A Division Football: Dunman High rue missed chances in 1-1 draw with Nanyang Junior College

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

Saint Andrew’s Junior College, April 5,2011 — Dunman High School drew 1-1 with Nanyang Junior College in their National A Division Football Championship Group B game.

Having tasted defeat in their previous matches, both teams were eager to get their seasons back on track with a win today. Just two points off the group leaders, St Andrew’s Junior College, Dunman High knew that a victory today would catapult them to the top of the group, albeit for a few hours.

With that in mind, Dunman High coach Kelvin Seow warned his players against complacency before the match. However, the advice seemed to fall on deaf ears as they could not have wished for a worst start.

Barely two minutes into the game, a soft pass by Sherman Lee (DHS #11) resulted in a loose ball and after battling past two defenders, Gautham Rajabanran (NYJC #11) coolly slotted the ball home to hand Nanyang Junior College (NYJC) a very early lead.

The Dunman High players were visibly and understandably shaken but credit to them, it was not long before they hauled themselves back into the game. In the 27th minute, Royston Ong (DHS #16) picked the ball up just outside the box and started a jinking run leaving three opposition defenders in his wake and, after forcing the goalkeeper to commit, he squared the ball to the onrushing Timothy Ang (DHS #20) for a simple tap-in to turn the tide of the match.

Both teams had slightly similar attacking styles, relying on the pace of their speedy forwards. So the key question was which team had the players that could provide the final ball for their strikers to finish.

With the scores back level, Dunman High surged forward with their new-found confidence, putting NYJC on the back foot for most of the time. Just after half an hour of play, Dunman High almost got the lead that they were looking for.

After some shaky defending by NYJC, a looping header that beat the goalkeeper was bouncing goal-bound until Dale Ong (NYJC #2) scrambled back to clear it off the line for a corner.

An injury to their custodian after colliding with Timothy Ang during an aerial challenge compounded their misery in a first half that started so brightly for them. It seemed like the half time whistle could not come soon enough for them.

In the second half, Dunman High continued their siege on NYJC’s goal although in doing so it resulted in a few half chances for NYJC, with one instance requiring Chun Seng (DHS #1) to rush off his line and slide to dispossess an NYJC player in the box.

Timothy Ang was a constant threat to the NYJC defence with his pace and trickery. Although his flicks were exciting to watch, it was his aerial ability that continued to trouble Nanyang as they would find out in the 55th minute when he glanced a header down for Yan Jianfeng (DHS #7).

With only the keeper to beat, Jianfeng hit the post, much to the relief of the NYJC team.

NYJC coach Sio Beng was pretty satisfied with the result.

“It was not a bad result considering that Dunman High is a tough team to beat although I am disappointed with our first half performance,” said the coach.

Dunman High coach Kelvin Seow rued the early NYJC goal but was hopeful of his team’s qualifying chances.

“We had a mountain to climb after conceding too early in the game,” he said.”It is not a very bleak situation for us as long as Anderson Junior College does not win their match against Saint Andrew’s Junior College.”

With the SAJC against AJC match postponed due to bad weather, Dunman’s fate is in their hands as they face AJC in a crucial next match on Friday, April 8th, 2011, while Nanyang will face Catholic Junior College also on the same day.

CJC’s game with Yishun Junior College was also postponed due to bad weather.

Match Statistics
NYJC 1 DHS 1
Scorers: Gautham Rajabanran (NYJC #11), Timothy Ang (DHS #20)

National A Division Football Championship — Full fixtures and results

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