By Kenneth Tan/Red Sports
A Jurongville player (yellow) wins a header against Serangoon. Jurongville held Serangoon to a 0-0 draw in the crucial match to qualify for the next round of the Manchester United Premier Cup. (Photo 1 © Koh Yizhe/Red Sports)
Serangoon Secondary School, Saturday, April 3, 2010 - Traditional powerhouse Serangoon Secondary were surprisingly dumped out of the Manchester United Premier Cup (MUPC) in the second round after their A team finished third in Group M, behind defending champions Seng Kang Secondary and Jurongville Secondary (Team A).
That defeat meant Serangoon will have no representatives at the quarter-final stage of MUPC after their B team was eliminated in the first round as well.
The MUPC is a worldwide football tournament that gives talented footballers under the age of 15 a chance to showcase their skills and talent and come up against other young footballers around the globe. The tournament is jointly sponsored by Nike and Manchester United as part of their commitment to grassroots development.
The winning team from Singapore will go through to the SEA Regional Finals in Thailand where they will face other strong winning teams from Asia. The winner of the Regional Finals will get a chance to participate in the Global Finals held in Manchester.
National team players such as Baihakki Khaizan, Shahril Ishak and Khairul Amri participated in the tournament back when they were under-15.
In Round 1, Round 2 and the quarter-finals, teams play 20-minute games while from the semi-finals onwards, the games are 40 minutes.
Defending champions Seng Kang unsurprisingly finished top of Group M with 10 points achieved in the four games they played in.
After comfortably beating Hong Kah Secondary (Team A) 4-0 in their first game, they left it late to score the goal to nick their second game against Jurongville Secondary (Team A) 1-0.
A goalless draw with Serangoon (Team A) before beating Anglo-Chinese Independent (ACS (I) in another 1-0 victory saw them finish their second round campaign without conceding any goals.
Meanwhile, Serangoon (Team A) beat Hong Kah (Team A) 2-1 in an encounter that was sandwiched by two 0-0 draws against Anglo-Chinese School (Independent) and Seng Kang which meant they went into the decisive final fixture against Jurongville with five points.
After losing to Seng Kang in their first game, Jurongville (Team A) bounced straight back to achieve two successive 2-0 victories over ACS (I) and Hong Kah which put them on six points going into the final game, putting Serangoon (Team A) on the brink of elimination.
It all came down to that final fixture between Serangoon (Team A) and Jurongville (Team A).
It was a must-win game for Serangoon to qualify for the quarter-finals while Jurongville only needed a draw to progress. However once again, Serangoon were let down by their lack of a goalscoring touch in front of goal as a third successive 0-0 draw for them followed meant they got only six points from their four matches played while Jurongville edge them to second position with seven points achieved.
It was certainly a bitter blow for Serangoon (Team A) as they exit the competition without losing a single match in the MUPC this year.
"We did play well, but we scored only a few goals," commented 15-year-old Muhd Hanaffi, captain of Serangoon when asked to summarize his feelings about his team's exit.
When asked what contributed to his team's downfall, he explained, "We made a few mistakes today. For example some of the defenders miskicked their clearances and missed their defensive headers."
"Against Seng Kang," he said when asked about the toughest game they faced today. "However we kept pressuring them, but we just couldn't score against them."
On a final note, he added, "We will aim to play better in the future matches and do better in the MUPC next year."
On the other hand, Jurongville were a much happier bunch.
"We are definitely very happy after qualifying for the next round,” commented 15-year-old Muhd Al-Afiq, captain of Jurongville (Team A). “We played well today and managed to get through. The goalkeeper also made an important save at the end to prevent Serangoon from going through.”
"As we are runners-up for this competition [last year], we were quite confident of making it to the next round," he elaborated. "Although we lost to Seng Kang early in the day, they gave everything in that match and that was why they didn’t play too well after that. Today, we showed character to go through even after the loss to Seng Kang and our three missing key players.”
Both Seng Kang and Jurongville (Team A) now go through to the quarter-finals with six other qualifying teams where they will be split into two groups of four each. The top two for each group will progress further into the semi-finals.
The quarter-finals will take place on Saturday, April 10th, 2010.
Final Results
Seng Kang 4 Hong Kah (Team A) 0
Serangoon (Team A) 0 ACS (I) 0
Jurongville (Team A) 0 Sengkang 1
Serangoon (Team A) 2 Hong Kah (Team A) 1
ACS (I) 0 Jurongville (Team A) 2
Sengkang 0 Serangoon (Team A) 0
Jurongville (Team A) 2 Hong Kah (Team A) 0
ACS (I) 0 Sengkang 1
Serangoon (Team A) 0 Jurongville (Team A) 0
Hong Kah (Team A) 0 ACS (I) 0
Line ups
Seng Kang
Sunny Wang (#1, GK), Ahmad Izzudin Amat Zaki (#2), Mohd Luqman B Mohd Kamarozaman (#3), Zakaria B Abdul Razak (#4), Rayyan B Mohd (#5), Mohd Noor Afiq B Udin (#6, captain), Mohd Helmi B Ridzwan (#7), Hafiz B Ridzwan (#8), Mohd Shameer Aziq B Razak (#9), Muhd Ariyan B Shamsuddin Malik (#10), Benedict Sim (#11), Muhd Rashe B Abdul Rahman (#12), Muhd Haiqal Ashidiq Khairul Anuar (#13), Erwannurrakim B Aminurlahim (#14), Benedict Ang (#15), Muhd Ridhuan B Shamsuddin Malik (#16)
Jurongville (Team A)
Muhd Syaffie B Rafidi (#1), Muhd Nabil Nurfikri (#3), Muhd Syafiq B Johari (#5), Syed Nadhir Bin Syed Mohamed (#7), Adam SS (#8), Abdul Hafiz B Mohd Z (#9), Muhd Faris SS (#10), Muhd Azhar Bin Ramli (#11), Ahmad Arif B Sulaiman (#12), Muhd Rusydi B Mustapa (#14), Muhd Szai Rizuwan (#15), Muhd Basirull B Borhan (#16), Muhd Mullia B Mohd H (#17), Muhd Al-Afiq B Hamzah (#19, captain)
Serangoon (Team A)
Muhd Hirzam Hashim (#1), Muhd Syafiq Hamid (#2), Muhd Ashaari Ramli (#3), Ardy Suprianto Roslan (#4), Riyan Suhairy Rosly (#5), Muhd Firman Jafiri (#7), Muhd Suhaimi Ahzmi (#8), Muhd Ikram Kamsani (#9), Muhd Nasrul Joferi (#10), Zhiqiang (#11), Muhd Hanaffi Holip (#12, captain), Muhd Hafiz Khir (#13), Muhd Haizal Zaidi (#14), Shafiq Said (#15), Muhd Rainy Kassim (#16), Muhd Hilman Ramadan (#19)
Muhammad Nasrul Joferi (Serangoon #10) looks on as his team mate goes up for a header. (Photo 2 © Koh Yizhe/Red Sports)
Muhammad Nasrul Joferi attempts to shake off Mohd Luqman B Mohd Kamarozaman (Seng Kang #3). Seng Kang and Serangoon played out a goalless draw. (Photo 3 © Koh Yizhe/Red Sports)
Muhammad Ikram Kamsani (Serangoon #9) leaves the defender in his wake to score a stunning goal against Hong Kah Secondary. Serangoon won 2-1. (Photo 4 © Koh Yizhe/Red Sports)
Hong Kah (Team A) were unable to make it to the next round as they only managed a single point in four games. (Photo 5 © Koh Yizhe/Red Sports)
Muhd Faris SS (#10) giving instructions to his defense as Jurongville defends a corner. (Photo 6 © Koh Yizhe/Red Sports)
More photos in the GALLERY
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