ITE beat Republic Polytechnic to clinch third spot in IVP Football Championship

Story by REDintern Firdaus Khan. Pictures by Maryam Nasihah

Republic Polytechnic, Friday, January 30, 2009 – A spirited second-half revival saw the Institute of Technical Education (ITE) come out 3-1 winners over Republic Polytechnic to clinch third spot in the Institute-Varsity-Polytechnic (IVP) Football Championship.

ITE were down by one goal at half-time but a goal by Abdil Qayyim and a brace from Muhammad Ridhwan were enough to ensure the team ended their SR Nathan Cup campaign on a high.

It was a classic tale of two halves as RP dominated the proceedings from the start but lost it all in the second period.

RP made four changes to the squad, with second stringers coming in for a run-out in the final game of the tournament.

Playing in front of their home crowd, RP came out firing with Captain Zuladly Zulkeplie testing the opposition early on.

In the 14th minute, ITE failed to clear their lines and Zuladly pounced on the confusion in the box but his shot was deflected just inches wide from the goal.

However, it didn't take long for him to get his name on the scoresheet.

Just two minutes later, he was left unmarked in the box and duly headed home a corner to give the home side the lead.

The match then sprang into life with plenty of end-to-end action.

Arguably the best chance for ITE came in the 17th minute when Ridhwan floated in a free kick which was met with a lob by Irwan Shah. It beat the goalkeeper but unfortunately for him, it hit the crossbar.

ITE continued to pile on the pressure in search of the equaliser but they were frustrated by a resilient RP backline.

The frustrations took a toll on the players late on in the first half when several ITE players confronted the referee regarding Fariduddin Jamil's late challenge. Three yellow cards were issued during the incident as the referee tried to calm the situation down.

Seemingly in control, RP took their foot off the pedal and were in for a rude awakening in the second half.

ITE completely changed the complexion of the game with an incredible double salvo in just one minute.

National U-23 striker Khairul Nizam saw his shot beaten away by goalkeeper Ng Zhong Yi but the ball made its way back to his feet and Ng's rash decision to slide in for the ball cost RP dearly as the referee pointed straight to the spot.

Ridhwan stepped up for the penalty and sent the goalkeeper the wrong way to level the score at 1-1.

The game was then turned on its head as just seconds later, Qayyim capitalised on a mistake by RP defender Austin Lee to take it away on the right flank before rifling a low shot in to stun the crowd into silence.

ITE then sealed the game 25 minutes from time, when a quick counter-attack allowed Ridhwan space to move. He could have squared the ball to an unmarked teammate in the area but he confidently went on alone to score the third to make matters worse for RP.

RP did try their best to get back into the game but they just fail to recover from the goals conceded and ITE held on till the final whistle to record a comprehensive 3-1 victory.

Despite the loss, Zuladly was content with his team's performance and attributed the loss to lapses of concentration

"The performance was fine. We put in 100% effort but it just wasn't our day. We made little mistakes and the opponents punished us. We weren't strong enough to recover from the blow but we cannot blame anyone. We win as a team and we lose as a team."

"At the end of the day, it's really amazing for us to have entered the semi-finals. We couldn't have asked for anything more. We don't have any national players or S. League players in the team. We represent the normal boys who just want to play football and we've reached this far," added the RP captain.

The hero of the night with two goals, ITE's right midfielder, Ridhwan, credited the team's success to the half-time team talk by the coach.

"It was an aggressive game with both teams wanting to win. At half time, the coach told us to keep our cool and the goals will come. After the first goal, we just kept coming and coming at them and that's how we won."