Third successive title for RI's A Boys’ floorball team
Raffles Institution (RI) clinched their third consecutive A Division Boys' floorball title yesterday, beating Meridian Junior College (MJC) 2-1 in the final at Delta Sports Complex.
RI captain Silas Choe, playing as a lone forward, was continually frustrated by the well-marshalled MJC defence but there was little the opponents could do to stop his teammates Ryan Tan and Tng Zong Wei, who each scored a goal apiece to help their team to victory.
Said Silas, 18: "Their defenders were quite good in pressing me and their team tracked back well, but I had my team behind me and they helped me throughout the game.
"I felt we came in as underdogs because MJC have been doing very well, and they also put up a very good fight. The fact that it was a championship-winning game makes it a lot sweeter."
Ryan put his side in the driver's seat five minutes into the second period, but an error at the back allowed MJC's Janus Lim to equalise eight minutes later.
With the wind in their sails, MJC piled on the pressure in the third period, only for RI forward Zong Wei to tap in the winner against the run of play with 10 minutes left on the clock.
RI coach Jill Quek praised her boys for sticking to the game plan.
"There were a few times when we went a bit off-course but, when we asked them to refocus, they managed to come back," she said.
"That's the game of floorball - you never know what will happen; you have to stay focused and patient while playing your game."
In the A Girls' final, Yishun Junior College sprung a thrilling upset by coming from 2-0 down to defeat defending champions MJC 3-2 with less than a minute to go.
All looked lost for YJC when they trailed 2-1, but their centre Ong Swee Ling equalised four minutes into the third period, before lashing in from long range near the death.
Swee Ling, 19, said: "I tried the shot a lot during the semi-finals, but it was all off-target, so I honestly didn't expect that to go in.
"A lot of people thought we wouldn't win it because we didn't really start very well, but our coach and captain told us to give it our all."
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