Story by Iman Hashim/Red Sports. Photos by Jerald Ang/Red Sports.
Akash Prebhash Chandra (#10) of RI shoots. He scored a hat-trick in the game. (Photo 1 © Jerald Ang/Red Sports)
PESEB, Wednesday, March 30, 2016 — Raffles Institution (RI) bounced back from their semi-final defeat in style, overwhelming St. Joseph’s Institution (SJI) 5–0 to claim third place in the National B Division Boys Hockey Championship.
Defending champions RI had narrowly lost to Saint Andrew’s Secondary 0–1 in the semi-finals, via a golden goal in extra time. That remained their only loss in an otherwise decent campaign, finishing with a 7–1 win-loss record.
As for SJI, they also came close in the semi-finals, going down 1–4 to Seng Kang Secondary on penalties after the match had ended 1–1 after extra time. They end their season with a 4–4 win-loss record.
RI and SJI had also met earlier in Round 2, with RI edging the tie 1–0.
This time round, though, RI had all guns blazing, dominating SJI throughout most of the encounter. As early as the third minute, the floodgates opened with Akash Prebhash Chandra (RI #10) scoring via a penalty corner.
Five minutes later, Akash was involved again as RI doubled their lead. From another penalty corner, Akash (#10) drove the ball from just inside the D, with teammate Caleb Ang (#8) deflecting it into the top corner.
Nine minutes before half-time, Akash got his second goal of the game. Receiving the ball from outside the D, he dribbled past a few defenders before audaciously flicking it past the SJI goalkeeper.
RI continued to be relentless in attack in the second half, with many more opportunities to extend their lead but ultimately prevented by some last-ditch SJI defending. Akash (#10) completed his hat-trick 10 minutes in, powerfully driving the ball in from the right side of the D.
Akash then turned provider again for the icing on the cake just before full-time. In the last play of the game, a well-worked RI penalty corner culminated in Akash feigning a shot before laying it off nicely for Alton Chua (#6) to hit it into goal with only the goalkeeper to beat.
On his team’s display, hat-trick scorer Akash commented, “I think we bounced back well from Monday (in the semi-final). That was only Monday, and we were able to bounce back and win 5-0, so I’m very proud of the team. We weren’t expected to go far, but we managed to band together, played as a team today, and we did well.”
On finishing in third place in the competition, he added, “For sure we’re disappointed, but we can also be proud. Throughout the season, this was the best defense that we have put out, ever – like throughout the season we only conceded one goal, which was in the semi-final. So we actually had mini goals that we achieved; it’s just that we didn’t achieve our major goal which was to reach the final and win. But overall, we are proud of the team.”
The championship will come to a close on Thursday, March 31 at Seng Kang Hockey Stadium as Saint Andrew’s Secondary and Seng Kang Secondary battle it out for the title.
Scoring By Half
RI vs SJI
1st Half: 3–0
2nd Half: 2–0 (5–0)
Scorers
RI
Akash Prebhash Chandra (#10) — 3 goals
Caleb Ang (#8) — 1 goal
Alton Chua (#6) — 1 goal
RI Roster
Shawn Teo (#2), Darren Yan (#42), Darius Quek (#28), Rammdarshan S/O Ramesh (#19), Jirafe Aditya Vijay (#11), Zhou Kaiwen (#16), Caleb Ang (#8), K Parithimaal (#25), Akash Prebhash Chandra (#10), Md Aqil B Bakhtiar (#5), Zhykry Ibn Zulkiflee (#9), Tay Boon Kai (#50), Alton Chua (#6), Ethan Tan (#7), Irfan Ahmad-ul Qayyum (#1), Ahmad Muhaimin Bin Yunus (#41), Justin Lee (#15), Tony He Ziyu (#43), Joash Tan (#12), Muhamad Raziq B Mohd Noor (#17)
SJI Roster
So Kong Ho (#17), Zachary Gabriel Clunies Ross (#5), Harmeet Singh (#3), Andri Syahiran (#20), Domnick Jerom (#13), Aaron Jayadhitya Fernandez (#6), Isaiah Khoo (#8), Sai Krishana S/O Ananthan (#18), Rizk Dagfal (#12), Yang Yuan Feng (#15), Ramalingam Gouthaman (#9), M Danish B Md Azmi (#7), John Reginald Shutler (#11), Zikry Nasrullah (#4), Rodrigues Andre John (#10), Brenden Low (#1), M A Jasim Rasheed (#16), Thomas D Silva (#19), James Tan (#14), Nicholas Handianata (#2)
More photos next page
Leave A Comment