By Gerald Goh/Red Sports

Republic Polytechnic Sports Complex, Tuesday, October 13, 2009 - Poor defending and a series of goalkeeping blunders condemned Singapore Polytechnic (SP) to a 3-0 defeat at the hands of Ngee Ann Polytechnic (NP) in the curtain-raiser of the Polytechnic-Institute of Technical Education (POL-ITE) Football Championship.

SP's physical approach to the game did not suffice to cover up for their glaring lack of skill on the ball and a lackadaisical attitude throughout the entire match, both of which require urgent addressing if SP are to make significant progress in the tournament.

Early play was scrappy, with many misplaced passes by both sides as they struggled to adapt to the artificial turf. SP's #20 capitalised on one such mistake by NP in their own half, firing a shot wide. Teammate #8 then set #12 clean through on goal with a sublime pass, only for #12 to be sent flying by a well-timed sliding tackle.

NP gradually began to impose themselves on the game, probing the SP backline via the flanks. SP's continual failure to clear the ball presented NP with multiple chances in the 6-yard area, with Sulaiman (#17) hammering an effort straight at SP's GK on 15 minutes.

NP's Syafiq Zainal (#32) foray on the left flank was well cut-out by SP's #6, but the defender's lofted clearance cleared the protective railings next to the bleachers, hitting an unfortunate female spectator on the back of her head and causing no end of embarrassing consternation.

With the game lurching toward mediocrity, NP took the lead on 17 minutes. Gary (#26) rose to meet a precision cross, planting a sideways header past the motionless GK.

NP's growing danger on the ball was evident two minutes later as SP's #6 was forced into a crude challenge to deny NP's (Miftahul) #27 a clear shot at goal. How the SP defender escaped a booking, never mind being sent off, remained unclear.

NP's continual wastefulness in front of goal attacks was epitomised by the efforts of Sulaiman (#17), who sent in a curling cross to Syafiq Zainal (#32), only for the forward to completely miss what should have been NP's second goal. Syafiq (#32) then feinted and tumbled his way into the SP penalty area on 40 minutes, his effort falling to Sulaiman (#17) who could only poke it agonisingly wide of the stranded SP GK.

The second goal for NP duly arrived on the stroke of half-time, Miftahul (#27) skipping past a challenge on the touchline and sending in a grounder for Sulaiman (#17) to calmly slot past the exposed GK. NP's dominance of the match was such that their celebrations were remarkably muted.

Two minutes after the restart, the match was effectively over as a contest when NP's Gary (#26) toe-poked the ball into the net following a goalmouth scramble from a corner.

With NP's Warut Kaewtip (#23) putting in a superb, if undignified, performance stifling SP's attacks, NP seemed to content to sit on their 3-0 lead. SP's lack of urgency was more baffling, as #9 wiggled his way past a posse of NP players only to find himself with nary a teammate in sight.

In the dying minutes of the match, SP's #10 went down under a challenge in NP's penalty area, earning a spot-kick. However, #7 inexplicably blazed it well over with the GK well-beaten, the shocking miss summing up SP's woeful performance for the night.

NP's Coach Stephen Ng felt his side had done well to overcome a well-organised SP side. "We had 2 months of good preparations, it's a good start and what we needed. We played at a high tempo in the first half, as high or even higher than the Prime League, but were not able to sustain (the performance) for 90 minutes."

NP forward Syafiq Zainal (#32) concurred on the ´good team performance'. "I'm really looking forward to the (upcoming) Asian Confederations Cup, so hopefully this game can help me prepare."

Ed’s note: If you know the names of the players mentioned by jersey numbers, please let us know in the comments section and we’ll update the story.