Written by: Benjamin Khoo
Edited by: Chen Kexin and Lydia Ong
Photos by: EusoffWorks
Touch Rugby M Prelims vs TH
Line 1:
Wesley Woo Qi Long
Yuichiro Fukushima
Kai Kiran Gosian
Joel Tan Jet Yen
Line 2:
Lim Shern
Tien Chun
Darren Chia
Wee Rui-An Fabien
Line 3:
Glenn Lee Jia Song
Ng Jing Hui Matthew
Kwan Yui Hng, Mitchell
Jaypy Pillay
1st half: 5-2
2nd half: 7-3
Overall score: Eusoff 12–5 Temasek
The match kicks off with our seasoned veterans Wesley and Yui taking point in the middle, and speed demons Kai and Joel on either side. Temasek starts off by driving the ball down the middle and almost immediately going in for a try, but Wesley reads the play perfectly and steps in for the touch. Nevertheless, TH tries again and again to exploit the gaps, eager to draw first blood, eventually exhausting all their touches. With Eusoff on the offence, Yui’s speed and agility suddenly came to light as he cut the stunned defence and drove towards the tryline, leaving them scrambling to regain their footing. As Eusoff passes the ball around, waiting for an opportunity to strike, Kai suddenly whips a long pass to the far left straight into the arms of Joel who places it on the ground to put Eusoff in the lead. And just like that, within 2 minutes, it was 1-0. TH attempts to draw the score, only to be shut down by Kai, and Eusoff drives forward yet again like a well-oiled machine with Yui taking yet another dive to settle the score at 2-0 before the second set.
Yui swerves to avoid the opponent, ball firmly in hand.
Knowing that they were facing an all-star player Shern, TH treaded more carefully in this second set. Nevertheless, Shern still managed to slip through the TH defence with a burst of pace on the drive and finished it off with a pass to Darren who scores the try. Regardless, TH were unfazed to be on the losing end and went on to score one to set the score at 3-1. With Eusoff back on the offence, Shern fakes his defender and slips past him yet again to score another try to end of the second set at 4-1…truly a team carry.
A particularly exciting moment as Shern dives to the ground milliseconds before a Temasek player touches him.
The third set saw rougher play with much firmer touches that resulted in flares of emotion from both sides. Nonetheless, the players managed to keep their cool and keep their head in the game, with TH scoring one more followed by a sensational play by Glenn to put Jaypy on the scoresheet. At this point in time, the sweltering heat was already taking a toll on both sides, causing TH to slip up on several occasions, resulting in turnovers which Eusoff capitalized on. And with that we conclude halftime with a score of 5-2.
Tien deftly avoids the opponent as he threads through the players, one hand at the ready for smacking their a*ses.
The second half saw much more spectacular plays as the team managed to work out their strategies during the halftime team talk with smoother drives and switch plays, constantly keeping TH on their toes. In this half, we definitely saw more dazzling displays of team chemistry and impeccable individual performance such as mad dives by Yui and agility performances by players like Kai, Jaypy, Mitch and Glenn that lead the team on to score 7 more tries!!! Such a performance could only be achieved by being perceptive with the ball and having the ability to read the playing field which the team executed skilfully.
The game concludes with a stunning run by Glenn who uses his dexterity to pull a defender towards himself, leaving a gaping hole for Mitch to take advantage of which he does as he lands the final try of the game, sealing the win at 12-5.
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