Story by Carissa Tan/Red Sports. Photos by Lee Jian Wei/Red Sports

A Division Girl's Soccer

Victoria Goh (#10) of Raffles Institution and Saranya Thiru (#29) of Saint Andrew’s Junior College fights for possession of the ball. (Photo 1 © Lee Jian Wei/Red Sports)

Temasek Junior College, Wednesday, April 9, 2015 — Raffles Institution (RI) triumphed 1–0 over St. Andrew’s Junior College (SAJC) in the opening match of the National A Division Girls’ Football Championship.

Good defending by SAJC’s backline kept both teams at a stalemate for the first few minutes of the match. SAJC played a very defensive game, relying on their sole striker, Ang Ying Xuan (#13), to attack. This proved to be rather unsuccessful as RI defenders easily crowded out her out.

Both teams struggled to hold on to possession. Neither were able to capitalise on lobs forward for an opening goal.

However, in the last few minutes of the half, K Keerthana (RI #7) outran SAJC centrebacks and placed a grounder just out of the reach of SAJC goalkeeper, Seow Yu Hui (#17) for the opening goal.

SAJC were visibly shaken. Although they mounted a better attack with more people supporting their striker, their passes were relatively less accurate than in the first half.

A panic save by the RI goalkeeper outside the six-yard box gave SAJC their first opportunity in the second half. Esther Thang (#10) stepped up for the free kick but it sailed just above goal.

Subsequently, there were multiple quick exchanges between both teams with each side gaining a few opportunities at goal.

Although SAJC presented a more effective offence in the second half, they were unable to get their equaliser and the match concluded with a 1–0 victory for RI.

RI captain, Victoria Goh (#10), said, “I’m really thankful for my team and I feel that we trained hard for this match and it was really a very tough match. We are very, very thankful for SAJC for putting up such a good fight.”

RI will be facing Temasek Junior College in their next match at Meridian Junior College on April 15, 3pm. SAJC will go up against Meridian Junior College at TJC on April 22, 3pm.

Scoring by half:
RI vs SAJC
1st half: 1–0
2nd half: 0–0 (1–0)

Scorer
RI
K Keerthana (#7) – 1 goal

RI Roster
Abinaya Mahatma (#1), Vanessa Chen Hui En (#2), Simone Sim (#3), Low Fay E Reis (#4), Syahirah Humaira Bte Amrun (#5), Filzah Hanis Binte Osman (#6), K Keerthana (#7), Varenya d/o Uthay Kumaran (#8), Goh Ming Wei (#9), Victoria Goh Sze Hui (#10), Chong Yan Wen (#11), Sisyena Anusha Gunaravi (#12), Ong Pei Jie Janelle (#13), Guo Shibei (#14), Liu Chen Yu Jessica (#15), Leong Kylie (#16), Beatrice Yip Kai Wen (#17), Valerie Lee Sze Jie (#20), Victoria Tan Yee Ling (#21), Zahirah Rosie (#23)

SAJC Roster
Nur Shyartini Bte Saifulbahri (#1), Gan Sze Jing, Jean Kimberly (#4), Xener Kaur Gill D/o KS (#5), Karina Lalchand Sheri (#6), Joyce Foo Wei Wen (#7), Lee Zhi Hui (#8), Sim Hwee Kiang Janine (#9), Esther Thang Hui Ling (#10), Mavis Lim Mei Ting (#11), Ang Ying Xuan (#13), Sandra Lee Yun Ling (#14), Samantha Faye Duran Solco (#15), Chan Qing (#16), Seow Yu Hui (#17), Megan Ortega (#18), Clara Christy Kosasih (#19), Kess Khor Jing Shi (#20), Tay Su Xia (#22), Sung Ting Ting, Valerie (#25), Saranya Thiru (#29)

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