3.00pm, Saturday 6 October
Commonwealth Secondary School

The weather was great for football as both teams kicked off for this Singapore BPL Fan Club League match. SSSC opened their season against rivals Arsenal SG, who were playing their 2nd match of the season.

SSSC was the quicker to get into stride, as Jack Rajan fired a free kick narrowly over and Hugh Masters had a shot just off target in the opening 5mins. On 8 minutes, the first real chance of the game fell to SSSC midfielder Julian Addison, who fired in a low drive that was saved by the Arsenal SG keeper. Arsenal SG then had a great chance when their striker hit the bar. SSSC responded quickly with Mohamad Hairul shooting over the bar, and Nazeer ‘Troy’ Mohamed crashing his free kick from the edge of the penalty area into the Arsenal SG wall.

The end to end action continued, and in the 19th minute, the first goal duly arrived as Arsenal SG took the lead. A long ball into the SSSC penalty area caused much confusion in the defence, and the Arsenal SG striker quickly pounced and converted past SSSC goalkeeper Yusoff Rahman.

SSSC responded by bringing on Ong Eng Hwoon for Rajan and moving Hairul out to the right wing. Eng Hwoon announced his arrival with some crunching tackles in midfield and had a firm shot on target with 8 minutes to half time. Arsenal SG threatened as the half drew to a close but Yusoff did well to mop up on the edge of the penalty box and clear the danger.

Half-time saw further changes as Terence Tan came on for Hugh, and Desmond came on for the excellent Yusoff in goal. The second half got underway with SSSC determined to pull level. Hairul had a shot saved and then SSSC had a corner with Terence heading just over. This was followed by Troy shooting over from the left and Dawson Koh also hitting his shot over the bar. Hugh re-entered the fray on 55 minutes and had a free kick saved just 3 minutes later.

Moments later, Hugh took another free kick and this time he was not to be denied. His direct shot looped over the Arsenal SG goalkeeper to pull SSSC level. On 66 minutes, Hugh broke free to go one on one with the stranded Arsenal SG goalkeeper. He finished clinically, putting SSSC in front. Arsenal SG hit back with some decent chances in search for an equalizer. This came when the referee awarded Arsenal SG a penalty after SSSC defender Aza Aziz was judged to have handled in the penalty box. Arsenal SG coolly converted to bring the two teams level.

With both sides going for the win, Arsenal SG had a corner which was headed away from danger. This led to a swift counter-attack involving Troy, Hugh and Hairul, and ended with a beautiful shot from Hairul on the right into the bottom left corner. The goal seemed to lift SSSC and they repelled some pressure on their defence. Another counter attack ended with Hugh having another one-on-one chance, but this time, the opposition keeper pulled out a brilliant save to deny Hugh his hat trick.

Hugh finally got his hat trick on 85 minutes though, after finding space in the penalty area and shooting past the keeper to SSSC two goals ahead. This proved too much for Arsenal SG to come back from, and SSSC finally got their first win in the League.

Click here to watch the video highlights (courtesy of Voxsports).

Video and photos courtesy of Voxsports.net.
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