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

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Abdul Mateen (#4) of Meridian Junior College in action. (Photo 1 © Lee Jian Wei/Red Sports)

Hougang Sports Hall, Tuesday, April 27, 2015 — Meridian Junior College (MJC) sailed to a comfortable 9–0 finish over National Junior College in the group stage of the National A Division Boys’ Floorball Championship.

MJC put up an effective offence and employed well-placed passes forward to penetrate NJC’s defence, forcing NJC to be on the defensive right from the start.

Barely three minutes into the match, Lee Jin Hao (#80) of MJC fired in the opening goal. A scramble in front of NJC’s goal gave him sufficient space to shoot at point-blank.

MJC were very disciplined in their positioning as they moved fluidly as a team. As a result, NJC had fewer opportunities at goal and were generally forced to play a game of counter-attack.

In the second period, a lob forward was put away neatly by Mohamad Nurhakiem (#19) for MJC’s second goal.

NJC’s defence was more organised in the second period. Despite this, MJC continued their scoring streak.

A long shot from Mohamad Nurhakiem (#19) gave MJC their third goal as he managed to capitalise on an empty space in NJC’s defence for the goal.

NJC pressed ahead eagerly for a goal but they were unable to maintain possession across MJC’s half.

MJC continued to build up their attack very patiently, switching their points of attack quickly to draw NJC defenders away. This gave Tan Tze Wen (#77) the opportunity for MJC’s fourth goal.

A shot from Jeremy Chia (#18) found its way through a wall of defenders, adding to MJC’s comfortable lead.

NJC keeper, Wong Ze Ming (#1), made multiple good saves to foil MJC’s attacks. However, MJC kept up their relentless attack in the final period for four more goals.

Abdul Mateen (#4) dribbled through the middle, cutting through three NJC defenders to fire in MJC’s sixth goal. This was closely followed by a seventh from his teammate barely 20 seconds later. Tan Tze Wen (#77) charged through the centre for the eighth goal and curved in a shot from behind the post for the ninth.

The MJC goalkeeper remained untested till the final four minutes. Despite NJC’s best efforts, they were unable to break through MJC’s defence for a goal.

“It wasn’t our best. I think we have a lot of things that we can improve on. I think they (NJC) showed that they have a lot of defensive discipline in their defence and its something we couldn’t exploit at first. But, I think eventually we managed to do so,” said MJC captain, Mohamad Nurhakiem (#19).

This is MJC’s fourth straight win. They will be facing Nanyang Junior College on May 4, 1.30 p.m. NJC will go up against River Valley High School on May 6, 12.15 p.m. Both matches will be played at Hougang Sports Hall.

Scoring by period
MJC vs NJC
1st period: 1–0
2nd period: 4-0 (5–0)
3rd period: 4–0 (9–0)

MJC Roster
Xu Jun Wen (#2), Abdul Mateen Amir Mizra (#4), Gan Cai Ying (#7), Melvin Quek Yu Quan (#10), Faruq Yunus Alsagoff (#11), Abdul Ra’uf B Abdul Rahman (#12), Fat-hullah B Farid (#14), Jonathan Lim Ming En (#15), Tan Wei Meng Nicholas (#17), Jeremy Chia Wai Yeen (#18), Mohamad Nurhakiem B Mohamd R (#19), Janus Wayne Enclona Lim (#22), Lua Jia Jun (#23), Mohammad Faiz B Abdul Razak (#24), Melvin Ong Yew Sheng (#25), Justin Oh Zheng Yong (#50), Thaddeus Tan Tze Wen (#77), Lee Jin Hao (#80), Lutfi Nur Hakim B Tajuddin (#86), Muhammad Nasrulhaq B Mohamed O (#88)

NJC Roster
Wong Ze Ming (#1), Bryan Ng Soon Wei (#3), Umar Bin Sadali (#4), Cheong Ren Hao (#5), Derrick Tan Yang Tjun (#7), Bryan Tan Zhi Jie (#8), Daniel Goh Wen Xiang (#9), Ng Kit Ee (#10), Ong Yan Kiat Gabriel (#11), Emmanuel Lee Zong Wei (#13), Kumaran S/O Selvvaratnam (#17), Ng Jing Xun (#19), Joseph Lee Jing Xuan (#20), Tan Yi Hong (#22), Chong Shen Rui (#23), Mak Jun Wei (#30), Ankur Jain (#69), Mitchell Koh Yiang Dhee (#77), Tay Jun Hong (#88), Kwek Kang Ying (#98)

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