With a key defender suspended and their captain struggling with an injury, St Gabriel's Secondary School's football teacher-in-charge Laura Huang was hardly confident ahead of the Schools National B Division boys' League Three final against Spectra Secondary School yesterday.
To make things worse, St Gabriel's winger Joshua Joseph suffered a cut to his face in the 21st minute and his replacement Aryan Menon was sent off nine minutes later for arguing with the referee.
However, Spectra were also reduced to 10 men in the 37th minutes when Muhammad Ryan Tsaqif received his second yellow card.
St Gabriel's regained the initiative to score through centre-back Gideon Tai (40th minute) and striker Aiman Yazid (76th) for a 2-0 win at Our Tampines Hub.
Said Huang: "The result was definitely better than what I had expected.
"Our main defender was serving a suspension and our captain sustained an injury during the semi-finals so he was limping throughout this match.
"We didn't expect to come so far, but we just kept telling ourselves to try our best.
1
St Gabriel's Secondary centre-back Gideon Tai's goal in the final was his first for the school in four years.
"Even when the situation was not advantageous to us, we did not let it get to us.
"We fought on, we never thought about giving up."
The two red cards dominated the early proceedings before Gideon curled in a superb free kick to give his team the lead on the stroke of half-time.
Spectra went in search of an equaliser in the second half, but Aiman dashed their hopes of a comeback with the second goal.
Man of the match Gideon said: "I was so excited and happy after I scored because it was almost half-time and it was my first goal for the school in four years.
"Before the game, I told my teammates that I will work as hard as I can to get the goal so I'm very happy that I scored."
Despite the loss, Spectra coach Ashraf Ariffin was proud of his team's performance.
"We started off very well, but we didn't finish our chances and then when we lost a man, the boys lost a bit of focus," he said.
"After we conceded the goal late in the first half, it was quite hard to get back into the game in the second half.
"They did all that they could and gave their best and that is all that we can ask."
Yesterday's League Three final was the first of five finals in the boys' football tournament this year.
In the preliminary rounds, all schools are split into 16 groups with five to six schools per group.
The teams are then placed in five leagues - from League One to Five - based on the positions they finished in their groups.
Sergio Aguero's hat-trick led Manchester City to a 3-1 win over Arsenal on Sunday and back into second place in the Premier League, two points behind leaders Liverpool.
Aguero hat-trick fires Man City to 3-1 win over Arsenal
Chelsea boss Maurizio Sarri has been charged by the FA after Monday's touchline brawl against Burnley. Sarri was sent off after a touchline row between both benches in the closing stages of Monday
Chelsea boss Maurizio Sarri charged with misconduct by the FA
Raheem Sterling scored a hat-trick as England started what they hope is a road back to Wembley for the Euro 2020 final with a comprehensive 5-0 win over the Czech Republic to open their qualifying
Football: Sterling hits hat-trick as England thrash Czech
Tottenham are making quick progress towards the completion of their new stadium at White Hart Lane as they look to complete the lift of the roof in the coming weeks. Spurs want to return from
Liverpool hero makes bizarre Tottenham Hotspur Stadium claim
Apr 03, 2019 · England soccer captain Harry Kane is made an MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire) by the Duke of Cambridge during an Investiture ceremony at Buckingham Palace, London.
Kane 'proud' of England response to race jibes Sport > Football > Racism > Kane 'proud' of England response to race jibes By 24matins.uk with AFP, published 28 March 2019 at 15h53 BST , updated on 28 March 2019 at 15h54 BST .
Kane 'proud' of England response to race jibes - World Soccer
worldsoccertalk.com/2019/03/28/kane-proud-of-england-response-to-race-jibes/
Kane 'proud' of England response to race jibes AFP March 28, 2019 AFP No Comments London (AFP) - Harry Kane spoke Thursday of his pride at how his teammates dealt with being racially abused in Montenegro as he collected an award for "services to football" after leading England to the World Cup semi-finals.
Kane 'proud' of England response to race jibes | Sport24
Magic Johnson calling out Rob Pelinka latest example of how dysfunctional Lakers have become Magic may be right about some of Pelinka's dealings, but Los Angeles is still an absolute mess
Japan to accept 50,000 workers from PH under new hiring rules
April 27 (Reuters) - Everton's hopes of finishing in seventh and a potential Europa League qualification spot suffered a blow as they were held to a 0-0 draw by Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park in
Everton held to goalless draw at Palace - Football match
BRIGHTON (REUTERS) - Arsenal manager Unai Emery was fined 8,000 pounds (S$13,899) on Monday (Dec 31) but avoided a touchline ban for kicking a plastic bottle at a Brighton and Hove Albion
London, Feb 10 (AFP) Cardiff City captain Sol Bamba dedicated his goal and a 2-1 victory over Southampton to Emiliano Sala after an emotional match for the Welsh club.
'Victory and goal for Sala', says Cardiff captain Bamba
Manchester's homeless in good Kompany LONDON • Vincent Kompany believes that he has a duty to tackle the issue of homelessness in Manchester, which he has called home for the past 10 years. The 32-year-old Manchester City captain earlier this year set up a combined initiative called Tackle4Mcr with Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham in a
Vincent Kompany To Donate All Profits From His Testimonial To
Barca display solid defence. Barcelona's Ivan Rakitic beating Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois and defender Sergio Ramos to score the winning goal on Saturday. PHOTO: EPA-EFE.
Luis Enrique hails solid defensive display against Real Sociedad
Paris (AFP) - Tottenham followed in Liverpool's footsteps by pulling off one of the most stunning fightbacks in Champions League history on Wednesday as Lucas Moura's hat-trick snatched a dramatic
Great UEFA Champions League comebacks
0 comments:
Post a Comment