Last second goal by USA costs Singapore first point in Hockey Junior World Cup

Courtesy of Elgen Kua

Sengkang Sports and Recreational Centre, Tuesday, June 16, 2009 – A lapse in the final minute of the match saw Singapore go down 2-3 against the USA in the Standard Chartered Bank FIH Men's Junior World Cup.

With only four minutes left in the match, Singapore looked to have salvaged a point after Muhammad Sabri Yuhari scored from a penalty corner to fire up the crowd. But USA's William Holt fired in the match-winner to give his team their second victory and the top spot in Pool I with six points. The loss put Singapore at the bottom of the group without a point.

Singapore started the game strongly and whistled the first penalty corner of the game over the USA goalpost in the 14th minute. The hosts kept the pressure on their opponents and were finally rewarded in the 25th minute when Tan Yi Ru converted a penalty corner and fired his shot past the USA goalkeeper to put his team up 1-0. The USA team forged ahead in search for an equalizer and Nicholas Szoke levelled the score in the 30th minute through a field goal. Singapore tried to gain an advantage before the break and managed to penetrate into USA's ´D' in the final five minutes but their defence held firm to keep the score at 1-1 at the end of the first half.

Both teams had their fair share of opportunities in the start of the second half, until USA's William Holt broke the deadlock in the 47th minute when he rifled a shot into the top left corner. Singapore attacked in waves and found the net in the 66th minute, when Sabri scored from a well-coordinated penalty corner. Sensing a possible victory, Singapore poured players upfront but a final counter-attack by USA in the last minute of play saw Holt scoring his second goal of the game to seal the match, 3-2.

Singapore's coach Lim Chiow Chuan said it was disappointing to give the game away in the last second of the match, after his team lost in the same manner when they conceded a critical penalty stroke against Poland last week to go down 1-2.

Said Lim: "You can't get any closer than that. I think both teams had their chances. But it is very, very devastating to lose like this for the second time in this competition. The result was very cruel to us. I think the objective now is to finish 19th in the competition and it will be a tremendous achievement for us if we can do that.”

“The boys still lack international exposure, and they could have done better tackling during critical moments of the game. The boys are very devastated, but I'm proud of their effort today as they've given their all."

Said USA's coach Nicholas Conway: "I think a draw would have been a fair result. I feel for the Singapore team to have lost in the last minute, but when you're in a tournament you have to win. A draw is as good as a win for us and I have a lot of credit for my guys for being able to win the game. I don't feel that we've played our best but the truth is that we're trying to peak at the end of the tournament. Our target is to finish 17th or 18th position."