Story by REDintern Darren Ho. Photos by Chua Kai Yun/Red Sports.
Sports School celebrate Abdul Rasaq Ishiekwene Akeem’s (SSP #10, centre) headed goal. (Photo 1 © Chua Kai Yun/Red Sports)
St. Patrick’s Secondary, Wednesday, April 20, 2016 – Singapore Sports School (SSP) took a step closer to Round 2 after edging out Regent Secondary (RS) 1-0 in the National B Division Football Championship.
Abdul Rasaq’s (SSP #10) headed goal was enough to help put Sports School at the top of their group with two wins out two, and they are now just one point away from advancing to Round 2.
The deciding goal came in the 48th minute when Mohamad Hamizan (SSP #2) charged down the left flank and sent over a high cross. Rasaq (SSP #10) ghosted into the box to head the ball into the right corner of the goal.
Regent defended well not to concede a second, but could not find a goal themselves to get back into the game.
Both teams came into the Nationals with stellar performances in the zonal championship.
Singapore Sports School completed the North Zone Championship as unbeaten champions, and had fought hard for a 2-1 victory over St. Patrick’s School earlier this week.
For Regent, they had progressed into the Nationals after finishing third in the West Zone. They suffered an early blow in the Nationals after a costly 4-0 defeat by Bendemeer Secondary in their opening match last Monday.
Despite a better run up to this game, Sports School did not find this match easy.
Regent had the brighter start to the game in the opening 30 minutes and had chances to take the lead.
They nearly found the net after just two minutes. Muhammad Nur Adam Bin Abdullah (SSP #3) fouled Muhammad Harrys (RS #17) to give away a cheap free-kick in a dangerous position, just outside the penalty box.
Free-kick taker Harrys (RS #17) went for the top right corner with a curled shot, but it was kept out for a corner by goalkeeper Kevin Wong (SSP #21) with a fine reflex save.
Regent persisted to threaten and nearly succeeded in the 18th minute when another long-range attempt on goal from Harrys (RS #17) forced another diving save from Kevin (SSP #21). The ball took a rebound off his touch, but there was no Regent player in the penalty box to slot it home.
After a slow start in the opening stages, Sports School soon found their rhythm right before half-time.
Just five minutes before the inteval, left-winger Christian Chiang (SSP #5) flighted a perfect pass into the path of Muhamad Firas (SSP #9) who could not tap the ball into the net.
Sports School did come close to adding a second after Abdul Rasaq’s (SSP #10) opener, but Ashley Yong’s (SSP #7) long-range effort on goal crashed against the bar.
Regent looked even more threatening on the other end of the pitch in the closing stages.
Mohamed Zulkifli (RS #2) delivered a long cross from his own half to find Mohammed Danial (RS #9), who raced into the penalty and flicked the ball over the keeper.
The ball floated in the air before landing near the goal post, only to miss by a whisker.
The game started to drift downhill for Regent when Mohammad Haikal (RS #7) was shown a straight red by the referee after losing his temper and using foul language.
The referee did try to have a word to cool things down with him, but his unapologetic state left the referee with no choice but to send him off.
This came after Haikal (RS #7) was displeased by the refree’s decision not to award a penalty when he was challenged in the penalty box in the closing stages of the match.
With this defeat, Regent are now bottom of the group with a negative goal difference of five goals. They need to not only beat St. Patrick’s School by a huge margin, but also require Singapore Sports School to defeat Bendemeer.
Score by Half
Sports School vs Regent
1st Half: 0-0
2nd Half: 1-0
Full-time: 1-0
Scorer
Sports School
Abdul Rasaq (#10) – 1 goal (48th min)
Sports School Roster
Lim Hai Yi Wilson (#1), Mohamad Hamizan Bin Mohamad Hisham (#2), Muhammad Nur Adam Bin Abdullah (#3), Mohamed Sahffee Bin Jubpre (#4), Christian Chiang Moroni (#5), Muhammad Khairul Ikhwan Bin Karim (#6), Ashley Yong Cheng Wai (#7), Muhamad Firas Bin Irwan (#9), Abdul Rasaq Ishiekwene Akeem (#10), Danial Izaac Bin Hazree (#11), Elijah Lim Teck Yong (#12), Kenneth Chew Jun Kiat (#14), Mohd Nabil Fikri Bin Mohammad (#15), Mohamad Daniel Matin Bin Mohamad Azlan (#17), Joel Chew Joon Herng (#18), Keefe Soon Ming Hui (#19), Oliver Sim Jing Xi (#20), Kevin Wong (#21), Harhys Rizal Gareth Stewart (#22), Jordan Nicolas Vestering (#24)
Regent Roster
Mohammad Arif B Salam (#1), Mohamed Zulkifli B Abdullah (#2), Muhammad Fazil B Abdulmajid (#3), Nabil Faiq B Fazli (#4), Danish Akid B Samsudin (#5), Abdul Bari B Mohd Basir (#6), Mohammad Haikal B Rosli (#7), Mohamed Ashraf B Azman (#8), Mohammed Danial B Zulkifli (#9), Mohamed Afiq B Mohdbasheer (#10), Indra Shafiq B Sukaimi (#11), Muhammad Ridhwan B Jamal (#12), Muhammad Izzudin B M A W (#13), Nur Halim B Abdul Rahim (#14), Muhammad Azrie B Hathar (#15), Amirul Zaki B Buhari (#16), Muhammad Harrys Zulfakar B (#17), Muhammad Fikri B Safari (#18), Muhammad Adi Syukri B Mohd S (#19), Muhammad Furqan B Muladi (#20)
More photos next page
Mohamad Hisham Bin Mohamad Hisham (#2) assisted the goal and the goal keeper for Singapore Sports School was Kevin Wong (#21)
Hi, thanks for spotting the error. The changes have been made. All the Best!