SINGAPORE - Defending champions Singapore secured their place in the Women's Asia Oceania Floorball Confederation Cup final after a comeback 5-1 victory over Malaysia at the OCBC Arena on Thursday (May 26).
The victory was their fourth in as many matches - the same tally as the Philippines, who thrashed Thailand 8-2. This means both sides will finish in the top two of the six-team table and will meet in the final on Saturday, ahead of their final group match against each other on Friday.
Despite missing the likes of forward Mindy Lim and defenders Yeo Xuan (injuries) and Jerelee Ong (university exams), Singapore put in a creditable performance to turn the game in their favour after trailing midway into the first period.
Singapore coach Lim Jin Quan admitted that they started off shakily but stabilised as the game went on.
"It is something that we need to be more mindful of in future and that we hope to ensure doesn't happen again," said the 29-year-old. "Now, we have quite a high number of debutantes so it is something that's expected. Having a taste of trailing is also part of the learning process and an opportunity for growth for them."
On their next opponents the Philippines, who are top of the table with a superior goal differential, Lim said: "We need to eliminate any careless passes and mistakes. These are things that the players will definitely have to be more mindful of. With the size and the technical ability of some of the Philippines' players, if we are not careful, we will be punished for those mistakes."
Malaysia took a shock lead midway into the first period after Ang Ling Ling's long range curler took goalkeeper Shermaine Goh by surprise and found its way into the back of the net.
Singapore piled on the pressure and found a breakthrough in the last second of the first period as Siti Nurhaliza Khairul Anuar levelled the score.
However, they missed a golden opportunity to take the lead after being awarded a penalty five minutes into the second period as Malaysia's Michaela Khoo parried away Ong Swee Ling's shot.
But they made amends three minutes later as Player of the Match Yee Yun Shawn scooped the ball into the back of the net. Goals from Ong Hui Hui and Maryam Kassim saw Singapore go into the final period with a 4-1 lead.
Defender Hoo Mei Hui dealt the final blow as some neat stickwork saw her get past two defenders before scoring to seal a 5-1 win.
Siti, who is second in the scoring leaders' table with five goals and four assists, behind Filipina Loella Andersson (seven goals, three assists), felt the team did well but they will definitely need a solid defence against the Philippines.
"They are a strong team and they have strong players that can really shoot very well so we have to make sure we defend properly," she said.
Despite the defeat, Malaysia coach Chiam Ter Min said: "We played a really good game. We came up with a plan to try to hold them as long as possible and it worked so it is a great job by the team."
Singapore trounced the Philippines 8-1 at the 2019 SEA Games in Manila en route to retaining their SEA Games gold. The sport, however, did not feature at the recently concluded edition in Vietnam.
