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.
I think floorballer must’ve been really affected by us last year to comment about the champion t-shirt, which, by the way, wasn’t called for by us, rather the school. The referees were neutral I’d say. Several good calls, but not the most fantastic I’ve seen in A divisions.
Also, the remark “the losing team” was inappropriate. I think we have all established the fact that MJC lost the game; we don’t need you to rub salt in our wounds by mentioning that. This shows your lack of humility that a real champion should possess.
Next, controversial or not, RJ got the goal. If they didn’t get it and you are complaining about it, I’ll understand your position better. But, correct me if I’m wrong, I don’t recall any MJC floorballer pining about the goal SO BAD. I’d just accept the goal and be thankful it was counted rather than try to justify yourself why it was not controversial.
That’s my two-cents worth. The season’s over, we should remember the better moments instead of wallowing in controversy.
Congrats to RJ for the win.
rj deserved the championship…no doubts bout dat.u must admit it okay.the reason rj didnt score although it was a open goal was becuz they were defending theirs.or maybe….they didnt want mj to lose so badly as they have conscience??its juz as assumption la bro.but rj were the better team hands down.luckily we lost to the champions…
@floorballer**
talk abt being bias. you are like a professional at that! shame on you to be commenting on such condescending remarks with regards to MJC.
i can clearly remember that vjc did not cheer very loudly for mjc when they lost last year. oh plus plus, they had a bitter + angry coach to go along with that. do you really think you’d cheer your lungs out right after you were defeated? please do not pretend that you will. i believe that mjc did not even think that rjc did not deserve to win. i can clearly remember glendon initiating the three cheers for rjc during the prize presentation.
lastly, i believe that you do not speak for the world because you are you, you are not everyone else – “I believe almost everyone thought RJ was the deserving champs this time.”
@floorballer.
since you dare put your name as “floorballer”, why don’t you show some knowledge or sportsmanship about the game?
noone can decide who deserves to win the championship more. i believe both teams from MJ and RJ are equally strong and they both badly want to bring home their trophy. however, the outcome of the match would really depend on the team’s form, and though some may disagree, LUCK.
you can’t deny the strength of MJ’s team. especially when they sub-ed in Glendon and had no goalkeeper during the last period, RJ couldn’t score a goal though it was open. you say RJ deserves to win more? maybe you would like to think again.
of course, this is a public website and you’re free to post your opinions, just as i am free to post mine.
honestly, your last sentence “Anyway, it is sad to hear that the double champs shirt mj printed this year can’t be worn at all.” is uncalled for. if you’re truly “sad”, it doesn’t seem to be expressed in tht sentence.
i say, though our guys lost, they are already champions, in terms of attitude. they apologised for falling on the spectators, they apologised when they accidentally injure their opponents, they never gave up even when their score was lagging. THESE, are acts of sportsmanship.
Put ur name down if u dare to post such comments about any team… There is nothing to complain or contest here the refs did their part, both teams gave their all, RJC emerged victorious and they have evry bit of our respect as the winners of A divs 2008. The 07 champions shirt was printed by the school without our knowledge. We did not feel that RJC was going to be a walkover so please do not speak like u know us. Anyway congratulations to RJC once again for being deserving winners and many thanks to those who came down to support 🙂
@floorballer**
i was part of the double champions team. by the way, if you are unhappy with my school and my juniors or the fabulous article by christy, i suggest you write your own article. that way you would feel much more contented. anyway, if you ever experience being in a double champions team, come and find me and tell me how it feels like. If not, do not speak about MJCFB that way. I know this tagboard is about expressing one’s own opinions, but i believe my juniors and school do not deserve those snide remarks.
MOVING ON…
CONGRATULATIONS to Raffles Junior College for winning the title, the better team won.
At the same time, congratulations and kudos to MJCFloorballers (both guys and girls). Guys, keep your heads up. You guys didn’t lose anything but gained experience and grew closer throughout this whole experience. I’m sure it has been rewarding. Well done boys and girls.
1st: Harold Foo #7
2nd: Zuliham #2
3rd: Dylan Lee #9
4th: Zuliham #2
6th: Left: Aaron Right: Jing Xiong
7th: Jeremy
8th: Nelson
9th: Lee Soon Yoong #17
11th: RJC players celebrate after Anandraj s/o Tamilagan (RJC,#15) scores. (they’re not actually mbbing him, he’s running up from behind in the photo)
12th: Lee Soon Yoong #17
I’ll find the numbers and surnames of the people without soon
@floorballer**
jeez. controversy meaning the first goal (duh!), not who is most deserving of the title. and please, if you don’t understand the sentence, get someone to help you. zzz. nobody said that rj are undeserving champs anyway.
and as for your last line, lay off. none of the mj players ever offended you, yet you just had to do exactly that to them, which makes me wonder just what kind of person you are.
from a spectator’s point of view, the penalty awarded was a fair one and well deserved. the other ref that opposed this was standing on the far side in which his view was partially obstructed. however, i feel these two refs are already the best two refs in the whole a divs being unbiased and calling good calls.
i agree with ZH about giving a face off instead of a free hit when it was supposed to be a penalty to mj instead.
i have to say that it wasnt mj’s day as they had quite a number of hit-the-post shots.
but rj generally showed more desire to win than mj.
coming from neither school, i believe my view is as unbiased as it can be.
It’s statistically correct and true to say that tossing a coin doesn’t mean that the probability of getting heads or tails is 50-50.
Weird, but true.
Don’t laugh.
Will someone please provide names for the captions? We would like to update them rather than leave them generic, as in, “an MJC player” or “an RJC player.” Since this story is going to be up here for as long as I can afford it, you might want to provide names so that we can update the captions for posterity. 😉
@floorballer**
since this is a public site u are of course entitled to your opinion of the match.
However please do not post remarks about my school which are not true. If you think that u are a good enough floorballer to pass sarcastic remarks about the MJC floorball team, please think again.
Congrats to RJ for getting champs this year, I believe almost everyone thought RJ was the deserving champs this time.
It is mentioned: “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”. I believe that the referees that day were really good such that no one doubted their calls for the matches that day, perhaps maybe mjc, the losing team. Next, they have all underwent courses and would be more appropriate to decide what is a foul, and it just isn’t right to comment on the the referee’s decision or them missing out a call.
“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.” This is untrue, I do not understand how it is shrouded in controversy, when all the audience (except mj) cheered loudly for rj, which included other schools. I feel that this article is weirdly biased towards mj, and this should be a neutral website meant to highlight competitive sports.
Anyway, it is sad to hear that the double champs shirt mj printed this year can’t be worn at all.
@passerby
if you haven’t realise that’s the truth what u carry it out practically. even though the theoretical probability is 0.5
“even when tossing a coin, the probability of getting heads/tail isnt 50-50.”
sorry, that made me laugh.
MJC #7 used his body to save the ball from going into the open goal in the last minutes of the third quarter also.
spectacular, and he wasn’t awarded a two minute. morever, it’s during the 3v4 period.
awesome
btw “MJC proved that they could defend just as well with their #3 making a heart-stopping save.” It was cheng zai hui(#3)=D
If i remembered correctly, the penalty was changed to a face off instead of free hit. Mjc had a good chance to score a melee before the whistle was blown for the penalty. However the referees realised it was a wrong call and converted to face off. Pls correct me if i m wrong as i rmb i was baffled by why a face off was given instead of free hit.
Having said that, rjc had played well as can be seen from their dribbling skills and willingness to run. It was really an excellent match put up by both teams.
i must say i am also impressed by diqiang – it takes courage to post your real name up. =)
Thanks and I must say I didn’t waste my vote on you! But it seems like you got an anonymous secret admirer lurking around. haha.
wow. So many comments directed to me. Well, I have just finished up the very last article zhijia and me have for you floorballers – a little surprise. Haha.
http://redsports.sg/2008/07/24/redsports-floorball-awards/
Check it out and laugh! =)
I will sure miss reporting all this matches. I enjoyed myself throughly over the past few weeks.
Alright. I would like to say thanks for all your supportive comments and criticism. I admit I am no expert in journalism – in fact I am covering all these matches voluntarily – if you know what my major in uni is you would probably say, “What is she doing at Red Sports?” So, it would be nice to learn from the comments.
Okay, I would like to give my reasons why I wrote the article the way I did.
Firstly – the first goal from RJC. It was indeed pretty controversial as MJC contested it and it was the first time I have seen someone do so in a floorball match. I am no expert but the first feeling I got after I saw that goal was, “that can be considered as a goal?!?” I said controversial because I am not sure whether it was right or wrong of the goal to be counted.
Secondly, the clearance from the penalty box. I am not referring to the change of penalty to free-hit in the third period! I am referring to a clearance of a goal from an RJC player stepping in the penalty box. I saw that clearly with my own eyes and I thought I would just apply what I have learned from all the comments into the article – the fact that it was a foul. The RJC player probably didn’t do it on purpose though – most likely an accident. I am not blaming the referees here because it was impossible for them to spot the foul from the angles they were standing at.
Thirdly, I just reported the waiver of the penalty to a free-hit as it was. Again, this is not the first time I have reported a waiver of the penalty to a free-hit and the last time round I was flamed for being biased in favor of the referees and this time round I am being flamed for being biased in favor of MJC. Wow. I can never win. Haha.
Hm… And having read through my article again, I admit that my tone would be slanting towards MJC. Ah… I am only human. I guess I always did have a soft spot for MJC and the fact that I was sitting in a crowd of spontaneous MJC supporters didn’t help – I was pretty much influenced by their strong school spirit. =)
So, for what it is worth:
I think RJC are deserving champions. (“,)
Ceasefire!