Pubz Comm Reporter: Puneeth N
———————————————
Our hall’s Male Hockey team, which was one of the leading teams in the NUS, was not to be seen this year. Instead, we had to make a great transition to floorball. The worst thing was that we had only a couple of months to do the change, and the better part was that we had a captain named Jonathan Kwong (or JOnk :) ), who had the experience of playing floorball.
The 27th of January was the day on which the transition skills of our team were to be tested. The team was made up of some stalwarts like Hafiz(Sr.), Terence and Florian and, not to forget, our captain Jonk and vice-captain Musa, who all helped the freshmen to settle into the squad very smoothly. We had good depth in our squad, thus we were able throw in up to four lines of players into the fray. We also had some very good freshmen like Michael, Hongyi, and myself, the Goalkeeper, amongst others.
———————————————
FIRST MATCH: TH v KE
We kicked off the proceeding at about 9 AM. The first match was against one of the toughest teams around, Temasek hall, braced with some lightning fast Varsity players. They were definitely the ones who you would not like to face first up. Our first line was made up of Jonk, Terence, Michael, Hafiz and Musa, plus I as goalkeeper. We had a very good start to the first half and we dominated the match but were bitterly unfortunate not to score. The first half also featured some good and very vital saves by our goalie. The half ended with the scoreboard reading 0-0.
The second half started off brightly too but the deadly Temasek team had the first laugh and scored two early goals in the second half to make the score 2-0. But having lost so many chances to score, we finally fought back with a superb tap into the goal by Jonk, followed by a last minute goal by the ever-present Terence, sending our team into frenzy.
Even though the match finished on a score of 2-2, we had the upper hand for the most part of the match and it was a real shame that we did not kill the match off. Nevertheless we had a very bright start to the day by securing such results.
———————————————
SECOND MATCH: EH v KE
This match was a real test of nerves and character. After a gap of about 2 hours we returned to be faced against a dominant and supremely technical Eusoff team, again braced with many IVP players unlike ours. The match was off to a very ominous start this time. The ball went out and our team was making line changes but the referee did not even bother to stop play. There were 5 Eusoff players against our one goalkeeper, who made a fine save but the rebound still slotted into the goal. Our valid claims fell on very dead and useless ears of the referees. The whole team’s morale suddenly fell down. From then onwards, we had a pretty uneventful match where we expected to be thumped out of the match by the Eusoff team. We let in three goals in the very first half, including a very unfair and unjust first goal.
In the second half of the match, we managed to pull one back thanks to the mighty Terence again. Yet, our team was very demoralised by what we felt were so many unjust refereeing decisions against us, coupled by a very physical Eusoff team. The latter managed to slot in two more goals at the end, one of them a very bad trivial miss by our demoralised goalkeeper. We finally went down 5-1 in the match.
———————————————
THIRD MATCH: KR v KE
We had a loss and a draw under the belt. Now was the time for a victory. We started off as well as it could have been, Terence again slotting a goal within the first 10 seconds. The Kent Ridge hall players frequently fouled our players and more prominently our goalkeeper. In my own personal opinion, there was again a perceived bias by the referees against our hall, which would be the norm of the day. These overlooked fouls cost us dearly as KR scored two more in the second half. One of the players from the other team even pulled the helmet off my head, but the referee remained blind to this foul. That was a very unjust judgement which put our whole team in a minor panic mode.
The game which could have so easily finished in our favour ended up a tainted 3-1 win for KR.
———————————————
FOURTH MATCH: RH v KE
This match was the one that we were expected to win, but a major problem surfaced at the very start of the match, when I, as the goalkeeper, suddenly had a very niggling problem in my knee. Thanks to the KEVIIan team spirit though, the whole team made life easy for me in the match. It was a great display of team effort when I was rarely put in the match. We dominated the proceeding from the word ‘Go’ and thumped Raffles Hall 5-0, with many of our players, including Terence, Hafiz, Siva to name a few, getting on the score sheet.
———————————————
FIFTH MATCH: SH v KE
We were set for a very probable fourth place finish when we came face to face with Sheares hall for the penultimate game of the day. It was a very good start to the match, with us leading 2-0 at the break thanks to our stalwart forwards Jonk and Michael. We had a very high morale going into the breather, but after the break we shot ourselves in the leg. With a national player in Sheares’s ranks, it was obvious that we would pay very highly for mistakes. And so it proved to be when the player in question took SH within a goal of us.
A second, third and fourth goal soon followed. Many of our team mates gained unwarranted suspensions; we shot ourselves in the leg. Finally Jonk proved his excellent skills by giving us one more goal making the score 4-3, a classy finish.
In the final moments of the game, emotions went boiling over a bit with a Sheares player intimidating Musa and kicking up a small skirmish.
We ended up losing 4-3. Tt just was not going to be our day.
It hurts to fall down from a credible third place finish in hockey last year to a disappointing fifth place finish for floorball this year.
But nevertheless, our boys who were given a tough task of learning and performing a new sport at such short notice, did very well. Still, the transition would have the better if we did not lose our cool and commit some very important mistakes, focusing instead on shutting out the games and making it out of reach for the other teams.
———————————————
To sum up the tale of Floorball this year, things have surely been lost in Transition.
KE7 News 
To expound on the little ‘skirmish’ during the Sheares Match..
Musa and a guy from Sheares (lets call him A) kept having run-ins throughout the match as both were very physical players. At one point, Musa was standing near the boards and A ran towards him, chasing after the ball. Musa stood still, but A collided into him and subsequently went crashing into the boards. A stood up, uninjured and Musa raised his arms, signalling he meant no ill-feelings and didn’t intend for the collision to occur. A gave Musa frown and looked away. At this point, another Sheares player, B (an IVP player, we hear) came over (he wasn’ t even in the vicinity) and pushed Musa hard and asked him if he had a problem. (Note: a little variety in vocabulary would be appreciated sometimes- they always ask whether you have a problem.) Musa was about to shove back before KE and Sheares players separated the two. Seeing how player B was unprovoked and that he was supposedly an experienced player, I think it reflects poorly on him and his team that he couldn’t control his emotions. There’s a line between poor sportsmanship and outright lack of decency, which B crossed. Even though he scored half his team’s goals and may have been a star in the eyes of many, his utter disregard for the ideals of sportsmanship and the friendship that IHG aims to cultivate made him seem like something galaxies away from a star. If you want to fight, join wrestling.
Thank you for your comment. We appreciate your efforts for helping us to expand our article. You might want to refer the matter directly to the IHG convening committee.
In regards to the EH game, the ball is allowed to be play in accordance to the rules. it is your mistake that you choose to change the lines when it is EH’s ball so please do not blame the referee. The refereeing standard was just and fair as agreed upon by all the other halls so please do reflect on your mistakes before laying the blame to others. As for the SH game, it is obvious the SH player had went pass MUSA before he decides to bring him down with no intention to play the ball at all.. its an obvious 2 mins offence because of very dangerous play near the boards. the SH player could have been seriously hurt. As for why the SH player was not given the 2 mins, its because your player Flo was equally involved in the skirmishes that resulted. therefore in order to allow play to continue, we decided not to sent both of them off. Please do reflect on your gameplay and illegal use of bodies when going in for the challenges, if not the same situation would again result next year and you would sadly lay the blame to the referees again who has done very well in controlling the games.
thank you and have a nice day
Hi. This is the news bulletin for your hall, and naturally, you are free to write whatever you like. However, your comments about the referees and blind defence of your own players’ faults call for some form of reply. The refereeing standard that day was perfectly fine in fact. Yes, there were some small fouls that went uncalled, there were some more obvious ones that also went uncalled due to advantage being played, but I would say ALL the obvious fouls, fouls that could potentially cause harm to another player, fouls that are committed to unfairly stop play were ALL called well and called fine. If you would like to question the referees’ calls, please read up the rule and regulations from IFF which your captain should have before doing so.
In accordance to the EH game, the ball was played in by the referee, no calls were given and no whistle was blown. Your team chose to go for the line changes, and suffered a goal as a result. I would hardly say the referee was useless. He stood by his decision and did not get pressured into changing his first call. The way your players swarmed the referee could have warranted 5 minute fouls to EVERY player who confronted the referee besides the captain. Players have been given the RED CARD in the national league because they confronted the referee and intimidated him.
With reference to the KR game, you once again said that the referee was biased against your team and did not call for the fouls committed by the KR players. However, the difference why a foul is not called against them when they played aggressively is because they were doing it the LEGAL way. The intention they had was to go for the ball, or to use their body to shield the ball as they tried to wriggle out of trouble. On the other hand, your players threw their bodies into challenges WITHOUT an intention to get the ball. Yes, you wanted the ball, but your first intention was to PUSH the other player OFF the ball, and when that guy has flown off somewhere due to your shove, you claim the ball to be yours. That is the difference. They step in with the first intention to get the ball, you step in with the first intention to push the other guy away.
As for the SH game, it was OBVIOUS MUSA went into the challenge with NO intention to play the ball. Even one of your players admitted that he committed a foul. He charged in with his body and totally shoved the other player into the boards without even bothering to get the ball. His manner after the challenge gave an impression that he was challenging the fallen player for a fight, rather that trying to show his innocence. The referee made a correct call to send him off for 2 mins. As to why the other SH player wasn’t sent off, this is to allow the game to carry on. If the SH player was to be sent off, more KE and more SH players would be sent off for 2 mins, and MUSA would have gotten a 5 mins. The referees did not want play to stop. Thus they sent MUSA off for 2 mins, and did not send the other players off.
Once again, this is your bulletin and your news report. However, do get the facts right and do check your rules and regulations before slamming the referees and giving your own version of the accounts. If you choose to blame the referee instead of reviewing your own players’ attitudes and how they play, the same fouls will again be called against your team next year. Nobody wanted to fight that day. Your players seemed the ones who were trying to pick fights rather than the rest of the halls. If anyone should join wrestling, MUSA should be one. Please do review your plays and actions.
Thank you and have a nice day.
The report was written from the author’s subjective point of view. We do always put forward that the reporters write from their own position. It is stated in the article that the author of the report was part of the playing team.
Its strangely amusing how many people actually read this and the comments are oddly entertaining. Nonetheless, my 2 cents worth: A degree of objectivity must be upheld, as with any publication but given the context and the (supposedly) closed readership of this particular blog, I believe writers should be allowed some journalistic latitude. Freedom of the press!
Guys from other halls, thanks for your comments but surely you have something better to do at 1am? Please don’t flare up and get defensive about the objective refereeing or anybody’s innocence because all this talk is a zero sum game- nobody benefits and everything said here will come to naught. To end off, let me follow the trend and pretend to be polite;
Thank you and have a nice day!
IHG, like Rag and Flag nourishes a lot of angry feelings among halls. It is sad to see so much animosity and hostility in some of articles published by the halls – with one hall calling the other hall this and that or one hall saying we crushed the other hall etc.. NUS should do something about that maybe.
err thank you and have a nice day? hahaha
A different disadvantage of utilizing a Bowflex exercise and exercise device is that it can only make a great deal resistance.
Hiya! I just wish to give an enormous thumbs up for the
nice info you will have right here on this post. I will likely be coming again to your weblog
for extra soon.
I like to disseminate knowledge that will I’ve accrued through the 12 months to help improve group overall performance.
Howdy! I just want to give a huge thumbs up for the nice information you have got here on this post.
I will likely be coming back to your blog for more soon.