11th April 2010 was a big day, it would indirectly determine how well we had trained and maintained the reputation of our school in hockey. Ever since the year of 2006, our school had not won any MSSM gold medal neither do they had entered the finals. It was 8 sharp in the morning that day when we embarked on our journey to Stadium Bukit Serindit with all our friends' wishes and lucks. The place was crowded with people from all walks of life. The players from other schools looked confident and well- prepared.
Few months ago, we had started our intense training under Mr. Sasi in order to achieve a better results than last year which we could only enter the last eight in the competition. However, it was totally different this year, our master had expected us to at least enter the final after a 5-year drought. Therefore we had to stay back for training twice a week under the hot sun at 4 in the afternoon. My skin had turned kind of tanned since then. There were a lot to endure but we accepted it without much comments as we did not want to dissapoint our coach.
At 9am, our coach came out with a schedule paper and started a small meeting. He said we would not have trouble beating the opponents of first two matches until we were up against SMK Tinggi Melaka. They managed to eliminate us last year and thus we could not take them easily. Our first match was scheduled to begin as the second match in Group C. After a small cheering and warming up, our first match began.
I was playing as a substitute left lower wing. As a result I had some time to study their game, our first opponent was unexpectedly easy, we managed to lead 2-0 in the first half. I was substituted in for the last 10 minutes and did a string of assists for my forward, Joshua. He was the Maths genius in our school and had represented our beloved country to Germany and Kazakhstan for 2 consecutive years. Besides, he is also a great hockey player and one of our important men in our squad. His dad is currently coaching our nation under-14 squad in hockey games. In the end, we scored another two goal and conceded a consolation goal before the match ended.
We managed the second match without any trouble which we won 2-0. (if not mistaken) Then it was our third match against SMK Tinggi Melaka. A lot of our players looked indeed nervous as they did not want another dissapointing match from them. The former had earlier disposed his opponent easily with a 5-0 score. Both teams attacked profusely for the first few minutes before they got their goal just a few minutes before half time, their well-planned game and strategies made our players crumpled in a circle and out of the blues, they flicked the loose ball which entered our net to make the match 1-0.
Second half was indeed a fast game as both teams again made long pass to counter-attack. I was substitued in as our full back got cramped. Although I made several saves but however they managed to get their second goal as a mistake from our midfields. Both their forwards were up in the D and I could do nothing as they had only me and the goalkeeper to beat. Before the final whistle, we got our consolation goal which appeared to be an easy goal as they had known that they would win the game. (Well it was kinda insulting actually.)
As a whole, we appeared to be the second contender in our group and we managed to enter the quarter final. Apparently, after the slots drawing, our “hardcore” opponent – SMK Tinggi Melaka was in the same half with us again, which meant if we managed to beat our next opponent we would be up against them. Our opponent was an “Asrama” school (which I could not remember the name). They gave us a shock in a lifetime by leading the match but however we managed to bulk up and won the match 4-2. Then we were up against our opponent which some of my teammates labelled them as “sangat sangat susah”.
We had an advantage of one game as they played a game later than us. In term of fatigueness we were considered as an advantage. However, they fielded most of their second team players earlier but still managed to beat their opponent 3-1 easily. Their coach made a lot of changes for their match against us, even their second choice keeper found his way in the match too. Well my coach said it was actually a psychological game as they wanted us to play more aggresively and they would have a slow game. Nevertheless, he would wait for the second half and studied the game they played.
We were tied to a 0-0 score in the first half with us attacking the most, they could hardly attacked as even their forward had only a few touches on the ball. We thought they were up for a slow game, but lady luck was not on our side, they changed their game totally by playing aggresively and our formation was made to a mess. They managed to get their first goal just a few minutes the second half started. I was substitued in halfway of the game to prevent them from scoring more as my coach had said we could do nothing as a few of our main players were too tired. We switched our game from attacking to defending. In the end, we lost 3-0.
Before we walked out of the pitch, we confronted all our “fans” by waving our hands to the audiences just like the other great football team players as one of my teammates quoted, “Kalah tak apa, gaya mesti ada,” Apparently we were eliminated from the MSSM again this year by getting fourth as SMK Tinggi Melaka lost in the finals. My captain expressed his emotional feelings by shouting “Padan muka” when the final whistle was blown. The joke made our day as he was scolded back by a few players from other schools.
Though we failed to enter our first final in 5 years as expected, but however our coach complimented us on our courage and the urge to give our school a good reputation. Although we had failed to do so, he said we still had a chance by playing well for the coming hockey match against students from Somali. This is my best playing experience in my entire whole life as I did not play the full match against Somali. Eventually I sustained a serious injury on my ankle in that match. I would certainly remember this memory vividly in my mind as it gave me a great experience in my secondary school life.
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