Nanyang Poly defend POL-ITE Men’s Hockey title with thrashing of arch-rivals Ngee Ann Poly

Contributed by reader Shadiq Al-Hussain. Photos by REDintern Jon Han Tan.

Nanyang Polytechnic, Friday, November 20, 2009 – Under the floodlights of their homeground, Nanyang Polytechnic (NYP) retained their Polytechnic-Institute of Technical Education (POL-ITE) Hockey Championship title in style, romping to a 7-0 victory against arch-rivals Ngee Ann Polytechnic (NP).

With both teams tied on nine points after three matches played, NP needed a win to capture the title.

For NYP, a draw was enough to win the championship because they had a superior goal difference following big wins earlier against the Institute of Technical Education (9-0), Temasek Polytechnic (8-1) and Singapore Polytechnic (8-1).

With the title on the line, both teams started edgily, with the ball kept in midfield in the opening minutes. However, NYP soon began dictating the rhythm of the match, often transferring the ball to centre-half Sabri (#5) who then launched attacks with flicks upfield or incisive passes to their forwards. NP had to increasingly rely on long balls looking for Balakumaran (#16) as they were mostly pegged in their own half.

The breakthrough came in the 25th minute, when NYP's Herman bin Mansor's (#26) shot from a tight angle sailed past NP goalkeeper Adnan Rasman (#1) into the roof of the net. This seemed to jolt NP back to life, and they then had a brief, but promising, attacking spell with left-half Muhammad Fazri (#15) threatening the NYP defence with his pace on the ball. These attacks yielded a few penalty corners but the failure to convert them kept NYP in the lead.

NYP then scored on a counter-attack when Sabri smartly flicked the ball towards Herman to give him a one-on-one chance, which he duly took, to ensure NYP took a 2-0 half-time lead.

NP's hopes of a comeback in the second half were dealt a blow when NYP scored just one minute into the half. Quick ball transfers during a penalty corner took NP's defenders out of the picture, to give Johnson (#16) a one-on-one chance which he took gleefully for a 3-0 lead.

A spell of continued NYP pressure followed, frustrating the NP defenders and leading to Quek Ying Tong (#12) committing a foul that warranted a green card. NYP's Nelson Lim (#21) followed his opponent into the umpire's book, with an unnecessary late tackle in the 48th minute.

NYP then scored thrice in 10 minutes to nullify any lingering doubts about where the trophy was heading, with goals from Herman, Nelson and Muhammad Shafiq (#28).

In a half where their ´D' was constantly attacked, NP managed to create a chance with Ifri Husairi (#9) dribbling past the NYP backline to give himself a one-on-one chance. However, his shot was just wide of the post, preventing NP from getting on the scoresheet.

NYP then rounded off a stunning performance with a seventh goal in the 66th minute, when Shafiq doubled his tally following a goal-mouth melee.

The result more than confirmed NYP's position as the team to beat in the POL-ITE scene. NP, though, can be proud of the fact that they have bettered their performances in previous years by finishing as runners-up this time.

Editor’s note: If you recognise yourself or your team mates in any of the photos, feel free to leave the names behind in the comments section and we will update accordingly. Thanks!