By Kenneth Tan/Red Sports
Yellow Boots 1 Keith Wong 0. The IJC keeper was heard yelling “I hate those yellow boots!” at the start of the second half to psyche himself up when Pradeep came on. Pradeep’s yellow boots however had the final say in this one-on-one encounter. (Photo 1 © Les Tan/Red Sports)
St Andrew’s Junior College, Friday, April 9, 2010 – Traditional powerhouse St Andrew’s Junior College (SAJC) qualified for the A Division Football Championship quarter-finals after overcoming nearest rivals Innova Junior College (IJC) 4-0 in their last Group D game.
Needing just one point to qualify, SAJC tinkered with their tactics in this game and left out a few first-team players from the starting 11. However with the score locked at 0-0 at half-time, they decided to bring on their first-teamers and that proved to be an inspired decision as they ran out convincing winners in the end.
The first opportunity of the game was created within the first 20 seconds of the game. SAJC lost possession of the ball after the kickoff, giving the chance for IJC forward Arshvyn Prakas to steal in and fire a shot straight away just outside the box. However SAJC centre back Chow Jiachuan was alert and put in a well-timed block to deny him.
That, however, proved to be the only opportunity for IJC for the first 27 minutes of the game as they failed to retain possession of the ball in midfield which resulted in lone forward Arshvyn feeding on scraps throughout.
SAJC created their first real opening on 13 minutes. A superb through ball down the middle by captain Neville Chia split the whole IJC defence and found forward Goh Jin Rui at the edge of the box. However Jin Rui’s effort was saved by IJC stand-in goalie Keith Wong who managed to cover his angles well.
They had another opportunity one minute later as a poor clearance by IJC centre back R V Sathiamoorthy Valluvan fell to an unmarked Neville Chia but the latter fired his volley wide of the right-hand post.
IJC slowly settled into the game and carved out a couple of opportunities to open the scoring in the next five minutes.
On 28 minutes, midfielder Lee Sueng Sub played a ball towards Arshvyn who held off a SAJC defender at the edge of the box. Arshvyn proceeded to pass it back to winger Zulhumi Bin Zainal who screwed his shot wide of the left-hand post.
Four minutes later, SAJC goalie Lee Shi Tong was tested for the first time as he had to palm away a beautiful first-time curler from 30 yards by IJC defensive midfielder John Kathiresh Joshua.
After half-time, SAJC decided to make a triple substitution that saw midfield playmaker Gregory Noah and forwards Pradeep and Tan Wei Zhen being brought on.
The changes galvanised SAJC as they began to show more inventiveness in their attack which was lacking in the first half.
On 52 minutes, Neville Chia, who was switched from central midfield to the wing, was released down the left flank and he proceeded to make a first-time cross into the box for Goh Jin Rui. However the latter missed his attempted header by inches at the far post.
Two minutes later, Pradeep ran down the right flank before crossing the ball in for Tan Wei Zhen, but the latter’s looping header was plucked out of the air by Keith Wong.
The deadlock was finally broken on 55 minutes. A through ball from Tan Wei Zhen from midfield looked to be covered by the IJC centre-back, R V Sathiamoorthy Valluva. However he was caught in possession by the lurking Pradeep who took the ball off him and strode into the box. With just the goalie to beat, he coolly slotted it into the bottom left corner of the goal.
IJC’s John Kathiresh Joshua tried his best to get the equaliser for his team two minutes later with a superb run down the left flank, sidestepping two defenders in the process, but he failed to get any support from his teammates and the ball was duly cleared.
SAJC continued to mount attacks after their first goal and only some determined defending from IJC saw the deficit remain at one goal on 58 minutes.
A low cross from the left by Neville Chia found an unmarked Tan Wei Zhen in the box. The latter’s shot was parried by Keith Wong before Pradeep did well to retrieve the ball at the far post for an oncoming Goh Jin Rui. Jin Rui’s shot towards the bottom left corner looked destined for goal before R V Sathiamoorthy Valluvan hacked off the line.
With the incessant pressure, it was no surprise SAJC scored their second six minutes later. An inswinging corner whipped in from the right by Gregory Noah created a huge melee in the IJC box before centre back Chow Jiachuan managed to get the crucial touch to poke the ball in from three yards out.
That goal broke the brave resistance of IJC who fought hard in the second half and they ended up conceding another two goals to SAJC towards the end of the match.
On 71 minutes, a through ball down the left flank picked out Neville Chia who took one touch before slamming a volley past Keith Wong at his near post.
SAJC put the icing on their cake in the second last minute of regulation time. Another inswinging corner whipped in from the right by Gregory Noah was punched into his own net by Keith Wong under no immediate pressure.
To make matters worse for IJC, John Kathiresh Joshua had to limp off the pitch after sustaining a knee injury in the closing stages.
The result meant SAJC cemented pole position in Group D with a 100% record of four wins out of all four group games.
SAJC captain Neville Chia remained modest of his team’s achievements after the match.
“We played four tough games and we were lucky to get through all of them,” he commented. “We will now analyse our mistakes made in these four games and try to improve on it.”
When asked about his aspirations for the team, he said, “Definitely, everyone has aspirations of going all the way (to the final), but for now we will take each round at a time and hopefully we get through all of them.”
IJC remain in the all-important second spot in Group D after this loss, with six points from three games played, just ahead of third-placed Anderson Junior College (AJC) who are on three points from two games. The top two teams from each group qualify for the quarter-final stage.
The two teams will meet each other next in a crucial clash on Tuesday, April 13th, 3pm, in a rescheduled game at Meridian Junior College.
Meanwhile over in Group B, last year’s runners-up Meridian Junior College joined SAJC in the quarter-finals after a 2-0 win over nearest rivals Yishun Junior College.
SAJC, MJC, Victoria Junior College and Catholic Junior College have all qualified for the quarter-finals of the A Division Football Championship, while four other slots are still up for grabs.
Scorers
Pradeep 55′, Chow Jiachuan 64′, Neville Chia 71′, Gregory Noah 79′
SAJC lineup
Lee Shi Tong (#19, GK), Cheng Guang Fu (#6), Chow Jiachuan (#7), Muhammad Asyraf (#8), Lim Wu Qi (#9), Herbin Koh Puay Teck (#10), Darren Hedger (#13), Josef Low (#16), Goh Jin Rui (#18), Neville Chia (#21, captain), Foo Ming Yi (#22)
IJC lineup
Keith Wong Kang Sern (#6, GK), Muhd Aljauhar s/o Muntaj (#3, captain), John Kathiresh Joshua (#4), Zulhumi Bin Zainal (#7), Zachary Wong Junjie (#8), Arshvyn Prakas (#9), Lee Sueng Sub (#10), R V Sathiamoorthy Valluvan (#13), Mohd Arif B Muhd Khairul Tan (#17), Marcus Lim (#18), Pelwinderpal Singh s/o BS (#23)
Chow Jiachuan (SAJC #7) gets his head to the ball. In the ensuing scramble, Jiachuan managed to poke the ball into the net for his team’s second goal. (Photo 2 © Les Tan/Red Sports)
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