Youth Olympic Hockey: Singapore boys succumb to second successive heavy defeat against Belgium

Story by Kenneth Tan/Red Sports. Photos by Low Sze Sen/Red Sports

Sengkang Hockey Stadium, Wednesday, August 18, 2010 — After a tough 1-8 defeat against Australia yesterday, the Singapore boys’ hockey team was handed another tough task against Belgium in the Youth Olympic Games. It was a much improved performance but Belgium’s goal-scoring efficiency ensured Singapore were handed another heavy defeat with a 7-1 scoreline.

Within seven minutes of the start, Belgium took the lead through Arno Devreker (#18). It was déjà vu for Singapore as they conceded the opening goal against Australia in the same fashion the day before.

Singapore created their first chance at the 10-minute mark when Silas Abdul Razak Noor Shah (#9) released Karleef Sasi Abdullah (#14) in an one-on-one opportunity with Belgium goalie Arnaud Flamand. However Flamand came out well to slide the ball clear.

It was a good period with Singapore gradually making inroads into the Belgian defence but unfortunately they conceded against the run of play on 19 minutes when Arno Devreker capitalised on a defensive loophole on the left of Singapore’s defence to slot home his second goal.

Four minutes later, Belgium extended their lead to 3-0 with a similar goal by Nicolas De Kerpel (#13).

With hordes of Singapore fans and Singapore Hockey Federation (SHF) president Annabel Pennefather watching from the stands, Singapore ended the first half on a high with Silas Abdul Razak going on an exciting solo run before being crowded out. Muhd Zulfadhli Jasni Ismail (#7) then produced a fantastic turn and shot that went wide of goal.

They continued in the same tempo in the opening stages of the second half and were rewarded seven minutes into it.

Captain and midfielder Nur Ashriq Ferdaus Zulkepli (#6) went on a surging run through midfield before being brought down by Belgium’s Alexander Hendricks (#11). The resulting corner saw Mohd Fadzly Mohd Adam’s shot (#10) parried into the path of Rahmat Abdul Jali (#8) who tapped home in the midst of the melee. The goal got the crowd going with cheers of “Singapore!” coming from the stands.

They could have gotten another goal back on 46 minutes when Muhd Hidayat Mat Rahim (#13) intercepted a slack pass out of defence by Belgium and set up Silas Abdul Razak through on goal. Silas swiftly rounded Flaman, but took too long to release the shot as Flamand got up well to deflect the ball wide.

It would have been a different story altogether if he had brought Singapore back to narrow the scoreline to just 2-3. But that proved to be a costly miss as Belgium scored barely seconds thereafter and extended their lead when Arno Devreker punished Singapore’s lapse of concentration at the back to score his third goal via a penalty corner to put Belgium 4-1 up.

That marked the end of Singapore’s resistance as Belgium landed three goals in the last five minutes to earn a thumping victory against the hosts.

Firstly it was Dekrever was picked up his fourth goal of the night with an accurate finish into the bottom left corner of the goal. Gaetan Perez (#13) then joined in the scoring with a shot that was clinically dispatched into goal after he was set up from a penalty corner.

Dimitri Cuvelier (#3) completed the icing on Belgium’s cake eight seconds before the final whistle with a successful penalty stroke past Singapore goalie Samudra Ong (#1).

Singapore could have gotten a consolation goal but Mohd Fadzly Mohd Adam’s fierce snapshot was parried by Flamand.

Singapore captain Nur Ashriq Ferdaus Zulkepli was a proud man despite the heavy defeat. He said: “We played relatively well, we put our heart and soul into the game. It was just the small errors that cost us the game.”

When asked what the difference between this game and the game against Australia yesterday, he added: ”Both are European teams and they play with the same style. What we try to do against them was to attack and defend as a unit and keep it tight at the back. Size was not a factor, they’re bigger than us but we managed to fight well against them.”

Singapore will take on Pakistan next this Friday, 8.30pm, at the same venue. It will be another daunting task for them as Pakistan thrashed Chile with a merciless 15-1 scoreline earlier in the day. However Ferdaus is keeping his hopes up for the upcoming challenge.

“We try to go into every game with confidence. We hope to win the next game and we think we can do it,” he concluded.

For Singapore fixtures and results, go to our 2010 YOG fixtures page

For Singapore fixtures and results, go to our 2010 YOG fixtures page