Story by Iman Hashim/Red Sports. Photos by Jerald Ang/Red Sports.

RI-VS-HOCKEY-BDIV-BOYS-5

Alton Chua (#6) of RI tries stealing the ball from a Victorian player. (Photo 1 © Jerald Ang/Red Sports)

Sengkang Hockey Stadium, Wednesday, March 2, 2016 — Defending champions Raffles Institution (RI) brushed aside Victoria School (VS) 4–0 to record an opening victory in the second round of the National B Division Hockey Championship.

The win ensures RI maintain their 100% win record in the competition so far. For VS, this was their first loss after recording a 3–0 win-loss record from the preliminary round.

RI dominated proceedings from the start of the game. It was apparent that RI had a good number of highly skilful players, which included Zhykry Zulkiflee (#9) and Alton Chua (#6), who took turns to showcase their deft stickwork while dribbling through the VS defence time after time.

As a result, VS were forced to play a defensive game, as they were pegged back in their own half for much of the game. Having said that, there were instances where VS took the opportunity to launch counter attacks but unfortunately could not find the elusive goal.

Such was RI’s dominance that a scoreline of at least 10–0 would have been plausible, but ultimately VS’s dogged defending and a series of spurned RI chances kept the scoreline modest. In fact, RI failed to score from open play in the entire game – all four of their goals were via penalty corners.

RI broke the deadlock on the halfway point in the first half, through a beautifully worked penalty corner. Once the ball was squared to the edge of the D, a flurry of quick passes from player to player inside the D deceived the VS defence before Caleb Ang (RI #8) swept the ball into the goal.

Just before half-time, RI doubled the lead. Via another penalty corner from Muhamad Raziq (#17), Caleb Ang (#8) laid the ball for Zhykry Zulkiflee (#9) to sweep it in.

RI’s third goal was scored seven minutes into the second half, as a scramble in the D after a penalty corner culminated in Muhamad Raziq (#17) tapping the ball in.

The icing on the cake came five minutes before full-time. From yet another RI penalty corner, this time, Muhammad Aqil (#5) laid it off for Akash Prebhash Chandra (#10) to drive it in from just inside the D.

Despite the respectable scoreline, RI’s coaches and teachers-in-charge did not seem too pleased after the match, understandably so because of the many instances where the players fluffed their lines right in front of goal.

RI’s title defence continues with an encounter against Woodlands Ring Secondary next, who lost to St. Joseph’s Institution (SJI) 0–4 in the other group game. Another win for RI would seal their progress into the semi-finals.

For VS, they next meet SJI and have to win to stand any chance of qualifying for the semi-finals.

Both matches will be played on Monday, March 21 at the Physical and Sports Education Branch (PESEB).

Scoring By Half
RI vs VS
1st Half: 2–0
2nd Half: 2–0 (4–0)

Scorers
RI
Caleb Ang (#8) — 1 goal
Zhykry Zulkiflee (#9) — 1 goal
Muhamad Raziq B Mohd Noor (#17) — 1 goal
Akash Prebhash Chandra (#10) — 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)

VS Roster
Muhammad Zameer (#7), Samuel Wong (#8), Mirza Nabil (#1), Luqman Hakim (#9), Harits B Izhar (#6), Mu’az B Kassim (#11), Jonathan Koh (#4), Tay Zhi Wen (#5), Ryan Ho (#18), Lee Seungsoo (#10), Kevin K Saji (#13), Ahmad Annas Adham (#14), Irvine Lim (#12), Kavanoor J Tejeswar (#20), Isaac Ho (#3), Manimaran Pradeep (#15), Amir Hamzah (#2), Md Hazim B Jasmani (#19), Leshawn Lim (#17), James Ainsley Rodrigues (#16)

More photos next page