Third time's the charm with TP Men's Soccer

TP Men's Soccer retained the S R Nathan Trophy Challenge title for the third time in a row this year. They were faced with tough opposition from ITE, but managed to emerge victorious with a thumping score line of 4-0.

Ex-president Mr S R Nathan arriving at TP for the match

On 7 Feb, the S R Nathan challenge trophy soccer tournament final was held in Temasek Polytechnic (TP), with TP defeating opponents ITE 4-0. The match was held at TP’s Sports Complex and was attended by ex-president S R Nathan.

This was TP’s third consecutive trophy of the competition, having won it in 2011, 2012, and now, 2013. The first-half of the game showed equal attacking opportunities from both sides, but an own goal from ITE at the 49^th minute opened the floodgates for TP.

Second-half goals from Sufianto Salleh, Lions XII defender Faris Azienuddin and Fuad Ramli brought the score line to 4-0.

TP boys celebrating their win at the trophy presentation

Head Coach Steven Tan was very happy with the result, and said: “We never expected it to be 4-0. The guys were focused and did very well, so congrats to them. It was a team effort and they worked very hard all year round.”

But the journey was not easy, as he explained: “We lost to ITE 4-1 earlier, and we had to motivate the boys and tell them to believe in themselves. And they did so and kept the team together. They showed their hunger in the game.”

He believes that teamwork was what brought them thus far, giving credit for the result to all those involved with the team. The team will take a well-deserved break, and continue competitions in May and June, the time around which they will also be seeing some new players coming into the squad.

The TP team celebrating their first goal of the match

Faris Azienuddin, central defender and TP’s number 15, found the first-half most challenging. “The first-half, I thought we were struggling a bit, but in the second-half, after the coach told us what to do and motivated us, then we progressed,” said the Lions XII defender.

“There were ups and downs during the journey. We lost a few, we won a few. Some teams were very hard to beat,” he reflected.