Written By: Aakanksha Rai Edited By: Valerie Chua & Jolene Wong Photographs By: EusoffWorks
Today marks the beginning of Handball season. The court was full with a sea of yellow as Eusoffians came to support our Handball-Hunks as they played against Kent Ridge (KR) Hall.
Our opponents gave a tough fight from the very beginning with two attempted goals within the first two minutes of the match, both of which were saved by our goalkeeper, Jun Yu. The KR players didn’t stop there and deftly avoided our goalie as they shot the first goal of the game. Riding on the momentum of their first goal, KR scored once again minutes later. Knowing that this match would not go down without a fight, Eusoff put their A-game on. They tightened their defence and immediately brought the ball to the other end of the court where Josh scored at the first chance he got! KR countered by attacking aggressively, scoring a goal of their own. Ex-captain Jon brought the ball to the other end of the court where the ball was passed around till it reached Aaron who attempted to score but hit the pole. Possession of the ball soon went back to KR, as they avoided all of Eusoff’s attempted clamps to score once again.
KR was on the attack and tried to get closer to the goal but was stopped by a great clamp by Darren. They tried to score once more but Year 4 #LYLC senior Jun Yu saved the goal once again. He passed the ball to former captain Jon who brought it to the other end of the court and passed it to “Cannon Arms” Marcus Chew who scored immediately.
The KR players got into the mood of the game as they begin to fake passes and shots to avoid Eusoff’s defence, which eventually earned them another goal. Our handball-hunks did their best to defend while KR continuously attacked. There was a great clamp by freshie Shaoye followed by great defence by Darren. Unfortunately, KR got a penalty where they scored. Just as the match began to get super tense, there was goal by BIG BOI Marcus followed by a goal by Aaron, bringing the score to 8-4, in favour of KR. KR continued attacking and got two more goals. Eusoff, not wanting them to get too much of a lead began to catch up with a goal by Seetow followed by a goal by Captain Tomo himself! KR went on attack after attack but Eusoff’s goalie, Amos, saved them all and there was great defence by captain Tomo. At one point, Amos threw the ball to Malcolm who was at the other end of the court. As soon as he received the ball, Malcolm scored! KR, trying to increase the score gap, scored a few more times. Eusoff began to catch up as Seetow scored once again! Just before the whistle blew for half-time, KR tried to weasel in a goal but the ball was saved by Amos brilliantly, bringing the score to 11-8 to KR.
By half time, two of Eusoff’s key players, Seetow and Captain Tomo got injured. Let’s hope for the best! During half time, it started raining and the game postponed as everyone had to move indoors. Once the rain stopped everyone went back to the court only for it to start raining again minutes later. Bummer. After the rain finally stopped and the court was dried, the match started once again with even more people watching the second half.
As soon as half time ended, Aaron scored and the crowd went wild! KR retaliated with an attack. Amos tried to save the ball but it just missed his hand and entered the goal. Both teams were in the zone and the match got even more intense. Bala soon got a yellow card due to his aggressive defence. To make up for it, he tried to score but the ball was saved by the KR goalie. With the ball in hand, the KR players rushed towards the goal but the ball was intercepted by Bala. It soon reached Aaron who scored a goal. Aaron was on fire and scored two more times! KR made a comeback with a few quick shots of their own. Just as things start getting more tense, Bala scored a goal, bringing the score to 12-18 to KR.
Things began to heat up and Wei Quan got a yellow card leading to KR scoring in a penalty. Taking advantage of Eusoff’s frustration, KR scored a few more times. Fortunately, KR’s streak was broken by good defence from Shaoye, a great save by Jun Yu, a goal from Jon followed by two great goals by Aaron. In an attempted defence, Shaoye got a yellow card and two minutes off court. KR took advantage of the opening and scored a few more times. Our handball-hunks tightened their defence and started working even harder. President Matt Tjeong shot the ball between the goalie’s feet and into the net. Soon after that, Matthew got a straight red card as he accidentally slammed a KR player into the ground.
Even with KR in the lead with a score of 19-27 and two key players missing (including their captain) and one player off the court, our handball-hunks refused to go down without a fight. Josh and Aaron scored quickly in succession closing the score gap to 21-27. Just before the referee blew the whistle to mark the end of the match, a good pass from Jowell led to a goal from Darren.
Unfortunately, our handball-hunks lost the match with a score of 22-27 to KR. This reporter is sure that they will learn from their mistakes and come back stronger for their next game against KE7 on Monday. Do come down to support them!
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