Story by Carissa Tan/Red Sports. Photos by Clara Yuan/Red Sports
Ryan Soh (RVHS #9) and an ACS (International) player fighting for control of the ball. (Photo 1 © Clara Yuan/Red Sports)
Nanyang Junior College, Monday, April 6, 2015 — River Valley High (RVHS) scored a late goal in the second half to hold Anglo-Chinese School (International) to a 1–1 tie in the preliminary round of the National A Division Football Championship.
Good defending from RVHS hindered ACS (Int) from attacking effectively at the start. However, Arush Taneja (#17) of ACS (Int) was able to capitalise on a direct free-kick midway into the first half for the opening goal.
Subsequently, ACS (Int) players clustered together, employing multiple short passes in the midfield. When this proved to be ineffective, they relied on lobs forward to their lone striker to attack.
Tan Yu Jing (RVHS #10) nearly scored the equalizer when he pressed ahead off a lob from Matteus Poon (#5). He headed the ball over the goalkeeper but this was deftly cleared away by an ACS (Int) centre-back.
Although both teams were recharged in the second half, they struggled to keep possession.
In a bid to hold on to their lead, ACS (Int) defenders clustered together to crowd out RVHS attackers. This forced RVHS to only shoot from far, which affected their accuracy.
RHVS were eventually able to break through the defence for the equalising goal. In the last 10 minutes, a quick counter-attack by RVHS allowed Yeo Shi Jie (#17) to break away from ACS (Int) defenders to shoot a low ball in.
With the tying goal, RVHS were rejuvenated and pressed eagerly for a second.
However, despite the best efforts of both teams, the match ended in a draw.
ACS (Int) captain, Colin Oon (#6), said, “It (the game) could have been better. Our team is quite unfit, and we don’t work out enough. We could have done a lot more. Our finishing could have been improved.”
Similarly, RVHS’s vice captain, Alvianto Pang (#13), said, “During the first 15 minutes, we were doing quite okay with a few shots but we didn’t take our chances. We let the opponents come over us. We were a bit demoralised. Luckily, we managed to deny them more shots. In the second half, things got better for us after we did a few substitutions and switched our tactics.”
This is RVHS’s first match of the season. Their previous match against National Junior College (NJC) was postponed due to bad weather. RVHS will play Innova Junior College next while ACS (Int) will be up against Meridian Junior College for their second match of the season.
Scoring by half
RVHS vs ACS (Int)
1st half: 0–1
2nd half: 1–0 (1–1)
Scorers
RVHS
Yeo Shi Jie (#17) – 1 goal
ACS (Int)
Arush Taneja (#17) – 1 goal
RVHS Roster
Wang Ri Zhao (#1), Loh Yukang (#2), Chao Yu De (#3), Yip Jen Wei (#4), Poon Wei Ren, Matteus (#5), Galen Tan Jun Hong (#6), Ng Wei Heng (#7), Lee Wei En (#8), Ryan Soh (#9), Tan Yu Jing (#10), Aung Naing Tun (#11), Lim Geng Sheng (#12), Pang Rui Yi Alvianto (#13), Lek Kai Jie (#15), Yeo Shi Jie (#17), Zhang Yechong (#18), Heng Zi Min Nicholas (#19), Sing Hui (#20)
ACS (Int)
Chea Chan Heng (#1), Kim Young Hown (#2), Hwang Soonha (#3), Sanjay Kim Singh Khaira (#5), Colin Oon (#6), Lin Mu-Chen (#12), Vishaalraj Singh Sidhu (#13), Anand Menon (#14), Daniel Torel (#15), Dominic Kwan (#16), Arush Taneja (#17), Muhd Danial Liew (#19), Rohan Arya (#21), Jeremy Yu (#23), Yash Dhar (#24), Syed Armaan Zaheer (#25), Chung Yongjin (#28), Agastya Mudgal (#31), Tan Hae San (#32), Ng Ze Weng (#40)
National A Division Boys’ Football Championship – fixtures and results
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