Singapore Institute of Management: Floorball Club

SIM beat NTU by a single goal in IVP floorball
January 3, 2008
FLOORBALL

Institute-Varsity-Polytechnic (IVP) Floorball Championship 2008

Story by Muhammad Hannan. Pictures by Lai Jun Wei. © Red Sports

Ngee Ann Polytechnic, January 2nd, 2008 - The Singapore Institute of Management (SIM) beat the Nanyang Technological University (NTU) 4-3 in an IVP floorball championship game yesterday.

SIM started the game brightly with two quick goals in a space of just five minutes despite not having a coach present. The first goal was by SIM captain #11 Kenneth Koh assisted by #19 Venugopal. SIM then scored another goal from an NTU defensive error when SIM #4 Charles Chua fed the ball nicely to teammate Venugopal who fired past the keeper. NTU then cut the deficit in half when SIM failed to close down NTU #99 Nicholas Chua who had all the time in the world to line up a perfectly placed shot in the bottom left corner after an assist by #21 Md. Taufiq.

SIM were lucky not to concede a second goal when NTU #7 Yew Kwan had his shot well blocked by SIM keeper Ming Yang. SIM then drew further ahead when they were given a free hit after an NTU defender was called for rough-house tactics. Off the free hit, SIM #5 Charles Chua passed to #48 Luen Sng whose shot, partially blocked by the wall of bodies protecting the NTU goal, trickled into the bottom left side. SIM ended the first period with a bang courtesy of a goal from #11 Kenneth Koh whose first time shot smashed into the top right corner to give his team a 4–1 lead after Period 1.

Period 2 started furiously with NTU #99 Nicholas Chua a constant threat to SIM’s defence as they tried to claw back the deficit. His shots troubled the keeper but SIM managed to keep NTU out of the game. Then NTU #17 Ting Yi was penalized for an incorrect hit and was sent off for a 2-minute penalty leaving NTU one man short. However the disadvantage did not bother NTU as they came close to scoring in the 12th minute of Period 2 when #66 Md. Hafeez’s shot bounced off the right post. NTU’s pressure finally paid off when they scored in the last minute of Period 2 via #99 Nicholas Chua with an assist by #71 Chiang Qiyu to leave them trailing SIM 2-4.

Period 3 saw frustration creep into the players as multiple 2-minute penalties were issued. SIM keeper Ming Yang kept his team in the lead with two good saves in succession. The game then started to get heated up when NTU captain #77 Jamie Chong bundled over the SIM forwards. NTU was dealt another 2-minute penalty, this time to #10 Jian Lun for an incorrect substitution. This led to a time out called by NTU.

SIM then came back into the game by controlling it well, keeping possession and showing no urgency to attack to deny NTU much possession of the ball. However a miss-hit pass by an SIM player put his team on the back foot. SIM captain Kenneth Koh was heavily pressured by NTU #66 Md. Hafeez who stole the ball off the SIM captain and fed the ball to team mate #71 Chiang Qiyu for an easy tap-in to make it 3-4. The goal however sparked an outburst from the SIM bench because they felt the ball came off the NTU player’s foot and not his stick. The referees howdever stood firm in their decision to award the goal leaving NTU just one goal down with 11 minutes to go in the match.
SIM were then dealt a blow when #48 Luen Sng was guilty of an incorrect hit and #88 Gopinath was penalized for a high stick offense in the 11th and 12th minute respectively. Despite that, SIM keeper Ming Yang kept his team’s slender lead intact.

NTU was then issued 2-minutes when their goalkeeper was penalized for holding the ball outside his box and his teammate #15 Seh Hoe took his place on the 2-minute penalty seat. NTU #77 Jamie Chong then missed an easy chance to draw level when the SIM keeper lost the ball and was out of position. In keeping with the rougher tone of the game, Period 3 ended with another major infraction when NTU’s #99 Nicholas Chua was handed a 2-minute penalty for incorrect pushing.

SIM Scorers: Kenneth Koh (x2), Venugopal, Luen Sng

Assists: Venugopal, Charles Chua (x2), Yogendran

NTU Scorers: Nicholas Chua (x2), Chiang Qiyu

Assists: Md. Taufiq, Chiang Qiyu, Md. Hafeez