By reader Ng HL
Hong Kah celebrate their win in the National C Division football final. (Photo courtesy of KZ)
Millennia Institute, Friday, July 27, 2012 — Hong Kah Secondary beat Tanjong Katong 4-2 on penalties to win the National C Division Football Championship.
Hong Kah led 1-0 at half-time before Tanjong Katong equalised in the second half. There was no further scoring and the game went to penalties.
This was Hong Kah’s second national title since 2001 while Tanjong Katong were attempting to win their first.
Hong Kah had qualified for the final by beating Victoria School 1-0 in one semi-final. It was Hong Kah’s 17th win on the trot since the start of their West Zone campaign on January 26th, 2012.
Hong Kah were led by captain Danish Jeffri while Tanjong Katong had Amer Nasri in the captain’s role. It was an evenly matched game and both sides cancelled out each other in the early stages of the game.
Hong Kah took the early attacking initiative and opened the scoring in the 16th minute. Haiqal Pashia (#8) collected a pass from the centre of midfield and dribbled pass 3 opponents and slipped the ball to an unmarked Farihin (#11). Farihin’s shot came off the right-sided upright to the surprise of his teammates but Zaiyani (#14) made no mistake and buried the rebound into an empty net.
A resurgent Tanjong Katong showed more urgency and levelled the score at 1-1, seven minutes into the second half. Both teams tolled through the second half and extra time but failed to produce any more goals.
Then it was the dreaded penalties.
Up stepped Hong Kah’s first penalty taker, goalkeeper Kenji, but his right sided shot was saved by the Tanjong Katong goalkeeper. Kenji then made amends for his miss and saved TK’s first penalty.
Zaiyani, Sadiq and Muhsin converted the next three penalties to put Hong Kah in a commanding 3-2 lead, after keeper Kenji had saved Tanjong Katong fourth penalty to put Hong Kah on the verge of the their second title.
Up stepped Haiqal Pashia and he made no mistake by placing the ball powerfully beyond the reach of the Tanjong Katong keeper to seal the win.
Hong Kah are finally National C Division champions again after losing the National finals in 2003, 2005 and 2008. It was a historic night as Hong Kah completed its first ever double title with the win. Their B Division team had beaten Seng Kang 3-2, also on penalties, to win the National title.
Hong Kah became the first school to achieve a B and C Division double since the Singapore Sports School started taking part in the competition in 2004.
Hong Kah Lineup
Kenji, Sahadat, Muhsin, Danish Jeffri, Nasrulhaq, Danish Idris, Idraki, Raihan, Zaiyani, Farihin, Haiqal Pashia
Tanjong Katong Lineup
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