By REDintern Stefanus Ian

St Andrew’s Junior College, Friday, April 1, 2011 — Anderson Junior College (AJC) continued their winning form as they stormed to the top of Group B with a 2-0 victory over Yishun Junior College (YJC) in the National A Division Boys’ Football Championship.

This was AJC’s second win in a row and they lead Group B on goal difference with a perfect 2-0 win-loss record. St Andrew’s Junior College are second on goal difference. YJC are winless in their two games so far and have yet to score a goal.

Playing their usual physical and direct football, AJC took a very early lead two minutes into the match. Taking a free kick from beyond the half-way line, Ho Kok Wee (#24) sent a long looping ball which ended up bouncing over the YJC custodian in what must be one of the earliest goals in the A Division Football Championship history.

The early goal changed the complexion of the match as YJC were forced to chase the game from early on. Both sides were quite evenly matched in most aspects of their game and this resulted in a close match where a single mistake would determine the result of the game.

Having the physical advantage in terms of size, AJC looked to impose themselves with hard challenges. The referee did little to rein in the players and as a result the YJC players took the brunt of the challenges with the YJC coach, who only want to be referred to as Ah Seng, feeling that the referee could have protected his boys more.

AJC, with their direct football style, were always looking to exploit the speed of their attackers and at times they were more than happy to bypass their midfield to launch their attacks. However, AJC found it difficult to extend their lead as their attacking players were guilty of being wasteful in front of goal.

AJC’s Bui Doan Huy (#8) could have scored a few goals with the number of chances he had but he simply took too long with his shots. AJC were not helped by the fact that the YJC defenders were usually quick enough to chase back and close down any AJC attackers that managed to pierce their defensive wall.

The same problem of taking too many touches and misplaced passes also plagued YJC. It did not help that the weather was scorching hot, making the players tire much faster.

The physical challenges soon took a toll on the YJC players as the game wore on. Their opponents seemed to be slightly fitter and it showed as AJC finally found the goal to kill off the game just around the hour mark through Melvin Joel (#18) scoring his second goal in as many matches for an eventual 2-0 victory.

“The match was evenly-contested,” said Mr Mohanadas, AJC’s teacher-in-charge.

AJC will now take on SAJC next Tuesday, April 5th, 4.45pm, in a top-of-the-table clash while YJC will play Catholic Junior College on the same day as well.

Match Statistics
AJC 2 YJC 0
Scorers: Ho Kok Wee (AJC #24), Melvin Joel ( AJC #18)

National A Division Football Championship — full fixtures and results