Sunday, April 13, 2008
Yesterday was the quarter-finals of the Nike Cup. We had quite a tough group. We had Hongkah, Siglap and... our toughest opponents in the group... Sports School.
Hongkah was considered an A team, for they only sent one team for the Nike Cup. Siglap was a B team and fortunately for us, Sports School was also a B team. Though Sport School consist of Sec 2s and a few Sec 1s, they were still a strong team. Hongkah was also not to be taken lightly. Siglap was the easiest among our three opponents.
Our first match was against Sports School. As expected they were good.. but we were slightly better. matched them in nearly every department. Our defense were split apart a few times, but we managed to scrape through. We drew first blood from our prolific striker. He received a ball at the flank then challenged the last man. He ole-ed the poor defender twice before slotting the ball home at the bottom-corner with a cheeky toe-poke. We were ecstatic. We SCORED against Sports School. Doesn't matter whether they were a sec 2 team or not, they were still expected to win. They had plenty of parent supporters who shouted at every chance Sports School they had. But they were silent after our goal.
Our keeper, Daniel Lightfoot, nearly conceded a goal. The ground was slick and wet, causing the ball to skid unpredictably. The Sports School midfielder took a shot from just outside the box, our keeper was already on his knees to collect the ball but the ball skidded on the ground and increased in speed. Daniel was taken aback, but managed to parry the ball and gather it to his chest. It was kind off scary. Final score... 1-0.
From the start of the tournament, other than the Clementi Town match which we humbled them 10-0, our wins were usually 1-0 wins. But our next match changed it all. We were up against Siglap. As usual, I was deployed at right-back. I was warming up when our dynamic attacking midfielder/forward said that the number 17, their left- winger, was from Sports School, but was kicked out because of smoking. I was a little worried cause i did not know what to expect from him. Furthermore, he was small in size, but skill-wise, very big. I knocked him down once, and he started complaining to the ref for not issuing a foul against him. I had knocked him down fairly, a shoulder push, but maybe a little too hard. After that, i kept a close eye on him but tried not to tackle too hard again. Final score... 3-0.
Next game was against Hongkah. They were a good team, but i am not very worried. We matched them in every department. But there was a moment where we nearly conceded a goal, i injured a player while trying to prevent the goal. Our stopper missed the ball, which too our last man completely off guard. The ball bounced over our last man too. Their striker was clear through with the ball bouncing slightly in front of him. I jumped for the ball to head it away, and my shoulder connected with his cheek quite solidly. But the problem was not over, their other striker managed to get the loose ball over our keeper who was charging out, but i managed to challenge the striker, allowing our keeper to get the ball. Final score... 0-0.
We and Hongkah had qualified for the semi-finals. We are the first batch of Victorians to get this far, and we will try our best to go to the finals. And if we do get to the finals, might as well win it right...?
Thats all for today...
Izz... zZz...
Thanks to all the blogs i referred to (countless) for html code help :) (esp. cyn' and sixseven)
Adobe Photoshop Elements for supernatural abilities
