Junior Bullets succumb to late goal in titanic tussle with Singapore Sports School

5 Mar 2012

The junior Bullets put up one of their best performances this year in a NZ Inter-Schools C Div Boys quarter-finals match last Thursday afternoon but it was not enough to overcome hot favourites Singapore Sports School.

Bowen Team waiting for the rain to stop

The underdog tag given to the Bullets was enough motivation for the Bowen boys to face up to SSPS even when heavy rain and lightning threatened to postpone the match before it began. When the skies cleared and the go-ahead was given by the referee 30 minutes late, the Bullets showed vigour and enterprise. Closing down space quickly and high up on the field, they restricted the SSPS boys from playing their football. Yet, the Bullets were able to conjure up tantalising movement and in fact, created many worthwhile chances that must have given the favourites a scare. Midfielder Aloysius continued his superb form with a rising shot that just brushed the crossbar. On two occasions, excellent crosses were sent into the danger area but no one was at the far post to nod home the ball. Creative use of the short corners involving Muhd Afiq also baffled the SSPS boys. At half-time, anyone could have been guessing which team was actually the favourite.

The second half began in the same vein with both teams sticking to their starting line-ups and formation. With a special appearance from the Bowen School principal Mr Bernard Chew and Discipline Master, Muhd Farid, the Bullets were aptly fired up. But try as they might, the Bowen strikeforce could not put the ball in the net. Good interplay between Muhd Afiq, Aloysius Lee and Javier Ho saw Bowen’s attack advance into the penalty box but when it was time to pull the trigger, the SSPS defence stood firm to clear. In the 42nd minute, a corner was cleared out of the penalty box and Muhd Danial arrived quickly to fire a rising shot over the bar.

As the Bullets tire, SSPS took advantage with good play out to the flanks. In the 51st minute, one of the crosses found an unmarked SSPS striker in the penalty box for an easy headed goal. One goal down and the Bullets’ task became herculean. Yet, the underdogs fought on till their engines ran out.  In a rare occasion, forward Javier was put through behind the defence but the ball skidded towards the rushing goalkeeper to clear. And that was the last of Bowen’s chances.

With the second loss in the quarter-finals stage, the Bullets are now out of the competition. They have fought a good battle which they lost but their spirits have won the war. The next match against Woodlands Secondary will be an academic exercise but the Bullets will definitely want to invoke that same pride and spirit to get a result to end the season.

Man-of-the-Match: Almost the whole team is up for the accolade.

Line-up: Rozaini, Akmal, Adrian, Saiful, Hazim (Sureen), Danial, Aloysius, Rafid, Aizan, Afiq, Javier.