By REDintern Farah Alsagoff

Raffles Junior College Indoor Sports Hall, Tuesday, April 28th, 2009 - Temasek JC gave defending champions Meridian JC a tough time but eventually lost 1-2 in a girls’ A Division Floorball Championship match.

MJC, unbeaten for two years straight, began the match with good possession of the ball. An opportunity came in the 2nd minute when Gladys (MJ #27) took a shot from half-court. Their attacks on the TJC goal continued when Chuan Yun (#21) made a pass through the slot area to her team mate Wei Jia (#14), who could not finish the job.

MJ was awarded a free-hit, and Lee Peng (MJ #81) took a slap shot that was off-target. She continued her shooting spree by trying to wrap the ball into goal, but the shot was blocked by TJ's keeper Farah Syirin.

A bad pass by Bao Xian (MJ #23) allowed TJ’s #19 to make an interception and take a quick shot at goal, which was saved by MJ's keeper Nida Khan.

Controversy arose in the 17th minute when Lee Peng took a slap shot that found Norshila Ismail, who tapped the ball into the bottom-left corner. But the referee disallowed the goal, claiming that Norshila was standing inside the penalty box.

Possibly spurred on by the close shave, a pass from the corner found an unmarked TJ #12 inside MJ's slot area, and her shot was deflected away by the keeper. TJ’s #14 gained possession of the ball and dribbled behind the goalpost to mimic MJ #18's earlier attempt to wrap the ball into the goal, but Nida beat her to it.

TJ's determination kept surging, as #15 found her team mate #19 in front of goal, but the latter’s shot was thwarted by Nida’s fingertip-save just in the nick of time. The first period ended without any goals.

The second period was similar to the first, with both teams pressuring diligently and chasing for loose balls.

In the 22nd minute, Atiqah (MJ #6) made a quick pass to #28. Despite losing her footing and running into TJ’s #15, the latter charged towards goal and took a backhand shot at an open net, but it went wide.

MJ finally took the lead in the 25th minute. The TJ keeper was unable to react in time to stop a shot by Lee Peng, and as the ball rolled into the bottom corner of the goal, MJ finally found their much-needed boost of morale.

Lee Peng showed no signs of taking a step back as she made a crisp pass to Atiqah. Although she fumbled before taking an off-target shot, she managed to win possession back and attempted another swift shot. TJ’s keeper Farah Syirin lost eye contact with the ball and struggled to regain it before the possibility of conceding another goal materialised. MJ did not make use of this opportunity as the bouncing ball and clash of sticks made it difficult to take a proper shot. The second period ended with a score of 1-0 in favour of MJC.

The third period started off with TJ’s #15 out-dribbling Atiqah easily. She took a wrist shot that went wide, but her persistence and determination paid off as her team got their equaliser when she took a shot through the centre and the ball went in between the keeper's legs.

A swift turn of events ensued as TJ’s #14 was sent off for a 2 minute bench penalty for improper distance during an MJ free-hit at the 33:17 mark. A little over 2 minutes later, while TJ was executing box-play, their captain #22 also got her marching orders for lying play. TJ were now 2 men down against the floorball powerhouse.

TJ #14's penalty ended soon after, but her re-entrance was unable to prevent Zhi Sing (MJ #13) from taking a shot from ¾ court in the 36th minute. The ball deflected off Farah Syirin's leg before hitting the post and going into the goal. The MJC team celebrated their goal with screams of joy, and the score-line now stood 2-1 in their favour.

MJC continued their attacks, with Lee Peng attempting another wrap around the goal and Stephanie (#10) having a shot at an open goal which went wide.

But TJC showed no signs of giving up as they continued to run deep and fast into the opponent's half, consistently pressuring them and ensuring that they would not be complacent until the match was over.

The final whistle blew, with MJC winning 2-1. Judging from the number of opportunities that they had, they could have definitely stretched the score line much further. Considering that TJC had lost by only a goal this time compared to 10 the previous year against the powerhouses, they certainly have something to celebrate about.