Innova Junior College needed a win to get themselves back into contention to qualify for the semi-finals after going down 2-0 to Saint Andrews Junior College earlier. Anglo-Chinese School (Independent) needed one to start the second round of their campaign on the right foot. These consequences resting on the result of this match pointed towards a hard-fought encounter as the two teams met in their second round encounter today.

It was IJC who started the match more positively, preventing ACS(I) from getting into their preferred attacking rhythm. After just 8 minutes, IJC won the first penalty corner of the match, which seemed destined for goal till ACS(I) goalkeeper Ryan Thomasz stuck out a foot to make a save at the bottom right hand corner of the goal.

This early scare seemed to jolt ACS(I), who then began to assert themselves onto the match. However, they had to wait till the 20th minute before their first real chance, when they were awarded a penalty corner. Centre-midfielder Jaspreet Singh took full advantage of this chance, as he sent the ball sailing into the roof of the net with a flick.

IJC seemed undaunted and continued go for ACS(I)’s jugular, relying heavily on right-midfielder Zaky, who grabbed much attention with his crafty dribbling. But their hopes of creeping back into the match were dealt a blow when ACS(I) centre-forward Mahendra stole in behind his marker to tap in from close range.

ACS(I) remained in control for the rest of the first half, which ended with Jaspreet converting another penalty corner after 30 minutes by delicately chipping a rebound over IJC goalkeeper Abdul Halim who did well to save Jaspreet’s initial shot.

With the score at 3-0 at half time, one could have been forgiven for speculating that IJC were going to bottle up and stop attacking in the second half. However, IJC left-back Jeffrey Chan’s piercing cry of “Like Istanbul!”, a reference to how Liverpool Football Club famously overturned the same deficit to eventually win in the 2004/2005 UEFA Champions League final in Istanbul, which echoed through the stadium when the teams emerged for the second half informed everyone that IJC were still in the game and their objective of winning had not changed one bit.

However, they were unable to find a way past Thomasz in ACS(I)’s goal in spite of Zaky’s many eye-catching runs down the right flank. ACS(I) punished them for this by scoring their fourth goal in the 59th minute, when centre-forward Esmond Loke turned in a cross from right-midfielder Asad Hassanali.

The result means ACS(I) are now tied with SAJC at the top of this second round group, with third-placed IJC eliminated from the tournament. However, this campaign could spark the ascendance of IJC as a new hockey team to be reckoned with in the future.