After some early nerves, Catholic High's Ryan Cheng opened the scoring for his team with a speculative shot into goal from half court. Darrell Er scored the next and the third goal was from a pass by Darrell to the blind side of the keeper which Crenshawn finished. It was 3-0 and the Victoria supporters were rather subdued.

However, Victoria School came back strongly in the second period and got the break they needed when Catholic High's forward Crenshawn Lim was sent to the official's bench for a foul. Patiently exploiting their one-man advantage, the Victoria players passed the ball around before finding a breakthrough through Matthew Yong (#47) who scored through a reverse flick.

Leading 3-1, Catholic High suffered another nervy moment in the second period when forward Ryan Cheng was sent to the sin bin for another foul. Victoria's Hamizan Ismail (#28) thought that he had scored a crucial second goal in the ensuing power play but his teammate was whistled for pushing, much to the dismay of the Victorian supporters.

Having survived the one-man disadvantage without conceding a goal, Catholic High dealt Victoria a psychological blow with a goal almost immediately after they were back at full strength. Ryan Cheng scored his second and his team's fourth goal with a long-range flick to ensure that Catholic High led 4-1 at the end of the second period.

Again, Victoria came storming back as they embarked on a furious comeback effort in the final period. They were duly rewarded with a goal when Hamizan Ismail (Victoria #28) capitalised on some sloppy Catholic High defending to flick his shot past the Catholic High goalkeeper. Victoria now trailed by two at 2-4 and the game was still alive as a contest.

Catholic High responded immediately by sending their first line back into the match. The move paid off with Crenshawn Lim driving down the left flank, moving across the face of goal and scoring to maintain a more comfortable three-goal cushion at 5-2.

But Victoria would not go down without a fight. Yet another piece of individual magic by Riku Alatalo hauled Victoria back into contention. Gaining possession of the ball at the sideline, he dribbled past the Catholic High defenders, swept behind the goal and scored from the other side past the Catholic High goalkeeper Eugene Lee.

The Catholic High lead was now back down to two at 5-3 and the outcome of the final was still uncertain.

Riku Alatalo, an international student from Finland, continued to inspire his Victorian teammates with successful forays into the Catholic High goal area. This time though he was thwarted by Eugene Lee, Catholic High's goalkeeper, who was outstanding in front of his goal.

With 6:50 remaining, Catholic High then got a one-man advantage when a Victoria player was sin-binned. Taking advantage of their superior numbers, Catholic High came close but hit the bar with an effort. In an instant, Victoria were back on the attack and, despite being a man down, nearly scored.

With 4:09 left and the score still 5-3 in Catholic High's favour, Victoria called a timeout. However, when play resumed it was Catholic High who got another goal with 2:15 left. Joshua Lee scored from an astute Crenshawn Lim pass to restore a three-goal lead at 6-3.

Victoria then had a final one-on-one opportunity with 1:34 to go but missed, and that was their final chance to score as the clock ticked down to zero.

Catholic High teacher and coach Bernard Han credited his team's discipline for the win.
"We knew that Victoria had strength in depth where all their three lines can play. The key was that our team played according to instructions by defending well and taking long shots against Victoria," he said.

"I think what worked well was that we were the cooler team and VS made more defensive mistakes which CHS capitalised on to score the goals. We also managed to be calm and play our normal game," said Joshua Lee of Catholic High.

"I think we had a good day with our passing and play ups. We managed to pass the ball around pretty well but one bad thing was that we could not control the play," said Crenshawn Lim who had two goals for Catholic High. "We won because we had more hunger, I feel. We passed the ball well ... and took our chances well."

For Catholic High captain Darrell Er, his goalkeeper Eugene Lee was the difference in the game.

"I personally feel that we were quite lucky today to be able to pull off this win against Victoria School today as VS players came close on many attempts but our keeper, Eugene Lee, did great to deny them of goals which could have changed the entire game," said Darrell.

"Even though we are not powerhouses such as Bukit Merah, VS and Northland, with some luck and much hard work, we are very glad to be able to claim the championship. "Much thanks to our coach Mr Bernard Han for guiding us to our first championship and CHS B div will like to thank the crowd that cheered us on throughout the match," added Darrell.

Match Statistics
Catholic High vs Victoria School
1st Period: 3-0
2nd Period: 1-1 (4-1)
3rd Period: 2-2
Final Score: 6-3

Goal Scorers
Catholic High: Ryan Cheng - 2; Crenshawn Lim - 2; Joshua Lee - 1; Darrell Er - 1
Victoria School: Riku Alatalo - 1; Hamizan Ismail - 1; Matthew Yong - 1

Catholic High Lineup
Billy Chiam (#6), Ryan Cheng (#7), Samuel Yu (#12), Jarryl Chan (#13), Eugene Lee (goalie, #16), Darrell Er (capt, #21), Crenshawn Lim (#23), Derek Sng (#27), Joshua Lee (vice-capt, #90). Reserves: Eugene Gan (39), Nicholas Chee (#32), Si Sheng Yen (#38), Chew Yu Ren (#43), Jireh Tan (#48), Lai Jia Li (#74), Ow Jie Ying (#95)

Victoria School Lineup
Goal Keepers: Nasrulhaq, Ezra Taliv Mo
Line 1: Akmal Shaharudin (#12), Riku Alatalo (#83), Matthew Yong (#47), Hadi (#56)
Line 2: Hamizan Ismail (#28), Nicholas (#19), Yusuf (#26), Henri (#53)
Line 3: Simon Fang (#?), Muhd Adib (#27), Haziq (#3), Syahid (#66)

Crenshawn Lim (Catholic High #23, red) sees his shot hit the back of the Victoria School net to make it 5-2 in the final period. Crenshawn finished the game with two goals in the 6-3 win.

Victoria School's flying Finn Riku Alatalo tormented Catholic High with his silky skills and finished with one goal.

A chance falls to a Victoria player but his eventual shot is saved by Catholic High goalkeeper Eugene Lee.

The Catholic High bench breaks out in cheers at the final whistle.

The Victoria supporters also acknowledge their team.

This article was syndicated from Redsports. Story and photos © RedSports.