WATER POLO

National ‘A’ Division Final
Hwa Chong Institution vs Raffles Junior College
Monday, April 9, 2007 at CCAB (Bukit Timah)

Story by Lee Hwee Cheng. Pictures by Leslie Tan. Highlights of the final in episode 5 of RedSportsTV. © Red Sports/soulbreath pictures

Raffles’ no.4 Wayne Chong loses his cap but not his head in the fourth quarter by sealing victory for the Rafflesians with goal number 5 in the final minutes.  © Leslie Tan/Red Sports.

The Raffles polo boys proved they are indeed no fluke at all when they took home the National ‘A’ Division Water Polo Championship trophy this afternoon after 14 long years with a convincing 5-1 win over Hwa Chong Institution, their second triumph over the defending champions this season.  Raffles beat Hwa Chong 6-4 just a week ago in the preliminary round.

In the first sprint of the game, Raffles won the swimoff and within the first 15 seconds of the quarter, fired a warning shot against Hwa Chong when no.5 Isaac Pung made an aggressive goal attempt that rebounded off the goal-post instead.  Immediately back on the defensive end, Raffles showed they had no intention of letting up on aggression and they understood clearly the best game strategy for any win is an equally unrelenting defence.  Putting up a tight man-to-man D right from the beginning, they stumped Hwa Chong for a while, blocking a few passes and forcing a couple of turnovers from shot-clock violations and offensive fouls.  Within a minute from the first goal attempt, Pung set a pass to center foward no.8 Jeremy Kwang who tried to sweep the ball into the goal with a backhand flip, but it barely just missed the goal and flew past the goal-post instead.

Raffles’ no.3 Ng Chen Kai.  © Leslie Tan/Red Sports.

The Hwa Chong side might have seemed a little taken aback by Raffles’ early onslaught of aggression and committed a few unforced errors, making weak passes and wild shots at goal.  But before the quarter ended its 7-minute run, Hwa Chong found and turned on their aggressive mode, and started to add defensive pressure on the opponents as well. 

Still, with 2 minutes left in the first quarter, Raffles scored the opening goal when Pung sent a pass to no.11 James Miao in the center position who, flanked by two defenders and a goalie in front, somehow managed to send the ball into the net in the midst of a tussle and put Raffles up at 1-0.

"Look Ma! Got hands!"  A Hwa Chong player with only his arms visible, gets pushed underwater by a Raffles player.  © Leslie Tan/Red Sports.

An Hwa Chong player and Raffles no.8 Jeremy Kwang (right) vie for the ball.  © Leslie Tan/Red Sports.

The second quarter looked to belong to Hwa Chong, with plenty of goal opportunities going in their favour but unfortunately, the boys could not convert most as well.  Raffles had won the swimoff again, but quickly lost possession through a bad pass.  The ball was then immediately sent on a long pass to Hwa Chong no.9 on a fast-break, who suddenly found himself in a favorable one-on-one situation with the Raffles goalie after turning a startled defender.  But the first goal opportunity was missed when the Hwa Chong no.9 hesitated too long in taking his shot and two Raffles defenders swam back in time to thwart his attempt.

Hwa Chong supporters in the gallery keep the spirits high up, some carrying makeshift banners in support of good friends in the pool.  © Leslie Tan/Red Sports.

In the second missed opportunity, Hwa Chong’s no.2 sent a lob pass to no.11 in the center forward position who swiftly turned, cleared the defender and once again found himself facing the goalie one-on-one.  But the shot taken was a weak one and immediately saved by the goalie.  In the third situation that had arisen in a moment of Raffles’ defensive folly, a long outlet pass was made to Hwa Chong no.7 who shocked the Raffles defense when he broke loose from two unwitting defenders and swam ahead for a fast-break.  It was yet another sweet one-on-one play on the goalie, but it was also another weak goal attempt that couldn’t make it past the goalie.  Was it Raffles’ luck, or was it Hwa Chong’s misfortune?

With the clock running down to 2:44, no.5 Pung scored the second goal for Raffles to bring the lead to 2-0.  And no.8 Kwang looked set to take down the first half for Raffles with a 3-0 lead when he scored a third with 51 seconds left in the second quarter.  But barely 20 seconds later, Hwa Chong finally gave themselves some due credit for all their efforts in the quarter when no.10 scored the first goal for his team from the left flank amidst a tussle with the defender and goalie.  Raffles had to settle for a 3-1 lead at the end of the first half.

Hwa Chong’s captain no.10 makes a pass.  © Leslie Tan/Red Sports.

In water polo, it’s anything for the ball.   © Leslie Tan/Red Sports.

Goal number four for Raffles came fast and furious just 48 seconds into the third quarter when center forward no.8 Kwang made a swift turn and cleared the defender, finding himself a good unblocked view of the goal, and slammed the ball into the left corner of the goal-post.  Hwa Chong found themselves with another opportunity for a goal when no.6 was awarded with a penalty shot with about 4.5 minutes left in the quarter.  No.6 would’ve made the penalty but was given a violation call by the referee when he hesitated for too long in taking the shot after the whistle had been blown.

The rest of the third quarter turned into a defensive game, as Raffles started to display their cool-headed poise by  switching to a defending-the-lead strategy.  If they had looked a little tired in the offense, they certainly did not let up on the fierce defence, making yet more interception on the opponents’ passes.  Raffles continued to lead at 4-1 at the end of the third quarter.

Raffles listen and strategize during a time-out.  © Leslie Tan/Red Sports.

"Excuse me, I can’t see a thing, your hand’s like in the way."  © Leslie Tan/Red Sports.

In the final quarter of the game, Hwa Chong sped up their quest for more goals, but ended up making more offensive fouls and taking wild shots that flew past the goal-post.  Raffles, on the other hand, kept on a more controlled game, minimizing their errors and continuing to make threats on the offensive end.  With 2 minutes left in the game, a capless no.4 Wayne Chong sealed the gold for Raffles when he scored goal number five from the 5-meter line.

At this point, Hwa Chong’s coach made a strategic decision and tsubstituted the entire team with fresh and well-rested legs.  But perhaps it came a little too late.  Raffles finished the game, and dashed Hwa Chong’s hopes of retaining the title, with a 5-1 victory.

Raffles player gets the ball safe in goalie Poo Yihong’s hands. © Leslie Tan/Red Sports.

Said Raffles’ captain Sherwin Sim (no.2) after the game, "We knew we were no fluke.  We came here again, confident that we would bring home what we’ve been training so hard for." 

Congratulations to Raffles, and well done to both teams, Red Sports say.

Raffles’ captain no.2 Sherwin Sim looks to make a pass.  © Leslie Tan/Red Sports.

"Thanks for the shoulder to lean on, dude."  © Leslie Tan/Red Sports.

Editor’s note:  We did not manage to get hold of the Hwa Chong boys after the game, so if you do recognize yourselves or any of the players, please feel free to let us know your names, and we’ll update the captions and report accordingly.  For more action shots, please visit the picture gallery.  Thanks!

*You lucky Red Sports readers!  Know that you’re reading the stories of the water polo finals fresh and red-hot here first on redsports.sg!  😉