TK VS HENRY PARK

National 1st Round (Juniors) Game 3

TKP vs Henry Park Primary

33-7

After beating St Margaret's on Wednesday morning, the juniors were euphoric but their journey in the nationals has only begun, they have many more tight matches to go so the juniors were reminded by Mr Njoo during the bus ride not to be complacent. They need to defeat their next opponent, Henry Park Pri to top their group.

Corrine looking like a 'statue'

Rukmini practising 'martial arts'

The Juniors went to Kallang Netball Center early as usual and were ever ready when the match started. However, just like all the other matches the Juniors played in the Nationals so far, their first quarter was not very good. They let in four goals but only scored eight. It was their Archilles heel, the juniors cannot get into their rythm early in the game. Still, Henry Park fell behind 4-8. The second quarter (as usual) turned out for the better and the Juniors managed to double their previous score quickly with their quick passing and speedy runs down the line. With much difficulty, Henry Park only shot one goal. Motivated by their strong lead 16-5, the Juniors played better in the third quarter. The defence did a great job by not letting in any goals attempted by Henry Park at all. It was this display that prompted Mr Njoo to field the reserves in the 4th quarter. He took out Seak Im (GA) and replaced with Pepe, took out Rukmini (C) and made Xing Hui (WA) play the Centre and Jamie (GD) was asked to play WA with Josephine replacing her at defence. During the final quarter, I personally think that the defence was not as tight as the last two quarters (maybe it was due to the many changes). They 'allowed' Henry Park to shoot two goals. But the GA and GS scored five more shots and then the match was over with the score of 33-7.

Jamie looking to pass the ball

After winning all three matches this week, TK Juniors are first in the group. So, we have the priviledge to draw for the quarter-final groupings. Mr Njoo wanted CHIJ (Kellock) to be in our next group because TKP has yet to play with Kellock, and it would be much better to pip our skills against them earlier rather than in the latter stages. So, with Mr Njoo's strategy and Miss Normala's Magic Hands (She was the one who drew the groupings), the Juniors got their dream group--- TK, CHIJ(Kellock), Marymount Primary and Pasir Ris Primary. All the best TKP Juniors in the quarter-finals.

Seak Im shooting for goal

From the coach's table:


Although the highlight of the 1st round matches was against St Margs and this match though important, was not critical to our advancement to the quarter-final stage. I still wanted the girls to play above themselves and show me that they are able to keep a high tempo and attack early in the game. However, the juniors showed their usual weakness and took a long time to settle down in the match, only leading Henry Park by 4 goals after the 1st quarter. After the usual 'hair-dryer treatment', the juniors started to find their feet in the 2nd quarter.

After the match, I reflected on why some of the players needed so long to settle down. Players like Seak Im and Rukmini were the main culprits, always making silly errors and sloppy passes which then affected the rest of the team. I guessed I 've to talk to them before the game and get them to do 'breathing exercises' to calm themselves down before the match. Hopefully, this will be the remedy toour problem.

Looking at the quarter-final draw, the only team that will pose the biggest problem to us will be CHIJ Kellock. It will be great to defeat them so that if we were to play with them again, the pychological advantage will be with TKP having beaten them earlier. The other two teams, Marymount and Pasir Ris, though weaker in strength, must still be taken seriously. At this stage of the competition, we must not underestimate anyone!