Sports School fall to CHIJ (Toa Payoh) in second round of B Division netball

By Koh Yizhe/Red Sports

Republic Polytechnic, Friday, April 16, 2010 - Defending champions CHIJ (Toa Payoh) delivered Singapore Sports School their first defeat of the season with a slim 29-25 victory in Group Y as the second round of the B Division Netball Championship came to an end.

Both schools were playing for the top spot of Group Y having already qualified for the semi-finals with comfortable wins over Tanjong Katong Secondary and Nan Hua High School. After securing first place with the win, CHIJ will next play Cedar Girls’ Secondary of Group X who scraped through to the last four with a 39-24 win over Dunman Secondary on the final day.

For Sports School, they have to settle for second and will hope to overcome Group X winners Raffles Girls' School in the semi-finals after the South Zone Champions steam-rolled past St. Margaret’s Secondary, Dunman Secondary and Cedar.

"[The semi-final against Sports School] will be a 50-50 match," said Raffles Girls' School coach Ms. Chng Li Li. "Both teams have an equal chance of winning it. We will have to be very sharp in our shooting if we want to beat them [Sports School]."

CHIJ were slow to get settled and Sports School took full advantage, establishing an early lead with swift rotations in attack. The North Zone champions held a 10-7 lead at the end of the first quarter.

It was a very different story in the second quarter however, as CHIJ turned up their defense with timely interceptions to prevent Sports School from scoring. Even when Sports School were able to get into scoring positions, they were unable to convert these opportunities into goals and would count themselves unfortunate not to see some of them go in.

Those wasted chances by Sports School coupled with a strong performance from CHIJ's forwards allowed CHIJ to take a slim 17-16 lead at the half.

CHIJ then turned their game up in the third quarter. Sports School found no reply to their superior opponent's pressure and cracked as a result, scoring just three goals while conceding eight. CHIJ looked to have the game seemingly wrapped up at this point, bringing a 25-19 lead into the final quarter.

However, Sports School made a late push for the match. They passed better in the final quarter and their shooting was on the mark. Although they were able to win the final quarter 6-4, the CHIJ lead proved too great, and Sports School fell 25-29.

"Just a few misplaced passes cost us," said Natalie Koh, Sports School's captain. "Everyone put in a tremendous effort to win and both teams were really fighting hard. Today’s game was really good."

"Although we tried to catch up, it wasn't enough," she added.

When asked if she thought they could beat Raffles in the semi-finals she said, "We'll see come Monday. No doubt it will be a good fight and hopefully we'll be able to win. We just need to be stronger going forward and not misplace our passes."

The semi-finals will be played at Yishun Sports Hall at 1445 and 1600 hours on Monday, April 18, 2010.

Go to Fixtures and Results page for more scores and information

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