Republic Polytechnic beat Nanyang Poly 5-2 in clash of floorball titans

Story By REDintern Wong Hong Yong. Pictures by REDintern Kenneth Chia.

Ngee Ann Polytechnic, Wednesday, October 8, 2008- It was a match billed as the clash of the titans. 2007 Polytechnic-Institute of Technical Education (POL-ITE) defending champions Republic Polytechnic (RP) were up against reigning ITE-Varsity-Polytechnic (IVP) champions Nanyang Polytechnic (NYP). It was a physical fight but RP eventually prevailed 5-2.

NYP started strong by winning the face-off but RP immediately got back possession and launched attacks on the NYP goal. Nonetheless, the NYP defense held firm and the team soon started to gain momentum.

With more possession, NYP attacked more, making good use of board passes to move forward. However, as they were too eager to move forward, they left gaps at the back for RP to exploit. Eventually, a misplaced pass gave the ball to RP #9, and with with only one defender marking him, he made no mistake and sent the ball comfortably past the NYP goalie with a drag shot. It was 1-0 to RP.

NYP seemed shook up by that defensive mistake and they began to change the pace of the game. They controlled the remainder of the game, with NYP #29 proving to be a menace to the RP’s team. However, he just could not get anything past the determined RP defense. RP too had a couple of chances, with their #17 particularly lively but could do nothing to increase the scoreline. The first period ended with RP leading 1-0.

RP nearly scored at the start of the second period but luckily for NYP, RP #12 miscalculated his shot. The second goal arrived for RP due to poor defending again by NYP. NYP failed to clear the ball at the mid-court and allowed RP #9 to go in for a shot, which the goalie deflected into the path of RP #11 who easily tapped the ball into the unguarded goal for a 2-0 lead.

NYP, frustrated with the goals, started an onslaught of aggressive play. It was started by NYP #22 who knocked RP #12 into the boards. Further rough play was continued by NYP #9, #16 and #21. It eventually resulted in NYP being reduced to four men for two minutes after NYP #16 was sent to the sin bin for pushing RP #17. Tempers flared when the NYP #21 pushed the RP #11 on the floor while he was trying to get up.

The third goal came via an excellent throw from the RP goalie after he had collected a loose shot. He threw the ball into the attacking area, bypassing all of the back tracking defenders into the path of RP #9 who collected the ball and swiftly placed the ball into the bottom left hand corner of the goal for a 3-0 lead.

RP got their fourth goal due to the weak defense of NYP which allowed RP #3 to square the ball right in front of NYP’s goal to RP #8 for another easy shot into goal. 4-0 to RP.

All was not well in the NYP camp, as they were clearly frustrated by their comical defensive errors and vented their frustrations on their opponents. RP wasn’t taking to their counterparts highly physical approach too well either and there was a sense of tension mounting between the two teams.

The third and final period started, with NYP employing a different tactic that had more passing and less contact. This tactic paid off allowing them to score two goals. They drew the RP defenders towards them and allowed their forwards to sneak in in front of the goalie and pick off any rebounds if the goalie slipped. The goalie slipped twice and NYP capitalized on both times to make it 2-4. NYP confidence grew and they pushed more and more to the front but the RP defense held firm and repelled the NYP attack.

RP too were reduced to four men as they got a two minute penalty. As the match drew to a close RP started employing NYP’s aggressive strategy and they pushed NYP #29 and #16 who manhandled them during the second period, with RP #17 particularly aggressive and he earned himself a two-minute penalty.

The play slowed down as both sets of players start to tire. With six minutes remaining, RP had a free hit right in front of the goal because of a handball from NYP #16. The resulting pass from the free hit resulted in a goal from RP #17 for a final score of 5-2.