IHG Hockey (F) Semi-Finals by Sean Lim

Hall 2 v Hall 16
WIN 2-1

Monday, 6 January 2013

NIE HOCKEY PITCH, NTU - Our hockey girls defeated Hall 16 by a score of 2-1 to qualify for the Finals for the first time in quite a while.



A tense atmosphere filled the air on this otherwise chill and damp morning, borne perhaps of the consequences that were riding on the match result; it would be the finals for the victors, and game over for the other.

Pre-match nerves were to be expected, but our girls headed into this game in fine form; not only did they beat Hall 10 by a comfortable margin of 3-0 in the quarters, they had also yet to concede a goal. A defence that has been led imperiously by captain Esther "Bobby" Ng has proved unbreachable thus far, while a stellar midfield led by Shireen and Petrina  has bamboozled every team they have faced. On paper, Hall 16 had every reason to fear facing the nouveau hockey powerhouses Hall 2.



And so the pre-match predictions were proved right. After some early tit for tat, in which both Halls slowly felt their way into this contest, our Hall soon asserted its technical dominance. Shireen and Petrina were soon running the show in midfield, while Clara Chin was having the game of her season by intercepting everything Hall 16 could throw at her.

It wasn't long before we finally grabbed the lead, albeit in a slightly unusual fashion for Hall 2. Usually Shireen picks the ball up in midfield before going on a slaloming run that ends with a shot at goal, but perhaps due to the weather, our pressing was more intense today, and it was this pressure that led to the goal. Shireen dispossessed a Hall 16 player near their goal after a restart, squaring the ball for Petrina to finish.

The priority then shifted from breaking down a stubborn Hall 16 defence to stopping a previously blunt Hall 16 attack from scoring. Yeo Mingen and Mainisah Buang may not be the most technical of players but their hard-running upfront ensured that Hall 2 always had an outlet from defence, one in which Esther tried to exploit a few times with hard hits from the backline.



Just when it seems that Hall 2 would simply ride the game out, an unscripted twist happened. Hall 16 managed to win successive penalty-corners, and after one of those they managed to get a good hit in the D. In the most vicious of ironies, Clara who until then had not put a foot wrong at all, unfortunately deflected the hit into her own goal. There was some dispute as to whether the goal stood hence-after, but the rules were clarified for the goal to stand.

That is, until Shireen again stood up and took matters into her own hands. Picking up the ball in midfield, she beat 3 players, found herself 1 on 1 with the goalkeeper, and calmly slotted home to send Hall 2 to the Finals.

 

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