Story by REDintern Christy. Pictures by REDintern Zhijia and Les Tan.
An MJC player shoots at goal while Harold Foo of RJC defends. The shot went wide. (Photo 1 © Les Tan/Red Sports)
Tampines Sports Hall, Wednesday, July 23, 2008 – In a closely fought match between two floorball giants, Raffles Junior College (RJC) ultimately dashed Meridian Junior College (MJC) hopes of a second crown when they won 2-1 in the final of the A Division Boys Floorball Championship.
Meridian Junior College started the game fiercely, eager to retain their title as defending champions. However, RJC, runners-up last year, were also hungry for the gold medal.
In the first period, both teams started out fast and furious to get an early lead. RJC had their chance 8 minutes into the game in a goal melee. MJC goalkeeper Lionel Boey (#30) managed to save the ball between his legs. Even though the ball was saved, RJC Dylan Lee (#9) did not stop and dug the ball out and tapped it into the unguarded goal. It was indeed a controversial goal which MJC contested but to no avail. The game was now 1-0 in RJC’s favour.
The second period started with strong attacks from MJC as they looked for an equalizer. Perhaps due to nerves, MJC just could not get the ball in. It was heartbreaking for the MJC bench and supporters to see all the near-misses from the usually accurate MJC players. MJC were given an opportunity for a power play but they were unable to capitalize on the numerical advantage given.
MJC must have known this was not their lucky day when an MJC shot that was on target was blocked by an RJC player who was stepping in the penalty box. Alas, the referees did not spot that foul and the game went on as usual. With neither team able to score, it remained 1-0.
Left with only fifteen minutes to overcome the odds, the pressure piled on MJC in the third period. It didn’t help that RJC’s Anandraj (#15) managed to score a second at the 06:31min mark with a stunning shot which eluded MJC goalkeeper Lionel Boey (#30). With less than ten minutes left on the clock and MJC’s attacks effectively stopped in their track by RJC’s defenders, MJC decided to field 5 players without a goalie.
MJC proved that they could defend just as well with their #3 making a heart-stopping save. With less than 5 minutes and MJC still two goals down, MJC must have thought that luck was on their side when the referee awarded them a penalty. The MJC crowd roared with joy and anticipation. MJC “luck” did not last as after further consultation with the other referee, the penalty was changed to a free-hit instead, disappointing the MJC crowd. Although MJC captain Glendon Phua (#20) managed to close the gap when he knocked in an unstoppable shot in the 14:06min, it was way too late for MJC to stage a comeback.
Although the win is shrouded in controversy, credit must be given to RJC for having worked well tirelessly to defend against MJC who finished top of the league table with the most number of goals scored.
“It was not a nice feeling to go all the way to the final and ultimately not be able to defend the title,” commented MJC captain Glendon Phua (#20) when asked about the match.
RJC captain Harold Foo (#7) remarked after the game, “Winning was not the first and foremost thought for us – it is more important for the team to have worked as one Raffles Junior College and give their best.”
Zuliham of RJC has his shot blocked by an MJ player. (Photo 2 © Les Tan/Red Sports)
Di Qiang (#7, MJC) passes the ball on while Dylan Lee of RJ defends. (Photo 3 © Leslie Tan/Red Sports)
Zuliham of RJ takes the ball into the corner. (Photo 4 © Leslie Tan/Red Sports)
RJC celebrate their controversial first goal. (Photo 5 © Leslie Tan/Red Sports)
Aaron (left) and Jing Xiong (right) of RJC vie with an MJ player for a loose ball. (Photo 6 © Leslie Tan/Red Sports)
Glendon Phua (#20, MJC) chases down Jeremy of RJC. Glendon scored MJ’s only goal of the game. (Photo 7 © Leslie Tan/Red Sports)
Nelson of RJC shields the ball from an MJ player. (Photo 8 © Teo Zhijia/Red Sports)
Calvin Chang (MJC,#17) gets tackled by Lee Soon Yoong of RJC. (Photo 9 © Teo Zhijia/Red Sports)
Anandraj s/o Tamilagan (RJC,#15), scorer of the second goal for RJC. (Photo 10 © Teo Zhijia/Red Sports)
RJC players celebrate after Anandraj s/o Tamilagan (RJC,#15) scores. (Photo 11 © Teo Zhijia/Red Sports)
Chong Shyang Long (MJC,#22) chases down Lee Soon Yoong of RJC. (Photo 12 © Teo Zhijia/Red Sports)
RJC players celebrate their win over MJC after the final whistle. (Photo 13 © Teo Zhijia/Red Sports)
RJC captain Harold Foo is overcome with emotion at the win. (Photo 14 © Leslie Tan/Red Sports)
RJC players receive the cheers of their schoolmates. (Photo 15 © Leslie Tan/Red Sports)
RJC celebrate at the final whistle. (Photo 16 © Leslie Tan/Red Sports)
RJC congratulate each other… (Photo 17 © Leslie Tan/Red Sports)
… while MJC contemplate what might have been. (Photo 18 © Leslie Tan/Red Sports)
MJC’s Low Li Wei urge the MJC supporters to cheer for the team. (Photo 19 © Teo Zhijia/Red Sports)
The delighted RJC supporters. (Photo 20 © Teo Zhijia/Red Sports)
Team VJC finished fourth. (Photo 21 © Teo Zhijia/Red Sports)
Team YJC finished third. (Photo 22 © Teo Zhijia/Red Sports)
MJC floorball team. (Photo 23 © Teo Zhijia/Red Sports)
RJC captain Harold Foo lifts the hard-won trophy. (Photo 24 © Teo Zhijia/Red Sports)
Champions – Team RJC. (Photo 25 © Teo Zhijia/Red Sports)
More pictures in the gallery.
much thanks to christy for going down and writing reports on many matches, and also her amazing efficiency in posting them up so quickly.
personally however, i oso cannot help but feel that the article is a little biased to mjc. quoting: “MJC must have known this was not their lucky day when an MJC shot that was on target was blocked by an RJC player who was stepping in the penalty box.” so was rjc just really lucky today? if i remembered, rjc had a couple of good shots, especially one that hit the post too. Also, “With less than 5 minutes and MJC still two goals down, MJC must have thought that luck was on their side when the referee awarded them a penalty. The MJC crowd roared with joy and anticipation. MJC “luck" did not last as after further consultation with the other referee, the penalty was changed to a free-hit instead, disappointing the MJC crowd.” Watching the match clearly from the side, rjc’s no16 clearly did not step into the box and the ref’s call was good. how weird it seems that every mistake mj makes seems to be because they had ‘no luck’ today. of course, i guess this is just what the reporter saw and feels about the match, so yes, im not trying to bring christy down or anything.
and neither am i trying to put mjc down either, ( i think they really fought back hard, till the last minute, last second) but i just feel that the article is a little unfair for rjc. (eventhough i am not from rj)
lastly, i think the 2 refs today were possibly the best in the entire A’div, unlike the previous few matches, and i think the calls made today were, of course not faultless, but mostly right. so good job to the refs!
well, congrats to rjc for clinching champions and to mjc for putting up a gd fight (:
most importantly, i feel we must really thank christy and the photographer for putting in so much effort into covering the A dvision with much dedication. good job guys! many of us appreciate the reports you come up with. 🙂
congrats to RJ for winning the guys A div and MJ the girls A div.
RJC are deserving winners. If I were to compare the body languages of both teams, I’d say RJC had the drive and the grit to win this year, even before the match started. They chased ball tirelessly even to the very last minute, which really showed how much they wanted the title.
MJC meanwhile cannot be unnoticed. They are an exciting team to watch, full of promising players. But somehow they seemed to be lacking of ideas in attack. Maybe it was not meant to be and i hope MJC does come back stronger next year.
And amidst all the controversies surronding this match, you have to give it to both teams for a splendid game of floorball, carved with passion and determination. Kudos to both MJC and RJC!
p.s. Im neither from RJ nor MJ
Chill everybody with this controversy.
Everybody playing on court wants to win, isn’t it. If not they wouldn’t be there anymore.
Referees and reporters are human beings too. It’s natural to be a little biased here and there, etc.
As long as you played a clean game and you played well, whether you lost, you know you played it without regrets.
hey i thought the article sounded rather biased towards mjc, i wonder why?
but hey kudos to the two teams for putting up an awesome fight! i know how much this meant to either of them.
Fan, r u implying that mj didnt put in effort into this match?
1st goal was controversial(as u said), n whether it shud b a goal – is consequential. how can you say RJ deserves the win based on their effort?
if 1st goal was controversial(as u said), and if not counted, the score should be 1-1, which makes both teams equivalent.
how could you downplay mj’s efforts to that extent? working it out now, it doesnt make much sense.
Both teams were strong and it was a good fight! Congrats to RJC and fight on MJC, win the title back next year!
Hey what’s with the ‘shooting’ of christy . I mean we have to attend alot of events and write numerous articles but we are human afterall and we write what is generally felt , we cannot actually ( if you havent notice) take in everyone’s views and compile a very unbias report.
cheer’s christy for the exciting article.
“MJC must have known this was not their lucky day when an MJC shot that was on target was blocked by an RJC player who was stepping in the penalty box. Alas, the referees did not spot that foul and the game went on as usual. With neither team able to score, it remained 1-0.”
Well, i was sitting near the goalpost where the foul supposedly happened. a referee saw the foul and called for a penalty. so the other referee came and explain that they didn’t step into the box as their legs were stepping just right outside of the box.
Thus, “referees did not spot that foul” is not really correct.
Well, I’ve seen many schools stepping into the box but didn’t get blown for it too. and many times, a player would push their opponents into the box, this kind of dirty little tricks can actually result in a penalty.
I believe many players(not only in this Adiv) are really hungry for the title that they bring their level of sportsmanship down to commit dirty tricks which referees don’t realize.
As athletes, we must play our game with integrity and dignity! And of course, SPORTSMANSHIP!!!
Kudos for Raffles.
all these writers also not professional writers.
do you think it is that easy to write an unbiased report?
if you are that good, go write the report yourself.
zzz. give christy a break man.
anyway, ref issues will always be somewhat inconsistent. the refs are humans after all.
anyway, great job by the rj team for doing what vj came so close to accomplishing on monday. savour the victory guys! haha. also, kudos to mjc for not giving up right till the final whistle sounded. and thanks to both teams for giving us a great final. =)
hooray for rjc ! 😀
good job to rjc. we did not send alot of supporters also but we did well. and we did it, good job.
Charging writers for bias on redsports is without basis. Why?
Because we will post anyone’s story of the game they watched.
If you have a different perspective – and we all do – then send in your story. We will ALWAYS publish it.
You send it, we post it.
It’s not easy writing such an article, KUDOs to Chrsity. If there was anyone being biased, it would have been the two referees.
i really must applaud the rjc captain. i have watched him thoughout the season and although i do not know him personally, he seems to be such a dedicated captain. such a great player and such an awesome individual! was lucky enough to see another side of him when he gave his girlfriend a hug after the match today! but anyways, good job rjc!
saying that the referees weren’t making right calls, are you saying that for the girl finals as well? in my view, i think they did fairly well for referee-ing. they did referee-ing for the RP matches as well, so i believe their calls are mostly right.
Cheers to RJ for clinching the title and MJ for the impressive fight throughout the season.
but i must say the writing perspective and tone of this article seems rather biased towards MJ… do you not get the feeling, while reading, that the author is somewhat supporting MJ?
The match was won with much controversy, with the refree not making the correct calls. The first goal by RJC should not have been taken into account, “Even though the ball was saved, RJC Dylan Lee (#9) did not stop and DUG THE BALL OUT and tapped it into the unguarded goal. It was indeed a controversial goal which MJC contested but to no avail. The game was now 1-0 in RJC’s favour.” Even though MJC players where being whacked on the HEAD, in the FACE, they never complained, KUDOS MJC! They’ll come back stronger and faster.
i think that both teams should be given due credit to the tremendous amount of effort they put in to contest for the A div title. I think although the first goal was controversial, the RJ floorball team deserved their win thoroughly with their impressive defending and the willingness to chase any loose ball up and down the playing area. MJ did well but luck was not to be with them. All the best for the 2009 season!
kudos to the raffles team for putting up such a strong display..with the end of this year’s championship, each team can go back to their schools and prepare for next year’s competition..which will definitely see every team coming back stronger, faster, and more hungry for success! each with their own point to prove.
sadly, the year twos will have to start hitting the books and prepare for their A levels! if not, they might just have another opportunity to represent their school again next year,lol