Nanyang Polytechnic (NYP) convincingly beat NUS 4-1 in the second leg of the Institute-Varsity-Polytechnic (IVP) soccer championship semi-finals on Mar. 15 to put to bed any hopes the defending champions had of retaining their title.

With Team NUS doing well to grind out a 1-1 draw in the first leg at NYP, hopes were high amongst the supporters who had turned up to cheer the team on at the Sports and Recreation Centre.

But the disappointing performance that was turned in ensured that the match would not remain in the memories of many for long.

NUS set out to contain the threats posed by their more experienced and technically superior opponents, but were unable to execute their plan with quite the same efficiency as they had intended to.

Instead, NYP’s tenacity and dogged approach of taking the game to NUS clearly caused concerns for the home team’s backline.

Boasting the likes of Hariss Harun, Hafiz Abu Sujad, and Faritz Abdul Hameed – all members of the Singapore Young Lions’ squad, NYP outclassed NUS by controlling possession and dictating the tempo for much of the game.

It was NUS which took a shock lead against the run of play however, as captain Christopher Kang tapped in a deep cross to the far post from economics sophomore Elfi Mustapa.

NYP soon recovered and pegged the home team back with an equalizer before the end of the first half. They then took the lead for the first time and swung the tie in their favour following a defensive lapse in the second half.

It was all one way traffic from then on as NUS struggled to close down their opponents quickly enough and match them for pace.

Speaking after the match, fourth-year Law undergraduate Kang lamented that his team’s failure to stick to their game plan had forced them to “gamble” by opening up play and taking greater risks.

“I think basically we were trying to hold them to a draw due to our away goal advantage,” said Kang.

“We were still okay during half time after they came back 1-1. But when we let in the second goal, we had to gamble and open up our play. Unfortunately, the gamble did not pay off.”

Kang continued, “Actually we were hoping to take advantage of the fact that they didn’t play in the first leg. But it was disappointing we could not get away with a win. I guess we had more of the ball during the first leg but we failed to take our chances.”

When asked if it was overconfidence that got the better of Team NUS, Kang disagreed, attributing the loss to a lack of quality and experience in the team instead.

“No, I don’t think we were overconfident today,” said Kang.  “You can never be overconfident when you face an opponent like NYP. Although they are younger, they do have more professional experience than us.”

Defending his tactics by claiming they were effective initially, NUS Coach M S Arasu pointed to the defensive blunder that gifted NYP its equalizer as the turning point in the match.

Arasu said, “Our objective was to frustrate them and delay them the goal. We wanted to counter-attack and grab a goal ourselves.

“But we made a defensive error and they came back into the game. We had to chase the game after they grabbed an early lead in the second half. And we could not afford to draw anymore since they were now leading on the away goals rule.”

The coach nevertheless praised his team’s effort against stronger opposition which could call upon the services of several instrumental players.

“Overall I am very satisfied with the performance of the team because we played against a high quality team with the likes of Hariss (Harun) and Hafiz (Abu Sujad). They made the difference,” said Arasu.

Remaining positive, Arasu said, “I think in terms of quality, we still have it. There are a lot of freshmen and this experience should only make them a better team next year.”

Kang was as upbeat as Arasu.

“This is the first we topped the group during the group stages,” said Kang.

“Usually, we make it through the skin of our teeth, but the fact that we topped the group shows the strength of the team and it leaves more time and room for improvement, since we have quite a number of freshmen.”

Political science freshman Khairul Amri concurred with his coach and captain.

“The prospect for NUS is very bright. We still have (an) abundance of talent on the bench and we hope for new blood to come in,” said Amri.

“I honestly feel that the coach is of national class calibre and he has been coaching NUS for more than 10 years and he has brought in the results. If you look at IVP last year, we were champions. We will only grow from strength to strength.”

While Amri admitted that he was slightly anxious about getting sufficient opportunities to play in the team ahead of other senior players, he acknowledged that the quality of play at the IVP level would only make him and other freshmen better players.

“It is a concern especially for the freshmen considering they have to battle for a place on the field with senior players who have gone through one, two and some having gone through three IVP seasons,” said Amri.

“But at the same time, I was very astonished with the level of soccer at IVP. I faced Prime League, S-League and national (team) players, so I am really amazed at the amount of talent on the pitch and it definitely makes me a better player.”