Dalat Junior Carnival 2009

A post way long overdue, a thousand apologies to all readers of our beloved blog.

Innebandy! Co. took part in the first ever Dalat (U-16) Junior Carnival organized by the Dalat Floorball Club which saw participation from 8 teams all over Penang. Innebandy! Co was represented by a majority of new young players making their debut for the club together with a few old and experienced players.


Team Innebandy! Co.
Ephraim Teh (C)
Rooband Chand
Previn Mohan
Jason Chew
Darien Loh
Jonathan Chow
Ronnie Chand
Divesh Mohan

GROUP STAGE

Match 1
Innebandy! Co. VS St. Christopher’s International School
We stepped onto the court for the first match, against a team from St. Christopher’s International School. Our opponents were young, adorable children. However, Innebandy! Co. also had a few young players on the team this time round. The three new additions in the team were Divesh, Jonathan and Ronnie. Previn, also had his debut as this is the first tournament we had him with us. Team Innebandy! Co. won the game with a large margin, 7-0. Previn, the team’s fast and agile forward became a hat-trick hero by the end of the game. What a debut! The three younger players on the other hand, had a lot of fun as they were given a lot of game-time.


Match 2
Innebandy! Co. VS Dalat 4
Shortly after that, we were up against team Dalat 4. The faster and more athletic opponents managed to beat us to the end, with an end score of 3-1 The team had to adjust to keep up with their speed, making it a fast-paced game. However, this game was a good experience for our new players.


Match 3
Innebandy! Co. VS Dalat 2
Reeling from our defeat in the previous game, Innebandy was determined to collect maximum points from this match-up. Both sides played well as the Dalat team wasn’t about to give in without a fight. Although lacking in experience, the opponents made up every inch of it with their teamwork and physical prowess. It was a difficult but not impossible match for us as they were a hard side to break down. Innebandy emerged the victors, taking both points from our last group match of the tournament.

In all, Innebandy! Co. managed to accumulate a grand total of 4 points from our three group matches. This ensured us a spot in the semi-finals against the first runner ups of Group 2; Dalat 1.


Semi-Finals
Innebandy! Co. VS Dalat 1
With the semis ahead of us, Innebandy had a team talk regarding our strategy and mental conditioning. Although we were up against a weaker side, we definitely could not take things for granted. After the team-talk, we steadied our nerves and marched into court. Dalat 1 were no pushovers despite finishing second in their group. Both the teams played their hearts out in a tight match. Innebandy took the lead twice but conceded 2 goals to make it all even. As the match drew to an end, our captain broke through the Dalat defence to grab the deciding goal. 3-2 the score, to Innebandy.


Finals
Innebandy! Co. VS Dalat 4
So there we were, at the finals, against Dalat 4. They proved to be the strongest Dalat team sent on that day. As tired as we were, we got ourselves mentally and physically ready before our match with a short warm up and talk by our very own Captain E. We were all set to face off against them. Having to lose to them in the group stages did not undermine our confidence. It was crunch time. The crowd was roaring the tension was building. Feeling solicitous, we went in the court, determined to clinch the top spot.


As the soon as the first whistle was blown, we gave it all we got. Regardless of how tired we were, we pushed ourselves to our limits. Dalat scored the opening goal against us but it did not stop us from trying to level it up. The challenging, fast paced game got compelling as Previn assisted Ephraim for an amazing equalizer just a few minutes before the end of the match. The score was 1-1 when the match time ended. Then, both teams moved on to an intense 3 minute sudden death round. Unfortunately, we conceded a goal after only less than a minute into the match and that was it, we lost. Feeling slightly saddened from our loss we picked ourselves back up and realized that second place isn’t that bad at all. Being able to advance to the semi finals was good but reaching the finals and getting silver among many other teams was satisfying enough for us =).



Final Result
Champion- Dalat 4
1st Runner Up-Innebandy! Co.
2nd Runner Up-Dalat 1


One of Innebandy’s players, Previn Mohan making his debut for the club made it a successful first one as his agile and versatile style of play earned him the ALL-STAR award for this tournament! Innebandy! Co is really proud of you!

The participation of Innebandy! Co. in this tournament was certainly one beneficial especially for the experience and exposure of the new members in the club.

There would be no young players in the club without the effort and coaching poured in by the “old” players of the club, namely the coaches. The club would like to extend its sincerest appreciation towards our coaches, Sam, Deswyn, Linken and Nicholes for their undying support, time and effort in investing in the future of Innebandy! Co.