By Lim Yong Teck/Red Sports
St. Andrew’s outside centre Viviyan Philip (#13) sprints ahead of the pack for the seventh try of the game. (Photo 1 © Lim Yong Teck/Red Sports)
PESEB, Thursday, March 5, 2015 — Through a strong second-half effort, defending champions St. Andrew’s Secondary (Saints) maintained their undefeated streak with a 55–5 trouncing of St. Joseph’s Institution (SJI) in Round 1 of the National B Division Rugby Championship.
This is the Saints’ third straight win, including a 15–10 comeback win over closest rivals Anglo-Chinese School (Independent) in their previous game.
Right from kick-off, the defending champions established their authority as Syed Abdilla Husaini (#11) and Philip (#13) combined for a 50-yard sprint that resulted in their first try. Philip (#13) converted to give the Saints a 7–0 lead within the first minute of the game.
SJI could not overrun St. Andrew’s defence and resorted to clearing the ball for line-outs in the latter’s half, which were to no avail.
St. Andrew’s, however, found success with the strategy, and it led to two successful tries by fly-half Jared Lim (#10) and openside flanker Ng Bao Yuan (#7).
Late in the half, a momentary defensive lapse on the left flank by the Saints allowed SJI to break through for a try, reducing the deficit to 14 points.
In the second half, after a scrum near SJI’s try line, the St. Andrew’s forward pack managed to clear a path for a Ghalib Samir (#4) try. SJI stood no chance as the Saints held their ground, stopping any SJI drive attempts. Samir’s (#4) try sparked a 36–0 run, capped off by an impressive 60-yard sprint by full-back Timothy Pan (#15).
“We have been gradually improving after every game and I’m glad to see the team growing,” said Philip (#4). “However, as usual, there’s always room for improvement, so our focus now would be to finish the group stages, and on to the semi-final and eventually the final.”
The Saints’ captain added, “We’re just playing it simple, and we’ll focus on one game at a time.”
St. Andrew’s will next play Pioneer Secondary at 4.30 p.m. on Monday, March 23, while SJI will face ACS(I) at 4.30 p.m. on Tuesday, March 10. Both games will be played at PESEB.
Score by Half
St. Andrew’s vs SJI
1st half: 19–5
2nd half: 36–0 (55–5)
Scorers
St. Joseph’s Institution
(#1) – 1 try
St. Andrew’s Secondary
Viviyan Philip (#13) – 2 tries and 4 conversions
Timothy Pan Yuanquan (#15) – 1 try and 1 conversion
Ghalib Samir B Samari (#4) – 1 try
Ng Bao Yuan (#7) – 1 try
Jared Kowen Lim Jean Long (#10) – 1 try
Deren Pal Singh Bessi (#17) – 1 try
Tan Guo Chuan Benjamin (#21) – 1 try
Lee Tat Shing, Samuel (#27) – 1 try
St. Joseph’s Institution Roster
We were unable to obtain the roster for St. Joseph’s Institution. If you know any of the players, kindly leave a comment and we’ll update the post.
St. Andrew’s Roster
Chem Shean Han, Gareth (#1), Isaac Magnus @ Imran Magnus (#2), Mirza Ukail Aiman B Mohamed S (#3), Ghalib Samir B Samari (#4), Wong Zhi An Nicholas (#5), Muhammad Qushyrie B Mahmud (#6), Ng Bao Yuan (#7), Teh Wei Hao, Bernard (#8), Bryan Chan Wei Quan (#9), Jared Kowen Lim Jean Long (#10), Syed Abdilla Husaini B Hussien (#11), Mohamed Ramadan Misti (#12), Viviyan Philip (#13), Savas Sornchaitanasuk (#14), Timothy Pan Yuanquan (#15), Chan Chue Chun (#16), Deren Pal Singh Bessi (#17), Jelinek Dylan Kirk (#18), Bryan Liau Guo Dong (#19), Jerome Loh Kai Jun (#20), Tan Guo Chuan Benjamin (#21), Chen Baole Emanuel (#22), Sean Er Zhong Xuan (#23), Azreel Dini B Mohammad N M (#24), Sim Yong Zheng (#25), Ahmad Zafran B Mohamad Zainal (#26), Lee Tat Shing, Samuel (#27), Muhammad Zahran B Mohamad Z (#28)
National B Division Rugby Championship — fixtures and results
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