“We’re coming for ACS(I)!” Saints make statement with win over ACS(BR) in B Division rugby

Story by REDintern Gladys Wee

St Andrews Village, Thursday, March 25, 2010 – St Andrew’s Secondary were in full control as they handed Anglo-Chinese School (Barker Road) a 73-3 defeat in the B Division Rugby Championship.

The Saints got their scoring going quickly with Jonathan Loo (#34) scoring the first try within four minutes of the start. Naresh (#15) stepped up with a successful conversion to make it 7-0.

That score did not remain unchanged long. Khor Jia Jun (#17) brought the ball up from the try line and was stopped at the midway line. His teammates had his back and the forwards shoved their way through and gained a free kick, which led to a line-out. A scrum later, Jia Jun scored another try for his team. Naresh had another successful conversion to make it 14-0 for the Saints.

A Jeremiah Png punt set up an ACS (BR) lineout. Though the Barker boys retained possession through Takashi (#19), he was tackled by Jia Jun, which led to a scrum. Naresh pounced on an opportunity off the breakdown to score a try. Another good conversion made it a 21-0 lead in favour of the Saints.

ACS (BR) then had an excellent opportunity to score with a line-out extremely close to the Saints try line. However, the Saints got out of that sticky situation and turned it into a try with a successful conversion for a 28-0 lead.

ACS (BR) were by this time barely touching the ball as the Saints were putting pressure on them. Jia Jun and Benedict (Saints #2) combined to set up teammate Lester (#8) to score another try. Naresh converted yet again to bring the scoreline to 35-0.

Three minutes later, the Saints were up another five points again through the joint efforts of Bryan Chong (#4), Jia Jun and Benedict. A sixth successful conversion by Naresh gave the Saints a commanding 42-0 lead at half-time .

Though ACS (BR) attempted to fight back, Saints did not allow that to happen and a scrum decided the end of the first half, with the score at 42-0.

The Saints delivered more of the same in the second half. Good teamwork saw them quickly score another try and conversion to make it 49-0.

To make matters worse for ACS (BR), a bad tackle forced Jeremiah out of the game with a knee injury. Meanwhile, the Saints’ #12 stole the ball and passed it to Rauf who set up Jonathan to score. With yet another successful conversion, the Saints now had a huge 56-0 lead.

Darryl Chua (#13) came in to replace the injured Jeremiah but though the ACS (BR) supporters cheered them on, the Saints’ Jonathan destroyed their dreams and pocketed another five points for his team. His teammate Zongyu (#11) followed up with another try and the score was now an morale-boosting 66-0 for the Saints.

ACS (BR) then saw their captain Wesley Foong (#10) succumb to an injury after he was taken down. The Barker boys gave a spirited response and managed to get close enough to make a penalty attempt by Howard Chan (#11) count.

That, however, would prove to be the only points for ACS (BR) as the Saints scored another try through Jonathan and walked off 73-3 winners.

Said Ms Alice Wang, teacher-in-charge of rugby for ACS (BR): “We had expectations of our players, and we would have liked them to win. However, the circumstances were against us."

After beating ACS (International) 73-3 in a first round game and this latest defeat of another ACS team, the Saints are looking ahead to the big match – against ACS (Independent).

Said captain Jonathan Loo: "We are also sending a strong message to ACS. We have taken down International, Barker, and we're coming for Independent."

Ed’s note: If you recognise the players in the photos, please let us know and we’ll update the captions. Thanks.

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