ITE overpower resilient Nanyang Polytechnic 4-3 in women's POL-ITE floorball

By REDintern Kenneth Tan. Photos by Vanessa Lim/Red Sports.

Republic Polytechnic Sports Complex Competition Hall, Monday, November 2, 2009 - The Institute of Technical Education (ITE) edged Nanyang Polytechnic (NYP) 4-3 in a thrilling encounter to ensure that they still were in contention for the women's Polytechnic-Institute of Technical Education (POL-ITE) Floorball Championship title.

In a dominant first period for ITE, they took a 1-0 lead on 14.33 when a shot from Debbie Wong (#39) was parried by NYP's goalie Siti Syamimi Dahari Kamal (#49) and Noridah Bt Abdullah (#40) slotted in the rebound.

NYP had a chance to draw level three minutes into the second period, when they were awarded a penalty. However Marie Clarisse( #9)'s shot was well-saved by ITE's custodian Nur Huda Senawi (#5).

Debbie Wong then nearly increased the lead for ITE on 18:23min with a well-struck shot from quarter court which struck the post and went out.

NYP finally equalised on 20:46min after a good run and cross on the left from Francine Natasha McCall (#9) resulted in Nursaliza Rusley (#77) scoring to make the score 1-1.

ITE's Debbie Wong tried a couple of shots from quarter court which went close thereafter, and soon played her part in ITE's second goal as she made a good pass to Xia Wan Xin (#11) who slammed the ball past Nur Huda Senawi. NYP goalie Siti Syamimi lay prostrate on the ground after the goal and had to be helped off the court by her teammates.

Leading 2-1 at the start of the third period, ITE made it 3-1 three minutes later when Debbie made a superb run down the right and scored from a very acute angle. Debbie was impressive throughout the match, playing her part in breaking up NYP's attacks and orchestrating ITE's attacking moves.

She showed her quality again on 36:54min when she outdribbled her opponent on the left, faked a shot and passed to her teammate Surya Bt Hali (#3) who scored from the blind side to make it 4-1.

NYP showed incredible spirit with two goals in reply. First, Francine Natasha McCall produced a backhand shot after Maris Clarisse's pass from a corner to make it 2-4 before Siti Melissa Hamid (#19) had a shot creep under the ITE goalie's arm, bringing NYP to within one at 3-4 with seven minutes left to play.

The action heated up in the last five minutes, with both NYP and ITE throwing caution to the wind. The crowd roared at what seems to be a goal when Amira Safeeyah’s (ITE, #9) shot hit the net from the outside, and Amira's initial celebration was short-lived.

Then NYP nearly equalised as Nursaliza's backhand shot went in between the ITE goalie's legs. Amidst the confusion, Nursaliza dived in for a shot but was blocked in the end.

NYP pulled their goalie in a desperate attempt to score the equaliser but ITE held out for the much-needed win.

This victory means the winner of the women's floorball POL-ITE crown will not be decided till the clash between NYP and Republic Polytechnic on Wednesday.

NYP vs ITE
1st Period: 0-1
2nd Period: 1-2
3rd Period: 3-4

Scorers
14.33 Noridah Bt Abdullah (# ITE #40)
20.44 Nursaliza Rusley (NYP #77)
28.11 Xia Wan Xin (ITE #11)
33.00 Debbie Wong (ITE #39)
35.54 Surya Bt Hali (ITE #3)
36.54 Francine Natasha McCall (NYP #7)
37.56 Siti Melissa Hamid (NYP #19)

N.B. If you know the names of the players featured, please let us know in the comments section and we’ll update the captions. Thanks.