Story by REDintern Lim Ying Xian. Photos by REDintern Soh Jun Wei
Austin Ng (#1) of St. Andrew’s trying to get by Jason Goh (#7) of ACS(I). (Photo 1 © REDintern Soh Jun Wei)
Physical Education and Sports Education Branch (PESEB), Monday, February 24, 2014 — Anglo-Chinese School (Independent) beat Saint Andrew’s Secondary School 22–21 in a thrilling opening game for both teams in the National B Division Rugby Championship.
ACS(I) built a 17–0 lead but the Saints showed remarkable tenacity to come roaring back to score 21 unanswered points to send the respective supporters on an emotional roller-coaster ride. With Saints looking like they had a 21–17 victory in their pocket, Kai Kiran Gosian (#28) of ACS(I) scored deep into injury time to ensure a slim one-point, 22–21 win.
In addition to Kai, Daniel Ho (#14) had two tries for ACS(I) while Siew Hao Ren (#21) had the other. Roy Woo (#10) converted one try.
Tay Haoxia (#5), Syarul Shah (#17), Viviyan Philip (#13) scored the Saints’ tries and Viviyan converted all of them.
ACS(I) led 5–0 at half-time and less than five minutes into the second half, Daniel Ho (#14) made it 10–0 for ACS(I). The speed of Daniel Ho proved decisive for the third try which Roy Woo (#10) managed to convert and ACS(I) now seemed to have a comfortable 17–0 lead.
However, Jason Goh (#7) got a yellow card and with ACS(I) now down to 14 men, the momentum swung in St. Andrew’s favour. Syarul Shah (#17) got the first try for Saints and though he was kicking from out side, Viviyan Philip (#13) put the ball through the posts with ease for the Saints to trail by 10 points (7–17).
The fate of the Saints in this match was changing and the first try was just the beginning. Banking on speed and agile footwork, Viviyan (13) took the ball over the line and got up to convert his own try. It was now a three-point deficit (14–17) and the emotions went up another notch in the stands.
With time running down, Saints got their third try through Tay Haoxia (#5). When Viviyan (#13) threaded it through the posts again for Saints’ first lead of the game at 21–17, it seemed over for ACS(I).
With the game now deep into injury time, Alexander Seow (#12) took a chance and punted the ball forward over the Saints line. The ball landed just out of reach of any Saint and hopped into the grateful arms of Kai Gosian (#28) who dove over the try line near the corner flag.
ACS(I) missed the conversion and the referee blew immediately after to end of a game that was worthy of a final.
St. Andrew’s captain, Viviyan Philips (#13), said, “We played our game, it was ok, but we could have done better. The basics, especially the passing, the tackling, the crashing – these foundations of ours to be improved for our next game.”
Daniel Ho (#14), who scored two tries for ACS (I), said, “We won by one point, so it went pretty well but there are several areas that we can improve on. The goal of the team is to ultimately win the season, but the secondary goal is to prevent any more injuries.”
St. Andrew’s will next play Pioneer Secondary on Monday, March 3, while ACS(I) will play brother school ACS (Barker Road) on Tuesday, March 4.
ACS(I) roster
Lim Jun Yi Joshua (#1), Tuang Rui Shan (#2), Muhammad Haziq Fitri B Baharin (#3), Nathan Chong Wen Loong (#4), Daniel Chris Lee Zi Ern (#5), Ou Wai Yan Darrel (#6), Goh Jien Feung Jason (#7), Dan Yuet Yau (#8), Jeremy Choy Yi Xiang (#9), Woo Ming En Roy (#10), Lucas Tay Yi-En (#11), Seow Kai Liang Alexander (#12), Goh Kiat Jwei Joshua (#13), Daniel Ho Chia Chun (#14), Ho Teng Yang Ethan (#15), Lee Tat Wei (#16), Chia Zhi Xuan (#17), Kitiarsa Tantham (#18), Micheal Takaaki Leong (#19), Lim Shern (#20), Siew Hao Ren (#21), Lee Keng Yong Joshua (#22), Edward Hui Xian Wei (#23), Diego Norton Smith (#24), Muhammad Darwisy B Mohd A (#25), Goh Kiat Choong Joel (#26), Koh Wei Lun Gareth (#27), Kai Kiran Gosian (#28)
St. Andrew’s roster
Ng Jie Ming Austin (#1), Ikhwan Haqiz B Sinwan (#2), Mirza Ukail Aiman B Mohamed S (#3), Soh Yi Jie Ezekiel (#4), Tay Haoxia (#5), Muhammad Qushyrie B Mahmud (#6), umar B Abdul Aziz (#7), Ng Bao Yuan (#8), The Wei Hao Bernard (#9), Bryan Chan Wei Quan (#10), Chen Baole Emanuel (#11), Mark Frederick Anthony (#12), Viviyan Philip (#13), Ruzaini B Mohamad (#14), Romille L A Cruz Reyes (#16), Syarul Shah B Abdul Rahim (#17), Savas Sornchaitanasuk (#18), Tan Guo Chuan Benjamin (#19), Chem Shean Han Gareth (#21), Jared Kowen Lim Jean Long (#22), Adnan B Zahrin (#23), Mohamed Ramadan Misti (#24), Ngiam Kang Xiang (#25), Ghalib Samir B Samari (#26), Bryan Liau Guo Dong (#27), Muhammad Zulikram B Haji A (#28), Gabriel Koh Giap Pang (#29), Muhammad Zulfadil B Rohizaid D (#30)
2014 National B Division Rugby Championship – fixtures and results
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