The 2008 C Division season for Montfort Rugby kicked off on 26th June 2008 with a convincing win over Jurong Secondary School. It was a good win for our Montfort C Div boys as well as debut win for new coach Chris Dyson.
The Jurong match saw the emergence of a bunch of Sec 2 rugby players who razzle-dazzled in the back-line (Nabil, Mukhlis, Ariel, Danial and Calvin). The forward pack was also well-led by Joel.
Then came the first real test for this emerging Montfortian team when they met the well-drilled St. Andrew's Secondary rugby juggernaut. It was a match to forget as the Saints smashed the Montfort team 80-0. But it was a performance that was not a disgrace as Saints are a well-oiled rugby machine with great players well-coached and well-led by passionate teachers-in-charge. Saints is the benchmark for all rugby playing schools in Singapore.
After the debacle at Saints, our Montfortian C Div team bounced back with a 67-8 win over Greendale Secondary at Greendale. It was a match that saw the total annihilation of Greendale.
The Greendale win was followed with another big win over Admiralty Secondary at CCAB on 11th July.
So at the end of the first round of the National Schools C Division tournament, Montfort was second in their group, thus qualifying for the 2nd Round.
At the 2nd Round draw held at Saints on 14th July, Mr Jasbir Singh and Mr Chris Dyson attended the meeting with bated breath. The 2nd Round Draw was not kind to Montfort. We were placed in the same group as ACS (Barker); Raffles Institution and up-coming rugby powerhouse Bedok Town.
We lost all our three matches in the 2nd Round - (0-19 vs ACS Barker); (7-37 vs Bedok Town) and (0-58). Somewhere along the way, the Montfort boys were overwhelmed by these rugby powerhouses. For example Bedok Town are coached by Mr Kelvin Lee, the ex-Montfort Rugby Coach. According to Mr Singh: "Coach Kelvin is a coach whom I tremendous respect for as he has always been able to bring the best out of any team that he coaches. The fact that his Bedok Town team qualified for the Cup Sem-Finals is a testimony to his coaching. The day he left Montfort was the saddest day in my life. I hope I can re-kindle my partnership in the near future. I have known him for six years and he has been a credit to rugby."
After finishing bottom of our 2nd Round Group, we were given a reprieve in the Plate Section of the Competition. We met Damai Secondary in the Plate Quarter-Finals on 1st August. Sadly we lost 17-0 to a well-drilled Damai side coached by Mr Adin Ng. Said Montfort teacher-in-charge Jasbir Singh: "It was a bitter blow to lose to Adin's team. But the better team won. We have to respect Adin's ability in moulding teams that are underdogs into champions. I had worked with Adin whilst I was Rugby Teacher-In-Charge at Junyuan Secondary when we were National B Division Novice Champions. Adin is a no-nonsense coach that is winner. Good luck Adin for your Plate Semi-Finals."
Overall, it has been a campaign that had some highs and lows for our Montfortian C Division. We were on a roll in the first round of the competition but lost our way in the latter stages of the competition.
Mr Jasbir Singh will be conducting a post-season review with the C Division team on Monday 4th August.
The road to victory for the 2009 season starts NOW!
