Story by REDintern Chin Chi Hua. Photos by REDintern Yvonne Yap.

The Saints captain attempts a shot. (Photo 1 © Yvonne Yap/Red Sports)

Delta Sports Complex, Monday, May 18, 2009 – Defending champions Raffles Institution (RI) beat Saint Andrew’s Junior College (SAJC) 2-0 this afternoon to sail through to the final of the A Division Boys’ Hockey Championship.

The Saints attacked from the start of the game to put RI on the defensive in a tough situation as they were bent on attacking but it was RI who came closest on the counter attack.

An RI penalty corner saw Dylan Lee (RI #9) passing to Christian Chow (RI #20) whose shot just missed. It was picked up by team mate, Ned Theu (RI #12) who gave another shot but to their dismay, the SAJC goalkeeper blocked with his legs.

RI continued their attack when Faris Bin Amin (RI #15) passed to Paul Sim (RI #7) in the D who did not manage to tap the ball after a clash with the SAJC goalkeeper. Another RI attempt involving Ned (RI #12) and Christian (RI #20) was also futile as SAJC defenders cleared the ball.

The turning point came after 26 minutes of play, when Ned (RI #12) passed swiftly to Paul (RI #7) who took a shot at the goal. The first try hit the goalkeeper’s leg but Paul (RI #7) gave it another shot and saw his shot deflect into goal to make it 1-0 for RI.

Three consecutive penalty corners in the second half gave RI a string of chances to increase their lead but repeated attempts by Eugene Lee (RI #8) and Ned (RI #12) were relentlessly faced down by the SAJC defense.

In the 56th minute, Dylan Lee (RI #6) scored the second goal with a tap in at the far post after a cross from the right to finally put the game to bed.

RI will now face Victoria Junior College in the final while SAJC will face Anglo-Chinese School (Independent) in the 3rd/4th placing match.

SAJC starting lineup
#1 J. Ram (Goalkeeper)
#6 Marc Chan
#7 Keenan Tay
#8 Glenn Teo
#9 Rodrigues Collin Kelly
#10 Kwak Do Yong
#13 Timothy Chan
#15 Chew Jing Kai
#16 Daniel Tan
#21 Nicholas Yoong
#23 Arvindh Rai

RI starting lineup
#4 Clinton Teh
#7 Paul Sim
#8 Eugene Lee
#9 Dylan Lee
#10 Sim Guan Chua
#12 Ned Theu Chen Wei
#13 Nur Hijazi
#15 Faris Bin Amin
#18 Nicholas Ho
#20 Christian Chow
#99 Nicholas A.J. Kiramathypathy (Goalkeeper)

An RI player is about to get closed down by a Saint. (Photo 2 © Yvonne Yap/Red Sports)

The Saints captain tees up a hit. (Photo 3 © Yvonne Yap/Red Sports)

An RI player dribbles through the SA defense. (Photo 4 © Yvonne Yap/Red Sports)

A Saint drives through against RI. (Photo 5 © Yvonne Yap/Red Sports)

Players shake hands at the end. (Photo 6 © Yvonne Yap/Red Sports)