By Arvin Kumar, Bryan Goh, Daniel Surya, and John Quek

Seng Kang Stadium, Thursday, August 4, 2011 — The unbeaten St Andrew’s Secondary (SAS) beat St Hilda’s Secondary (SHS) 1-0 in the semi-finals of the National C Division Hockey Championship.

St Andrew’s will now meet Seng Kang Secondary in the final. Seng Kang beat Northland Secondary 4-0 in the other semi-final.

St Andrew’s had most of the possession, putting St Hilda’s on the defensive for most of the match.

After 20 minutes without goals, a St Hilda’s counterattack opened up an excellent opportunity but their shot went wide.

For the rest of the first half the game bounced back and forth with both sides launching attacks when the chance arose, but to no avail. The half-time score was 0-0.

After the break, both sides came back ravenous for a goal. At the 58th minute, Saints won a short corner. The SAS centre forward passed the ball to his captain Faizal and, with the supporters spurring him on, he sliced the ball into the bottom left corner of the goal.

To everyone’s surprise, two minutes after the goal, Faizal was given a yellow card for dangerously raising his hockey stick too high. Despite this setback, Saints were still able to hold on to that goal to emerge victorious.

The Saints coach said: “They played hard however they still lack discipline. I expect a tough fight in the finals!”

The final is scheduled for next Friday, August 12, at Sengkang Stadium. Game time is 4.30pm.

National C Division Hockey Championship — full fixtures and results