Story by Kenneth Tan/Red Sports. Pictures by Tan Jon Han/Red Sports
Nguyen Thai Duong (AJC #4, yellow) grimaces in disappointment after his penalty was saved. This could have been the goal difference AJC needed for progression into the second round. (Photo 1 © Tan Jon Han/Red Sports)
Meridian Junior College, Friday, April 23, 2010 - In the crucial final Group D clash, Anderson Junior College (AJC) only managed a 2-1 victory over Innova Junior College (IJC) which denied both teams a spot in the second round of the A Division Football Championship.
IJC needed only a draw to qualify, while AJC needed at least a two-goal victory to do so. However both teams failed to achieve their desired results and it paved the way for Hwa Chong Institution (HCI) to go through at the expense of both teams.
The first half was an open one as both team traded opportunities to score.
The first opportunity was created by IJC within a minute of the kickoff when winger Zulhumi Bin Zainal's cross from the left picked out midfielder John Kathiresh Joshua inside the box. John produced a snapshot that was parried well by AJC goalie Ang Yi Xiu at his near post.
AJC was gifted a chance to take the lead on seven minutes when a free kick was awarded just outside the IJC box when IJC keeper Keith Wong released the ball outside his penalty area. However Nguyen Thai Duong hit the resulting dead ball straight into the wall.
On 10 minutes, IJC forward Arshvyn Prakas headed a Zulhumi Bin Zainal cross from the left just over the bar.
AJC then came the closest seven minutes later when forward Nguyen Dinh Nguyen's header off a Lui Wei Siang cross from the right flicked right off the left-hand post.
Needing at least a two-goal victory, AJC piled on the pressure right from the start of the second half and created several opportunities to break the deadlock.
On 43 minutes, forward Soh Zhen Yu went on a superb run down the left and into the box, but scuffed his shot under pressure from IJC centre back Marcus Lim.
One minute later, Shih Shih-Yu connected well from a right-wing cross but his shot went off the crossbar and bounced over the IJC goal.
On 46 minutes, IJC keeper Keith Wong dropped an innocuous long ball from defence by AJC into the path of Nguyen Thai Duong. Nguyen proceeded to dribble past Keith but his shot from an acute angle was cleared off the line by Marcus Lim.
The resulting corner from the right picked out the head of Nguyen Thai Duong but luck was against AJC as the woodwork came to IJC's rescue for the third time in the match to deny Nguyen.
The incessant pressure finally paid off for AJC as they managed to score the opening goal on 55 minutes. A scuffed clearance by an IJC defender saw the ball go back into their own penalty area and into the path of a lurking Soh Zhen Yu. The AJC captain easily slotted his volley into the bottom right corner of the goal to revive their hopes of qualification.
IJC got their game together after the goal and started to launch attacks at the AJC goal.
Their first real opportunity of the half was fired over by Arshvyn Prakas after he made a great run into the box.
Two minutes later, Arshvyn got past AJC centre back Seet Cheng Howe on the left before having his shot from an acute angle saved by Ang Yi Xiu.
From the resulting corner, Arshvyn connected with a header that arrowed towards the right hand post. The effort looked well covered by AJC winger Muhd Kazim Khalikuzzamin on the line, but somehow he managed to scuff his headed clearance and could only see the ball drop agonisingly into his own goal.
However AJC could have retaken the lead just one minute later when IJC centre back Marcus Lim was adjudged to have handled the ball inside his penalty area. However the resulting penalty by Nguyen Thai Duong was too straight at the goalkeeper and IJC goalkeeper Keith Wong managed to smother it at the second attempt.
The match soon came to a premature halt with eight minutes of the second half left as the dreaded lighting signal system sounded to delay proceedings.
After a delay of almost two hours, the game resumed with AJC once again piling on the pressure on the IJC goal to clinch the two-goal victory they wanted.
They managed to score one with two minutes of regulation time left when a superb through ball down the middle picked out Soh Zhen Yu who strode into the box for a one-on-one opportunity with Keith Wong. Soh stayed composed to slot the ball into the bottom left corner.
The goal brought raucous celebrations from the AJC bench who knew they could go through if they managed to score another.
They thought they made it when Soh Zhen Yu slotted past an onrushing Keith Wong from a Nguyen Thai Duong cross from the right but the goal was disallowed for offside.
They had one last opportunity in the closing moments when a scramble in the IJC box saw the ball fall to Soh Zhen Yu once again just inside the box. However Soh scuffed his effort wide of the left-hand post.
That was the last significant moment of the match as both sets of players sank to the ground in agony at missing out on the next stage. AJC's Nguyen Thai Duong in particular was inconsolable and had to be helped off the pitch by his teammates while IJC captain John Kathiresh Joshua let his frustrations get the better of him as he refused to shake hands with the AJC players.
The result put both teams and HCI all on six points, but HCI had the last laugh as their goal difference of 0 was superior to AJC's -1 and IJC's -2.
HCI now join Victoria Junior College (VJC), Meridian Junior College (MJC) and Serangoon Junior College (SRJC) in Group X while St Andrew's Junior College (SAJC), Catholic Junior College (CJC), Yishun Junior College (YJC) and Raffles Institution (RI) make up Group Y in the second round.
The top two teams from each group will subsequently qualify for the semi-finals.
The second round will commence on Tuesday, April 27th, 2010.
Scorers
AJC
Soh Zhen Yu 55', 78'
IJC
Muhd Kazim Khalikuzzamin og 63'
AJC lineup
Ang Yi Xiu (#25, GK), Nguyen Thai Duong (#4), Shih Shih-Yu (#6), Soh Zhen Yu (#8, captain), Muhd Hazim B Rosli (#10), Lui Wei Siang (#11), Muhd Asyraf B Mohd Taha (#14), Muhd Kazim Khalikuzzamin (#15), Seet Cheng Howe (#16), Wong Wei De (#22), Muhd Mikhail B Muhd T (#23), Nguyen Dinh Nguyen (#26), Chen You Wei (#27)
IJC lineup
Keith Wong Kang Sern (#6, GK), John Kathiresh Joshua (#4, captain), Zulhumi Bin Zainal (#7), Zachary Wong Junjie (#8), Arshvyn Prakas (#9), Lee Sueng Sub (#10), Kartikasen s/o Jayabalan (#11), R V Sathiamoorthy Valluvan (#13) , Chuah Seong Hao (#15), Marcus Lim (#18), Pelwinderpal Singh s/o BS (#23)
Go to the SCHOOLS FIXTURES & RESULTS page for more information.
AJC full back Mohd Mikhail following his IJC (blue) opponent closely. (Photo 2 © Tan Jon Han/Red Sports)
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Recharging my battery and changing CF card. If not too much then go into exam hall card corrupted hohoho….
The FOV doesn’t look like wide angle after a more precise look.
shouldn’t someone be studying..? haha. nono…none of the penalty shots were from remotes, remotes are too wide anyway. Ran back to take them. So happened tt the ball, keeper and player were all in line else the shot would not have worked.
Jon, the remote shots are intense! Defo keepers