By Khairulnizam/Red Sports
Tan Shi Ying (#21) of IJC looks to stop Edward Tan (#11) of SJI from getting to loose ball. (Photo 1 © Joseph Lee/Red Sports)
Millennia Institute, Thursday, April 11, 2013 — St. Joseph’s Institution (SJI) International beat Innova Junior College (IJC) 5–0 in the first round of the National A Division Football Championship, bouncing back from their previous 4–0 loss to Anglo-Chinese Junior College.
The first half saw SJI International starting their game well with Johann Fernando (#4) netting an early goal. He managed to break free from IJC’s defensive line, resulting in a one-on-one with the keeper. He slotted home the ball past IJC keeper Toh Xu Jie (#1) to marked the first of many goals to come.
Not long later, SJI International claimed their second goal. Liam Dixon (#2) took a well-placed shot from outside the box which Xu Jie (#1) of IJC attempted to palm away but the shot was too strong and the ball ended up in the back of the net for a 2–0 lead.
The first half went on with much of the play happening in IJC’s half. Towards the end of the half, one of IJC’s defenders, Zheng Hua Xuan, replaced Xu Jie (#1) as the keeper because Xu Jie was still recovering from his wrist and ankle injuries.
Moments later, a scuffle broke out between Liam Dixon (#2) of SJI(I) and J.Danraj (#7) of IJC resulting in both players being yellow carded. The first half ended with SJI International leading 2–0.
IJC kicked off the second half with an attack on the SJI International defense. The SJI International keeper fumbled the ball in the box but Ravinpal Singh (#17) of IJC could not capitalise on the error.
Subsequently, a one-two play between Joshua Ho (#9) and Isaac Siow (#17) of SJI International outside the box allowed the latter to have sufficient space to confidently blast a shot from the edge of the box for his team’s third goal and a 3–0 lead.
After the goal, IJC started to pressure and attack more but SJI International were able to cope with the intensity. SJI International also began to change their playing style, utilising more through balls into the box rather than dribbling or crossing the ball in. Hua Xuan (#13) of IJC was able to deal with most of these attacks.
The next goal for SJI International came from Liam Dixon (#2) again, who was assisted this time by Joshua Ho (#9). Liam managed to make space for himself by dribbling past a defender before taking a well-directed shot from outside of the box for a 4–0 lead.
Barely a minute later, SJI International struck again. A through ball by found Isaac Siow (#17) of SJI International and he slotted the ball home with accuracy into the bottom corner of the net to make it 5–0.
Towards the end of the second half, the SJI International keeper fumbled with the ball from a free kick but no IJC strikers were on hand to get to the dropped ball in time to pull one back for the team. Yao Hua Wu (#6) of SJI International was then given the yellow card for time wasting after launching the ball into the air after an offside foul was called on him.
“I felt that we played well today. I mean it’s only our second year in this competition and it’s a good start for us. Our team gelled very nicely even though we didn’t have much playing time together. The goals today were definitely the highlight for me,” said SJI International captain, Aiden Sim (#10).
“It’s a good start for us and it’s only the second game. My team and I are definitely looking forward to the rest of the games. We have to tighten up at the back, cut down on slip ups in our defense and of course try for more clean sheets,” Aiden added.
Vice-captain of the IJC squad, Jonathan Ryan (#11), looked downcast as he shared his thoughts on the game.
“It’s a disappointing result for us. We fought more in the past games as compared to this. However, I have to commend the team for still playing their hearts out even when we were 5–0 down, especially Tan Shi Ying (#21), who still continued playing even after pulling a muscle,” said Jonathan.
“We’ll take one game at a time and we have to learn to work together as a team as well as gel together. After all, it’s the overall experience of this competition that matters most,” Jonathan added.
Score
SJI International vs IJC
1st half: 2–0
2nd half: 3–0 (5–0)
Scorers
SJI Int’l
(#2) — 2 goals
(#17) — 2 goals
(#4) — 1 goal
SJI International Roster
Mateus Aboud(#1, ) Liam Dixon (#2), Dhaneshan Thirugnanasambhandan (#3), Johann Fernando (#4), Avinaash Padmanabhan (#5), Yao Hua Wu (#6), Tristan Koay (#7), Ben Rose (#8), Joshua Ho (#9), Aiden Sim (#10), Edward Tan (#11), Jin Rong Koo (#12), Haran Kumar (#13), Kushal Shah (#14), Manuel Moreno (#15), Kevin Lim (#16), Isaac Siow (#17), Laiseng Liew (18), Robert Ashburn (#19), Tushar Wadhwani (#20)
IJC Roster
Toh Xu Jie (#1), Muhammad Khairul (#2), Nooriman Bin Riduan (#3), Teo Jun Kai (#4), J. Danraj (#7), Martin Louis (#8), Shivavaruman Durairaj © (#9),Raphael Luke (#10), Jonathan Ryan (#11), Isaac Wong (#12), Zheng Hua Xuan (#13), Srenivasan S/O Ravi (#14), Joshua Cheong (#15), Ravinpal Singh (#17), Kareti Arjun (#18), Ahmad Shaqil (#19), Muhammad Durrani (#20), Tan Shi Ying (#21), Rashvin Singh (#23), Mohamed Yazid (#25)
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