NJC

It was halfway through the tournament, and we had picked up 10 out of a possible 12 points from the first 4 matches. However, things were going to get alot harder as we still had NJC and MJC to face, as well as a replay with JJC. First off, I would like to say that of all the matches we played, the NJC match was the most disappointing of all. Had we not qualified for the semi-finals, I think it would be safe to say that every member of our team would point to our performance in this match as the main reason why. Just like our seniors before us, who had led the table all the way until they lost 1-0 to AJC, NJC could so easily have proven to be our downfall. I would not mind playing a rematch with NJC again sometime soon, just to see which team is better.

I didn't play at all this game, resigned to standing behind the goal with Quan cheering our teammates on, who carved out many gilt-edged chances but just couldn't find that killer touch. Admittedly, it was a very close game, with both sides having chances to steal the game, with NJC missing a chance to steal the game with virtually the last kick of the game. In my opinion, NJC played their best game of the tournement against us, and were a far cry from the team we saw play against YJC later on. They outcommunicated us, they outwitted us tactically, and to some extent, I think they simply wanted a result more than us. Although I think we were the better team, we could so easily have lost this match.

NJC had gone through along with us into the semi-finals 2 years ago, surviving the group of death (RJC,TPJC,SAJC,NJC). My coach was familiar with the NJC coaching staff, and warned us not to underestimate them, or to assume that a result against them was guaranteed. Our coach warned us that this was a crucial game for NJC, as a loss against us would effectively eliminate them from the competition barring a miracle. I learnt a very important lesson in this game: never underestimate your opponent. Perhaps an early warning of our slackish attitude leading up to the match was the state of the briefing room when our coach walked in, with people sleeping on the floor, the chairs not arranged, lots of rubbish on the white board about soccer guys and their various associated girls- admittedly Jeremy and I had just finished a few games of gin rummy. Mr. Low was very angry at our overly casual attitude, and from then on, the first thing we did when entering the room was to arrange the chairs.

Lineup was: Timon, Jeremy, Cunzhi, Eugene, Weiyu, Joseph, Hashir, Bowen, Guan Koon, Bong, Chaolun

I remember Cunzhi had suffered a hip injury going into this game, and actually sat out most of the training the day before. Mr. Low even emphasised that he wanted Eugene to work more so he could protect Cunzhi's hip, but ironically, Cunzhi had to work even harder during the game then he was used to playing a flat four system. Weiyu was back in right-back after letting his heels heal a bit, but they were still quite raw, and I really respect him for playing through the pain. Joseph was handed a rare start ahead of Yijing, and it was good to see that our coach was willing to let every single player have a chance to play.

The pre-match briefing had identified the NJC DM as their key player, who was a national player as well, and scouting reports said that NJC was weak in the air and their goalkeeper was prone to fumbles. Of these 3 pieces of information on which we built our game plan, only 1 proved to be right. Their DM played unbelievably well, getting to the ball just that split second before our players did. NJC was by no means weak in the air, and their keeper caught countless of our cross without spilling the ball. Tactically, we were completely outfoxed this match, and our entire game plan crumbled before our very eyes. Clearly, scouting isn't always a good thing.

I would like to compliment NJC for their impressive communication, in Timon's words, "they were the first team we faced to out-communicate us". We later learnt that their coach had screened the movie 300 before out match, and throughout the match the NJC players would shout and echo "300!" every available opportunity, exceeding if not matching our calls of "green ball!" and "Raffles!". The NJC players were by far the most fired up team we had ever faced.

From the opening kickoff, it was a nervy start for us. One of the NJC players took a shot at our goal from the kickoff, but he scuffed the attempt. However, the referee spotted an infringement and called for a retake of the kickoff. Again, NJC took a shot at our goal. Previously, only SAJC in our 1st friendly with them have taken a shot directly from a kick off, at that time it hit the corner of the goal post and crossbar, as Timon had partially misjudged the flight of the ball. This time, with strong tailwind, the NJC player's high and lofty shot caught the wind and flew at our goal. I was just walking to the back of Timon's goal to help pick any balls that flew past when I saw Timon catch the ball behind the line. Whether the whole of the ball crossed the goal line I will never know, as Timon reacted smartly by quickly flicking the ball out before any of us could take a second look. However, the linesman never even batted an eyelid. I noticed that the linesman had not reached the goal-line by the time the ball reached Timon because he had to run from the half-way line. So a little of luck kept us from going down early on in a close and tight match.

The game was very tight, with our defense standing firm against the NJC attack, but our offense was largely stiffled by their defense, in part due to the fact that we tried to stick to our game plan of testing them aerially. The move of the match was an absurd flick by Bowen with the outside of his boot somewhere outside the penalty box, right in the path of Chaolun's run. Sadly, Chaolun's far post drive beat the keeper but not the goal post, and it bounced out for the NJC defender to clear to safety. Chaolun would have a number of excellent chances to put us ahead, including: a near-post shot akin to the one he scored against Johor FC which the keeper did well to parry, a free header from a cross by Woohan that he headed straight into the keeper, a shot from a scrappy corner which Eugene's head cleared off the line. Even Yijing had an excellent chance, but his volley on the run was just wide.

In the dying moments of the match, a series of mistakes by our defense presented the NJC national player with an open goal, after one of their players managed to get a shot in from the right channel which Timon could only parry into the path of another player, whose shot was blocked by Weiyu last ditch challenge. The ball finally bobbled into the path of their DM, and considering Timon was out of position and Cunzhi had slipped at the crucial monent, with the goal was at his mercy, the DM blasted wide to the relief of all our players.

In the end, both sides had their chances but neither side could stick their noses ahead. While some of my teammates believe that had they scored from the opening kick-off, we would certainly have 'woken up' and won the match, I think that we should count ourselves lucky. At this point, we had dropped 4 points from a maximum of 15, and our qualifying chances had taken a turn for the worse as ACJC looked unlikely to drop any more points. Team morale was definitely down after this match, even though we were told not to dwell on it and to focus on our upcoming match against MJC. Incidentally, this was the only match where we failed to score a goal.