The Nanyang Technological University (NTU) women’s floorball team was crowned Institute-Varsity-Polytechnic (IVP) champions after defeating NUS 7-1 at a packed Republic Polytechnic Indoor Sports Hall on Jan. 25.
Despite exceeding expectations with their defeat of defending champions Singapore Institute of Management (SIM) on penalties in the semi-finals, NUS entered the final game as underdogs, and were put to the sword by their NTU opponents.
Concentration lapses and defensive errors led to two quick fire goals for NTU in the first period, which proved costly for NUS as they struggled to find any rhythm to match their opponents’ counter attacks.
The second period offered little consolation to NUS as they trailed by a further three goals as NTU made the most of their possession, unlocking the NUS defence with precise through balls that led to simple tap-ins.
The NUS girls finally found some momentum in their passing and were duly rewarded in the final period. Teh Yi Lin punished some slack defending by NTU to tap in a loose ball which had rebounded off the goalkeeper.
However, it was too little too late as NTU soon notched up two more goals to end the match as a contest. Despite their brave efforts to reduce the deficit, NUS could not capitalise on their possession and were let down by their poor finishing.
Speaking after the match, NUS team coach Sim How Chong lamented on his side’s lack of “individual players” and “wasted opportunities” to get back in the game.
He however refused to attribute the disappointing result to a lack of team preparation.
“We invested a lot of effort into the preparations.
“Maybe we did not step up the tempo as much as them (NTU). We let them take a couple of shots. Unfortunately for us, they went in,” said Sim.
Team captain Teh echoed her coach’s thoughts, highlighting defensive errors that proved costly.
The fourth-year medical student said, “We did not mark our opponents tight enough and we took a while to get into the game,” she said.
“However, when you look into the girls’ eyes, they definitely wanted to score goals to get back into the game.”
In the men’s competition, NUS had to settle for fourth position after a 0-4 defeat at the hands of Nanyang Polytechnic (NYP) in the third/fourth-place playoff match.
Despite the loss, fourth-year engineering undergraduate Melvyn Tan described the performance as “a good achievement.”
Tan, who is also team captain, said, “We entered the tournament without much expectation. But throughout the campaign we proved that despite a lack of brilliant individuals, our collective team spirit pulled us through.
“A lot of us picked up floorball only during university, so to have come this far within a few years is actually a good achievement for us.” |
