MJ match, but it was not to an unreasonable extent, we got several 2-min penalty for that. but there were a few calls by the referee that were unjustifiable, which i don’t want to bring it up again because the match is alr over and we can do nth about it.
however, during the 3rd/4th placing match, all i can say is that the VJ team has given their all during the MJ match, and were gravely disappointed and disheartened at the results and the bad calls by the referee. and to exfloorballer: yes, the match sec has alr given the call to end the game, yet the referee decided to carry on the game further, and led to VJ losing when MJ scored in the ‘last’ second. All these factors ultimately made the VJ team mentally and physically exhausted, and they felt 3rd/4th was not as important anymore, since they lost the chance to enter the finals, indirectly/directly through the ref’s decisions. Moreover, during the 3rd/4th match, the referees were two secondary school kids, and trust me they weren’t very confident in their calls, and they hardly make any, at least not as much as the adult referees did in the other matches. Even when the VJ team pushed, or being pushed, during the starting of the game, the ref did not make most of the calls, and this made both teams feeling that since the ref is so indecisive, they might as well take the advantage. and thus my point is, both teams were aggressive but VJ were more, and i disagree that VJ’s over-aggressiveness led to their downfall. The ref was one of the many factors as well. for instance, during the 3rd/4th match, one of the VJ defenders got slashed in the face during the match, and he bled so profusely his white jerseys were red, but yet the ref did not make any calls, and the game goes on.
and to add on, im not trying to counter your view, but im just stating what i know, at least from the VJ side. =)
I was there watching the match that day and my heart went out to VJ for having lost the game to MJ so narrowly. However, I was there again the next day for their 3rd-4th placing match against YJ and it finally dawned on me why they lost two games. Their pushing and over-aggressiveness led to their downfall. I think VJ got at least 2 2-minutes calls? Nevertheless, heart stopping game. Definitely backs up my view that floorball is a heartbreaking game, but I still love it all the same 😀