Written By: Choa Zhao Xiang Edited By: Valerie Chua & Jolene Wong Photographs By: Eusoffworks
Our Eusoff football boys’ second fixture of their IHG season pitted them against Raffles Hall. Riding on their previous 10-0 victory against debuting hall PGPH, the boys were looking fresh and confident after their week long break. With the likes of Syafiq, Andrew Leow and Big B0i Oliver warming up just before the game, Eusoff supporters flock the field in excitement for the game to start to witness the beautiful football that EUnited always delivers. The line up was as follow:
The match kicked off at 7pm as Eusoff look to grab an early lead. Their new formation this week gave them a more dominant and attacking style of play. They quickly found the net at the first minute as Syafiq unleashed Andrew Leow. Andrew beat the offside trap and fired a floating cross for Hyrie. Hyrie met the cross and directed a powerful header that left the keeper without much choice but to pick the ball out of the net. Andrew continued his fantastic run of form with the assist and it was definitely not the end of Raffles’ encounter with the veteran.
Eusoff took an early 1-0 lead from that header but RH quickly cancelled it out at the 3rd minute. The RH striker found a gap in our defence and played an accurately directed through ball to the right winger who beats Cheng Tat. Wei Shien came close to making a goal line clearance, but couldn’t change the ball’s direction in time due to its speed.
The game continued with a highly tactical battle in midfield that made it hard for both sides to score. The defensive trio of Arun, Wen Hao and multi-talented debutant Wei Shien were extremely effective in snuffing out Raffles’ attacks.
At the 21st minute, Raffles conceded a corner that would change the trajectory of the match. Andrew Leow’s ever so pin-point corner found Hyrie’s head once again and he fired a bullet header into the back of the net. Hyrie grabbed his brace from that goal and put Eusoff up ahead. The star striker has now scored 4 goals in the last 2 games and it looks like the clinical forward is unstoppable. Nandha came close at the 37th minute, but unfortunately blasted the shot wide from 6 yards out. The referee called for half time moments after, finishing the half 2-1 to Eusoff.
Nandha came close to a goal.
While the handball girls played their game against TH nearby, the second half kicked off with Eusoff pouncing onto Raffles, in search of a quick third goal. Their defence looked much more organized and stable in the second half, even as Raffles produced a few good counter attacks, especially from the right flank. Syafiq, who has been extremely dangerous this match, showed flashes of brilliance as he executed roulettes, dribbles past defenders and teeming passes that were hard to handle. The RH defence were really giving the attacking midfielder too much space to play his passes and Syafiq was looking like Kaka in his prime.
In the 52nd minute, Eusoff was fouled just right outside the box. The free kick was taken by Andrew Leow, who strike a curling ball under wall to make it 3-1 to Eusoff. The free kick was set just right at Andrew’s sweet spot and he was not going to show any mercy. 5 minutes after, Nandha comes off for Gautham. Eusoff started to dominate the midfield battle and came close on multiple occasions, finding players in dangerous positions. A number of eventful things happened as the second half progressed, as Gautham was denied a penalty appeal at the 63rd minute, and Cheng Tat saved Raffles best attempt on goal with his fantastic reflexes.
Syafiq was an extremely dangerous threat up front.
At the 67th minute, Eusoff would prove to make an influential substitution as Irfan came on for skipper Amos Cheah. Just 4 minutes later, Irfan fires a cross towards a towering Gautham, who taps it in from just 4 yards out. The goal was Eusoff’s 4th, and they proven too much to handle for Raffles. Eun Seong and Hong Sheng were given a short run out on the pitch as they came on for Andrew and Syafiq respectively as the match drew to a close.
A comfortable 4-1 victory for Eusoff sees them through to the semi-finals, with one game remaining. Their fantastic performance today would undoubtedly give them a huge confidence boost for the tougher matches ahead. All the way, boys!
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