After 2 exciting rounds of competition, the long awaited ‘B’ Division finals will be played at Republic Polytechnic. Bukit Merah Secondary School arrived at the finals with a perfect record of wins and were only barely made to sweat in their semi-final match on Monday. Victoria School, however, had to fight hard to edge past their opponents with a last minute goal. Both teams deserved to be in the finals with their hard running styles of play and it remains to be seen who will emerge champions for 2010.

There were no signs of fatigue as both teams went all out right from the start. It was only until midway through the first period when a Merahan forward sped round behind the Victorian goal to lay off for his teammate for the simplest of shot into the roof of the goal when the deadlock was broken. Victoria School continued to press hard but were let down but some poor control in the Bukit Merah half. As they went on the offensive, they were caught out after failing to clear a loose ball which the Merahan forward shot with glee into the far top corner to lead 2-0. Barely 30 seconds later, they ended the period with a superb wrap around that the Victorian keeper could not keep out.

National Inter-School Floorball Championships 2010 (‘B’ Division)
Bukit Merah Secondary School vs Victoria School
Republic Polytechnic
10-1 (3-0, 2-1, 5-0)

Victoria School found themselves staring at a 3 goal deficit, but they were never the team who will give up. However, they found themselves left further behind when a Merahan forward managed to beat the goalkeeper at his near post after the defenders gave him too much space to shoot. Against a team of such calibre, such loose defending is almost akin to inviting the opponents to score. The Victorians came close to scoring but the Merahan keeper was equal to the task of keeping them out.

Finally, a pass from the right side found a Victorian forward with his back to the goal. With an instinctive backhand shot, he finally scored for his team at a crucial time. Victoria School must build up on this to begin their comeback before it is too late. The Merahans struck the post a short while after and the Victorians pressured extremely hard to win the ball back the moment they lost possession. They efforts were not to be as Bukit Merah surged to 5-1 lead after scoring on a counter attack with a minute to go.

The third period began with Victoria School still in with a fighting chance to save their game. A Merahan forward was put through after some good passing but the Victorian keeper went off his line to stop the shot well. The Victorians were unable to get into spaces and were unable to play their usual fluent passing game. On top of that, the Merahan keeper was outstanding in goal and proved to be an added obstacle for Victoria School to beat.

Matters were made worse when Victoria School was penalized for repeated slashing and was made to play with a player short. By the time they regained their full strength, there was only 6 minutes left to overcome a 4 goal deficit. Bukit Merah continued to step up their play and were rewarded after one of their forward tapped the ball in under the keeper during a goal mouth scramble. The Victorians finally crumbled as they continued to press hard, they left the backline exposed and the Merahan forward added to the scoreline with a wonderful top corner curler from the right. With 3 minutes left, the Merahans added another to lead 8-1 and it was clear that it was impossible for the Victorians to turn the tide now.

A swift attack by Bukit Merah ended with their forward finishing off a great 1-2 pass to further deflate their opponents’ morale. However, credit to the Victorians for never giving up, even after they conceded another goal off a free hit.

The final score was 10-1 but it hardly reflected the nature of the match as both teams played great flowing floorball. It was not to be for Victoria School for the second year running as Bukit Merah Secondary School once again established themselves as the floorball powerhouse this year!