Story by Kenneth Tan/Red Sports. Photos by Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports

Delta Hockey Pitch, Friday, July 30, 2010 — In a cagey final, St Andrew’s School beat Jurong West Secondary 2-0 on penalties to win the National C Division Hockey Championship.

Both sides could not be separated at the end of both regulation time and extra time and the match had to be decided by penalties. In the end, it was St Andrew’s who prevailed with two successful strokes out of three while Jurong West missed all four.

The first half saw Jurong West the more attacking of the two sides and created the first goalscoring opportunity of the match. From a short corner, Muhd Al-Fateh Putra fired a fierce shot just inside their attacking circle that was denied by St Andrew’s goalkeeper Gugan Sandran’s flying save.

St Andrew’s ended the half strong with two opportunities. Muhd Rudi B Sumardi hit his shot just wide of the left-hand post from a short corner on 27 minutes before A Linesh’s acute-angled shot in added time went off the foot of the right-hand post.

They duly put the ball into the net eight minutes into the second half but the whistle had already been blown by the referee for an infringement.

Instead it was Jurong West who came the closest to scoring on 47 minutes as Mohd Ryan Aidil somehow fired wide of the right-hand post with just the goalkeeper to beat.

The match went into extra time with St Andrew’s dominating the proceedings. Captain Cheong Yu Sung’s cross-shot from the right on 63 minutes saw Muhd Naufal just fail to make contact at the far post before A Linesh fired wide of the right-hand post.

With both teams unable to break the deadlock, the match had to be decided by the dreaded penalty shootout.

Muhd Al-Fateh Putra stepped up first for Jurong West but his shot was blocked by St Andrew’s goalkeeper Gugan Sandran who dived in the correct direction. Muhd Faiz B Rahmat capitalised for St Andrew’s as he converted his effort with aplomb.

Ismail B Mohamat Haron’s attempt to equalise for Jurong West was foiled by the impressive Gugan who dived the right direction again. However St Andrew’s could not extend their lead with captain Cheong Yu Sung’s shot well saved by the Jurong West goalkeeper.

The joy did not last long for Jurong West as Khairie B Khalid fired totally wide of the target. Bernard Ng duly extended St Andrew’s lead to 2-0 with his shot going high into the middle of the goal.

It all went down to Jurong West’s Daryl Cheah who had to score to keep his team in the game. His effort was once again saved by Gugan, sending the title to St Andrew’s.

St Andrew’s teacher-in-charge Mr Alvin How was proud of his team.

“The boys worked hard all season,” he said. “I really admire their never-say-die spirit and they really want it all in this game. The team is united as a whole and I have never really seen such a team. They fought through seven games to make it here and they deserve it.”

When asked about the lack of goals in this game after their 7-2 victory over defending champions Victoria School in the semis, he responded: “The boys are still developing, thus being a big game, everyone’s nervous. But they really played well especially in terms of defending.”

Final Result
St Andrew’s 0-0 Jurong West (2-0 on penalties)

St Andrew’s lineup
Gugan Sandran (#1, GK), Cheong Yu Sung (#2, captain), Jeremy Au (#3), Bernard Ng Jun Kai (#4), Andre Ong Jia Kang (#5), Teo Boon Kiat (#6), Muhd Rudi B Sumardi (#7), A Linesh (#9), Muhd Faiz B Rahmat (#10), Mudh Faizal Rahmat (#11), Muhd Haziq (#12), VR Joseph (#13), Jonathan Seah Wei Long (#14), Muhd Hendrika Bin Zulkifli (#15), Jeremiah Samson (#16), Mohd Danial (#17), Muhd Naufal (#18), Leong Ming Loong (#19), Malik Saiful Nizam (#20), Nicholas Yap Kit (#21).

Jurong West lineup
Muhd Nur Iszuan B Adon (#2), Ahmad Tarmizi B Nordin (#20), Mohd Ryan Aidil (#21), Khairie B Khalid (#23), Pranjal Vats (#24), Marcus Pang Shi Ze (#28), Muhd Siddiq Al-Matin (#30), Chee Yi Ren (#31), Muhd Taufiq B Rapadi (#32), Daryl Cheah Wai Keat (#33), Muhd Arif B Azman (#38), Iskandar Zulkarnain B Mustaffa (#40), Ismail B Mohamat Haron (#43), Muhd Hasaini B Abdol Rahim (#45), Jordan Lee Jian Hao (#46), Nur Irfan B Norman (#47), Muhd Al-Fateh Putra (#48), Muhd Fauzan B Mohamad (#49).

For more photos, go to the next page.

More photos in the gallery.

Editor’s note: If you recognise yourself or your team mates in any of the photos, feel free to leave the names behind in the comments section and we will update accordingly. Thanks.