Story by Iman Hashim/Red Sports. Photos by Chua Kai Yun/Red Sports.
Soh Ming Sheng (BMS #6) makes a back pass. He scored a game high of 5 goals in the victory. (Photo 1 © Chua Kai Yun/Red Sports)
Yishun Sports Hall, Wednesday, April 6, 2016 — Bukit Merah Secondary (BMS) outlasted Coral Secondary (CS) with five goals in the final period to eventually win 10–5, clinching third place in the National B Division Boys Floorball Championship.
In the semi-finals, Bukit Merah had lost 3–5 to East View Secondary while Coral went down 5–8 to Victoria School.
The game got off to a frantic start, with both teams showing much aggression and pace in their play. It proved to be a see-saw encounter, with Coral opening the scoring three minutes in through Lai Jia Jie (CS #71) but Bukit Merah equalising just 38 seconds afterwards through Soh Ming Sheng (BMS #6), who was the top scorer in the game with five goals.
Coral then snatched back the lead through Gwee Yuan Sheng (CS #77), before teammate Brenden Chong (CS #68) made it 3–1 shortly after. Coral’s third goal was a result of Bukit Merah failing to clear the ball in their defensive semi-circle, with Brenden sweeping it low into goal after being teed up by a teammate.
Just as Coral thought they would go into the break with a decent lead, Soh Ming Sheng (BMS #6) completed his hat-trick, scoring two goals in quick succession to level the scores at 3–3. His second goal of the game came right after a brilliant stop by the Bukit Merah goalkeeper from a long-range Coral effort. The custodian subsequently threw the ball forward for Ming Sheng to swiftly retrieve and then he finished deftly despite pressure from a Coral defender.
Ming Sheng’s and Bukit Merah’s third goal came 34 seconds from the end of Period 1, with a stunning long-range drag shot from the left side of court.
Five minutes into Period 2, Bukit Merah took the lead for the first time in the match. From just inside the D, Earl Embile (BMS #21) flicked the ball into the top corner of the net to make it 4–3.
The topsy-turvy affair continued as four minutes later, Coral equalised. Receiving the ball from nearly half-court, Lai Jia Jie (CS #71) scored his second of the game by unleashing a low fierce drive which the Bukit Merah goalkeeper failed to keep out after a slight fumble.
With three minutes left for Period 2, Coral got back the lead again at 5–4. After a scramble in the D where the ball was bouncing towards goal, Indra Shah Rizal (CS #6) provided a slight touch to cause the ball to trickle in.
However, in the last two minutes of the period, things took a turn for the worse for Coral, as Irwan Shah Rezza (CS #10) committed a foul which gave Bukit Merah a penalty and earned him a two-minute suspension as well. Nicolas Siew (BMS #17) missed the resultant penalty, though, but redeemed himself 36 seconds later with a goal to level the score again at 5–5.
Even though Coral had been on par with Bukit Merah throughout the first two periods, they suddenly imploded in the final period as Bukit Merah began to pull away instead. Whether it was tired legs or sinking morale, Coral simply had no answer to Bukit Merah’s dazzling display in these final 15 minutes.
Just 44 seconds into the period, Bukit Merah went ahead 6–5 thanks to Soh Ming Sheng’s (BMS #6) fourth goal of the game. After receiving the ball, he quickened his pace to dart into the D and then unleashed a ferocious drag shot into the top corner of the net.
Two minutes later, Safiuddin Salleh (BMS #20) laid the ball off to Earl Embile (BMS #21) who shot from long range to make it 7–5.
With six minutes gone in the period, despite being shorthanded by one player through suspension, Bukit Merah extended the lead further to 8–5 after Safiuddin Salleh (BMS #20) dribbled past two Coral players and finished sharply into the bottom corner of the net.
Soh Ming Sheng (BMS #6) then completed his five-goal tally by scoring Bukit Merah’s ninth goal, before captain Muhammad Iman Zulhakim (BMS #16) fittingly put the icing on the cake with an audacious shot from the left wing.
On his team’s victory, the Bukit Merah captain Iman commented, “We didn’t do that well at first but our supporters and friends gave us motivation from the stands so we started doing our best and got the goals. Once we got one goal, we just kept thinking ‘one more, one more’ and so we went all out in the end.”
On his team’s third placing in the championship, he added, “At first in Round 2 all we wanted was to get into the semis, so we were actually quite happy then, but sadly we lost in the semis. But we are still satisfied with the third placing.”
Score By Period
Coral vs Bukit Merah
1st Period: 3–3
2nd Period: 2–2 (5–5)
3rd Period: 0–5 (5–10)
Scorers
Coral
Lai Jia Jie (#71) — 2 goals
Gwee Yuan Sheng (#77) — 1 goal
Brenden Chong Zhi Kai (#68) — 1 goal
Indra Shah Rizal B Buang (#6) — 1 goal
Bukit Merah
Soh Ming Sheng (#6) — 5 goals
Earl John Alicante Embile (#21) — 2 goals
Nicolas Siew Kang Jie (#17) — 1 goal
Safiuddin B Salleh (#20) — 1 goal
Muhammad Iman Zulhakim B A G (#16) — 1 goal
Coral Roster
Ahman Nadir B Ahmad Yusuf (#41), Amirul B Masrudin (#9), Chong Zhi Kai Brenden (#68), Fredy Chua(#16), Gwee Yuan Sheng (#77), Indra Shah Rizal B Buang (#6), Irwan Shah Rezza B Azami (#10), Iskandar Bjorn Radewaldt (#96), Lai Jia Jie (#71), Mohammed Hafiz B Mohamed Irwan (#1), Muhammad Hannan B Mohamed H (#72), Muhammad Irfan M Mohammad Ali (#22), Muhammad Khalis Hidayatullah Bin ZulKifli (#23), Shamhab Pahlavi (#21), Wang Zhi Xian (#7), Yves Denel Legaspi Gelangre (#11)
Bukit Merah Roster
Isaac Tan Jing Jie (#4), Soh Ming Sheng (#6), Ng Yong Jie (#7), Teo Jing Yi (#8), Iryan Shah B Khairul Anuar (#9), Tan Shao Siang (#10), Wang Jia Yun (#11), Naing Thi Ha (#13), Muhammad Iman Zulhakim B A G (#16), Siew Kang Jie, Nicolas (#17), Khant Ye Wint Thant (#18), Safiuddin B Salleh (#20), Earl John Alicante Embile (#21), Muhammad Zaidan B Abdul Wahab (#22), Alexander Lee Yuheng (#24), Amirul Amsyar B Mohamed Asrori (#25)
More photos next page
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