A Division Football: Victoria JC ease to 4-0 victory over NUS High on opening day

By REDintern Amir Yusof. Additional reporting by REDintern Horatio Ho. Photos by REDintern Benjamin Kuah

Victoria Junior College, Monday, 28 March, 2011 — A Division Football perennial powerhouse, Victoria Junior College, opened this season with an emphatic 4-0 victory over NUS High.

Despite a goalless first half, VJC displayed resilience and stamina to score four goals in the second period to ensure the team enjoyed a confident start to the season ahead.

It was a cagey opening five minutes or so as both teams struggled to maintain any sort of possession. However, VJC slowly warmed to the task, showing little glimpses of their trademark fluidity when moving forward. VJC skipper, Shuvod Rai, was the main playmaker, spraying passes to the flanks for wingers Anu and Santosh Magar to race down the byline before crossing into the penalty box.

NUS High, meanwhile, could not string enough passes together to mount any assault on the VJC goal. The game was largely played in their defensive third as the NUS High goalkeeper was forced to make important saves from Shuvod Rai and Santosh.

Despite the mounting pressure, VJC failed to capitalise on their chances and NUS High had their goalkeeper and defenders to thank as both teams went into the break level at 0-0.

Frustrated by the scoreline, VJC coach Azrul Shah made a couple of changes at halftime, introducing skilled Nepalase playmaker Dilip Thapa and midfielder Shen Hao for Shuvod and Andrew Nguyen respectively. The changes made an immediate impact as the floodgates opened early in the second half for VJC.

Dilip, who took over the captain’s armband from Shuvod in the second half, was largely responsible for adding a bit of life and zest to VJC’s offensive play. It was his long throw just three minutes after the break that was finally bundled in by centre back Khairul Anwar for the opening goal of the game.

10 minutes later, VJC were awarded a free kick just outside the area. Dilip again stepped up but this time, his curling shot only ruffled the side netting, leaving large sections of the crowd cheering thinking the ball had crept in.

Soon after, fine creative play by VJC substitute Shen Hao dazzled NUS High defenders as the ball which was subsequently floated into the area where VJC winger Anu met with a smashing header into the net to make it 2-0 for VJC.

The third goal was once again set up by Dilip. His brilliant free kick was met by the head of Santosh who deserved his goal for outstanding play throughout the entire game.

10 minutes from the end, VJC added one more through Shijudeen who took advantage of poor marking from a cross and the bounce from his header fooled the goalkeeper and nestled into the bottom left hand corner to make it 4-0 to VJC. VJC’s aerial dominance in the attacking third was evident by the fact that three out of the four goals scored were headers.

In the closing moments, NUS High tried valiantly to venture forward in search of a consolation goal but were unable to test VJC’s defensive capabilities.

NUS High coach, S.Kishol, saw the positives despite the defeat.

“I was really impressed with the first half performance of the boys. I told them that if they are able to play to this level, then they are good for the rest of the season. However, the boys did appear nervous, especially in the second half. Overall, we were technically alright but fitness-wise, we were no match,” said coach Kishol.

Conversely, VJC coach Azrul Shah said his team had a lot of room for improvement.

“It’s good that we got the result, goals and the clean sheet. However, we must look beyond results and improve our playing style. We’ve got a long way to go to becoming championship material.”

NUS High will next play Anglo-Chinese Junior College on Thursday, March 31, at their own field while VJC will play Hwa Chong Institution at home on the same day. Both games will kick off at 4.45pm.

A Division Football Championship — Full fixtures and results

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