By REDintern Horatio Ho. Photos by REDintern Jason Koh

national a division football

Santosh Magash (VJC #11) sees his effort hit the back of the net. (Photo 1 © Jason Koh)

Victoria Junior College, Thursday, April 28, 2011 — Victoria Junior College (VJC) sent out a strong warning to all the other schools in the National A Division Football Championship with a confident display in their opening second round group game, a 6-0 rout of Anderson Junior College (AJC).

The game had looked rather close at half time with VJC leading 1-0, as they were guilty of wasting several chances to increase their lead. However, they soon stamped their dominance upon the game with five well-taken goals in the second half to kill off the game.

Mohamad Shijudeen (#14) and Santosh Magar (#11) both grabbed two goals each, while Captain Dilip Thapa (#10) and substitute Iskandar Zakarya (#4) also put themselves on the scoresheet.

AJC started brightly, managing to contain VJC in their own half, but were unfortunate when one of VJC’s first attacks ended in a goal after just 5 minutes. VJC Captain Dilip Thapa (#10) saw his fierce low drive parried by the AJC keeper, but Mohamad Shijudeen (#14) ran in to poke in the rebound and give VJC a 1-0 lead.

Left back Shuvod Rai (#6) combined well with right winger Anuruddhan Anuran (#15) to cause many problems for the AJC defense, who seemed unable to deal with the pace of the latter. He managed to get some dangerous crosses into the penalty area but no one was there to pounce and punish AJC. Santosh Magar (#11) also poked agonizingly wide after an inviting cross across the face of goal by Jaren Thun (#2).

VJC scored a second goal within 30 seconds of the start of the second half, as the AJC defense were still settling down. Santosh (#11) ran down the right wing and cut in to blast a ferocious effort towards the AJC goal, which was saved by the keeper. In a repeat of the first goal, Mohd Shijudeen (#14) was fastest to the ball to send the rebound into the net after the faintest of touches.

This instilled confidence in VJC, and they started to impose their high tempo game upon AJC, spraying balls all over the pitch and running the AJC defense ragged. VJC’s PK Hieng (#18) then hit the post before some Nepalese dominance ended AJC’s hopes of fighting back, with three goals in the space of just 6 minutes.

Santosh (#11) first grabbed the third goal with a brilliant solo effort, running into the area and leaving four AJC defenders flat-footed before placing the ball past a stunned AJC keeper. Almost immediately after, Shen Hao (#7) released Captain Dilip Thapa (#10), who ran into the box before cheekily chipping the ball over the AJC keeper for VJC’s fourth goal.

Santosh (#11) then grabbed VJC’s fifth goal after speeding into the box and beating the keeper in another one-on-one situation. AJC seemed to have no response to VJC’s invigorated style of play, and were becoming more and more tired as the VJC players ran rings around them, with many of them cramping up.

Iskandar Zakarya (#4) added the icing on the cake in stoppage time. A mazy dribble by Andrew Nguyen (#9) all the way into the six-yard box ended with an unselfish square ball for Iskandar to finish.

AJC were unlucky to encounter VJC, who played arguably the best game of their season so far, and the rather one-sided scoreline reflected the status of the game.

VJC coach Azrulnizam Shah was happy with the result.

“It encourages my boys to do better, and prepares us very well against our crucial game against Raffles JC,” said coach Azrul.

He hopes that his team manages to “play a higher intensity game, and give our opponents less time, and also play with a tenacity against what I would say is a strong Raffles team”.

He was also pleased with Captain Dilip’s (#10) first goal of the season, saying “everyone, from those on the field to those on the bench, thinks he deserves it, especially after creating so many goals.”

The AJC coach said that his team “lacked speed and concentration, and were punished for that”. However, he was looking forward to the next two games and was confident that his team would give their all to qualify for the semi-finals.

VJC next take on Raffles Junior College next Tuesday, while AJC takes on Jurong Junior College. A win for VJC will see them qualify for the semi-finals, while AJC’s next game is a must-win if they hope to qualify for the semis as well.

Go to next page for more photos