Contributed by reader Jasbir Singh. Photos by Clarence Tan.

St Andrew’s Secondary, Friday, August 21, 2009 – Montfort Secondary emerged as Plate champions of the National Schools C Division Rugby Championship after beating Greenridge Secondary 26-22 in a hard-fought final.

A pulsating match saw both teams giving their best performance for this season. They scored four tries each but it was the deadly goal-kicking of Montfort captain Mohd Shamir that sealed the match for them. Greenridge gave Montfort a good fight, but it basically went down to the conversions to determine the ultimate winner.

Montfort converted three of their four tries while Greenridge were only able to convert one of their tries.

There was great spirit from Greenridge. Their backline was dazzling, and they had a John Eales of their own.

For Montfort, the front row of Matthew Ho, Alvin Yap and Lewis Syn dominated their opponents with deadly scrummaging with the second-row partnership of Kenny Lee and Azhar giving the much needed push in the scrum’s engine room.

The loose forward trio of Kang Dong Wan, Chinnakrit and Eugene Sito were at the breakdown almost instantaneously.The backline was well-marshalled by Captain Mohd Shamir, who linked up well with Kiwi scrum-half Harry Stokes. Harry gave it his all despite the sweltering heat and suffocating humidity. But centres Kirish and Ivan were devastating in their line-breaks and defensive tackling duties whilst Dominic Daniel was his usual calm self in the full-back slot, cleaning up high balls in a cool manner.

Wingers Musli and Randell were equally tenacious in the tackle counts. But above all, the match was a great advert for rugby as the Montfort boys consoled their beaten compatriots from Greenridge at the end of the final whistle by referee Mr Mohd Azhar Yusof.

Good game guys!

Montfort Scorers
Tries: Mohd Shamir (2), Kenny Lee, Kang Dong Wan
Conversions: Mohd Shamir (3)

Montfort Rugby Lions
Props: Matthew Ho and Alvin Yap
Hooker: Lewis Syn
Locks: Kenny Lee and Azhar
Flankers: Eugene Sito and Chinakrit
No 8: Kang Dong Wan
Scrum Half: Harry Stokes
Fly-Half: Mohd Shamir (C)
Centres: Kirish Deepan and Ivan Lim
Wingers: Musli and Randell Toh
Full-Back: Dominic Daniel
Subs (Used): Syahiran

Greenridge Scorers
Tries: Muhd Fahmi bin Amin(4)
Conversions: Mohd Iskandar Bin Jumali(1)

Greenridge
Props : Iskandar and Pang Jian Kai
Hooker: Isa
Locks: Amirul Aduka and Ng Zheng Yang
Flankers: Beldric Chua and Hairyl
No 8: Shafiq B
Scrum Half: Ramadan
Fly-Half: Shafiq J(Captain)
Centres: Amir and Fahmi A
Wingers: Sufyan and Fahmi R
Fullback: Rauf
Subs :
Daniel Chia, Cedric Lee, Bryson Tan, Daryl Tan, Faiz R, Wee Jun Jie, Shafiq Omar, Sufi and Khairul