Tampines Sports Hall, Monday, 5 January 2009 - It took the individual brilliance of skipper Ahmad Fattan Salim to ensure his school Ngee Ann Polytechnic (NP) got off to a winning start to their tournament with a 3-2 victory over Singapore Institute of Management (SIM) in a Group B men’s floorball match at Tampines Sports Hall.

After SIM took the lead in the 4th minute through Ishak Ismail, Fattan provided the assist for Chong Wei Liang to equalize six minutes later.

He turned from provider to scorer when he slotted the ball home in the 12th minute, putting NP in the driving seat until the third period.

Incessant pressure from the men in black eventually bore fruition in the 37th minute when Kenneth Ho Zhi Hao latched on a A Venugopal assist to slam home, sparking jubilant scenes from the SIM bench.

However hopes of securing any points were dashed when Fattan immediately came to save NP’s blushes with a sublime finish beyond the reach of the SIM goalkeeper.

Despite single-handedly earning the points, the centre was far from pleased with his team’s performance.

“We did not play to our potential, but we at least played decently so we just deserved the win,” he said.

“Although we did okay, I believe everyone in the team can put in more effort.”

He has called on his teammates, half of whom are involved in their debut IVP campaign, to play better and share the burden with him.

“I was a little disappointed as I expected the other players to step up their game tonight.

“Thus as captain, I had to lead by example and show them how it was done. I was personally satisfied to get the match-winning goal and earn the victory for the team.”

At the same time, Fattan desires his teammates to have the passion and belief that they can enjoy and do well in the game as he does.

“The players are young and have potential to be good players, but they do not realize they have it in them yet,” he noted.

“It will be my responsibility for me to instill this belief into them and I will let them know that in future games."

“But most importantly, they must enjoy playing the game. Only with the fulfillment and enjoyment then they can play better."