My season 2008 by Faiq

Soccer Season 2008
(This article was contributed by Faiq)

In the first match, we should play against Chestnut Drive Secondary School. However, the game was postponed because they did not get the fixture. Instead, we played Hua Yi Secondary School for our first game of the season.

We won the game 5 – 1. It was not going to be our first win of the season, but it was the first time I scored a goal in my first game for Hong Kah Secondary School. The next game was against Swiss Cottage Secondary School and we won by 5 – 1 too. In the third game, we thrashed Clementi Town Secondary School 13 – 0 and I scored 2 goals in this game.

We got a tougher rival in the fourth game of the season. We played against Jurongville Secondary School. We thought we might not do well for this game. But we were determined to play hard for a win and we got what we wished for. The score was 3 -1. We celebrated the win with cheers after the game.

Then, we played Greenridge Secondary School next. They big-sized fit looking players but we were not afraid of them. We beat them by 3 – 0. Next opponent that we played against was Zheng Hua Secondary School. It was our first away game of the season. We were nervous and feared that we might lose when we play away from home. Fortunately, we won the game by 5 – 1 and I scored during the game.

We went on to beat Chestnut Drive Secondary and Kranji Secondary School to qualify for the West Zone Semi-finals.

In the semi-final, we defeated Regent Secondary School 3 – 0. We were very excited that we had qualified for the finals. We cheered loudly and shouted in happiness in the bus. It was going to be a very big game for the West Zone finals. We aim to be the West Zone Champion.

In the first half of the West Zone Finals, the score stands at 0 – 0. We scored early in the second half but Jurongville Secondary School equalised with less than 10 minutes remaining to make it 1 – 1 . I was sitting on the bench and I was surprised that my coach told me to warm up. After some warm up, I was told to substitute striker Syazwan. Feeling confident, I told myself I had to try to score the winning goal. When the opportunity arrived shortly, I flicked the ball beyond the goal keeper and it turn out to be a goal.

My teammates rushed to celebrate the goal with me and it was crowded. That was the winning goal that I had hoped for. We celebrated shortly after in a crowd when the referee blows the final whistle. That was the first time I won the West Zone Champion with my team.

We won all our games in the West Zone Soccer Tournament. I was extremely happy as it was my first time in a finals and winning a Champions Medal. I was glad that I made good contributions for the team and the school. I scored at least 6 goals in the West Zone Tournament.

I am also glad that I have chosen the right path and joined the Soccer Team.

One thing I liked about the team is when we play a match, we would try to cooperate and communicate with each other. We scored many goals this way. I feel very proud that we were able to play against many other schools. We learnt many new skills and team tactics playing against other teams. We became a stronger team playing together regularly against other schools. I felt taht I had improved in my discipline and I learnt alot from my teammates.

In the National inter-school Soccer Tournament 2008, we won most of our matches except against Sports School and Regent Secondary School. We played at our matches at home but had to travel to Fuchun Secondary School for our final group game. We were very happy to participate in the National inter-school Soccer Tournament and we were aiming to be National Champions.

Our first match was against Bedokview Secondary School. We were a little nervous. We thought that they could be better than us but we played hard to beat them 2 – 0.

Our next match was against Regent Secondary School. It was not the first time we met them. We had beaten them in the West Zone. Although we had beaten them once, we cannot be over-confident and assume that we would beat them again. This time, they were better than when we met previously. We lost the game 3 – 4.

The next game against Siglap Secondary School became more important. I was feeling a little scared and nervous and Siglap had players who dropped out from Sports School. We told ourselves that we can win this match! It was a tough match and we managed to came away with a 3 – 2 victory.

The fourth match was a very big match. It was against Singapore Sports School. We thought that we were good enough to beat them. On the match day, they played better than us and beat us 2 – 0. Maybe we were over-confident.

The fifth match was another big game as it was against Bartley Secondary School. We heard that they had beaten Sports School by 1 – 0. It does not mean that we were unable to beat Bartley Secondary School. We won this big match comfortably 2 – 0.

The next game against Kent Ridge Secondary ended as a 1 – 1 draw. The final group game was against Fuchun Secondary School. We knew we had to beat them in order to qualify for the semi-finals. So, we played hard for the win and ended the game with a 2 – 1 victory.

In the semi-final, we met power-house of Soccer Greenview Secondary School. But we had no fear for them. We challenged them very hard for the right to play in the finals.

The score remained 1 – 1 after full time and extra time.

It went to penalty shootout.

We were focused to win this match at this big field at the Teacher’s Network Grange Road. There was a big crowd present and it motivated us. We managed to beat Greenview Secondary School finally as our goal keeper made two penalty saves and prevented their players from scoring.

We were really happy after our keeper made that important save.

We all ran and jumped on top of him.

After we left the field, our coach announced that our goal keeper was the man of the match.

The final match of the season was played at the Jalan Besar Stadium. It was the National Finals. This is our big game and we were playing against our rival Singapore Sports School.

It was my first time playing at such a big field.

But before the match, we had training at Jurong Junior College.

So for us it was not so difficult.

On the actual match day, there was a very big crowd at the stadium. Almost all the lower Secondary members were there to cheer for our team.

We did our routine warm up after arriving at the stadium. After the warm up, our coach Mr Ng announced the starting line up for the final. I was one of the starting eleven players. I was so happy !! We were in the tunnel lining up waiting for the kick off.

There was a big crowd and it started when the referees goes.

It was a hard fought match. At half time, the score was 1 – 1. In the second half, we were trying very hard to score the second goal to win. The game remained at 1 – 1 at full time.

It went to extra time.

In the second half of the extra time, I made a mistake by holding the ball for too long. One of the Sports School player snatched the ball from me and fed a through pass to his teammate quickly.

He scored. I was at fault and deserved to be scolded.

I had learnt my lesson from this painful experience.

My team Hong Kah Secondary School ended the season second in the National Soccer Tournament.