Ngee Ann Polytechnic stage amazing comeback against ITE in POL-ITE women’s floorball

Story by REDintern Dan Azmie. Photos by REDintern Rachel Lim.

Ngee Ann Polytechnic, Monday, October 20, 2008 – Hosts Ngee Ann Polytechnic (NP) managed to overcome a two-goal deficit to draw 3-3 with the Combined Institute of Technical Education (ITE) women’s floorball team in a Polytechnic-Institute of Technical Education (POL-ITE) Floorball Championship match.

This is a severe dent to ITE's title chances at the penultimate stage as it now clears the way for rivals Nanyang Polytechnic (NYP) to open up a three-point gap at the top of the table provided they beat Singapore Polytechnic (SP). The match itself was a stirring encounter as the hosts, buoyed by strong home support, stepped up and took the game to favourites ITE.

NP wasted no time to assert their attacking mantra as within the first few minutes of the start, forward Weixin (#23) twisted her way in the ITE area and almost scored from a quick snapshot. The ITE keeper was alert enough to smother the shot.

ITE were focused on their objective – trying hard to set up shots at the NP goal. Debbie Poh (ITE #39) was especially impactful and had a shot blocked by the scrambling defenders. After five minutes, she finally broke the deadlock. A shot by her rebounded behind the goal. She went round the back of the net to collect the ball, and promptly slotted it to the keeper's left in one swift move. 1-0 to ITE.

However, the NP team hit back just a minute and a half later. Hajar (NP #71) stole in from nowhere to poke the ball in to goal, equalising to the rapturous cheers of the crowd. The ITE team had failed to settle after scoring the first goal, and paid the price.

The match was proving to be a physical affair as both sets of girls often went in for 50-50 challenges head on. Nine minutes into the game, there was a clash of bodies where ITE #32 bumped into NP’s most impressive player Weixin (#23) and sending her crashing into the boards, much to the protests of both coaches. The atmosphere began to tense up. Throughout the period, it proved to be a duel between both girls, as ITE #32 was constantly on the heels of the NP forward, successfully stopping her advance time and again with well-timed interceptions.

Three minutes before the end of the period, NP struck. Yet again, it was the lively Weixin (#23) who instinctively nudged the ball with a volley, and diverted a fellow teammate's shot into goal. But alas, before she could celebrate, the referee disallowed the goal for she was judged to have used a body part to guide the shot in.

This jolted the ITE team into action, and with just 53 seconds on the clock, another fine one-handed solo run by Debbie Poh (ITE #39) this time bore fruit as she drew three defenders on the left, nutmegged through a player’s legs to set up team mate #17 to swipe into the net. It was a moment of individual brilliance capped off with some fine finishing.

The second period proved to be the most exciting of the game.

The tentative initial start by both sides belied what was going to transpire later on, with play swinging from side to side and not much goal activity occurring. Suddenly, Amira (ITE #11) stormed through from the right and smashed a stinging blinder to the top right of the goal to make it 3-1. Surely, they had the boys’ result on their minds, and perhaps wanted to emulate their male compatriots’ convincing win.

NP had other ideas though, as their players, especially Weixin (#23), kept pressing on and refused to relent. ITE defenders Captain Jennifer (#28) and #32 had to sit deep in their half to withstand the constant forays by the NP players, but it seemed as if the brick wall was never going to break down.

However, nine minutes into the period, Zhimin (NP #13) snatched a pass from behind two ITE players, swivelled and tried a shot from the middle, which went through a series of players before being haplessly diverted by ITE #8 into her own net for a 3-2 NP lead.

Game on!

The NP players smelt an epic comeback and it appeared that the ITE team seemed shaken by the own goal, with some players putting their heads in their hands.

NP laboured again for the equalizer, and again it was the ITE captain Jennifer (#28) to the rescue. She came up tops in a one-on-one duel with Amirah (NP #24) when it appeared that the latter was about to veer away and shoot.

With barely three minutes left in the second period, NP finally found their comeback goal. Gab (NP #8) scored after some intricate passing from her teammates, wheeling away in delight at the 3-3 scoreline which, for a point in time, seemed impossible to attain given ITE’s early dominance in the first period.

The remainder of the second period was end to end stuff as the ITE maestro Debbie Poh (#39) went on another mazy run from her half, weaving from left to right, before teeing up teammate Amira (#11), who unfortunately scuffed her shot. NP’s riposte was to constantly target speedy balls against ITE’s slowing defenders, and another interception by Jennifer (ITE, #28) brought howls of derision from the crowd which felt that she had been too physical.

With 45 seconds left, the baying crowd finally got what they wanted. Jennifer (ITE #28) was finally adjudged to have fouled her opponent and was sent to the ‘sin bin’.

The numerical disadvantage affected the ITE performance as they went into defensive mode for the first few minutes. Debbie Poh (ITE #39) though, made it a one woman show in the third period with some excellent individual moves which unfortunately, were kept out one way or another by the NP defence. The first, a one-handed shot after five minutes was tipped away, and another after 12 minutes was an exquisite pirouette between two defenders before seeing her shot go agonisingly wide.

With three minutes of the game left, the ITE strategy of laying diagonal balls to Debbie Poh (#39) was countered by NP, who then compacted their playing style and were looking to counter at every opportunity. With two and a half minutes left, Amira (ITE #11) managed to thunder a shot to the left corner, which the keeper miraculously kept out after pushing the ball against the post. The score remained at 3-3.

With slightly more than a minute left, NP’s quick counter attack had Zhimin (#13) finding key forward Weixin (#23) through on goal, leaving defenders in her wake. But at the crucial moment, the ball somehow got caught underneath her feet and was cleared before she could strike. With 40 seconds left, NP keeper had to save two shots in quick succession by ITE #8 and Debbie Poh (#39), setting up a rousing finale as the clock ticked down. With just six seconds left, ITE had a last chance with a free hit. Amira (ITE #11) pulled the ball back for teammate Debbie Poh (#39), but again the NP defence stayed resolute to preserve an amazing comeback.

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