Story and Photos by REDintern Nathiyaah Sakthimogan
QTSS players celebrate Muhammad Fadil’s (QTSS #8) goal. (Photo 1 © REDintern Nathiyaah Sakhimogan)
SAFRA Tampines, Monday, March 26, 2018 — Queenstown Secondary (QTSS) clinched third place in the football South Zone B Division Boys School Zonal League after beating Holy Innocents’ High School (HIHS) 5-0. Both schools had met earlier in the league with Holy Innocents’ claiming a 2-0 win.
Queenstown emerged as convincing winners thanks to their strong defensive display and clinical counter-attacks in the last quarter of the second half.
Holy Innocents’ started the match with more possession of the ball. However, 27 minutes in, Muhammad Fadil (QTSS #8) gave Queenstown the lead against the run of play by tapping it into the net after a beautiful cross from Harris Sim (QTSS #9).
The surprise lead changed the momentum of the game and allowed Queenstown to have more of the ball. Midfielders Renaldy Putra (QTSS #11) and Andriyan (QTSS #11) were constantly attacking from the right and causing problems for the opponents but Holy Innocents’ defenders did well to keep the score at 1-0 going into half time.
Despite the lead, Queenstown knew there was more they could do to improve in the second half. Andriyan (QTSS #7) said: “During half time we talked about different tactics to help us get more attacking and increase our lead.”
QTSS were expected to go on and dominate the game, but the second half saw HIHS come out on the front foot. They almost equalised two minutes in when Shaiful Hanafi (HIHS #13) headed over from a set-piece. HIHS continued being a threat from their corners. Justin Kyle (HIHS #4) came close when he attempted to poke the ball in from the corner only for it to hit the side net.
With temperatures reaching as high as 33 degrees celsius, the players were given a water break. The game resumed at a slower pace as the fatigue was getting to the players, but HIHS still had most of the ball. QTSS’s solid defensive display forced HIHS to attempt long shots from outside the box, but goalkeeper Amyrul (QTSS #1) kept them at bay.
With 12 minutes left on the clock, HIHS constantly pushed forward leaving their defence exposed. Captain Wayne Lim (QTSS #10) opened the floodgates by getting Queenstown’s second goal of the match by calmly placing the ball past the HIHS keeper after a quick break.
A few minutes later, Harris Sim (QTSS #9) extended their lead after he ran past the HIHS left back and shot past the opposing goalkeeper. They added to that almost immediately when goalkeeper Amyrul’s (QTSS #1) goal kick fell perfectly for Wayne Lim (QTSS #10) who had only one defender to beat before he added to his tally.
Despite the scoreline, HIHS persevered and kept pushing for a goal. But they fell victim to another quick counter-attack in the dying minutes of the game when a defensive mix-up from HIHS allowed for Muhammad Farid (QTSS #4) to easily tap into an open goal to make it 5-0 before the referee blew the final whistle.
After the game, QTSS’ player of the match, Andriyan (QTSS #7) mentioned being glad to have finished the campaign on a high. He added, “I am very excited for my next tournament next year, and I am looking forward to playing with my juniors.”
This match marked the end of this year’s footballing campaign for both schools as they look ahead for next year’s B Division Zonal league.
Score
QTSS vs HIHS
Halftime: 1-0
Fulltime: 5-0
Scorers
QTSS
Muhammad Fadil (#8) – 1 goal
Wayne Lim (#10) – 2 goals
Harris Sim (#9) – 1 goal
Muhammad Farid (#4) – 1 goal
QTSS Roster
Wan Amyrul (#1), Nguyen Hoang (#3), Muhammad Farid (#4), Bryan Koh (#5), Fabian Chan (#6), Andriyan (#7), Muhammad Fadil (#8), Harris Sim (#9), Wayne Lim (#10), Renaldy Putra (#11), Zheng Hao (#12), Madhaven S/0 Nedunzhelian (#13), Ryan Lee (#15), Arnav Rajendra (#16), Benjamin Lee (#17), Muhamad Fitri (#18), Mohamad Rifa’i (#19), Danish (#20)
HIHS Roster
Derrick Royston (#1), Matthew Chan (#3), Justin Kyle (#4), Daryl Lim (#5), Paul Ryan (#6), George Ng (#7), Marcus Tang (#8), Jun Bao (#9), Kieren Tan (#10), Hong Meng (#11), Zachary Chia (#12), Shaiful Hanafi (#13), Jacob Shao (#14), Wayne Chay (#15), Addison Wong (#16), Jing Jie (#17), Si Bin (#18), Aaron Wong (#19), Chee Seng (#20), Naharrudin (#21)
More photos next page
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