Contributed by reader Shadiq Al-Hussain

acs(i) vs njc hockey

Nagarajan of ACS(I) shows how a simple push is executed. (Photo 1 © Shadiq Al-Hussain)

CCAB, Tuesday, April 21, 2009 – Anglo-Chinese School (Independent) beat National Junior College 4-1 to grab three valuable points in their Group C A Division Boys Hockey Championship match.

Getting an early goal to calm their nerves was on the ACS(I) agenda as they pushed forward with purpose from the start. Their much sought after breakthrough came in the 13th minute, when centre-midfielder Jaspreet Singh's cross from the right flank was met by Mahendra for the first goal.

Not contented, ACS(I) continued to attack, keeping the ball in the NJC half for the better part of the first half. They were rewarded in the 25th minute when centre-forward Esmond Loke took advantage of a rebound off NJC goalkeeper Matthew Chan to slot in the second goal for ACS(I).

With the score at 2-0, the start of the second half saw NJC assert themselves, with many long passes to centre-forward Norman Lee. However, ACS(I) disrupted this new-found momentum and managed to increase their lead to 3-0 when centre-forward Amirul Rasyid tapped the ball in from close range.

Amirul then notched his second goal of the day following centre-midfielder Jim Ong's virtually unchallenged penetration into NJC's "D-ring" to put his teammates well and truly at ease.

With seven minutes to play, NJC took advantage of their single penalty corner of the match, which ended with Muhammad Huzaifah hitting the ball into the goal.

Encouraged by their first win in the tournament, ACS(I) centre-half Anthony Tan quipped, "Credit to NJC, they put up a good fight. This is a reasonable start for us, a team looking to be in the top four."

acs(i) vs njc hockey

ACS(I)’s Amirul Rasyid (in white, centre) goes past NJC’s Jun Qiu and Zhi Hao. (Photo 2 © Shadiq Al-Hussain)

acs(i) vs njc hockey

ACS(I)’s Jason Teo (in white, centre) looks up for options. (Photo 3 © Shadiq Al-Hussain)

acs(i) vs njc hockey

ACS(I)’s Prasad s/o Palanisamy (in white) tries to escape from NJC’s Desmond Yeo to receive a pass. (Photo 4 © Shadiq Al-Hussain)