Written By: Choa Zhao Xiang Edited By: Valerie Chua & Jolene Wong Photographs By: Eusoffworks
It is the final match of the prelims as EUnited, our very own boys in yellow, prepared to face off King Edward (KE) VII Hall. After their 10-0 and 4-1 victories to PGPH and Raffles respectively, our boys have already won two out of their three preliminary games and had already progressed to the semi-finals based on points. If all goes well, they will be playing their semi-finals on Wednesday and finals on Friday this week. Nevertheless, they are once again spotted in their maroon colored training tees early before the kick-off, warming up and ready to spring into action. The match would prove to be nothing less than eventful as our Eusoffians look for nothing less but a win. The lineup for the match is as follows:
It was a windy night but the match kicked off nonetheless. The first 5 minutes of the match saw both sides being extremely tense and equally matched. However at the 6th minute, Andrew played a beautiful through ball to Jun Yi just right outside the box. Jun Yi, who made his debut today, fired a curling shot to the top left corner of the goal to score. The rampaging LYLC full back makes it 1-0 with that goal which kickstarted the much needed momentum for Eusoff.
Just 4 minutes later, Andrew Leow, who captained the side today, showed off his class and skill with an absolute stunner of a goal. Andrew once again scored a peculiar goal from taking the corner kick, which left the crowd and the bench dumbfounded. The odds of that happening is probably equal to seeing two blue moons in a week! Besides just scoring from the goal, Andrew ran the team today from the heart of midfield like he always did, threatening with dipping balls to the flanks and through the middle. He is undoubtedly an indispensable member of the starting 11.
Syafiq, dubbed Fiqo, eventually scored the third goal at the 23rd minute. The experienced duo of Fiqo and Gautham combined forces as Gautham played a nice little deft pass to Syafiq who was unsuspectingly lurking in the defences of KE and left unmarked. Syafiq took no chances with this golden opportunity on goal and tapped it into the bottom left to make it 3-0 to Eusoff. What a lad.
Golden boy Syafiq was impressive with his handles.
As the second half progressed, freshie Hong Sheng bombed down the left flank and penetrated the defence with his pace. He almost scored as Andrew set him up from a nice cross but finds his shot straight into the keeper’s arms. Eun Seong and Gautham came close to a fourth in the first half but the keeper denied them both times, keeping KE in the game. The closing moment of the first half saw a frenzy in the box as Eusoff failed to properly deal with a counterattack by KE. Luckily, Cheng Tat pulled up a clutch save and Irfan cleared the danger with a sliding tackle to maintain the 3-0 lead as the referee called for half time. As the referee whistled for the second half to begin, Ikhsan and Zac made their second substitute appearances coming on for Gautham and Fiqo. That saw Zac move to left back and Jun Yi move up to the midfield triad along with Eun Seong and Andrew. The Y5’s nerve and experience was tantamount to Eusoff’s steady plays in the second half. Just 6 minutes in, Andrew once again tests the KE keeper with a bullet shot but it was saved by the keeper’s outstretched hand. Luke and Oliver were then subbed on for Andrew and Hong Sheng, who had been performing well for the first start of his Eusoff Soccer career.
Eusoff grabbed their fourth goal as a pass found Fadi on the right corner of the penalty box. Fadi takes his time to maneuver past the defender and fired low bottom right shot that left the KE keeper with no chance. The goal, scored in the 61st minute, left KE 4 goals behind with just 19 minutes left to play and got EH cruising towards a victory.
Just 3 minutes later, EH rode on their momentum and grabbed a fifth goal, marking a five star performance. A cross was launched dangerously into the box, finding Ikhsan who unfortunately missed Eusoff’s first attempt on goal. However a poor clearance by the defender led to Oliver pouncing on the mistake, scoring to give him his second goal of the season.
Wei Shien, the veteran of many talents was taken off for captain Amos Cheah in the 72nd minute. He was received with a stand ovation from the bench and crowd for a truly stellar performance in the heart of defence today. The centre back was vocal and commanded the team’s organisation and discipline from the defence line.
Oliver saw the opportunity and scored his second goal of the season.
KE grabbed a consolation goal in the 74th minute, but it was not so much a consolation because the goal was truly spectacular. Chesting down a ball from the cross, the striker fired a volley that looped over Cheng Tat, leaving him stunned.
Just then, the referee blew the whistle to signal the end of the match. Today’s game finished 5-1 to Eusoff and the boys of EUnited are through to the next round, topping their group. Look forward to see them in the semi-finals!
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