Asia

By Eddie dos Passos/Singapore Hockey Federation

Very much like the Britney Spears song, Theresians ‘did it again’ when they clinched the women’s Premier League crown for another season when the favourites deservingly pulled off a one-sided 4-1 victory over chasing rivals Singapore Recreation Club at the Delta Sports Complex today.

The final had all the hallmarks of an exciting meeting between these two sides and neither team disappointed, at least in the first half where four goals were scored within a space of five minutes to keep the fans riveted to their seats awaiting to learn who would come out on top.

In the men’s final, it was a completely different scenario as Singapore Cricket Club refused to follow script and only marginally lost to Padang opponents and defending league champions Singapore Recreation Club on a 2-1 note.

Returning to the women’s final, Theresians were never given a sneak preview of having an easy victory as SRC did well to hold their own as both sides launched respective attacks on the break.

Theresians captain, Serene Tan credited their victory to their mix of young and veteran defenders to contain the SRC forwards from inflicting too much damage, too early to earn the side its third league title in four seasons.

“I guess our defense held up well, they played hard and kept SRC at bay,” she said.

Beating SRC for the league title was as much a psychological victory as a physical one after Theresians had lost to them two weeks earlier, with Tan claiming: “We played with more confidence.”

The key to their victory laid with
seasoned attacking midfielder
Melanie “Mel” Ann
Martens, whose two quick-fired
goals, almost a minute apart, put Theresians firmly in the driving seat, with Tan heaping praise on the over-40 Martens.

“Those two goals were inspirational. I don’t know whether it was a lack of focus (SRC) or a moment of inspiration but those two goals definitely kept the pressure on SRC,” she said.

“Mel’s always there and is an inspiration to the younger players in the team. She works hard, especially outside the dee,” she said.

Tan felt that SRC should not berate their defense over the two early goals, scored in the 20th and 21st minutes as both came from loose ball situations inside the dee.

While the first was a simple bang in, the second was pure sensational, as Martens picked up the ball less than three yards from goal (look at picture: Up and Away) and instead of pushing to a corner, scooped it over diving keeper Cookie Tan Koon Kim.

Also slightly than normal loose marking allowed Martens more room than should have been given, especially in the dee or within the 25 area.

“Mel was able to play a bigger role because the defense was standing,” said Tan.











Crossed Sticks: SRC’s Linda Ee (left) and
Theresians Serene Tan are made to work
hard for the ball.

Pic by: Eddie dos Passos/SHF
Despite SRC scoring a goal through captain Priscilla Koh less than two minutes later to narrow the gap, that was as close as they came to a fight-back as Theresians added another through Hema Arudas (25th) and a penalty corner conversion from Tan (67th) put the game beyond SRC’s reach.

Tan said now it was time for a nice long vacation but it was highly unlikely this squad, comprised of Alma mater teammates will go very far for a break from the game.

“Being Alma mater, we are a self-funding club and a trip to say Bangkok or anywhere else for that matter, is out, unless someone is willing to sponsor us, then Paris is OK too,” said Tan, tongue-in-cheek. “If someone out there is willing to sponsor, it would be a fine way to close out the season”.

Koh was at a lost for words when asked to explain the indifference in form.

“We didn’t really play according to plan,” said Koh. “It might have been the heat, I am sure, I do know some of us were a bit tired but having said it that is not an excuse.”

She conceded they had not been playing the same tactics which did well to disrupt Theresians and earn them their 4-2 league victory two weeks ago.

“We were not sharp enough in attack. They had more physical presence than we did at the back,” Koh said.

“They kept me out of the game, and obviously we are disappointed. We really wanted to win badly,” she said.

But she took positives from the defeat, saying the side would become stronger because of it and would have an eye on the new season, saying they took ‘each game as a learning experience’.

Final score:

Theresians 4 (h/t 3-1) Singapore Recreation Club 1

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