A Division Football: St Andrew’s JC see off Nanyang JC 2-0 for first win of new season

Story by REDintern Stefanus Ian. Photos by Vanessa Lim/Red Sports

St Andrew’s Junior College, Tuesday, March 29, 2011 — Last season’s losing finalists Saint Andrew’s Junior College won their opening Group B match of the National A Division Football Championship with a 2-0 win over Nanyang Junior College.

The Saints dominated possession but found it difficult to break down a hard-working and very disciplined Nanyang defence who tirelessly repelled off wave after wave of attacks. It also helped that they have a very promising shot stopper in Jonathan Chew who made at least two crucial point blank saves in the first 20 minutes alone. SAJC also had a shot cleared off the line in the first half.

The Saints, cheered on by a sizeable home crowd, attacked from the kick off. Looking composed on the ball, the fluid passing and movements of the boys in orange were certainly easy on the eye with SAJC’s string puller Shafiq (#5) being very impressive with his pin-point through balls and vision. It seemed clear that the SAJC philosophy was ‘attack is the best from of defence’ as Nanyang went through long spells without possession.

A goal seemed inevitable although it was cruel that it had to come through the mistake of the NYJC’s goalkeeper who has been rock solid up until that point. A teasing cross from the left was misjudged by Jonathan Chew who missed as he went up for the catch and Pradeep (#11) was on hand to bundle it home to chalk up his first goal of the campaign.

The second half saw SAJC playing with more flair with players being more willing to take risks. This allowed NYJC to mount some resistance, with one instance being a very inviting cross from the right which went behind the Saints defence although no one was there to convert it. Other than that, their lack of possession meant that the boys clad in white were limited to hopeful long shots.

Knowing that they have home ground advantage, SAJC continued to press for that decisive second goal to kill off the match. However, the resilient Nanyang defence refused to give them an inch. It finally took a moment of magic by Justin Tan (SAJC #2) to bury the opposition.

After receiving the ball on the corner of the penalty box, surrounded by at least three defenders, he looked up and sent a dipping shot into the top right corner of the goal to the delirium of the home crowd. There was little that the keeper could do, even at full stretch, against a quality strike like that.

With such an organized and disciplined defence, one wonders what would have happened if Nanyang was to score a goal, be it an early lead or even an equalizer.

Despite the loss, NYJC coach Sio Beng remained positive.

“I am very proud of my team and how they all worked hard for each other,” said the coach.

Match Statistics
SAJC 2 NYJC 0
Scorers: Pradeep (SAJC #11), Justin Tan (SAJC #2)

SAJC Lineup: unknown
NYJC Lineup: unknown
If you would like to share the lineup, please do so in the comments section in ‘full name (jersey number)’ format. Thanks.

National A Division Boys’ Football Championship — Full fixtures and results

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