Raffles Institution overcome Hwa Chong 8-5 for third consecutive A Division water polo title

By Marvin Lowe

CCAB, Monday, April 13, 2009 – In the battle of the institutions, Raffles overcame Hwa Chong 8-5 to claim their third A Division Boys Water Polo Championship title in a row.

Hwa Chong drew first blood early in the first quarter when a splendid move allowed Yip Yang to score for a 1-0 lead. Raffles struck back almost immediately through Koh Jian Ying after the Hwa Chong defense failed to close him down.

Hwa Chong had another chance to go ahead when a Raffles player was ejected late in the quarter, giving them a 6-on-5 oppourtunity. However it was wasted and the team failed to get a shot on target. The first quarter ended all-square at 1-1 with all to play for.

Raffles stormed backed in the second quarter, taking the game by its neck. They were awarded a penalty when a Hwa Chong player committed a major foul. Raffles captain Brandon Chong took the penalty and duly scored for a 2-1 lead.

Then came the shocker for Hwa Chong. Raffles scored two goals in rapid succession within a minute to pull away with a three-goal lead. This sudden barrage of goals stunned Hwa Chong into a reply within 15 seconds through Dominic Fong who slammed his shot past the Raffles keeper.

Hwa Chong then found themselves with another 6-on-5 situation, prompting the Hwa Chong coach to take a timeout. Whatever he told his charges certainly worked. A slow build up and a well worked move saw Hwa Chong #6 Chen Jinsong score another goal.

It was a exciting second period with seven goals from both side and Hwa Chong trailing only by one goal at 4-5.

Hwa Chong once again took the intiative by scoring first in the third quarter to tie the game at 5-5. Sensing a comeback, the Hwa Chong supporters cheered even louder.

But Raffles calmly plotted their next move by working the ball into the Hwa Chong goal area captain Brandon hammered the ball in for the lead once again at 6-5.

With two minutes left in the third quarter, Hwa Chong went all out to equalize and came close on several occasions. The best chance fell to Hwa Chong #10 Benjamin Tan. With his back facing the goal, he suddenly reversed his body for a shot. It should have been a goal but the Raffles goalkeeper Kai Yu displayed amazing reflexes to stop the shot.

Then against the run of play and with the clock winding down, Raffles #5 Marcus Lee scored to hammer the nail into Hwa Chong’s coffin.

With a two-goal lead, Raffles beefed up their defense to frustrate Hwa Chong. Midway through the quarter, Raffles #10 Andrew Khan put the game beyond doubt with another well-taken goal to make it a three-goal, 8-5 lead.

Raffles stingily held on to possesion in the last minutes and Hwa Chong hopes slowly faded as it was too big a gap and too late in the game. Raffles held on for an emphatic 8-5 victory and it was heartbreak all over again for Hwa Chong.

Raffles captain Brandon Chong was extremely proud of his team.

“We played extremely well together as a team, this is our best performance ever. We focused on our own strengths and we did not let Hwa Chong exploit our weaknesses at all.”