Story and photos by Matthew Lau/Red Sports
Players contest a line out. (Photo 1 © Matthew Lau/Red Sports)
PESEB, Monday, April 28, 2014 — St. Andrew’s Secondary beat defending champions Anglo-Chinese School (Independent) 21–18 in the final of the National B Division Rugby Championship.
With the game twice postponed because of lightning and the Saints leading 11–8 with 24 minutes to go in the second half, the final was finally decided by a penalty try.
Trailing 14–18, Saints were awarded a penalty try and captain Viviyan Philip (#13) converted to seal the 21–18 win. ACS(I) had a late penalty chance from a wide angle to tie it up but could not convert.
In the first half played last Tuesday at Home Team Academy, Austin Ng (#1) of St. Andrew’s scored an unconverted try for a 5–0 lead. Roy Woo (#10) got things going for ACS(I) with a penalty to narrow the Saints lead to 5–3.
Viviyan then made up for his missed conversion by putting a penalty between the posts for an 8–3 Saints lead but Daniel Ho tied it up for ACS(I) with a try for 8–8, with Roy Woo missing the conversion.
The game was then halted because of lightning and when play resumed, Viviyan got two further penalty chances and converted one to make it 11–8 before the game was called off for good. Both teams returned the next day but did not even make it onto the pitch as lightning again forced a second postponement.
At PESEB, ACS(I) scored a try straight from the restart through Darrell Ou (#6) to charge into a 13–11 lead. However ACS(I) kicking faltered again and the try was not converted.
That proved costly as a penalty saw Saints’ kicking machine Viviyan again put the ball between the posts for a 14–13 lead.
With about 10 minutes on the clock, Jason Goh wrested the lead back for ACS(I) with a try for an 18–14 lead. Another missed conversion left ACS(I) exposed and they eventually lost their grip on the lead when they were penalized by a penalty try. Viviyan put ACS(I) to the sword with a conversion to seal the victory.
Viviyan said, “It was very intense and despite ACS(I) taking the lead, we managed to compose ourselves and came back to win. ACS(I) gave a good fight. This year would be memorable for my batch as this is the first time we’ve become champions.”
Ethan Ho (#15), captain of ACS(I), said, “We fought hard, but despite scoring 2 tries (in the second half), to lose is disappointing. I would like to thank God as we started out the season with half the team suffering from injuries but with God’s blessing, we were able to get this far. Whatever the outcome, our source of strength and hope is in Christ alone.”
Try Scorers
St. Andrew’s
Ng Jie Ming Austin – 1 try
ACS(I)
Daniel Ho Chia Chun – 1 try
Ou Wai Yan Darrell – 1 try
Goh Jien Feung Jason – 1 try
Score By Halves
St. Andrew’s vs ACS(I)
1st Half: 11–8
2nd Half: 10–10
Final Score: 21–18
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)
ACS(I) Roster
Lim Jun Yi, Joshua (#1), Tuang Rui Shan (#2), Muhammad Haziq Fotri B Baharin (#3), Nathan Chong Wen Loong (#4), Daniel Chris Lee Zi Ern (#5), Ou Wai Yan Darrell (#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), Ethan Ho Teng Yang (#15), Lee Tat Wei (#16), Chia Zhi Xuan (#17), Kitiarsa Tantham (#18), Michael 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)
More photos on next page
Viviyan Philip tournament MVP second year in a row.