Story by Jiexin Neo/Red Sports. Photos by Clara Yuan/Red Sports
ACJC players attempt to tackle Low Zi Hao (PJC #11). (Photo 1 © Clara Yuan/Red Sports)
Physical Education and Sports Education Branch, Friday, May 9, 2014 — Anglo-Chinese Junior College (ACJC) beat Pioneer Junior College (PJC) 25–0 to defend their National A Division Boys Rugby Championship (Plate) title.
PJC did not manage to qualify for the plate championship last year.
Jerone Ho (ACJC #5) broke through to score the first try, putting ACJC 5–0 up. PJC were looking for a try but failed to go past ACJC’s defence time and time again. At one point, Muhamed Feroz (PJC #6) was clear from the crowd to score one, but Tan Wei Hao (ACJC #14) eventually caught up and tackled him just in time. ACJC led 5–0 going into the halftime break.
At the start of the second half, Lee Keng Siang (ACJC #19) received a yellow card for a high tackle and was temporarily suspended from play. ACJC however, managed to keep their heads in the game and maintained their high possession rate. Midway through the game, ACJC were awarded a penalty and Muhammad Anees (ACJC #15) successfully converted to make it 8–0. Soon after, Benjamin Ong (ACJC #13) successfully grounded the ball to score the second try for his team. Anees (ACJC #15) followed up with a conversion to make it a 15–0 lead.
A good run by Alaistair Wong (ACJC #11) saw him break three consecutive tackles by PJC, before swinging the ball sideways to his teammate Keng Siang (ACJC #19). From there, ACJC changed their direction of play to find Tan Wei Hao (ACJC #14). He determinedly barged through a wall of PJC defenders to score the third try (20–0).
With 10 minutes remaining in regulation time, Ng Sin Kee (PJC #8) went on several good runs but failed to find a breakthrough as he was consistently brought down by ACJC.
Alaistair (ACJC #11) paced ACJC offensively with good plays throughout the game. He scored the fourth try for the team when teammate Wei Hao (ACJC #14) found him with the ball for the final try of the game.
ACJC captain, Anees (#15), said, “To be honest, it was a tough match. We came into the game, just wanting to do simple stuff, get our basics right, and to score as many tries as possible. The first half was bad, but in the second half we managed to play better. Happy that we managed to defend the title, but disappointed that we didn’t get into the top four.”
PJC captain, Kheng Hian (#10), said, “I think today we tried our best. We really did. We played with everything we have. It’s the last 60 minutes of rugby for most of us here, and I think we left all our rugby game out there. We tried our best to shut them out in the first half, but I guess the experience got the better of us in the second half. I still think my team played well.”
This is PJC’s last batch of rugby under their teacher-in-charge, Mr Kwok.
When asked about his final game with the boys, Mr Kwok said, “I wasn’t looking forward to the finals, because after this I will not be coaching them anymore. I think the boys played the best game that they’ve played since I started coaching them. They all started out without any rugby background, and over eight months, to be able to put up a fight like that, I’m very proud of them. That’s all I can ask for as a coach. Last year we did not qualify for the plate competition at all. We were knocked out in the group stages. So this year it’s an achievement for the boys, to be able to make it to the final.”
Scoring by Period
ACJC vs PJC
1st half: 5–0
2nd half: 20–0 (25–0)
Final score: 25–0
Try Scorers
ACJC
Jerone Ho (#5) – 1 try
Benjamin Ong (#13) – 1 try
Tan Wei Hao (#14) – 1 try
Alaistair Wong (#11) – 1 try
Anglo-Chinese Junior College Roster
Kamen Tang Mun Hei (#1), Rifdi Abqary B Mohd Farhan (#2), Chandraraj Mogana (#3), Cheah Tze-Sheng Darren (#4), Jerone Ho Zhi Zhong (#5), Hu Yi Liang Joseph (#6), Ilham B Jamal (#8), Putra Mohammad Danish B Mohd R (#9), Jaren Heng (#10), Alaistair Wong Choong Shin (#11), Toshikazu (#12), Benjamin Ong Ming Yi (#13), Tan Wei Hao (#14), Muhammad Anees B Ameenuthin (#15), Shawn Ng Hong Ming (#16), Douglas Wei Jing AllWood (#17), Wang Wei En Jerry (#18), Lee Keng Siang (#19), Beng Zhe Wee Brandon Nathanael (#20), Muhammad Aliff Karya Johari (#29), Khoo Li Jie Nicholas, Wee Hong Lin
Pioneer Junior College Roster
Mohamad Hafiz (#1), Ang Guo Feng Stevan (#2), Ritchie Seow Kok Siong (#3), Derick Jayaputra Jarabejo (#4), Ang Zhao Wei (#5), Muhamed Feroz (#6), Daniel Chia Ji Cheng (#7), Ng Sin Kee (#8), Mohammad Ikhsan (#9), Ang Keng Hian (#10), Low Zi Hao (#11), Chew Zhi Yuan (#12), Aaron Tan Jian Min (#13), Irving Chin Chuan Park (#14), Nicholas Aw Jun Yeow (#15), Jacob Jian Feng Jarabejo (#17), Mohammad Irfan (#18), Chua Wei Hern (#19), Mughican S/O Thanabalan (#20), Ng Mai Feng (#21), Do Manh Hoang (#23), Kim Byung Jun (#24), Lim Cheng Chang (#25), Seow Zhi Chao (#26)
National A Division Boys Rugby Championship — Fixtures and Results
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