Meridian JC edge out Raffles Institution to book place in A Division football final

Story by Kenneth Tan/Red Sports. Pictures by REDintern Chua Yueda

Victoria Junior College, Tuesday, May 11, 2010 – Last year’s runners-up Meridian Junior College (MJC) edged out Raffles Institution (RI) 1-0 in a closely-fought battle to qualify for the A Division Boys’ Football Championship final.

It was a rather cagey match throughout with goalscoring opportunities few and far between. MJC appeared slightly more inventive in the attack as forward Khairul Azmi Dzulkarnian scored the all-important goal two minutes before half-time to clinch the win.

RI were dealt a blow before the match as national U-17 midfielder Ong Zhi Hao broke his arm during training and had to start the match as a substitute instead. As a result, captain Muhammad Nuri had to be pushed back from his usual position upfront to bolster the midfield.

MJC nearly opened the scoring just three minutes into the game when RI goalie Andrew Chua dropped a long-range free kick from forward Mohd Naufal Nur Hakim between his own legs, but the former did well to retrieve the ball just before the goal line.

The natural elements took over on 11 minutes as the lightning signal system sounded to signal a temporary stop to the match.

The game resumed after one and a quarter hour with RI creating their first chance on 16 minutes. Midfielder Varun Vijayraghavan played a long ball down the middle for forward Vuong Hia Gieu to chase on, but the latter fired over the bar under pressure from two MJC defenders inside the box.

MJC came close again on 28 minutes when full back Ang Bing Quan’s inswinging corner from the right hit the right-hand post before being cleared to safety.

The turgid first half looked to end goalless before MJC managed to break the deadlock 10 minutes later.

Winger Mohd Khair Bin Mohd Rizauddin’s cross from the left was half-cleared by the RI defence into the path of Mohd Naufal inside the box. The latter’s follow-up shot was blocked before it fell kindly into the path of fellow forward Khairul Azmi who wasted no time in sweeping the ball into the bottom left corner of the goal beyond the despairing dive of Andrew Chua.

The half ended on a low for RI as Muhammad Nuri kicked out at Mohd Naufal at the right touchline and was booked for his troubles.

MJC started the second half all guns blazing as they went on the attack straight from the restart with Mohd Khair firing a left-footed effort outside the box which was smothered well by Andrew Chua.

RI began to settle into the game as they created a couple of goalscoring opportunities.

Firstly, Muhammad Nuri fired a 30-yard free kick high and wide of the left-hand post one minute later. Then Vuong Hia Gieu nearly stole in on 53 minutes when MJC centre back Cohen Tan missed his defensive clearance but he failed to capitalise as MJC goalie Daniel Adam Lightfoot came out well to intercept the ball.

MJC created another opening one minute later. A cross from the right fell to Mohd Khair at the far post. The winger cut inside from the left and fired a teasing ball across the face of goal but Nuri was on hand to clear it away from the danger zone.

The game burst into life in the final 15 minutes of the match as both teams went for the jugular in order to win the match.

Devoid of options in the attacking third, RI decided to risk Ong Zhi Hao into the frame minutes earlier to replace Varun Vijayraghavan.

It proved to be a good move as he slalomed through the left flank before pulling it back for midfielder Tran Trung Nguyen outside the box on 65 minutes but the latter’s wild effort went well over the bar.

Three minutes later, MJC midfielder Mohamed Amsyar B Omar took advantage of RI centre back Pranav Malhotra’s slip-up in defence to stride into the box. However he screwed his shot wide of the left-hand post.

On 31 minutes, RI was awarded a free kick 30 yards from goal after centre back Kenneth Kor Kiat Kang brought down substitute Kwa Jie Hao. Forward Nguyen Nhat Quang stepped up to curl a superb effort over the MJC wall but it went agonisingly just over the bar.

The match began to take a toll on both sets of players with MI’s Mohd Farhan Bin Azmi and RI’s Muhmmad Nuri going down with injuries with just three minutes to go.

MJC created the last chance of the match on 79 minutes when Khairul Azmi’s attempt to get past RI goalie Andrew Chua was foiled by the latter before Mohd Khair once again fired wide of the left-hand post.

The final whistle sounded soon after to signal a 1-0 win that yielded a sixth successive final appearance for MJC while RI players sank to the ground in despair.

A victorious MJC coach Fabio Da Silva shared his feelings with Red Sports after the match.

“Firstly I would like to thank God for this achievement as this is our sixth time in the final. This is certainly fruits of our hard work. Credit goes to the principal who has opened many doors for us and also the other teachers who helped us a lot along the way,” he said.

“I was confident before the match as I told the boys I got a good feeling we can do it this year,” he added.

When quizzed about the final against SAJC, he commented, “SAJC is certainly not an easy team to play against as they are very intelligent with their passing movement. I wish my boys good luck for the final and it will certainly be a good final this year.”

Meanwhile RI teacher-in-charge Kevin Low remained proud of his team in defeat.

“MJC is a good team, but I felt my boys played their hearts out and pushed really hard. They followed my instructions well during the match which was something that cannot be taken away from them,” he said.

“Although we lost 0-1, this was one of the games that I saw my boys pushing the hardest to achieve a result,” he added.

MJC will take on St Andrew’s Junior College (SAJC) in the final to be held at Jalan Besar Stadium on 20th May, 4.15pm. Meanwhile RI will have to pick themselves up to take on dethroned champions Victoria Junior College (VJC) in the third place playoff to be played earlier on the same day at 2.30pm at the same venue.

Final Score
RI 0 MJC 1

Scorer
MJC – Khairul Azmi 38’

RI lineup
Andrew Chua Ruiming (#1, GK), Li Jinghui (#2), Muhammad Nuri Bin Mohamed Shafei (#5, captain), Nguyen Nhat Quang (#10), Varun Vijayraghavan (#11), Nguyen Duy Anh (#12), Pranav Malhotra (#13), Hoang The Huan (#14), James Kwong Kam Yin (#16), Vuong Hia Gieu (#19), Tran Trung Nguyen (#21)

Substitutes: Daniel Ng Wei Liang (#3), Ngo Hoang Gia (#6), Kwa Jie Hao (#7), Alvan Tay Wei De (#8), Ng Wee Meng (#4), Yi Hao (#17), Ong Zhi Hao (#18), Cui Jianqiao (#23), Benjamin Ng Boon Chong (#20, GK)

MJC lineup
Daniel Adam Lightfoot (#24, GK), Cohen Tan Tze Wei (#4, captain), Ooi Jie Ren (#5), Mohd Khair Bin Mohd Rizauddin (#7), Mohamed Amsyar B Omar Abdullah (#8), Ang Bing Quan (#9), Khairul Azmi Dzulkarnian (#10), Mohd Farhan Bin Azmi (#13), Kenneth Kor Kiat Kang (#14), Mohd Hafiz Bin Mystafa (#17), Mohd Naufal Nur Hakim B Mohd Hafeez (#29)

Substitutes: Jordon Tng Xin Jie (#2), Derrick Lim Teck Swee (#3), Tang Choon Yang Jeremy Reuben (#11), Sharif Hidayat Bin Abul Hamid (#18), Darren Low Jun Jie (#21), Faris Hakim Bin Abdul Rahman (#22), Mohd Hairi Bin Alias (#23), , Mohd Firdaus Bin Ismail (#38, GK), Oon Tian Sern (#53)

Go to the SCHOOLS FIXTURES & RESULTS page for more information

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For more photos of the semi-final game between MJC and RI, go to the GALLERY

Go to the SCHOOLS FIXTURES & RESULTS page for more information.

Want to vote for YOUR best A Division football XI? Click here!