Victoria School beat Teck Whye to clinch C Division Boys Hockey title

Story by Yvonne Yap/Red Sports. Photos by Farah Alsagoff, Marvin Lowe and Vanessa Lim/Red Sports.

Sengkang Sports and Recreational Centre, Wednesday, August 12, 2009 – Backed by supporters over a hundred strong, Victoria School rose to the occasion and beat Teck Whye Secondary School 2-1, bringing back the C Division Boys Hockey title after a 19-year drought. They last won the title in 1990.

The Victorians dominated from the start with their fine control and passing but it was the Victorian back line which was put to the test in the 13th minute when a long pass was made to the Teck Whye #5 in the Victorian half. The Teck Whye #74 then received the pass and promptly played it to his teammate #65, but the defenders proved themselves a solid wall by clearing the ball.

Just 2 minutes later, a flick from his teammate sent the Teck Whye #74 through on goal. The Victorian defence was too high up and were caught out but the Victorian keeper Pritesh P Kamani (VS #57) kept the scoreline 0-0 when he denied the #74.

The Victorians displayed their accurate passing and teamwork with the first goal of the match at the end of the first half. Amos Law (VS #41) passed the ball to Gerald Goh (VS #31) on the other end of the D. and the latter hit it into the back of the net to give VS a 1-0 advantage.

Just 5 minutes into the second half, Teck Whye came back with an equaliser to level the playing field. A flowing move involved starting with the TW #59 and #84 ended with the #79 catching the VS keeper unaware to make it 1-1.

The rest of the game saw the Victorians making deep runs into Teck Whye’s half, while Teck Whye tried to make the best of their awarded free hits, but the winning goal came only just 10 minutes from time.

Venuraam (VS #36) rose to the occasion, dribbling into the D and executing a backhand shot that went straight into goal, causing the Victoria supporters to rise to their feet.

“We did quite well and have improved since the prelims,” reflected Teck Whye captain Syafiq. Most of the Teck Whye players picked up hockey in secondary school, and for that one and a half years of training, getting to the final was an achievement in itself for them.

“We have to thank our coaches and seniors… and we played with our hearts,” Syafiq added.

On how he felt when he made the shot for the decisive goal, Venuraam exclaimed, “Hopefully it went in…I was totally scared! But it (the game) was quite fun!”

“We have performed well and exceeded all expectations,” beamed Victorian captain Gerald, who scored the first goal for Victoria. The Victorians won both the C Division Boys 6-a-side and 11-a-side Hockey competitions this year, making it a season to remember for the team.

N.B. Sorry we don’t have the names of the players mentioned in the story and captions. If you have the team list (jersey number and names), please let us know in the comments section and we’ll update the story.

N.B. Sorry we don’t have the names of the players mentioned in the story and captions. If you have the team list (jersey number and names), please let us know in the comments section and we’ll update the story.