SJI defeat ACS(BR) in B Division rugby second round

Story by REDintern Gladys Wee. Photos by Vanessa Lim/Red Sports

St Joseph’s Institution, Monday, March 22, 2010 – After a long wait for the rain and lightning to pass – and for the referee to turn up too – St. Joseph’s Institution finally got to take to the pitch to hand Anglo-Chinese School (Barker Road) a 13-5 defeat.

Determined to prove that they deserve a place in the 2nd Round, SJI won a line out that led to their first try and a 5-0 lead. Benjamin Broughton (SJI #10) did not make the conversion.

SJI showed great teamwork for their second try. Douglas (SJI #8) and Joshua (SJI #9) cleared the area for Wira (SJI #12) who made it to about 7m from the try line before he was tackled. Wira placed the ball out and Joavan Pereira, in his attempt to pick up the ball, knocked it forward.

In the resulting ACS(BR) scrum, SJI won the ball and Douglas (SJI #8) passed it out off the back of the scrum to teammate Umar Mohd Noor who went over for a try on the blind side to extend their lead to 10-0. However, Benjamin once again did not make the conversion.

ACS(BR) spent the remaining 10 minutes of the first half attempting to score a try but half-time came to put a halt to their efforts, leaving the ACS players looking a little disheartened.

In the second half, with a patience that their coach had talked about in previous matches, David Lau and Jeremy Chua (ACS(BR) #25) created an opportunity for their backs to score. However, they were stopped just three steps away from the try line.

Losing all the lineouts up til then, ACS(BR) finally managed to gain possession from one lineout. Jeremy Chua passed it to Wesley Foong who linked up nicely with Darryl Chua (ACS(BR) #13). Darryl then made a beautiful pass to Mitchell (ACS(BR) #14) who went over for his team’s first try in the game. Howard (ACS(BR) #11) stepped up to take the conversion but missed.

Any hopes of an ACS(BR) comeback were lost when a bad tackle gifted SJI a penalty. SJI did not look back and put another three points on the board for a 13-5 lead.

ACS(BR) continued fighting, with the three-man gang of Mitchell, Darryl and Wesley leading the charge. However, a slip-shod pass destroyed a good attacking chance. Not wanting to lose, Wesley tackled almost everyone who was in possession of the ball even though he played as a back.

A pass from Maurice to Howard gave the latter a chance at a try but he was stopped cold by the SJI defense. SJI then had a last minute attempt at another try but were stopped as well.

"ACS Barker gave us a good fight. We have a lot of respect for them. We would love to play against them again if given the chance,” said Toh Kiat Sheng, the captain of SJI.

Wesley Foong, captain of ACS(BR), also had praise for SJI, saying that they deserved to win due to their game play.

Added his ACS(BR) teammate Darryl Chua: "They (SJI) played well and they did their best, but I am sure that Barker will train hard and beat them in the next round, and subsequently next year as well."

N.B. If you know the names of the players mentioned in the story or featured in the photos, please let us know in the comments section and we’ll update the post. Thanks.

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