Meridian Secondary School edge out Tanjong Katong Secondary School in B Div football thriller

SINGAPORE – As dark clouds loomed overhead at the Serangoon Stadium, on the field the tension and drama reached fever pitch on May 12, when the B Division boys’ football final was contested between Meridian Secondary School and Tanjong Katong Secondary School (TKSS).

The clash to determine the National School Games (NSG) League One champions had begun a week earlier at Our Tampines Hub, but the final was halted twice in the 35th and 63rd minute owing to heavy rain and lightning. It was eventually called off with Meridian holding a slender 1-0 lead courtesy of a 48th-minute strike from winger Lutfan Danial.

As play resumed on May 12 at Serangoon, both schools turned on the heat immediately from the whistle, as TKSS’ Evan Liu notched an equaliser on 69 minutes. With both sides caught in a 1-1 deadlock, overcast skies, a rainbow and inclement weather only added to the tense atmosphere on the field and in the packed stands.

Neither side could find a breakthrough in regulation or extra time, sending the title decider into a nerve-racking penalty shoot-out that eventually went into sudden death.

And when the moment of truth arrived with Meridian leading 8-7, their goalkeeper Evan Lee stood tall between the posts. Diving the right way, the skipper produced the decisive save to deny TKSS’ Phua Wenze and seal his school’s second B Division boys’ football title after their maiden triumph in 2024.

As the ball ricocheted off Evan’s gloves, the Meridian players ran onto the pitch to embrace their hero and collapsed in a jubilant heap, while their supporters erupted in deafening cheers. Across the field, the TKSS team in blue sank to the turf in tears as their dream of a first title in a decade was dashed.

Recalling the decisive moment, the custodian said: “I was telling myself I need to save this penalty. It would take a huge weight off our shoulders and win the game for us.”

The 16-year-old added that he had prepared himself mentally before the kick, focusing on “where he (Wenze) would shoot and how I would react to his shot”.

Despite starting the match with a 1-0 advantage, Evan stressed that they never let their guard down, particularly as he and five of his teammates play in the Geylang International youth team alongside a number of TKSS players.

He added: “When TKSS scored, we didn’t give up, we kept pushing. We felt that we still had enough to finish the game strongly and go for the win.

“I may have been the goalkeeper, but each player did their part to score their penalty. Even though I wear the captain’s band, everybody on the field was a leader.”

The team will be celebrating their gold-medal win with a Brazilian churrasco (barbecue) prepared by their coach Fabio da Silva. After their gruelling 1-0 semi-final victory over St Joseph’s Institution – which Evan described as their toughest match of the season – the Brazilian had promised them a special treat if they clinched the championship.

Da Silva, who has spent the past decade leading Meridian’s football programme, said: “I’m more than happy, to be honest. I have to congratulate my team for the hard work, for the belief, for the effort that they put in the whole season.”

Crediting his team’s mental resilience, he added: “We started the game leading 1-0, but the opponent came in stronger... We created this culture in Meridian Secondary School to do better the next day. The unity of this team and their mentality of going onto the field and doing better is great.”

Despite the defeat, TKSS captain Tate Looi said: “I’m very proud of my team, no matter what, because we started the match 1-0 down, but managed to change the game quite early, getting the equaliser. And we continued pushing on and fighting. We gave them a challenge and went all the way to penalties.”

For TKSS assistant coach Azahari Aziz, the wait for the coveted trophy continues. He was part of the coaching set-up in 2016, when the school last won the B Division boys’ title.

He said: “We scored during the first few minutes of the restart of the game and throughout the rest of the game, we were in control. We were hungrier, but it just wasn’t our day.”