050109/ Hockey (M)

The Hockey Guys played their Quarter Finals against Hall 14. This year, our guys are all experienced, and much was expected of the team. And so we started as the favourites, and played like the favourites.
Right from the start, most of the play was in Hall 14’s half. Everytime they cleared the ball, Hall 2 will bring attack again very quickly. Within minutes, Hall 2 won the first Short Corner (Penalty Corner), a set piece that bears high chance of scoring. The pushing, from Jeremy Loh, to the stopping by the captain Yew Loong, was all very well done, but the shot from Lawrence was off target.
Our guys didn’t give up though, and with all the pressure, we got another short corner. Unfortunately for us this time, the push and stop was bad and we lost the upperhand. And before we know it, the half time whistle’s blowed! Summary for this half, our defence didn’t let any balls through, we had a lot of possession, but we were not creating many chances.



The story for the second half turned out quite similar to the first. Once again, we had a lot of possession, we camped in Hall 14’s half, but we were finding it hard to break down their defence. We had a good chance when Chee Yong managed to break down into the left side of the D, but having to take a reverse shot (which was much harder to execute), he missed the shot.
During one of the fast breaks, after Yew Loong put Jeremy through on the right, and Hall 2 having 3 players on 2, it seemed our chance to break the duck has came. But unfortunately, the ball got caught on Jeremy’s feet and a foul was blown. Another good attack down the right saw Lawrence sweeping a ball from the top of the D after good dribbling from Jeremy, but it was blocked by Hall 14.
When it seemed like it was going to be over, Yew Loong received a ball from the centre to the left of the D. However, luck was against us and the ball touched his leg and foul was given against us again.
The full time whistle was blown and despite Hall 2’s dominance, the game ended a draw and a penalty shootout ensued. Our first three penalty flickers were Lawrence, Rabnick and Yew Loong.
Hall 14 started first and converted their penalty. Up stepped Lawrence, but he didn’t connect well and his weak shot was saved by the keeper. Advantage was with Hall 14. If they scored, they will be 2-0 up on penalties. Luckily for us, our hero, Zong Ming the keeper, managed to save their second penalty. Rabnick then proceeded to score his penalty to even things out. Zong Ming than saved the third penalty, giving Hall 2 the advantage. If Yew Loong score the third penalty of ours, Hall 2 would have won. He connected with the ball very well, but unfortunately, the keeper guess correctly and saved the penalty well.
We went on to sudden death Penalty, where the first team to miss (and the other team scores) will lose. Jeremy went to flick first. Although he didn’t connect well with the shot, it somehow crept into the goal! Next was Hall 14’s turn. Their player scooped the ball. It went high. Although it seemed to be going out, Zong Ming still saved it just to make sure, and victory was ours!



We will now proceed to play the Semi Finals against Hall 13 on the 21st of Jan. It will be a tough match as Hall 13 has a few IVP players compared to none on our side, but Hall 2 hockey guys are quietly confident of snatching a win as the underdogs. However, we will need all the support we have so do come down that night to NIE hockey pitch to support us as we march on!

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