A single goal was all it took to inflict on the Bowen C Boys Football team their first defeat in 14 matches. Bowen's conqueror were the West Zone Champions, Jurongville Secondary who showed impressive spirit in the first quarter-final match against the Bowen Bullets this afternoon at the Lor Napiri ground.
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| The Bullets taking a pre-match pledge cum cheer |
Both teams were more than ready for the encounter after a 1-week break from the Inter-Schools competition. Jurongville looked the more adventurous side, at least in the first 10 minutes of the match, as they capitalised on the dribbling skills of their left winger to send in crosses. They also hit the crossbar in the 9th minute from outside the penalty box and caused chaos in the Bowen defence on several occasions.
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| Bullets starting line-up |
When the Bullets finally settled down, they took over the initiative, creating a hatful of decent scoring chances. In their best 10-minute spell of the match, the Bullets saw 2 attempts go narrowly wide. In the first one on 13 minutes, the Bullets started a move deep from defence, moving the ball swiftly from left-winger Muhd Fareez to Aizal who then put through Muhd Zamani in the penalty box. Unfortunately, the finishing by the Bullets striker was off the mark, slipping past the Jurongville goalkeeper and out of play for a goal kick.
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| Bullets Zamani unleashing a free-kick |
The second miss saw Aizal putting his foot through the ball off an intelligent relay pass from the penalty box. Again, the ball flew just inches away from the right post.
Against the run of play in the 26th min, Jurongville somehow managed to squeeze a low cross from the left into the Bullets penalty box and an unmarked Jurongville player in the penalty box was on hand to tap the ball into an empty net.
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| Bullets midfielder Aizal dribbling past an opponent. |
The Bullets went into the break 0-1 down and straight after the break in the 32nd minute, another mishap occurred when left-back Muhd Yusri was adjudged to be the last defender when he pulled down a Jurongville striker who was through on goal. Referee showed Yusri a straight red for denying a goalscoring opportunity. From the ensuing freekick on the edge of the penalty box, Bullets keeper Desmond Ong did well to parry the ball over for a corner kick.
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| Bullets rearguard organising themselves for another Jurongville corner |
Try as they might, the Bullets ran out of ideas after the sending-off and failed to create any worthwhile openings after that, thanks to quick closing down by the Jurongville players. An Aizal-freekick that hit the crossbar was the closest the Bullets came to an equaliser.
The Bullets' frustration grew when Aizal and H.Anig were both shown yellow cards on separate occasions (39th min and 58th min) for dissent -- Aizal for throwing the ball at his marker and Aniq for arguing with the referee.
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| Bullets Alif and Irfan getting reading to deal with a high ball. |
The Bullets's defeat was hard to swallow but Jurongville's discipline and calm were well-worth their 3 points.
Jurongville
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1
– 0
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Bowen
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Goals
Scored (Bowen only)
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nil
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Substitutions
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nil
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Yellow and Red cards
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Muhd
Yusri 32’ (red)
Aizal
Murhamdani 39’ (yellow)
Harith
Aniq 58’ (yellow)
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