RGS win narrowly but still fail to qualify for B Division netball semi-finals

Story by REDintern Alethia Tiang. Photos by Koh Yizhe/Red Sports.

Republic Polytechnic, Monday, April 13, 2009 – Raffles Girls’ Secondary School defeated Cedar Girls’ Secondary 25-24 in their final game of the National B Division Netball quarter-finals. However, having lost two games to CHIJ Secondary (Toa Payoh) and Nanyang Girls’ High, Raffles needed a convincing victory over Cedar to make it to the semi-finals with CHIJ Secondary. Their narrow win meant that their goal difference was not enough to steal the final semi-final spot from Nanyang Girls’.

An aggressive tone for the game was set early with more than three obstruction fouls called within the first five minutes. Having finished third in the South Zone Championship, one place behind Raffles in second, Cedar were determined to prove their worth. Despite having smaller players, Cedar used their agility to put up a strong defence against Raffles and walked off leading 6-3 at the end of the first quarter.

In the second quarter, Raffles came back much stronger after a pep talk from the coach to match Cedar’s swiftness. Cedar determination was evident as their players tried to save as many “out-of-court” balls as possible to regain possession. By half-time, both teams were tied 12-12.

Raffles started to understand the way their opponents played their game, forcing more turnovers from Cedar. Both teams matched each other in scoring but it was Raffles who edged ahead 18-16 by the end of the third quarter.

In the final quarter, Raffles began playing to their height advantage to intercept the Cedar passing. Despite getting outscored by Cedar in the final quarter, Rafles managed to hang on for a slim 26-25 win. However, that was to prove insufficient for a semi-final spot.

“We played a good game. All our school team members managed to get on court and we were able to realise our potential,” said Wang Zhen Zheng, captain of the Raffles team. “However, it has been disappointing and stressful because we lost to Nanyang on goal difference. Raffles has been in the top four for 19 consecutive years. We’ll be the first ones to “make history”, so to speak. But we have reflected on it and will be looking forward to next year.”