Meridian top Raffles to finish third in A Division Girls’ Football Championship

Story by REDintern Desiree Tay. Pictures by REDintern Alethia Tiang.

Meridian Junior College, 20 May 2009, Wednesday – Meridian Junior College (MJC) beat Raffles Institution (RI) 1-0 to wrap up third place in the A Division Girls’ Football Championship.

The two teams kicked off to a spirited crowd of both Rafflesians and Meridians. MJC immediately went in for the kill and RI scrambled to defend, packing nearly their whole line-up into the box. Meridian’s attack backfired on them and they were caught out for committing themselves to a full-out attack, leaving Nurin (RI, #14) unmarked as she swiftly turned the tide of attack.

This pretty much set the tone of the match, with possession switching between the teams often, as both teams battled to finish second runners-up in the championship.

Raffles had their first attempt at goal after being granted a free kick. Cheng Chia (RI, #36) stepped up for it but curled it away from the goal. Shortly after, Meridian had their first shot on target as winger, Geraldine (MJC, #23) crossed one in for striker Wan Er (MJC, #7) who was open on the left. The shot was easily saved by the keeper.

The game seemed to slow down after a few fast-paced attacks, as the players were in the middle of the field, bound by throw-ins. Flurried defending against frenzied attacking lead players to kick the ball out of the field, and lapses in ball control contributed to the many throw-ins as well.

Finally, the midfield blockage was cleared and it was Cheng Chia (RI, #36) whom, with a deft turn and a direct pass to her captain Adilah (RI, #7), created an attacking opportunity for her team. At this point, MJC seemed to have lost their game and control of the pace. Raffles’ dominant midfielders Cheng Chia (RI, #36) and Joanne (RI, #29) highlighted Meridian’s lack of a dominant midfielder to control the play.

As though it was an instant reply to that thought, Nisha (MJC, #8) was substituted on to the field. She made her presence felt immediately by sending balls to her wingers as well as up front for the strikers, but Raffles’ defenders cleared them all.

Perhaps due to frustration at not making headway, both teams seemed to lose heart in playing and the pace slowed down. Suddenly, Meridian summoned up energy from within themselves to fire up their game. Anne Marie (MJC, #18) dribbled smoothly away from Raffles’ nearly static defenders who were caught off guard at Meridian’s sudden revival. She tried to make it 1-0 for Meridian, but her shots only resulted in two successive corner kicks.

Meridian firmly held on to possession, and Raffles was put in a precarious position as their keeper rushed out to clash with her defenders for the ball. Amidst the tussle, the ball was flicked out of the box for Nisha (MJC, #8) to pick up and half-volley it into the back of the net. 1-0 to Meridian.

After halftime, the game resumed with the score still at 1-0 in Meridian’s favour. Shortly after, Meridian nearly gave Raffles a chance to level the score, but resolute captain Zhi Yin (MJC,#9) doggedly chased her opponent down and saved the day, only giving away a free kick from the one-on-one situation just outside the box. Again, Cheng Chia (RJC, #36) kicked it beautifully but Meridian defenders got to it first.

With the confidence of being one-up behind them, Meridian continued to thunder the Raffles half with high balls and shots on goal. Next, a free kick right in front of the box was awarded to Meridian, with the keeper’s save resulting in a corner. Raffles were lucky to escape without conceding another goal as their keeper Huda (RJC, #1) swiped the ball off the line following the corner.

Though the twenty two players continued to strive for their teams, no further goals were conceded and it was the Meridian team who celebrated their victory at the final whistle.