Thursday, October 23, 2008

My season 2008 by Hakimul

Soccer Season 2008
(This article was contributed by Hakimul)
This season was the best season so far in my life.
I did not regret choosing Hong Kah Secondary School because of Soccer.
I think this year's batch is better than last year in terms of commitment, discipline and the way we played together. We went through ups and downs during the season.
For example, teammates not cooperative and quarrel with one another.
But thankfully, all those were not serious matters. Let me start from the beginning of the season. The Sec 2s already faced problems before the West Zone Championship.

Teammates were not cooperative and were disrespecting Jasvin. We were supposed to do 2 sets of 15 minutes jogging.

Some of them did not take the jog seriously. While jogging halfway, they hide somewhere to rest and then continue to jog again whenever they feel tired. Jasvin found out and he was worried because he really wanted us to be in top form in time before the West Zone begins.

Jasvin kept a cool head in the first set thinking that they were going to jog seriously the next set. But it was still the same.

This time, he could not take it and reported it to Mr Ng.

Mr Ng gave us punishments and soon the matter was solved.

The Sec 2s trained hard during the December holidays. Next, was the Soccer trial for the Sec 1s. I could see that some of them played Soccer well and could contribute some thing for the team.

After the final selections for the Sec1s, we were not one step behind from getting ready for the West Zone Championship.

The team had to work hard to combine the Sec 2s and Sec 1s together to play well. As every training past by, the team's chemistry begins to grow and we improved on our playing.

At that point of time, I felt confident that we could make our school proud by winning the West Zone Championship for the second time in a row.

I was sure that all those work works we did would not go to waste.

The others also believe that we have what it takes to be the West Zone Champions again.

Soon, the time had come for us to be in our 100% and to defend our title.

We were one step ahead of the other teams as some of our matches would be played at our school field. So, it was easier for us to play as we were already used to the field and we would be supported by the Hong Kahlites.

But since Hong Kah would be the playing venue, we had to make a good impression of the other schools by keeping the field and other places clean. Also, we had to place benches for the visitors. After the matches, we would also have to place back the benches at the canteen.

It was very troublesome.

Feeling confident and with our supporters behind our back, we took on Hua Yi Sec in the first match. Surprisingly, we did not look good in the first 30 minutes. We only started playing well in the second 30 minutes. Maybe it was because we were pressured as there were many Hong Kahlites supporting. In the end, we started out our Championship in a bang as we thrashed Hua Yi Sec 5 - 1.

I find that all of our group stage matches were easy except for one and that was against Jurongville Sec. They had been our rival since last time. Last year, we beat them 4 -1 in the first match. We hoped that we could win against them again. I felt nervous for a while before the match but that feeling faded when the game started.

It was a tough match in the first half as the score was leveled at 1 -1 with Jasvin scoring. The team did not give up and tried harder to win in the second half. We stayed positive and soon after, Danial scored a wonderful free kick to put us in the lead.

Jurongville players began to tire out and we were in control of the game in terms of possession. Few minutes before full time, we got a corner. Zulfaqar took it and the ball bounced once and I volleyed into the net.

I was very happy to score against our rival.

That goal was also my first goal of the season. I was also surprised that all the 3 captains scored in the match.

It was an amazing moment.

We had a few more matches and we were unbeaten in the group stage and went into the semi-final. We qualified for the National Championship.

I felt proud for the team.

About one week after the last match of the group stage, the team was told that we would be facing the same semi-final opponent that we faced last year. It was none other than Regent Secondary School. Last year was a tough fight but this year was not a challenge for us. We beat Regent 3 - 0 and proceed into the finals again. We would be facing the same team we faced in the group stage: Jurongville Secondary. The final was held at the Grange Road. We played quite a number of times there before.

This time, we would not expect Jurongville to be as easy in the group stage. They had a long time to improve on they play.

At Grange Road, our friends and the B division boys supported us. I was sure that this match would not be easy and it was true. We had to give more than just 100% against them.

Every player had a responsibility to do and we had to do it well because a single mistake could lead to a goal for the opponent. But we played well as we beat Jurongville 2 -1 for the second time in the West Zone. I considered ourselves lucky to win because we only scored the winning goal a few minutes before the 60th minute thanks to Faiq.

But still, as long as we got to defend our title, I am satisfied.Every year, the Soccer team would go overseas during the mid-year holidays if we achieve something for the school. This season, both divisions made the school proud by defending our West Zone titles.

This season is the 2nd successive tie for the C division and the 6th successive for the B division I think. I heard rumours that we would be going further than Malaysia which means going on an aeroplane!

It turned out to be true and we went to Medan, Indonesia. I was very excited for the trip because I had never been up in an aeroplane before.

We went to Medan from 27th to 30th May 2008. It was a short period for me. The purpose was to train for the National Championship. We had 2 friendly games against the local club U15 teams. But both games ended in defeat. That shows the difference between the Soccer standard in Singapore and Indonesia. The Indonesia players were skillful and have more stamina than us.

They never stop running during the whole game. I had difficulties training and playing because I was suffering an injury to my knee during the Mnchester United Premier Cup Competition. I could not run or kick porperly.

I also had fun with the team joking around and shopping together. This trip made me closer to my teammates. I got to know them better. The most memorable moment during the trip was when we had karaoke night together.

It was very funny and enjoyable.

I love seeing the happy smiles on everyone's faces.

After the trip, I hope that we would improve on our playing and would not be scared to face tougher teams I the championship. The National Championship was definitely the best part of the whole season. There were a lot of surprises. We started the Championship with a 2 - 0 win over Bedokview Secondary School.

That was a funny match because our first goal was scored by our goalkeeper Hasbullah.

I started most of the games playing in a left back role instead of my usual left wing role. It was all because of my injury.

One of the shocks we had was that lost against Regent Sec. We lost the game 3-4.

It was mostly the keeper's fault. But it was also partially the team's fault. I could see that they were being complacent and over-confident that we could beat them again. They had forgotten that a lot could happen during the holidays.

Regent was definitely a different team compared when they played during the West Zone.

We drew a couple of games and had 2 losses. One of them was a 0 - 2 defeat against Sports School. Actually, we could take them on. But maybe luck was not on our side. I thought that was had no hope anymore of getting into the semi-finals. But I was proven wrong. We defeated Siglap Secondary 3 - 2 in the most dramatic match ever.

All thanks to Shafee. I think that was the best games ever.

We bounced back to beat them. Finally, it was our last match against Fuchun Secondary at Fuchun. They had the slight advantage over us but we were not afraid. We had to win the match to qualify for the semi-finals.

Thankfully, we did it and we all celebrated after the final whistle. The score ends at 2 - 1. In the semi-finals, we had to face the favourites of this tournament, Greenview Secondary.

They were the defending Champions and people expect them to win it again.

Greenview had been a powerhouse in Soccer. But we did not care about their reputation.

We managed to hold them 1 -1 until the end of extra time. Fortunately, we won on penalties and we entered the finals at Jalan Besar Stadium against Sports School. Sports School had an advantage over us because they had more experience playing on artificial grass. But we proved to them that would not be easy as they think we were before.

In the first few minutes, Jasvin scored a stunning free kick to put us in the lead. The whole lower Sec supported and cheered for us. But just before half time, we conceded a penalty.

Many supporters said that it was not a penalty. The referee gave a wrong call.

I feel the referee was biased against us.

But in the end, the referee's decision is final.

Radhi of Sports School stepped up and converted the penalty.

It was 1 - 1. We managed to hold on until a few minutes after the second half of extra time. Hanafi of Sports School scored and there was no chance for us to get back.

When the final whistle was blown, Sports School celebrated while the Hong Kahlites were disappointed.

We did our best and I am very proud of the team!!

We achieved something that we never dreamt of.

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