Republic Poly come from 2 goals down to beat Temasek Poly 5-2 in POL-ITE floorball

Story by REDintern Farah Alsagoff. Pictures By Vanessa Lim/Red Sports.

Republic Polytechnic Sports Complex Competition Hall, Friday, October 23, 2009 – Republic Polytechnic (RP) staged an amazing comeback on their way to a 5-2 victory over Temasek Polytechnic (TP) in an adrenaline-pumping, crowd-crazy match that has been the most exciting thus far in this year’s Polytechnic-Institute of Technical Education (POL-ITE) Floorball Championship.

TP scored after only 19 seconds when Muhammad Azri (#7) tackled an RP player and Muhammad Ashraf (#3) received the ball before craftily lobbing it over RP keeper Muhammad Firdaus Samat (#32) for the opening goal.

RP pursued their equalizer, but in the process, Wan Nur Hazwan (#44) was sent off for an improper substitution, leaving TP to pull together their power play. It started out shakily, and RP's Ahmad Afzal (#77) managed to intercept the ball and prepare for an offensive box play attack. He was thwarted by TP's Mah Jian Hong (#6), and the first period ended with TP leading 1-0.

The start of the second period saw fantastic teamwork and impeccable passing between RP's Attar Shaheed (#53), Afzal and Guhen S/O Markandran (#14). Guhen tried passing the ball back to Afzal from inside the slot area, but it was intercepted and cleared effectively by the TP defence.

TP's Ameer Barakat (#16) was then sent off after 18 minutes for what seemed like a pushing infringement inside their penalty box. The referees considered a penalty but ruled otherwise.

RP's power play had a solid structure. However, towards the end of the penalty, TP's Muhammad Masri (#20) outdribbled an RP player, resulting in a one-on-one situation with RP’s keeper Firdaus Samat. Masri took a shot, but his momentum carried him onto to the goalpost and he knocked it awry.

Firdaus managed to block the shot, but could not prevent Masri from winning the ball and simply tapping it over his head into goal. TP's bench burst into cheers, but it was short-lived as the referee disallowed the goal, perhaps claiming that the goalpost was not properly situated when the goal was scored.

Not disheartened, TP's Jian Hong took a fantastic drag shot from behind half-court into the bottom right corner of the goal to score TP's second. They were definitely proving the hugely-partisan crowd wrong as the pre-match favourites RP were buckling under pressure.

RP's Afzal led the team in the offensive, but TP's defense was tight on him as defenders consistently blocked his shots. A very well-executed volley shortly after was off-target, as were other close shaves.

TP's Nasiruddin (#3) passed the ball from the left corner into RP's slot area. RP's keeper fumbled the ball and Nasiruddin almost regained possession, but RP's Sean Huang (#17) managed a block and came away with the ball.

RP were handed a numerical advantage when they were awarded a free-hit in TP's half at the 27:33 mark. TP were switching lines and had an extra man on court. Jian Hong held the ball the entire time and was asking his captain Muhammad Asyraf (#5) to leave the court, but the former was deemed to be delaying play as he was holding RP's ball, and was sent off.

TP now had to play the crowd favourites with one man short, and just when they thought they managed to weather the storm, controversy brew when RP's Sean took a shot from a free-hit, and the ball seemed to have been kicked or deflected into the goal.

The away side were up in arms over the goal as the whole team ran onto the court to question the referee's decision to let it stand. But just like any other match, their decision was final and the second period ended shortly after with TP leading 2-1.

The crowd grew exponentially throughout the first two periods to support their home team. Extremely loud horns or whistles were distributed and they confused the players on court and became annoying. It did, however, provide a very good atmosphere for the RP players.

Early in the third period, RP's Lim Jin Quan (#12) took a shot from the right of the goal post at a tremendously acute angle. The ball rolled on the goal line behind the keeper Lin He Jun (#13), and an on-rushing Afzal did not reach the ball in time to get a good shot.

In the 32nd minute, RP's Jarir Jumaat (#6) held the ball behind TP's goal post. He found his team mate Lavanesh S/O G Gunasagaran (#18) in TP's slot area for a simple tap into the goal, levelling the match at 2 apiece.

RP's Jarir got into a scuffle behind his own goalpost upon the resumption of the game, and was given a 2-minute penalty for pushing TP's Rayvier Lee (#17). Jarir was seen taunting and pointing at the referee and had to be restrained by his teammates. He was practically pulled to the penalty bench and was still being uncooperative, prompting the referees to send him off for misconduct or unsportsmanlike behaviour, incurring a 5-minute bench penalty as a result.

TP tried to capitalize on the huge advantage in their hands. In a 2-minute bench penalty, if the opposing team scores, the offender's penalty ends and he may return to play. This is not the same for the 5-minute penalty, and he must serve the full 5 minutes regardless of a goal or not.

A minute and a half into the penalty, RP's Lavanesh gained possession behind TP's goalpost. All it took was a simple forehand wrap from him to give RP a leg up in the match, and they now led 3-2.

Even more shocking was that 30 seconds later, RP scored yet another goal despite being numerically disadvantaged. Captain Abdul Hadi (#9) passed to Muhammad Miryanto (#7) for a simple tap-in to make it 4-2 to RP. TP had now conceded two goals with a one-man advantage within a span of two minutes.

The game became increasingly rough and violent, with sticks and players flying all over the place. It was a wonder how no sticks were broken during that match. The crowd became more emotional as well, as shouts of protest and cheers could be heard from supporters.

With 1:30 left on the clock and still trailing by two goals, TP took desperate measures and pulled out their keeper and played six outfield players. With 13 seconds left, and TP trying their best to reduce the deficit, RP's Jin Quan finally got his goal when he received a pass from Afzal. He took a backhand shot into the goal past Calvin Lim (#71) who was guarding it. The final whistle came soon after, and RP came out tops 5-2.

It was definitely an exciting match that could have gone either way and had all the rare occurrences of a disallowed goal, a 5-minute bench penalty and several points of controversy. It will be, without doubt, one of the matches of the season, of how RP fought to win from two goals down with their supporters cheering non-stop. Those who missed the action should be disappointed, while those who made the trip will not forget this match.