Story by Zachary Foo/Red Sports. Photos by Lim Yong Teck/Red Sports
Tan Yong Geng (NTU #17) goes up for the header against Brandon Koh (TP #19). (Photo 1 © Lim Yong Teck/Red Sports)
ITE College East, Tuesday, February 11, 2014 — A goal against the run of play helped Nanyang Technological University (NTU) clinch third place in the Institute-Varsity-Polytechnic (IVP) Football Championship with a 1–0 win over Temasek Polytechnic.
Anders Eric Aplin (NTU #15) scored the decisive goal, slotting the ball home on a rare counter-attack chance for NTU.
The game started off on a rough note, with NTU committing a lot of fouls in their attempts to dispossess TP of the ball. TP played a patient game, advancing the ball forward with simple passes. Their main strategy was to attack NTU down the flanks, hoping to score from a cross. However, they were unable to make any headway, as the stout NTU defence was able to repel their attacks.
Midway through the half, NTU made their breakthrough of the game. After a clearance from their own half, they broke for their first counter-attacking chance of the game. Adman Bin Mansor (TP #1) did well to palm the resulting shot away from goal, only for it to fall to the eager feet of Anders (NTU #15) who gladly guided the ball into the net for the first and only goal of the game.
TP seemed shocked by the goal that came against the run of play, but did well to maintain their composure. They continued their assault on the NTU goal with impunity. As the half wound down, TP created three clear chances from crosses, but they were all headed wide. NTU went into half-time up 1–0, clearly satisfied that their strategy was working.
The second half saw TP continue their bombardment on the NTU goal. The ball spent a majority of the time in the NTU half as TP tried to probe the NTU defence, but were unable to break through.
NTU had a chance to put the game away on another counter-attack chance. Deevesh (NTU #10) passed to Anders (NTU #15), who deked the ball to Hyder Bin Md Sulaiman (NTU #11), fooling the TP keeper in the process. Unfortunately, Hyder (NTU #11) failed to make the most of his chance, shooting the ball against the post.
For the rest of the half, TP created multiple attempts on the NTU goal, but they were time and again rebuffed by the NTU defence. NTU solely concentrated on defence, their clearances out of the half having no targets and they looked content to defend their lead. This dragged on until the final whistle, securing NTU their first podium finish in IVP with the 1–0 win.
NTU captain, Gavin Lee (#4) said, “We were quite relaxed from the start. Our plan was to keep the defence tight as we know TP moved the ball around well. We communicated well and managed to cover then. The ‘soak-and-strike’ tactic paid off as we managed to score on the counter-attack. This is our first finish in the top four. We hope to get top two next year and retain our Singapore University Games (SUniG) title.”
Scoring by Half
NTU vs TP
1st Half: 1–0
2nd Half: 0–0 (1–0)
Scorers
NTU
Anders Eric Aplin (#15) – 1 goal
NTU Roster
Sahairi Bin Ramri (#2), Gavin Joshua Lee Tse Pang (#4), Low Hong Kiat Calvin (#8), Deevesh Kripalani (#10), Md Hyder Bin Md Sulaiman (#11), Md Firdaus Bin Md Ismail (GK, #12), Anders Eric Aplin (#15), Kenneth Gan Jing Han (#16), Tan Yong Geng (#17), Akmal Bin Ariffin (#22), Md Khairi Bin Kamarudin (#33)
We do not have the complete roster for Nanyang Technological University. If anyone knows who the players are, let us know and we’ll update the post.
TP Roster
Adman Bin Mansor (#1), Muhammad Harithizan B Jantan (#3), Muhammad Wyldan B Wisam (#4), Basil Gerard Teo Wei Jin (#5), Muhammad Faris Azienuddin B K (#6), Muhammad Al Nazirul Islam (#7), Muhammad Safwan B Kamlan (#8), Muhammad Asshiddiq B Wahid (#9), Muhad Fuad B Ramli (#10), Muhammad Amin B Rossady (#11), Abdul Raqib Bin Abdul Razak (#12), Mohammad Hyder Bin Mohd Ismail (#15), Aslam Ismail (#16), Muhammad Haqiz bin Azman (#17), Shahul Rayyan Bin Mohammad Redzuan (#18), Brandon Koh Kim Leong (#19), Muhammad Syafiq B Muhammad Sirali (#20), Muhammad Irfan S/O Abdur Raheem (#21), Dhukhilan S/O Jeevamani (#22), Muhammad Shazwan bin Mohamad Said (#23), Toh Kian Keong (#24), Santa Maria Russell James (#25), Johan bin Jahari (#26), Fadhlun Mukasyaf bin Martono (#27), Mohammad Firdaus Bin Kasman (#28)
More photos next page
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