Story by Kenneth Tan/Red Sports. Pictures by Tan Jon Han/Red Sports.
Foo Ming Yi (SAJC #22, orange) on course to scoring the opening goal in their 2nd round encounter with YJC (white). SAJC went on to win 5-0 to stay on top of their group ahead of their next match against 2nd place RI. (Photo 1 © Tan Jon Han/Red Sports)
SAJC, Friday, April 30, 2010 – Hosts St Andrew’s Junior College emphatically beat Yishun Junior College 5-0 to confirm their semi-final place in the A Division Football Championship.
YJC started off the better side and created the first opportunity within three minutes of the start. Captain Muhd Nur raced into the SAJC box after being picked out by a superb Muhd Izzat through ball, but he fired his resulting effort over the bar under pressure from two SAJC defenders.
He would rue that miss minutes later as SAJC began to assert their influence in midfield and duly scored thrice in a nine-minute period.
On 13 minutes, centre back Darren Hedger’s header from a cross from the left was hacked off the link by a YJC defender.
The resulting corner by full back Cheng Guang Fu picked out an unmarked Foo Ming Yi inside the six-yard box. The latter proceeded to produce an accurate header into the left corner of the goal to give his side the lead.
Four minutes later, a great ball down the right caught out the whole YJC defence before picking out forward Tan Wei Zhen in the box in a one-on-one opportunity. With all the time in the world, he managed to produce an intelligent flick past YJC goalie Mitchell Tan into the right corner of the goal.
SAJC tripled their lead on 22 minutes with Tan Wei Zhen scoring his second goal. When midfield playmaker Gregory Noah failed to connect with a cross from the left, Wei Zhen wasted no time in producing a half-volley towards the bottom left corner of the goal. Despite getting a hand to it, Mitchell Tan could not stop the ball from going in.
SAJC made two substitutions at half-time, bringing on forwards Lim Wu Qi (#9) and Goh Jin Rui (#18) to bolster the attack. The changes soon paid dividends as both of them took advantage of YJC’s high defensive line to score the goals that increased their team’s lead to five.
A through ball down the right released Lim Wu Qi in another one-on-one opportunity with Mitchell Tan on 52 minutes. Wu Qi needed no invitations to curl into the right corner of the goal.
Just a minute later, another through ball down the left flank picked out Goh Jin Rui. Jin Rui managed to cut inside his marker before coolly slotting into the bottom right corner of the goal.
To make matters worse for YJC, Muhammad Haiqal and Brandon Tan suffered cramps and an ankle injury respectively midway through the half and required medical attention to recover.
YJC had to wait till six minutes towards the end for their solitary goalscoring opportunity when forward Mohamed Shahmeer muscled his way down the left into the box. However his effort went wide of the left-hand post.
The result meant SAJC joined RI in the semi-finals while YJC were eliminated along with Catholic Junior College from the hunt for a semi-final place.
“It was a team effort. Coupled with some individual effort we made, we managed to pull off the win. We are really pleased to qualify with one game in hand,” said a visibly satisfied SAJC captain Neville Chia after the game.
“Our next opponents depends on what happens in the other group,” he commented when quizzed about the semi-finals. “We can’t control that, so we will take anything as it comes and try our best in that match.”
“We won’t slacken for our last game (against RI),” he added. “We will still approach the match like how we normally do and try to improve with each game.”
SAJC next take on fellow qualifiers Raffles Institution on Tuesday, May 4th, in a clash to determine who will finish top of Group X. The winner of Group X will face the runners-up of Group Y in the semi-finals while the runners-up of Group X wlil face the winner of Group Y.
SAJC currently hold top spot as they have a superior goal difference of +8 as compared to RI’s +4. Kickoff time is 4.45pm.
Meanwhile CJC and YJC face each other in the earlier game at 3pm where only pride is at stake.
Both matches will be played at SAJC.
Final Result
SAJC 5 YJC 0
Scorers
SAJC – Foo Ming Yi 13’, Tan Wei Zhen 17’, 22’, Lim Wu Qi 52’, Goh Jin Rui 53’
SAJC lineup
Lee Shi Tong (#19, GK), Tan Wei Zhen (#2), Kang Yun Yi (#3), Cheng Guang Fu (#6), Chow Jiachuan (#7), Muhammad Asyraf (#8), Pradeep (#11), Darren Hedger (#13), Gregory Noah (#14), Neville Chia (#21, captain), Foo Ming Yi (#22)
Substitutes: Neo Junhe (#5), Lim Wuqi (#9), Herbin Koh Puay Teck (#10), Goh Jin Rui (#18), Josef Low (#16)
YJC lineup
Mitchell Tan Hwee Wang (#1, GK), Varghees George Praveen (#2), Ferry Maulana B Achmad Cheah (#3), Muhd Nur B Mohamed Nazeer (#4, captain), Muhammad Haiqal B M Harris (#7), Abdul Hadi B Ali Akbar (#8), Mohamed Shahmeer (#9), Cyril Matthew Philix (#10), Ernest Kok Zi Yuan (#11), Muhd Izzat B Sulaimi (#13), Brandon Tan Jin Quan (#18)
Substitutes: Muhamad Faiz B Zulkiffley (#5), Amos Tan Teck Wei (#6), Cedrick Law Chu Hock (#12), Syed Syahir B Syed Omar A (#14), Dickson Yap Yang Yee (#15), K L Shiv Shankar (#16), Mohamed Ibrahim s/o Badruddin (#17), Muhd Noor Haaziq B Mutazah (#19), Chen Junda (#25)
Go to the SCHOOLS FIXTURES & RESULTS page for more information.
SAJC midfield playmaker Gregory Noah evades YJC’s defense to advance into the latter’s penalty area. (Photo 2 © Tan Jon Han/Red Sports)
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