Written by: Sng En Teng, Christabelle
Edited by: Angelina Grace Pandiman
Photos by: Eusoff Works
Fresh off their 3-0 victory against King Edward VII Hall, EHunited took to the field in hopes of securing a spot in the finals. Today, our boys took to the field to face off against one of this season’s strongest contenders, Sheares Hall. The last time that EHunited faced Sheares was back in the 2020 Finals, which ended in a 0-2 loss. Today's match was an opportunity for redemption.
The field cleared as preparations for this showdown were underway. EHunited scurries in for a team huddle before sending our first line in. Our starting line-up consisted of our captain, CJ, alongside Joel, Keefe and Timo as the keeper. The starting whistle blew and they were off. Sheares gets off to a quick start with the ball and goes in for a centre shot from the middle. The shot falls short of the post. The contest for the ball in this match was an evenly matched one, with possession alternating between both sides. At the final minute, Joel seizes control of the ball and passes it along to CJ who takes a corner shot. The ball hits the post, wrapping up the first half with a nil-nil tie.
Determined to take the lead, our boys go back into the second half, more persistent than ever. A header from CJ drives the ball towards the post which is then diverted out by the keeper. Joel intercepts the kick and pushes the ball in. The Sheares keeper scrambles and narrowly saves the ball. Our boys begin to open up, the ball is sent over the halfway mark and is received by CJ. CJ evades the two men marking him and goes for a straight shot and secures the first goal for Eusoff, before making a short victory lap around the post. The opponents take a quick second to regroup before taking a shot at the post which swiftly lands in Timo’s arms. Exquisite defence and slick saves by the keeper from both sides rendered the players unable to score. It was down to the wire, the final minute to seal the deal. Sheares spotted an opening near our post and kicked the ball over. CJ makes a run for it at the corner, but narrowly misses. The ball is sent across the field and a goal is scored, diminishing our lead over them.
The 1-1 tie sends our boys into extra time. Could this be a repeat of yesterday’s events? The five minutes was riddled with passion and drive from both sides. Similar to yesterday’s events, extra time ended with a stalemate. The game transitioned into the final stage of play – the dreaded penalty shoot out. EHunited and Sheares took turns scoring points, and a missed shot by Keefe gives Sheares the momentary advantage. An opportunity to equalise the score opened up when Timo intercepted the shot. In an attempt to extend their lead, Sheares goes in for the rebound ball, which is stopped by Timo, who takes a shot to the head. Timo gets back on his feet and sends Joel in. A clear shot by the jet was enough to equalise the score once more. We were back in at 2-2, and it was up to Timo to seal the deal. Timo gets a read of his opponent and sends a ball into the side of the post. A sweet closure to an otherwise anxiety inducing, dramatic first set.
Next up was our second line that consisted of Wayne, Joash, Dylan and Amirul as the keeper. A fierce tussle for the ball ensued. Our boys were good on the defence, but were outmatched by the opponent’s grit and stealth on the offensive front. Multiple goals were avoided by EHunited’s quick thinking, however, our apprehension about going in for the kick proved to be our downfall. Sheares managed to lock in three goals in the first half. A team talk with the coach at the half time interval fires them up for the second half. Despite our efforts, Sheares capitalised on the openings, catching our defence off guard and locking in another three goals. This brought the final score to 0-6, in favour of Sheares. Nonetheless, major props to Dylan’s impenetrable tackles, Wayne for his robust hold of the ball, Joash for his defence and perceptive read on the game and Amirul for his razor sharp focus and reflexes.
EHunited and Sheares were tied once again. It was up to the third line to clinch a spot in the finals. With the preemptive knowledge about the intensity of this set, Shawn, Suffyan, Robbo and Ethan go in for a final line huddle. Fired up and ready to go, our boys assumed their positions. From the get go, the intensity of this match was unlike any of the sets prior as both teams were hungry for the win. A long shot by Robbo misses the post by a close margin. Robbo starts us off with a corner ball and makes a pass to Ethan. The ball is intercepted by Sheares and both men make a chase, but the opponent loses control and the ball veers out of the playing field. A close shave for the EHunited’s boys. Set on not taking any more chances, our boys made a reset. Ethan sends the ball down the middle over to Shawn. Determined to outwit the opponent that was marking him, Shawn makes a chase for the ball. A poorly timed strike by Sheares brings him down to the ground, causing Shawn to trip over and roll over his ankle. The game was brought to a temporary halt and talks of a 4v3 format were underway. However, Shawn was not going to let an ankle stand in the way of EHunited’s shot at gold.
With victory in sight, Shawn makes a reentrance onto the field. Sheares started off with a missed penalty and EHunited was back in it. Goalkeeper/ striker, Ethan, takes a straight shot at the goal, which was saved by Sheares’ keeper. The set that seemed to go on for an eternity was at a nil-nil tie. A seamless set piece move by Suffyan, Shawn and Ethan saw the ball miss the goal by a whisker. Despite the visible discomfort on Shawn’s face, he decided to soldier on, marking his man with utmost intensity and focus. This opened up an opportunity for Ethan to take a shot, which unfortunately hit the post. As the saying goes, “you miss 100% of the shots you never take”, and our boys truly exuded that mantra. As Ethan leaves his post to take on the ball from the corner, the ball slips past his fingers and lands in the net. Sheares was up by one.
In spite of the 1-0 lead, spirits were high and it was still our game to win. Our boys returned with a newfound ferocity. Along with his one and a half working ankles, Shawn seizes control of the ball and sets up the shot for Suffyan, who locks it in. EHunited was back in the game. Suffyan’s celebratory chest bump with Keefe somehow sends Keefe fumbling backwards (here’s the timestamp for reference 101:40). In a game so tightly contested and finely balanced, it was a matter of capitalising on opportunities and finding openings. EHunited just needed one more goal to take the set. A calm manoeuvre of the ball between the boys proved to be a good set-up for our winning goal. A shot from Suffyan was blocked by the keeper, but Shawn goes in for the rebound ball and scores. A sensational display of teamwork and agility. All that was left was for EHunited to maintain composure and possession of the ball. An amazing intercept by Robbo in the final minute bars Sheares’ from a goal. Suffyan kicks the ball out and the final whistle is blown. EHunited takes the set and secured a spot in the finals.
the final goal of the match by our injured star player, Mr Shawn Yip, that brought us to the finals!
Today's proceedings were a classic retelling of the tale of the underdog – EHunited beat the odds and took home the win. This one of a kind, riveting match that kept us at the edge of our seats was definitely one of the biggest upsets this season. Amazing effort from our boys today. And of course, we’d like to give a special mention to Shawn for being an absolute champ! Our boys will face off against either Raffles or Temasek Hall in the grand finals on Thursday, 3 February. Don't forget to tune in to catch some Football greats in action! Subscribe to @ihgfootball to keep up with our live match commentary.
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