Nanyang Poly cruise to 3-0 win over Ngee Ann Poly in POL-ITE Women’s Hockey

Contributed by reader Shadiq Al-Hussain. Photos by REDintern Jon Han Tan.

Nanyang Polytechnic, Friday, November 20, 2009 – Defending champions Nanyang Polytechnic (NYP) defeated Ngee Ann Polytechnic (NP) 3-0 to gain an advantage in the title race for the Polytechnic-Institute of Technical Education (POL-ITE) Women’s Hockey Championship.

The match was a largely one-sided affair from the start, with NYP's centre-half pairing of Clarisse (#9) and Syafiza (#11) dictating the match comfortably. Their early dominance of the match gave them the first penalty corner of the game, and a few minutes later, the first goal of the match, as Li Min (#14) fired home from a penalty corner on 15 minutes.

NYP should perhaps have doubled their lead when centre-forward Sabrina (#28) was presented with a one-on-one chance, but she shot straight at the NP goalkeeper, Felissa Lai (#10).

However, Felissa could not do much to stop NYP's second goal in the 29th minute, as NYP's Francine (#7) deflected the ball away from her and into the net from close range.

Perhaps the one statistic to sum up NYP's first half dominance was the solitary touch of the ball the NYP goalkeeper had in the entire half.

The second half, however, started with signs of change, as NP displayed renewed vigour and started running at NYP's backline.
NP's frequent forays down the right flank with Samantha Wong (#3) were especially promising.

NP were soon awarded a penalty stroke in the 34th minute after an NYP defender, having to defend an open goal with her goalkeeper out of position, was adjudged to have stopped the ball illegally on the goal line with her feet. NP, however, failed to make the most of the chance as Chung Zi Ya (#14)'s penalty rolled wide of the left post.

The penalty seemed to serve as a wake-up call for NYP, who then began to display the tenacity they showed in the first half. Soon, their dominance was reestablished, again with Clarisse and Syafiza starting to control the match.

In the 40th minute, NYP's Shu Qi (#2) reacted to a stray ball in the ´D' to tap the ball into an empty goal, giving her team a much more comfortable 3-0 lead.

The third NYP goal seemed to take any remaining bite out of NP, who then struggled to muster attacks for the rest of the match. NYP continued their siege on the NP ´D', but NP had their goalkeeper Felissa to thank for keeping the score at 3-0 with her numerous saves.

This result puts NYP at the top of the table with two wins and one loss. Singapore Polytechnic, whose match was rescheduled due to rain, will have to beat their opponents Temasek Polytechnic in order to claim the title.

Editor’s note: If you recognise yourself or your team mates in any of the photos, feel free to leave the names behind in the comments section and we will update accordingly. Thanks!