The Final of the Season

Part 1: Wai Yee's account of the final

If you were at the match last Saturday, you would have witnessed how close the game was. In the first quarter we led Nike Air by 4 and in the second quarter we were neck to neck. However, by the end of the third quarter, they had negated our lead. As a result, at the start of the fourth quarter, we were playing on even grounds, until there were only ten seconds left on the clock.

When there were only ten seconds left in the game, they were actually leading us by one goal. Then the umpire blew her whistle for a foul at the edge of the circle by the base line, and we had a penalty pass or shot. As time ticked away, Sue walked in from the other side of the circle to take the penalty as Jenny put the ball down on the ground. I had absolute faith in Sue. She picked the ball up, looked at the post, stepped in, concentrated, and she put the ball in! That was the definitive goal that forced our arch rival into extra time.

When the extra time kicked off, we were simply possessed. We were more determined than before, and we outplayed them with our wits and that little something extra inside us! By the end of the first half of the extra time, we were already three points up.

Although our opposition tried to catch up with us, they just could not do enough to overtake us. Finally, we sealed our victory with perseverance and conviction! It was not an easy triumph, but this is a win that will probably stay as our best memories for a long time.


Part 2: The Aftermath Thoughts and Feelings

"When was the last time you did something for the first time?" This was a tag line from a TV commercial and last Saturday was the first time I ever played extra time after a draw at a match (if my memory served me correctly). I predicted the game to be a very close one, but not so close until extra time needed to be played out.

What kept me going in the game? Apart from being a born fighter, thanks to the genes I inherited from my Dad, I told myself I would NEVER loose to them, not when the championship title was at stake. By the way, I was also telling myself, if I could write all those crap about fighting hard on my blog to spur people on, I will live up to it. More important, I want to live up to it, because I cannot put Muhammad Ali to shame.

Playing the game was all about fighting hard, but then winning the game was a whole-another-different-thing. It was a huge concoction of feelings and emotions! When the final whistle went, it was an welcomed relief, but it was also supposed to be joyous, but then the body was just so tired that you did not know what to do at all?! It was very strange indeed.

It has been two days, and it still seemed unreal to me that we had played such a game and won such a game. The win might still seemed a little surreal, but one thing is for real, and it was our big big hearts that carried us through.


Part 3: Quips of the game

Yee Leen's:

(1) "Give them hell!"

(2) "We the defenders will be the great walls of Hougang to stop their attack"

Wai Yee's:

(1) "We will suck the air out of their Nikes!" - We truly lived up to our own expectations even if we had loose to them

(2) "Excellent without perfection!" - I knew we would miss a defence here or there, as they do have a very fast player, so I told Yee Leen it did not matter because we can always be excellent without being perfect.

Part 4: Last Words

Good things come in four? Well in a good netball game it does, haha. We are finally the CHAMPION for this season and we have successfully defended our title! With last Staurday's game, it was finally a wrap for Ace, and this is the end for this blog too!