Story by Ryan Lim/Red Sports. Photos by Chua Kai Yun/Red Sports.

Players from Saint Andrew's Junior College celebrates after Damian Ong (SAJC #10, middle) completes a hat-trick. (Photo © Chua Kai Yun/Red Sports)

SAJC celebrate after Damian Ong (SAJC #10, middle) completes a hat-trick. (Photo 1 © Chua Kai Yun/Red Sports)

St Andrew’s Junior College, Friday, April 8, 2016 — St Andrew’s Junior College (SAJC) bounced back from their previous defeat with a 5-0 hammering of Pioneer Junior College (PJC) in the National A Division Football Championship.

After suffering a 4-1 loss to rivals Anglo-Chinese Junior College two days ago, SAJC responded with a formidable performance against PJC. SAJC rounded off their group stage journey with four clean sheets and scoring an average of four goals per match.

The 5-0 victory was insufficient for SAJC to overtake ACJC at the top of the group, but it secured qualification for the second round of the championship. PJC ended their campaign with two draws and three defeats.

Damian Ong (SAJC #10) stood out with a hat-trick. And despite conceding five goals, the PJC goalkeeper delivered a creditable performance, making several crucial saves.

It was almost a dream start for SAJC when Damian Ong (SAJC #10) put the ball into the back of the net following a corner kick. However the goal was ruled offside and the hunt for the game’s first goal continued.

SAJC dominated proceedings with a swift passing game. However, more often than not, they struggled to get past PJC’s tight defence. The PJC goalkeeper showed bravery when he deflected the ball away in a one-on-one confrontation with an SAJC forward.

The PJC goalkeeper went on to make a string of impressive saves. It began with him parrying away a swerving drive from Jonathan Lee (SAJC #16). Minutes later, he produced an unbelievable reaction save, putting his fingertips to an SAJC close-ranged effort. He saved the rebounded shot with his right foot to the frustration of SAJC.

SAJC left-back Kevin Peh (SAJC #7) broke the deadlock when he got onto the end of a corner kick to power a header into the top right corner of the goal.

SAJC almost added another goal on the stroke of half time when captain Jonathan Lee (SAJC #16) made a skillful sharp turn before unselfishly rolling a pass across the penalty area. However, Damian Ong (SAJC #10) rushed his effort and missed the target.

Minutes after the restart, Jonathan Lee (SAJC #16) latched onto a delicate pass from his teammate, dragging it into a better angle and unleashing a sweet strike into the goal, leaving the goalkeeper rooted to the ground for a 2-0 lead.

Jonathan Lee (SAJC #16) had another effort at goal from the right wing, but the keeper palmed it away, keeping PJC in the contest.

Damian Ong (SAJC #10) then deceived his opponent with a shift of his shoulders, and took a deflected shot that bounced into the goal. SAJC led 3-0 as PJC’s defence began to gave way.

Damian Ong (SAJC #10) scored a quick-fire double when he received a short pass with a cushioned first touch, steadied himself and finished the move with a grounded strike into the bottom left corner.

PJC then had a chance when their captain Venugopal Bhargav (#10) skipped past his markers with quick feet and skill, only to see his eventual shot blocked out.

Damian Ong (SAJC #10) took over captaincy from the substituted Jonathan Lee (SAJC #16), and completed his hat-trick with a curler into the top corner. The quintet of goals from SAJC ensured that PJC had no way back into the game.

There was almost a sixth goal when Kevin Peh (SAJC #7) smashed a left-footed shot onto the crossbar. The left back was a class act, often doubling as a left winger, and constantly making marauding runs.

The SAJC captain Jonathan Lee (SAJC #16) commented after the game, “The game was good, both sides played fair football and I believe my team enjoyed the game as much as I did.”

When quizzed on future goals, he added, “To work as hard as possible and get as far as we can go.”

Score by Half
SAJC vs PJC
1st Half: 1-0
2nd Half: 4-0
Full-time: 5-0

Scorers
SAJC
Damian Ong (#10) – 3 goals
Jonathan Lee (#16) – 1 goal
Kevin Peh (#7) – 1 goal

SAJC Roster
Heng Jiu Xiao (#1), Fabio Camagni (#2), Akaash Panday (#3), Sansar Budha (#4), Ameer Khalid (#5), David Goh (#6), Kevin Peh (#7), Fazlur Rahman (#8), Charlton Tan (#9), Damian Ong (#10), Bryan Kow (#11), Chua Chen Wei (#13), Shurvir Singh (#14), Sean Lee (#15), Jonathan Lee (#16), Drew Joseph (#18), Elgin Fong (#20), Tan Kian Yong (#22), Luke Ang (#23), Raymond Handoko (#25)

PJC Roster
Derek Wee (#1), Webster Lee (#2), Jonathan Chin (#3), Hamid Chavez (#4), Mitchell Lim (#5), Ho Junyang (#6), Ryan Danial (#7), Tan Andez (#8), Ng Jin Chun (#9), Venugopal Bhargav (#10), Ang Weiyang (#11), Charan Kumar Velu (#12), Eugene Lee Wei Jun (#13), Pek Yu Chin (#14), Shawn Seah Wei Kiat (#15), Muhammad Firdaus (#16), Peh Cheng Hwee (#17), Ng Shang Yu (#18), Aaron Liu (#19), Sean Ang (#20)

National A Division Football Championship – fixtures and results

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