Raffles Institution and Millennia Institute draw 2-2 in A Division Boys floorball

By REDintern Chin Chi Hua.

Choa Chu Kang Sports Hall, Thursday, May 7, 2009 – Raffles Institution came back from two goals down to hold Millennia Institute to a 2-2 draw in the A Division Boys Floorball Championship.

MI started off with full court pressure with swift actions to battle the RI. Just two minutes into the game, Elvin Lee (MI #19) gave a forceful shot at the goalpost, but the RI keeper gave an excellent save, going forward to catch the ball with great accuracy.

With less than ten minutes remaining, RI captain, Muhd Zulilhaam (RI #6), Theodore Tan (RI #3) and Sundaramoorthy Arulnithi (RI #2) had brief exchanges, with what it looks like to be a discussion to spring an attack on MI.

Luckily, Elvin Lee (MI #19) was alert enough to intercept their passes and cleared the ball out of the court.

Two minutes after, Muhd Nadzir (MI #10) dribbled the ball with lightning speed down the court and without hesitation, fired the ball into goal, leaving the RI keeper without any time to react at all.

Another stunner came just 21 seconds after the first goal. With the ball within Nadzir’s control, he did it again! The audience was simply amazed by his sheer speed and accuracy and Nadzir was described to possess volcano speed!

With two goals down from the first period, RI could not take it lying down. Theodore Tan (RI #3) cleared the ball from the MI defenders and had a wonderful goal opportunity, but it was dashed by the MI goalkeeper.

Gervais Lee (RI #19) went on court and immediately had a chance to pull back the score. He jumped on the opportunity as he was unmarked by MI players and a shot into the goal brought the score to 2-1.

When Muhd Nadzir (MI #10) was sent off for the repeated offence of slashing, RI team knew that this was going to be their playing field. With an advantage of having one less player to face, RI composed themselves and maintained possession of the ball.

Captain Muhd Zulilhaam (RI #6) passed the ball to Lee Cheng Han (RI #21), who then passed on to Gervais Lee (RI #19), before sending it back to Zulilhaam for him to take a long shot from the center of the half line. Unfortunately, it missed the goal by inches.

Four minutes later, Zulilhaam was sent out for obstruction, as he collided with Kernard Koh (MI #5) leading both to fall. This angered the RI coach, Jill Quek, who exclaimed that Zulilhaam got the ball first. But it was in vain as the referee stood by his decision firmly.

The third period saw a goal after two minutes of play, as Gervais Lee (RI #19) attacked swiftly from the right corner. RI pull off a 2-2 score at the start of the third period as the MI keeper failed to notice the slip.

Subsequent minutes were characterised by great saves from the keepers and numerous attempts by players of both teams. It appeared that both teams were of similar standards and the game was destined to draw at 2-2.

However neither team were willing to let it remain that way and it was evident that they were determined to score against each other.

Theodore Tan (RI #3) attacked twice, but Lady Luck was not with him as he narrowly missed the goalpost. MI’s great defence in fending off RI’s attacks hindered RI as well.

As the final whistle sounded, the game ended with a 2-2 draw. Kudos to players from both teams for their undying spirit and sportsmanship.