The Bowen C Div boys team was the victim of an upset result for a second time in the 2nd round of the NZ Inter-Schools Competition this afternoon at Sembawang Secondary School. Unfancied Greendale Secondary School showed how useful team spirit and hunger could be as weapons to win football matches by bravely holding the Bowen Bullets to a 3-3 draw.
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| Pre-match handshakes |
In fact, Bowen was staring at a straight exit from the tournament until a late penalty goal kept their top 4 hopes alive. Greendale raced to 2-goal lead by halftime, allowed Bowen to come back to 2-2 and then went 3-2 up with 8 minutes left to play before Bowen snatched a last minute penalty goal.
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| Bullets starting line-up |
Bowen gifted Greendale their first goal in the 15th minute when off a corner from the right, Greendale whipped the ball straight into Bullets left back Muhd Taufiq whose swing at the ball to clear, sliced the ball into his own goal instead.
Bowen came back to almost equalise two minutes later when Bullets midfielder Matin Uzair's glancing header off a corner kick whizzed across the goalmouth and out of play.
Three minutes from the end of the first half, Greendale doubled their advantage after the Bowen defence failed to close down Greendale's striker advancing into the penalty box from the right hand side. With too much space to play with, the striker swiped the ball inside the near post which was fatally unguarded by Bowen goalkeeper Emmanuel Doo.
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| Bullets Fareez twisting away from an opponent |
However, the Bullets showed they had the appetite for a fight, coming out strongly after the break. They reduced the deficit in the very first minute of the 2nd half when Bullets skipper Muhd Yusri's whipped corner kick from the left sailed beyond the reach of Greendale's goalkeeper into goal.
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| Bullets Muhd Asyraaf (left) attempting a pass to team mate Muhd Yusri |
Greendale did not learn from their mistake when another Bowen corner taken by Bullets right back Elhan Akmal from the right was punched by the Greendale goalkeeper into his own net in the 43rd minute. With the score at 2-2, it was anybody's game.
The momentum swung toward Greendale again when another lapse of concentration in the 52nd minute allowed Greendale to score their third goal. Again, Bowen failed to close down their opponent on the left and the incoming cross was meekly pushed away by Emmanuel only for an advancing Greendale attacker to tap the ball back towards goal. Another attacker arrived late to put the final touch to the ball for Greendale's potential winner.
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| Bullets goalkeeper Emmanuel Doo executing a drop kick |
Bowen poured forward in the final five minutes of the game and their opponents finally succumbed to the pressure in the final minute when a goalmouth scramble for the ball resulted in a goal-bound shot by Yusri being palmed away by the Greendale right back on the line. The referee blew for a penalty in favour of the Bullets and showed the defender the red card for intentionally handling the ball. It was to be the last kick of the game and Yusri showed calm in converting the spot kick to complete a Bowen fightback.
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| Bullets doing a man-marking job to defend a corner kick |
Bowen Starting Line-Up
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Jersey No.
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EMMANUEL
DOO
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1
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MUHAMMAD TAUFIQ JUMAAT
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2
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RAEIS B
MOHAMAD NOOR AZRIN
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3
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SHAH
SHARIZAN B JUMASLAN
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4
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ELHAN
AKMAL B SAHRIL goal 43’
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5
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MUHAMAD HAMIZAN B KARYAT
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13
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MATIN UZAIR B MOHAMAD NAZRIN
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6
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MUHAMMAD FAREEZ B JAMALUDDIN
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7
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MUHAMMAD
ZULHILMI B RAMLEE
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8
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MOHAMMAD
ASYRAAF B MOHD FAROZ
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12
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MUHAMMAD YUSRI B SELAMAT goal 31’,
60’ (pen)
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10
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Substitutes
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VALLAMSETTI
NITIN SAI
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11
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NAVIN KUMARAN S/O GUNASEKARAN
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14
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FARIHIN
AIMAN B ZAINON RAHMAN
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16
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MUHAMMAD AQIL RUSYAIDI B RIZAN
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15
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MUHAMMAD
ARIFFIN B SAHDAN
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17
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NOORSHAM SHAH B AZLAM SHAH
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18
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LOO KOEI
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19
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KARTHIKEYA
S/O PAKRY SAMY
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20
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