Viviyan Philip goes over for St. Andrew’s second try. He converted it to give his team a 14–0 lead early in the first half. (Photo 1 © Les Tan/Red Sports)
Yio Chu Kang Stadium, Thursday, August 22, 2013 – St. Andrew’s Secondary edged out Anglo-Chinese School (Independent) 14–13 to win their first National C Division Rugby Championship in 23 years.
The last time a St. Andrew’s team won a C Division title was in 1990. St. Andrew’s went down 3–17 to ACS(I) in the 2012 C Division final.
The Saints have had an impressive C Division campaign this year. They put together a string of seven victories to top the preliminary round group, including a 10–7 win over defending champions ACS(I). In the preliminary round, they outscored their opponents by a collective 495–31.
In the semi-finals, they were dominant in a 68–7 defeat of Raffles Institution.
For ACS(I), competing in their 21st consecutive C Division final and having won 16 of those finals, their hopes of a third consecutive championship were dashed although they did well to come back from 14–0 down.
Saints drew first blood with Bryan Chan going over for a try near the left corner flag. Despite the acute angle, Viviyan Philip stepped up to convert to give his team a 7–0 lead.
Saints pressure continued and Viviyan then scored another try for the Saints in the same corner, and yet again, from the same acute angle, he managed to put the ball between the posts to make it 14–0 with the first half barely half played.
In the meantime, ACS(I) had by then lost their key in centre, Siew Haoren, after he suffered a recurrence of an ankle injury very early in the game.
An ACS(I) penalty saw Lim Shern make the jaw-dropping decision to kick from almost the centre line. With the goal posts directly in front of him, the ACS(I) flyhalf hit the ball firmly between the posts to the delight, and probably relief as well, of his coaches watching from the sidelines.
With the Saints leading now by 14–3, an ACS(I) lineout led to Mikha Khaleel Abuthinin – or more popularly known as Momo to his teammates – going over for a try.
Lim Shern converted from the left side of the posts just before the referee blew for half-time, and with the Saints leading only by four points (14–10), momentum swung the way of ACS(I).
An early second-half penalty for Saints saw Viviyan make the same decision to kick from almost the half-way line. However, the ball fell some way short of the posts.
Another ACS(I) penalty 10 minutes from the end saw Lim Shern again put it between the posts for three points, this time from the right side, to trail the Saints by just one at 13–14.
The last five minutes saw continuous ACS(I) pressure but the boys in blue and white held their discipline and did not give away any penalties.
When the final whistle went, St. Andrew’s celebrated a long-awaited win.
“It’s definitely an honour,” said St. Andrew’s captain Viviyan Philip, on winning the school’s first C Division title in 23 years. “Winning is good enough but making history is a bonus.”
“It was definitely pressurising seeing ACS(I) come back [from 0–14 down],” recounted Viviyan. “But we trusted each other, so there was no panic. We had teamwork. We had the mentality that ‘If I miss the tackle, my teammate will cover me.'”
“The first half was ok. The second half, they were making silly mistakes here and there,” said Marcus Yeo, the head coach of St. Andrew’s. “But the boys are just 13, 14. They just want to play. The players are not mature, but they will listen. In the last five minutes, they were disciplined and made no mistakes.”
“It was heartening to see the way they responded,” said Adrian Chong, the ACS(I) head coach. “We lost but I’m satisfied that they played out of their skins to close the gap. Much to be proud of, the way they played.”
ACS(I) Lineup
Diego Norton Smith (#1, prop), Andrew Leow (#2, hooker), Mikha Khaleel Abuthinin aka Momo (#3, prop), Darren Chia (#4, 2nd row), Dhivian Thanabal (#5, 2nd row), Joel Goh (#6 outcentre), Joshua Lee (#7, flanker), Tantham Kitiarsa (#8, No.8), Joshua Tang (#10, scrumhalf), Tjoa Han Shen (#36, winger), Siew Haoren (#13, in centre), Darwisy Aminuddin (#14, winger), Kai Kiran Gosian (#15, fullback), Md Nur Solihin bin Mansor (#16, flanker), Johan Ding (#17, prop), Ethan Jahja Loo (#19, 2nd row), Md Noor Farhan (#20, scrumhalf), Han Pin Quan (#21, fullback), Daryl Ng (323, flyhalf), Matthew Robinson (#24, scrumhalf), Nabil Danil (#25, 2nd row), Ben Poey (#27, winger), Ian Teh (#28, flanker), Thomas Krelston (#29, No.8), Ethan Lau (#31, hooker), Nicholas Wong (#34, flyhalf), Isaac Tan (#35, prop)
St. Andrew’s Lineup
Bryan Liau (#3, forward), Ahmad Zafran (#6, forward), Ng Bao Yuan (#20, forward), Bryan Chan (#7, back), Jared Kowen Lim (#10, back), Emanuel Chen (#22, back), Choo Jian Hao (#16, forward), Drew James Stephenson (#2, forward), Webster Matthew James (#19, forward), Jerome Loh (#29, back), Ngiam Kang Xiang (#25), Samuel Lee (#18, forward), Tyan Chuah (#23, back), Jackie Chan (#30, forward), Ezekiel Koh (#24, fullback), Jelinek Dylan Kirk (#21, forward), Mathias Lim (#9, back), Lam Khin Soon (back), Lim Chang Yuan (forward), Al Mateen Kennady Monsul (back), Philip Distor Joseph (back), Sean Er (forward), Russell Quek (back), Muhammad Zulikram (back), Benjamin Tan (forward), Muhammad Zahran (forward), Azreel Dini (forward), Timothy Pan (back), Nicholas Wong (forward), Mohamed Ramadan Misti (back), Viviyan Philip (#15, back)
2013 National C Division Rugby Championship – fixtures and results
More photos next page
[…] had previously topped ACS(I) in every one of their head-to-head meetings this year, including a 14–13 thriller in the National C Division Rugby Championship in […]
Viviyan philip (15) Is st andrew not acs I
Thanks for catching that error, Jian Hao. Fixed.