Contributed by reader Jonathan Kwong
ACS(I)’s dragflick exponent Ben (#7, yellow) makes a pass that is intercepted by RJC’s skipper, Ihtimam Hossain. (Photo © Jonathan Kwong)
Delta Sports Complex, Thursday, May 24, 2007 – Traditional rivals Anglo-Chinese School and Raffles met yet again in the National A Division Boys Hockey final, among many finals in which they have met in the recent school sports season.
This is the second year ACS (Independent) have featured in the A Division tournament, and just this year they broke into the final, a remarkable achievement. This is also the second time in the last four years that ACS have met the Raffles side in the hockey finals (Incidentally, the last time was when I was playing for the Anglo-Chinese Junior College side in the 2004 final)
Raffles opened the scoresheets with an early goal in the second minute, and continued an indomitable offense against the ACS side. The ACS defense nonetheless held up strongly, denying Raffles the better of the many penalty corners which they created.
RJC went on to slot in three more decisive goals, to clinch the championship at 4-0.
The ACS side displayed a great spirit of the game when they cheered the winning Raffles side on as they received the coveted trophy, which to me was a beautiful sight to behold, and the ideal which we as sportsmen should all aspire to achieve.
Congratulations to the winning teams of the day, and cheers to the spirit of fair play and good hockey.
RJC score another goal against ACS(Ind) while the beaten defense looking on helplessly. (Photo © Jonathan Kwong)
RJC celebrating their first goal of the game. (Photo © Jonathan Kwong)
Rafflesian skipper Ihtimam holds his ground firmly as Md Fahrul of ACS(I) goes in for a tackle. (Photo © Jonathan Kwong)
ACS(I)’s midfielder Matthew prepares to execute a pass to teammate Sarinder (not in photo), as RJC’s #7 steps up to make a tackle. (Photo © Jonathan Kwong)
The match umpire justifies his calls to the ACS(Ind) players. (Photo © Jonathan Kwong)
ACS(I)’s Kah Chee tackles RJC’s forward Joel as he attempts to attack the ACS(I). (Photo © Jonathan Kwong)
The ACS(I) boys do not hide their disappointment at being denied the championship. (Photo © Jonathan Kwong)
Good sportsmanship displayed by both the Raffles and the Anglo-Chinese sides was certainly inspiring. (Photo © Jonathan Kwong)
Editor’s note: If you do recognize yourselves or any of your friends in these pictures, do drop us a note in the "Comments" section and we’ll update the captions accordingly. Thanks!
saints shouldnt be in the finals. and luckily, they didnt enter. if not both girls and guys finals would be boring. one final which is boring, is enough.
saint andrew’s juniour collage shld be in the finals man. up n on!
haha well jonathan, you can send them to me at vladimir7smicer@hotmail.com. my teammates not happy got so many of my photos so i can forward them theirs. haha. thanks for taking the trouble 🙂
Sir, it would be nice if you did include your name and email address. How else would I be able to send these photographs to you?
hey please send me the rest of the pics u took, thanks!
Hello Captain Sherlock,
Haha cool. Fancy you referring to yourself in the third person (“..Fahrul and the RJC Captain”) And I’m rather amused by you addressing me as Mr Kwong. I’m actually just 2-3 years your senior, ie. graduated from ACJC in 2005. I used to play hockey for Singapore Schools, but that was ages ago, and I have fond memories of the Milo Cup – I’m realy glad you and Fahrul are such good buddies.
It’s my pleasure to have covered the events. If you’d like to have more photographs that I took, just give me your email.
All the best for your As. Work hard, and don’t worry too much about it. It’s much easier than you think. I think.. But yeah. Just dig in, and don’t think too much about it. You all will do well.
– Jonathan
haha. im the rjc captain. or ex-rj captain since we retired after this match. fahrul was my room-mate when we went to kuantan for the asian school’s tournament representing singapore schools. thanks for the article – we’re all very grateful cos hockey gets little coverage. it’s very nice for our last match to be ‘immortalized’ here cos now we gotta go study for As. yucks.
sherlock is the rj captain.lol
Red Coach DYip,
Thanks for the kind words. I am very glad that other like-minded sportmen, such as yourself, share the same sentiments and heart for sports being played for what it’s meant to be – to challenge our human limits and celebrate our humanity. I’m glad for the healthy sports rivalry shared between Raffles and ACS, and for the friendships we have forged both on and off the field. I am actually an alumni of ACS(I) and ACJC.
Cheers, sir. Hope to see you soon (:
– Jonathan
Sherlock,
Thanks for your reply and update regarding the names. Fahrul was my junior in the hockey team that I captained, and also in the Prefectorial Board in which I was one of his superiors. So were some of the other players. I’m very glad for how they’ved turned out – they’ve all surpassed me in terms of skill and finesse, and they’re playing very mature and thoughtful hockey, much better than before. Most of all, for some of them, how they’ve truly become gentlemen and playing the game with grace and dignity.
That is far greater than skill or technique, and THAT is what commands RESPECT.
Where are you from anyway? As in, your school, and are you a part of the hockey team? Cheers, and all the best in school mate (:
– Jonathan
and actually this is only the first time acs(i) taking part in A div. last yr their year 5s played in B div. thanks.
thanks for the update mr kwong!
The first goal was scored by Alex Hsu.
RJC no. 7 in 4th pic is Ho Sheng
and the sportsmanship was good cos we both have a lot of respect for each other and also cos we’re frens. for example in the last photo, its fahrul n the rjc captain and they agreed on msn before the match that it should be played in good spirit. 😛
haha.
Hi Jonathan,
Anyone reading this report should be inspired by your highlighting of the
SPORTSMANSHIP level that prevailed during the game as well as post-match. I sincerely commend you for having such a positive outlook and approach.
To all you athletes battling it out there:
Winning is not everything and losing is not the end.
Improving oneself in all aspects of the game, including being a gracious winner and a good loser, is part and parcel of uplifting SPORTMANSHIP!
Thank you Jonathan.
Red Coach DYip