Youth Olympic Hockey: Singapore boys go down to Ghana for fifth successive loss

Story by Alan Chiang/Red Sports

Sengkang Hockey Stadium, Monday, August 23, 2010 — The Singapore boys’ team fought and battled till the end of their game against Ghana, but eventually lost 1-2 to finish bottom of the group in the Youth Olympic Games hockey competition.

Two goals in each half were enough for Ghana to pick up their second win of the competition, while Mohd Haseef Salim (#4) scored the host nation’s solitary goal to reduce the deficit. That was his fourth goal in five preliminary round matches.

Singapore went into the match looking to avoid finishing last out of six teams, but could even play for the bronze medal if they could beat Ghana by at least three goals.

The African team, with a win and three defeats under their belt, also needed a win to qualify for the third and fourth placing match.

Singapore’s previous match was a 1-2 loss against Chile, to which Coach Gerard Danker attributed the “element of luck and poor umpiring”. He was looking to restore faith for the host nation against the Ghanaians in the final game of the preliminary round.

The Ghanaians employed an aggressive front right from the first whistle. They almost found the back of the net within the first few minutes, but were denied by last-gasp defending from Singapore’s Mohd Fadzly Mohamed Adam (#10).

Singapore managed to find their groove in the game when they were awarded a penalty corner after five minutes of play. Singapore’s hotshot Mohd Haseef’s (#4) resulting shot was denied by a goal-line clearance as the host nation looked to take a lead. Singapore’s Muhd Fadhil Muhd Rizaini (#11) also had his goal ruled out after his foot got in his way.

Equipped with lightning pace and great physical strength, Ghana began to dominate with some delightful counter-attacks. Their best effort fell to Johnny Botsio (#10), who was presented with a sitter after some quick passes brought him clear on goal. However, he placed his shot well wide as Singapore held on.

Coach Danker brought on fresh legs with a triple substitution midway through the first half but the change did little to alter the fortunes of the host nation.

Singapore’s goalkeeper Kevin Ng (#2), who replaced regular starter Samudra Ong (#1), needed to be at his best to deny Ghana’s forward line led by Ebenezer Arthur (#13). Singapore had their chances at the penalty corners but Ghana’s back line were equal to successive strikes from Singapore’s captain Nur Ashriq Ferdaus Zulkepli (#6) and Mohd Haseef (#4).

In the dying minutes of the first half, Ghana seized the lead through a counter-attack. A diminutive Selom Kemevor (#14), who stands at 1.53m tall, slotted the ball into an empty net after his teammate Abdul Rahman Anum’s (#9) pass had beaten Singapore’s custodian.

Singapore pushed forward for the majority of the second half as the host nation sought to claim a win. Just two minutes into play, Singapore were awarded two successive penalty corners, but not only were Ghana able to match up to Singapore’s offensive efforts, they even went on to double their lead.

Abdul Rahman Anum scored Ghana’s second goal in the 44th minute when his shot was deflected into the net after he went on a darting run into Singapore’s penalty box.

However, Abdul Rahman turned from hero to zero when he was given a yellow card after a deliberate foul with 12 minutes remaining in the game. Singapore took advantage of their numerical superiority and finally converted their penalty corner through Mohd Haseef’s (#4) thunderous shot.

He wasted another penalty corner moments later as Singapore searched for that all-important equaliser. Silas Abdul Razak Noor Shah (#9) then failed to draw on his teammates after showcasing excellent control of the ball.

Singapore fell short of ideas towards the end and had to succumb to their fifth consecutive loss in the competition.

Nevertheless, Singapore’s captain Nur Ashriq (#6) extended his appreciation to the supporters who followed them throughout the entire competition. He said, “They are our 12th man on the pitch. They are so important to help boost our morale.”

On the Ghanaians, he commented: “We know that they are very aggressive and will come hard at us. But we were prepared to follow our plans and put up a strong fight.”

Singapore’s coach Gerard Danker added: “We wasted a lot of chances, only made one of six penalty corners, and it is crucial to convert those in order to win. But credit to the Ghanaians who also defended well against us.”

He also felt that Singapore stood a good chance to finish fifth in the next classification game.

He said: “The boys took the defeat badly from the Chile match and they will be ready to overturn that loss. There will be little adjustments for the next match against Chile.”

Singapore will play Chile in the fifth and sixth classification match on Wednesday, August 25th, at 4pm.