By Kenneth Tan/Red Sports

St Andrew’s Junior College, Tuesday, March 23, 2010 – Anderson Junior College (AJC) and Innova Junior College (IJC) achieved victories in their first Group D games in the A Division Football Championship.

AJC beat National Junior College (NJC) 3-1 while IJC beat Hwa Chong Institution (HCI) 1-0.

Soh Zhen Yu (#8) opened the scoring for AJC early in the first half. However NJC hit back with a goal from Marcus Wee (#13).

NJC nearly took the lead 15 minutes into the second half but Marcus Wee wasted the opportunity by shooting straight at the goalkeeper after receiving a great pass through the middle and into the box.

That miss proved costly as AJC scored two more goals to shape the final score of 3-1. On 62 minutes, Muhd Mikhail (#23) fought hard to win the ball down the left flank and proceeded to pass it to Lui Wei Siang (#11) who was running into the box. Wei Siang’s shot from a narrow angle was only parried to Zhen Yu who slotted home into an empty goal.

AJC put the icing on the game in the last minute of regulation time as Wei Siang managed a superb left-footed effort into the top right corner after a cutback from a teammate.

In the day’s other game played at the same venue, IJC dominated majority of the proceedings in the first half as they fired five shots within the first 15 minutes.

Defensive midfielder John Kathiresh Joshua (#4) fired over with an effort outside the box after 5 minutes. Six minutes later, forward Arshvyn Prakas (#9) wasted a one-on-one opportunity as his shot was well saved by HCI goalie Benjamin Chua (#1) who stayed on the line to foil the effort.

HCI gradually grew into the game and created a number of opportunities of their own. On 13 minutes, Oliver Yiu (#6) fired just wide of the left-hand post after cutting inside from the left flank.

Seven minutes later, Julian Lim (#18) forced a great save from IJC goalie Zubair B Mohd Ilyas (#1) as his curling free kick from outside the box nearly went into the top right corner of the goal until the latter’s superb intervention.

On 32 minutes, John Kathiresh Joshua showed Julian the way to take a free kick. When Dennis Woo (HCI #22) fouled John, he stood up to take the resulting free kick just outside the box.

His dead ball was curled right into the top right corner of the net, with Benjamin left with no chance at all.

Midway through the second half, both team got goals disallowed by the referee. HCI had a headed goal from a corner disallowed for a foul on the goalkeeper while IJC captain Muhd Aljauhar s/o Muntaj’s (#3) scored from a similar free kick in the first half but it was disallowed as the referee had awarded an indirect free kick.

Tempers began flaring soon after with Mohd Faiz B Mohammad Kamal (IJC #2) dismissed for a straight red card after he retaliated to a mistimed challenge by Chua Kai Wen (HCI #9).

On 66 minutes, HCI has a golden opportunity to equalise but Oliver Yiu wasted his one-on-one opportunity as his shot was tipped round the right-hand post.

That marked the end of HCI for the match as IJC proceed to dominate the rest of the match to achieve a morale-boosting 1-0 victory in their first match.

The next Group D fixtures will be played on Friday, March 26th, with NJC taking on IJC at 3pm while hosts St Andrew’s Junior College (SAJC) will kick off their first game, taking on HCI at 4.45pm.

Both matches will be played at SAJC.

Final Results
AJC 3 NJC 1
IJC 1 HCI 0

AJC lineup
Ang Yi Xiu (#25, GK), Nguyen Thai Duong (#4), Shih Shih-Yu (#6), Soh Zhen Yu (#8), Lui Wei Siang (#11), Muhd Asyraf B Mohd Taha (#14), Muhd Kazim Khalikuzzamin (#15), Wong Wei De (#22), Muhd Mikhail B Muhd T (#23), Ho Kok Wee (#24), Chen You Wei (#27, GK)

NJC lineup
Daniel Zheng Zhaohui (#1, GK), Warren Tay Deng-An (#2), Josias Goh Jian Kai (#3), Joel Ng Wei Xuan (#5), Rocco Hu Juan Lei (#6), Vu Tuan Nghia (#8), Cao Luu Quang (#10), Keith Chnioh Sing Yuan (#17), Tran Binh Minh (#18), Chua Yan Jie (#20), Edmund Tan Siow Siang (#22)

IJC lineup
Zubair B Mohd Ilyas (#1), Muhd Faiz B Mohammad Kamal (#2), Muhd Aljauhar s/o Muntaj (#3, captain), John Kathiresh Joshua (#4), Zulhumi Bin Zainal (#7), Zachary Wong Junjie (#8), Arshvyn Prakas (#9), Lee Sueng Sub (#10), R V Sathiamoorthy Valluvan (#13), Marcus Lim (#18), Pelwinderpal Singh s/o BS (#23)

HCI lineup
Chua Ming Kai (#1, GK, captain) Daniel Lim Hua Siang (#3), Alvin Ong Wei Sheng (#4), Lim Jie Rong (#7), Zachary Lim Shijie (#8), Chua Kai Wen (#9), Lee Jun Yi (#14), Oliver Yiu (#16), Julian Lim (#18), Dennis Woo Kai Mun (#22), Ng Wei Lun (#24)

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