Written By: Aakanksha Rai Edited By: Valerie Chua & Jolene Wong Photographs By: Eusoffworks
For the second day in a row, our handball-hunks were back at the SRC handball courts for one of the most crucial matches of the season. After their loss to Kent Ridge, they needed to win this match against King Edward VII Hall (KE) to get a chance to continue on their IHG journey. With the support of our fellow Eusoffians, the team was ready to give the game their best.
The match started off with a shaky start as a KE player scored into the right edge of the goal within the first few seconds of the match. Not wanting a repeat of the previous day, our boys went straight into attack. Zheng Xuan tried to score but the ball was pushed out of the court by KE’s goalkeeper. Tough luck. After that, within as span of two minutes, there were two great saves by goalie Jun Yu, two goals by Aaron, an attempted goal by a KE player and a goal by Zheng Xuan! This reporter was too scared to blink in the fear of missing something!
Our handball-hunks were on a roll as just a few minutes later, there was a goal by Joshua but KE did not give up. As soon as they got possession of the ball, they ran to the other side of the court and shot the ball right between Jun Yu’s arms (and into the net). Zheng Xuan refused to let KE catch up and retaliated with a goal. KE played attack on attack but were stopped by great defense from Eusoff, a clamp by Bala and multiple saves by Jun Yu. Bala intercepted a pass from KE and passed the ball to southpaw senior Joshua who scored, bringing the score to 6-3 in favour of Eusoff. Seconds later, ex-captain Jon tried to score but unfortunately stepped on the line. Not wanting to go down without a fight, KE tightened their defense. Malcolm tried to score but was blocked by their improved defense. The KE players rushed to the other end of the court and scored right into the top left region of the net. Not wanting to be left behind, Aaron, who was a BEAST in the previous game, scored TWO more times within a minute!
The boys of KE tried to make a comeback but couldn’t score due to EPIC saves by veteran keeper Jun Yu. Shortly after this, Jun Yu was replaced by Timo as goalkeeper and his fangirls certainly got excited. As soon as he entered the court, the boys of KE tried to score over and over again but Timo blocked each shot. His fangirls in the crowd (which included some boys btw) went CRAZY! At one point Timo caught the ball, passed it Aaron who ran far ahead of everyone else, jumped liked the beast that he is and scored from 9m away, bringing the score to 10-4 in favour of EH.
The boys of KE started working harder and for the next few minutes, the ball was just being passed between the players, intercepted by the other team, brought to the other end of the court and passed around again, on repeat. This pattern was broken by the boys of KE who tried to score, but shot the ball right into Timo’s arms. KE stayed on attack but were no match for Eusoff’s defense! At one point, their attack was blocked by Josh and Jiaqi, the smallest and largest players on the court! The score stayed stable at 10-4 for a while and the KE players started getting agitated. This frustration led to aggressive defense which earned Eusoff a penalty. Good ol’ reliable Aaron shot and scored into the top right corner of the net. Just before the whistle was blown for half-time, a booming good pass from Wei Quan led to a goal by Joshua, bringing the score to 12-4.
By the time half-time ended, the court was filled with a sea of yellow and more Eusoffians coming down to give their support with each passing minute. Seconds into the second half of the match, we saw another goal by Josh and Seetow screamed “that’s my favourite player on the court right now!” There, there, a fanboy! The boys of KE tried to counter but threw the ball right into Timo’s arms who passed to Josh who ran ahead of everyone else and scored! KE tried to attack once again but our handball-hunks soon got possession of the ball. Josh then missed a catch which, thankfully, BIG BOI MARCUS caught and scored! Our handball-hunks were in the zone. Within minutes, there was another goal by Josh, two goals by our President, Matt, and a goal by Bala. KE then got possession of the ball but were blocked by A Block’s ‘bby’, Kenson, who soon scored!
KE kept trying to attack but were stopped by great defence from our handball-hunks. EH faked passes till the ball reached Taka who tried to score but missed narrowly. The ball soon came to the A Block bby. The boys of KE did their best to block him, but Kenson persevered and scored once again. The girls of A Block in the crowd were VERY proud of their bby! KE did not give up and scored by throwing the ball between Timo’s legs. Our handball-hunks retaliated by scoring not once, not twice, but three times! KE managed to weasel in a goal. They were on attack once again but Aaron intercepted a pass, ran ahead of everyone, jumped and scored just as the referee blew the final whistle, ending the match with a score of 27-7, to Eusoff!
This was a great match for Eusoff and it is clear that our handball-hunks have improved their defense. They have truly earned their spot in the semi-finals. Let’s hope they continue to play this way and bring back the gold! Do come down to support them!
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