Story by REDintern Desiray Tay

Siglap Secondary School, Wednesday, August 12, 2009 – Ang Mo Kio Secondary School faced Henderson Secondary School in a girls’ C Division football match which they needed to win to keep alive their hopes of making it into the semi-finals of this tournament.

In this round-robin tournament, the 8 teams play each other once, and the top four teams of the table will advance to the semi-finals. AMK and Henderson are currently fighting for the last qualifying spot with Bowen Secondary School.

The match kicked off with Ang Mo Kio decked in red and Henderson in green, and the latter’s #16 had the first attempt on goal which led to a corner kick for Henderson. But Ang Mo Kio then broke and counter-attacked from the dead-ball situation, flooding Henderson’s half like the Red Sea, but alas, there was no ‘Moses’ from Henderson to part it and stop AMK’s attack.

Ang Mo Kio soon found themselves in a threatening position in their opponent’s 18-yard box, and made full use of the opportunity. Monesha’s (#7) pass found the feet of captain Aisyah (#6), and she promptly scored to give AMK a 1-0 lead merely 5 minutes into the game.

AMK were relentless, and quickly regained possession right from the restart. The duo of Monesha and Aisyah continued to threaten the Henderson defence, which just managed to prevent a 2nd Ang Mo Kio goal just before half-time.

The ball was not successfully cleared from Henderson’s penalty box, and an extended period of goalmouth action ensued, which saw a scrambling Henderson defence denying AMK’s goal-bound efforts thrice, before the referee blew for half-time.

When play resumed in the second half, AMK’s coach was seen commanding his players from the sidelines, with much of his instructions directed at his captain Aisyah and key player Monesha. It paid off as Monesha increased the lead to 2-0. Goal-hungry Monesha and Aisyah then attempted to widen their lead, but they came to nought.

Monesha was visibly the key player for her team, as her coach shouted instructions for her to track back. It was obvious that the team depended on her, as she was everywhere, from attacking to tracking back to defend, to building the attack up again.

Henderson did not give up despite being 2-0 down, and their #16 pioneered her team’s attack in the second half. But she had little help from her teammates as she dribbled without support before being closed down by the AMK players.

Aisyah then picked up a loose ball and dribbled it downfield. With no chance at scoring, she passed to Monesha who tried for a third, but it is not to be as the match ended 2-0 to Ang Mo Kio.

With this win, AMK has 11 points, but still trail Bowen, whose win in their final match against Fuchun Secondary School gave them 13 points. Bowen are now fourth behind Queensway, Woodlands and Deyi, who have 19, 16 and 16 points respectively.

AMK still has a game to play, and should they manage a win over third-placed Deyi on Friday, they will surge ahead of Bowen to qualify for the semi-finals. Deyi will still be third even if they lose to Ang Mo Kio.

Another match played today was the one between Queensway Sec and Woodlands Sec, where a close 3-2 win for Queensway propelled them to top the group with 19 points. Both teams, along with Deyi, were previously tied with 16 points each.

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