By Les Tan
Muhd Khairil glances in the winning goal for VJC in second half stoppage time to ensure a 3-2 victory. (Photo 1 © Les Tan/Red Sports)
Jalan Besar Stadium, Monday, May 25, 2009 – Victoria Junior College scored a stoppage time goal to eke out a 3-2 victory over Meridian Junior College.
The 3pm start time under the scorching sun plus the adrenaline of a national football final meant fitness would come into play in this game. Added to that the heart-pounding and ear-splitting cheering from supporters of both schools – the loudest cheering you’ll hear at a football game on this island – the stage was set for an exciting game.
A blistering start saw VJC take an early 1-0. Alex (#10) found some space on the left flank and his cross was met by Asyraf who placed his header over Edmund Wong in the (#32) in the MJC goal. 1-0 to VJC.
But MJC came right back. Their constant pressure yielded them a free-kick from 30m out. Up stepped their captain Fazli Hisham (#7) who hit it straight at the VJC keeper Ifwat Wafiy. It was not a hard shot and everyone expected the keeper to pluck it safely from the air. To his and the collective horror of the VJC crowd, it squirmed from his outstretched hands and bounced over the line. 1-1 and the MJC crowd roared their approval.
Man for man, MJC had the measure of the VJC team, nullifying any attack, while their constant probing left VJC fans with the gnawing dread of another MJC goal.
Alex (VJC #10) then missed a one-on-one situation to leave the score unchanged and the miss would haunt VJC.
VJC’s Jasper gave away another free-kick to MJC and this time Attah Joseph (#21) stepped up. Of all the people in the VJC wall, Joseph’s blast chose to take a wicked deflection off the head of Jasper and the ball hit the back of the net while VJC keeper Ifwat was left flat footed. VJC, and Jasper, were feeling particularly unlucky by now.
With MJC holding their first lead of the game at 2-1, VJC did not look likely to score. But an individual piece of finishing by Alex changed the scoreline. VJC keeper Ifwat’s kick upfield was met by the head of Anders Aplin (VJC #9). Another teammate met Anders’ header with another flick on and the ball landed nicely in the path of Alex who bore down on the right side of the MJC penalty box.
VJC fans wondered: Was he going to shoot? His answer was instantaneous – a blast with his right leg that arrowed across the diving body of MJC keeper Edmund Wong to nestle in the far corner of the net. A predator’s goal and the score was now 2-2. Game on.
After the excitement of the first half with four goals and lots of action, the second half was an anti-climax. The 3pm start was taking its toll as players from both teams started going down with cramps. The most pained sufferer was Attah Joseph (MJC #21) whose cramp was so severe that his bulging thigh muscles were rigid with cramp and he had to be carried off the pitch.
With the injuries, the game was going nowhere as a spectacle but with the passing minutes, the tension ratcheted up. A goal at this late juncture would surely spell the winner.
MJC had two golden chances to score through Joseph Tai (MJC #23), the second of which was a header that was headed for goal but Ifwat pulled off a stupendous save to make up for his first half error.
The miss of the game though, was by Alex (VJC #10), this year’s top scorer with 16 goals.
A blistering shot by Anders (VJC #9) from outside the box was not held by MJC keeper Edmund. The ball spilled loose and bounced up nicely into the path of the onrushing Alex. However, from less than 2m from the goal line and with the whole goal gaping before him, he somehow contrived to put the ball over the bar.
Even though the ball fell to his weaker left leg, he pounded the ground in extreme frustration while the VJC bench saw coach Tan Yew Hwee sprawl to the ground like he had been shot. The VJC bench must have thought this was going to be a repeat of the 2008 final where Alex also missed chances that cost them the championship title.
By this time, everyone was expecting extra-time but the final act was yet to be played out. In the second minute of extra time, a throw in by Cephas Ong was headed on by Anders Aplin. In the middle was the waiting Muhammad Khairil (VJC #5). Rising with him were two MJ defenders but Khairil got his head to the ball first.
It was not a hard header but the ball’s bounce fooled MJC keeper Edmund and went in to send the VJC crowd into delirium. 3-2 to VJC was how it finished, and VJC put to bed their 1-2 loss to MJC in last year’s final.
In an on-field incident witnessed by many and sure to be discussed for days on end, the MJC taunt to VJC to “go fly kite” got the better of VJC’s Khairil and he made a mocking gesture – putting his thumb on his nose and wiggling his fingers – to the MJC crowd in return after teammate Alex scored the second VJC goal.
After getting scolded by coach Tan Yew Hwee immediately after the incident, Khairil was marched to the MJC principal after the game by his coach and made to apologise.
“That kind of game, heart attack!” said VJC coach Tan Yew Hwee. “The chances they missed!”
The winning goal was unexpected.
“The goal was a soft goal,” he said.
For MJC, this was their fifth A Division final appearance in a row.
“That’s football,” said MJC coach Fabio Fanticelle Da Silva. “It was a loss of concentration in the last two minutes.”
“It was a very good save by the VJC keeper,” said coach Fabio, referring to the save from Joseph Tai (MJC #23) in the dying moments of the second half.
“Last year was our year, this year is their time. Our boys worked very hard and we have very good support from the principal and teachers.”
MJC are also well placed for A Division football honours next year.
“Seven of the players will be back next year,” coach Fabio confirmed.
“It’s really honourable to score in the final on such a big stage,” said Muhd Khairil, the scorer of the winning goal and who also bagged the man-of-the-match award. “Lucky the ball went in. We had many chances to score but we threw it away.”
Khairil finished the season with four goals, but that last one will live long in the memory for him and VJC.
Actually I have a feeling that Khai thinks this is all very childish and he’s pretty much looked the other way. He’s apologised and his conscience is clear, and he’s got better things to look forward to. So you guys are seriously just wasting your time.
[Ed – text deleted]
If you’re reading this Khai, don’t worry bro. Smile and remain the happy cheerful Khai that you always are 🙂
Neutral :
You try being admonished by your coach in front of everyone and having enough mental strength to put it aside and focus on the game, even scoring the winning goal, despite knowing that half the stadium was booing your every touch.
He did not HAVE to apologise by the way. The VJ side could clearly see him going up to the coach himself after the game and having a short talk before his coach led him by the hand to the MJ Principal. I might be speculating here, but I think that somehow proves that he was sincerely apologetic, which I must say was rather unnecessary of him to be for MJC clearly does not forgive.
And please, step up to your stand like a man, don’t declare yourself to be neutral when you’re obviously leaning towards MJ.
Hey, I’m a student from MJC. To add to the viewpoints expressed here, I hope that we can all realise that it isn’t helpful for us to be generalising an entire school based on just the actions of a few players. I have seen great displays of sportsmanship from MJC and VJC students alike, and I do respect VJC very much and I don’t believe that a spur-of-the-moment mistake by a soccer player can greatly change this respect. To VJC, you guys were great, and the VJC soccer boys deserved their victory. To the MJC soccer boys, you guys were honourable, humble and exhibited great sportsmanship throughout the match. In your own right, you have won. Kudos to you guys :).
However, I can’t really understand the hostility towards MJC here. For the thing about the cheer “all the rest can go fly kite”, I don’t think that we meant it as a taunt. Just to explain a little, we were led along by the student councillors along with the school to do the cheer, and it was as a form of encouragement to our soccer players who would no doubt feel the school unity represented by such a well loved cheer spurring them on. However, I would agree that it is not the most appropriate of cheers, and that MJ would at least partially have to bear the blame of such an incident. About the school anthem thing, I agree that it was ungracious of us last year to cheer while VJC were singing their school anthem, but I would like to declare that I, at least, and probably much of the rest of the school were not aware of the VJC anthem. And yes, we probably do need to be educated in sports decorum. To VJC, I hope no offense was taken, and of course we sincerely apologise if the cheer has provoked you in any.
I love my school, but I agree that some MJC students are overreacting. I’d just like to say that proving whether or not what #5 did was his fault or MJ’s fault doesn’t prove that MJC was more or less gracious than VJC. I believe that what the one player did does not prove that all VJC students would act the same way. Similarly, the graciousness that the MJ soccer players exhibited does imply that all of us have great sportsmanship, have grace etc, unless we do exhibit this same graciousness in the way we deal with this matter. I’m sorry to say that I haven’t seen much of that happening, what with all the grumbles over today’s morning assembly and on this forum. Still, I am glad of the strong support shown by the MJC students for our school and the soccer boys, and it is now that I particularly feel the school unity and spirit, and I am very glad to be part of it :).
To end off, I hope that both MJC and VJC will agree that it was a match well played, and end at that. Any opinions should be based on self-reflection, and not generalisations or assumptions :).
To All MJCians:
Let’s stop our comments.
Let’s not bother about these.
We love our soccer boys.
We’ve fight alongside.
It was a good match.
And that’s all we need to know.
We don’t need judgement from anyone for they’ll just keep coming.
Neither do we judge others.
We don’t have to win all these arguements or debates whatever so.
For we do know all these meets no end AT ALL.
When ppl are determine to charge you guilty, they’d go all out to do so.
So we might as well give up on all these challenges.
Certainly “giving up doesn’t always mean you’re weak, rather it’s because you’re strong enough to let go”
Let’s let go of this childplay. [: Going on wouldn’t make us born to be the best. We shant argue for something which isn’t worth. And I’m sure our players do not wish for all these to happen. So let’s put it aside. I am ending my comment here like mjc-fang. Anyone else? [: Goodbye & congrats VJ. Great players you have [:
Great courage to apologize after getting scolded and forced to apologize by his coach?!?!? Wow. Great courage indeed.
Great is like used so nonchalantly… From the looks of it, he had no choice but to apologize.
And did MJC know he apologized? Or was apologizing? How?
Quote: g Says:
May 27th, 2009 at 12:49 am
‘Everyone can pretend that nothing has happened and VJC has won a glorious victory. But what actually happened cannot be treated as mere pretence. This infamous display is so disturbing that even some of their own students felt the embarrassment and humiliation. The incident has displayed the fundamental weakness in human. There will be people who can choose to live with this weakness because they belong to them.
What we have witness is that MJC players have displayed the true sense of humility and sportsmanship that is far more important than winning the championship itself. True greatness is about loving others as much as you love yourself, including your opponents. I wish to reiterate my point – true victory is not about winning championships. True victory lies in winning the hearts and minds of people. What we do in life goes down to eternity. For as long as people remembered who the true champion is, the glory belongs to those who believe.’
But we merely choose what we want to see. If the attitude of the player towards the crowd is disturbing, equally disturbing would be the fact that he later went on to apologise the MJ crowd but was booed. Talk about weaknesses in humans and humility.
It takes great courage to apologise. Think about it, how many people in the real world have apologised for their mistakes?
For example: the missing S$50 billion. Or, the great escape last year. Or more recently, the table tennis saga. The list goes on.
But I digress. Point is, I felt that it was brave of the VJ player to apologise and I find it distasteful that the reaction to his apology was so hostile.
Last year when MJ was the champion for soccer, half of the VJ team remained seated on the field during the prize presentation. This year, what I saw is true sportsmanship, that even though MJ lost, they took the initiative to walk up to the VJ players and shook their hands. Even Joseph who joined the team later on because of his muscle cramps went on to congratulate the VJ team during the prize presentation. This is what I think sportsmanship is. Winning or losing doesn’t matter.
I’m not sure how VJ #5 thinks about this, but I hope this serves as an important lesson to him. I am not sure if he feels happy about winning after showing such attitude to the MJ supporters, though.
hey omigod, I think the whole talk about college anthem is dumb too…
but somebody mentioned it that last year (OMG! last year can still remember that VJCian has a very good memory and it still harping on it) and this year MJC didn’t stop cheering for the VJCians to sing and I think it shouldn’t be blamed on MJC cuz they have no idea you are were singing…
And I am sure MJC kept quiet for you all to sing this year.
But blah. If VJCians would forget about the whole singing college anthem part then why would MJCians bother to rebut?
Reading through all these comments, I can tell that everyone here is really passionate! You guys really love your respective schools and the game we all call soccer. Let’s stop all these endless bickering. If you choose to continue, the bitterness will never end. It’s a vicious cycle.
One thing for sure, you will never ever find an outlet like redsports that will allow you to vent and rant. And really, i didn’t see anything about the game in our regular papers.
MJ folks, if you feel this article biased, feel free to write your own piece. The mantra for our website is to allow any individuals to write, send it in and we will post your views to be shared. Same thing applies to the vj people.
Let me challenge all of you, find a positive item to share about your opposing team. Widen your vision and heart. A pat on the back is always better than a slap in the face. Let bygones be bygones and move on.
haha. still on abt it? omg guys forget it lahh! seriously it reflects badly on our sch when we mjc pple do all this. heyy we lost. we fought hard but we lost. so why dont we just accept it and come back stronger next year. and i was khai’s classmate and good friend since sec 2. i will stand by him if any of you guys wanna say anything bad against him. i knw him more than any of you. he wasnt arrogant whtsoeva. he has always been humble and is a real funny guy. was a pleasure studying w him. so yeah cmon you guys. leave him alone. seriously or ill go to sch tmr and knock some sense into your head. kidding!
khai chill yeah. dont care abt any of this nonsense
Please Ng, don’t let this be a platform for your sanctimonious self-righteous preaching. It can be said that every school engages in dirty tactics. I honestly think #5’s actions were in no way that big a deal. It wasn’t as if he showed the finger or anything as foul as that. A mocking gesture, to silent the taunts of MJC. Enough is enough already. Lay off the poor boy.
To christy:
‘ Erm… Omigod, this year after singing their college anthem MJC was getting ready for the school cheer then they stopped so that they could RESPECT the VJCians…
And from the MJC side I have no idea whether you all were cheering or singing…
Did VJC even sing their college anthem this year?
I thought it was pretty funny that the MJC anthem was played but not the VJC one… I thought usually the winning school’s anthem gets played? ‘
I’m finding this argument over singing college anthem futile and pointless. OK but just to clarify once and for all, we were waiting to sing our college anthem but apparently there was PA malfunction. So we kinda did a Capella as I mentioned.
And MJ was still cheering and all even when we sang.
But blah it’s all over. VJ won. Not worth blustering whether the college anthem was played… cos we sang it anyway.
Hooray. Peace to the world. Disarm the B****y North Koreans.
Everyone can pretend that nothing has happened and VJC has won a glorious victory. But what actually happened cannot be treated as mere pretence. This infamous display is so disturbing that even some of their own students felt the embarrassment and humiliation. The incident has displayed the fundamental weakness in human. There will be people who can choose to live with this weakness because they belong to them.
What we have witness is that MJC players have displayed the true sense of humility and sportsmanship that is far more important than winning the championship itself. True greatness is about loving others as much as you love yourself, including your opponents. I wish to reiterate my point – true victory is not about winning championships. True victory lies in winning the hearts and minds of people. What we do in life goes down to eternity. For as long as people remembered who the true champion is, the glory belongs to those who believe.
Grats to vjc on the note that they won the championships.
Towards the note of the incident, i believe that it would be the level of tolerance each individual has. If taken to a polytechnic game, people tend to have a greater tolerance over such matters and consider it trivial so far no one is being pin pointed or verbally abused.
#5 getting the MOTM would be a similar case in my view to something like incident:drogba getting MOM in the champions league. (chelsea v barc , which he did not and was due to the displinary panel.) Forwhich i disagree for him obtaining it.
I believe that this would be a matter to be discussed as this happens in other sports as well and not just another matter of cyber bullying, embracing the power of how internet has became such convinence of being responsible of ones’ own actions and just another topic which drew the attention of many.
Erm… Omigod, this year after singing their college anthem MJC was getting ready for the school cheer then they stopped so that they could RESPECT the VJCians…
And from the MJC side I have no idea whether you all were cheering or singing…
Did VJC even sing their college anthem this year?
I thought it was pretty funny that the MJC anthem was played but not the VJC one… I thought usually the winning school’s anthem gets played?
Quote: 106) spectator Says:
May 26th, 2009 at 10:17 pm
‘and about the college anthem thing: i think the victorians should realise that singing without the music makes it difficult for the mj side to hear. if you guys want us to respect your college anthem too, pls realise that it wasnt intentional. the fact that mj managed to play our school song LOUD AND CLEAR over the speakers proved that it can be done. and if the sch really cared abt the victory, they would have prepared the college anthem.’
I’m very sure VJC did not care about the victory. Very sure.
The VJ supporters were waiting for the college anthem to start. When it didn’t start they should have waited further instead of singing a Capella. After all, if MJ could rely on the PA system, why can’t we? Yah VJ should wait. Only when the anthem is loud over the PA can MJ realise that the anthem was being played and only then can they show some respect.
Speaks much about respect doesn’t it?
I believe that everyone will have differing perspectives. But nobody can fault that if you focus on soccer players alone, MJ displayed significantly much more sportsmanship compared to VJ. Throughout the entire match, it was MJ players supporting each other, helping VJ players do their stretches when one and more suffered from cramps whilst VJ players walked away, ‘blissfully unaware’ of the situation. You’d notice that it was only VJ players that kicked the goalkeeper, rather whacked the boot on his face, causing him to bleed, on purpose and after which merely strolling off like it didn’t concern him at all. Worst of all, was his audacity to nose the crowd after he scored a goal minutes later after he did that to MJ’s goalkeeper.
If sportsmanship is defined as what VJ players did to MJ, then I’ll have nothing more to say.
As for the cheers, MJ’s been cheering it since competitions ago and nobody has ever reported about it till now? Well, I’d choose to believe that VJ would have the maturity to accept the fact that the cheer is a cheer and wasn’t a taunt, that they’d be in the right frame of mind to discern between a cheer and a taunt. But they didn’t. And they used this cheer against MJ. It was VJ players who lacked sportsmanship. If the reporter tries to side some ‘elite’ school who has no sportsmanship and mind you, its not the first time I’ve seen it or defend the ‘elite’ school without substantial evidence other than some stupid cheer which didn’t play soccer at all, then just stop. This is a soccer match, and I repeat SOCCER. Not a cheerleading competition. It was MJ soccer players who showed true sportsmanship on the field and off the field not VJ players.
One last thing. The entire report is in favour of VJ. Just bcos its a higher ranking than MJ, doesn’t mean that it deserves better treatment or more respect bcos they never deserved it anyway.
Is that biasness of favouritism? Take your pick.
firstly, my sincere congratulations to victoria for clinching the football championships and my heartfelt appreciation to my fellow meridians who played their hearts (and probably legs as well) out right up to the very last minute.
and well yeah, i booed when #5 claimed his motm trophy. i’m not proud of it, but yeah, i booed. simply because his “mocking gesture” doesn’t strike me as befitting of a motm holder. because it felt like someone was rubbing salt into my wound, that omg, we not only lost but we have to witness this guy get the motm trophy?
and because i got caught up in the heat of the moment, just like my fellow meridians.
just like the vj no.5 when he did that gesture – only multiplied by the thousand, but still. and i guess if age can be used to defend the vj no.5, age can be too, used to defend the meridians who booed. after all, most of them are still 17/18 – again, just like the vj no.5.
as for the cheers, to quote someone earlier in the comments, it’s just a cheer for God’s sake. it adds to the atmosphere. it pushes our players. it shows the other team that we are pro, we are boleh, and if you don’t like it, you can jolly well go and fly some kite. isn’t that the gist of most cheers? and i’m really sorry but the only reaction befitting to whether the fly kite cheer is a cheer or a taunt is a roll of the eyes, accompanied by a loud sigh and an “oh please”.
by the way, i was at the match last year too and i could have kicked the whole school upside down had i known we were so rowdy when the vj anthem was sang. but the thing is sweethearts, we didn’t know. yes, we may boo at players we dislike, but to suggest we don’t even have the basic courtesy to shut up and sit down when another school’s anthem is being played is simply insulting.
as for the issue of sportsmanship that some of you claim we lack, let’s just say i think its an example of the pot calling the kettle black because i too can quote several doubtful displays of sportsmanship from victorians (or any other school, for that matter) that have occurred over the past years.
that said, to my dearest meridians who thought the vj kid should be awarded a yellow card/red card for making our beloved goalkeeper bleed – you guys need to watch some channel 27. i mean, yeah, i’m upset that he got kicked in the face (and i personally think it affected his performance later on a la petr cech) but really, i highly doubt that was intentional by the vj kid.
so to finish off, once again, congratulations to the victorian team. and to the meridian boys, i salute you guys for a job well done – i’m sure you guys are still champions in your fellow meridians’ hearts.
O.o
I was at the MJ seats.
the cheer is ” All the rest can go fly kite ”
definitely not Vj can go fly kite.
Lol, seems like everyone is attacking mjc. Sharp comments there.
Once attacked, it’s reflex action to defend and retaliate. And it’s seen likewise? I don’t know.
I guess all had their say. I was a neutral at the venue. I heard the cheer. To me it seemed like ‘Vj can go fly kite’. VJ #5 was wrong to to what he did. He was admonished by his coach and made to apologise to the MJ principal. Enough said & done. #5 won the MOM award for his contribution made from the football view point of the game. Even professional players despite having being yellow carded have been given MOM (Roy Keane, Steven Gerrard etc). Next year the panel may want to add sportmanship as one of the criteria for the MOM award. It will mean, if a player scores 5 goals in a match but still get a yellow card for an offence then he will disqualify himself from the award. What a waste.
Les excellent job. The reporter has a responsibility to report as he sses it and stand by his story and you did. Hats off to you.