22-05-2025
Hugo Gauthier's extra-time winner helps SJI claim maiden A Div football title, beating Nanyang JC 2-1
After losing in the final against Victoria in 2024, SJI claimed their maiden A Div football title against Nanyang in 2025. ST PHOTO: BRIAN TEO
SINGAPORE – A session on how to bounce back from setbacks proved to be an ideal tonic for St Joseph's Institution (SJI) ahead of the National School Games A Division boys' football final on May 22.
With their 2-1 loss to Victoria Junior College (VJC) in the 2024 final still fresh in the memory, they wanted to be mentally well prepared in the title-decider against Nanyang Junior College at Jalan Besar Stadium.
SJI, who took the lead through midfielder Darius Lim in the 18th minute, were pegged back just six minutes later as Nanyang equalised through winger Atheeq Mahbub and took the game to extra time.
But if they panicked, they did not show it as SJI kept their nerves to win 2-1, with centre-back Hugo Gauthier scoring the winner with six minutes left in extra time to lift their first title.
SJI's football co-teacher-in-charge Syaifudin Ahmad admitted that the 2024 final loss was 'always at the back of the mind'.
He said: 'It was a wonderful end to what was a very long and arduous National School Games season.
'Most importantly, the boys bounced back from last year's final loss… Today's game, we really had to fight very hard. It went all the way to extra time. At the end of the day, it's how much they wanted to win. And thankfully, the outcome was in our favour.'
Hugo, 18, whose father is French and mother Singaporean, said: 'Last year was very disappointing, especially because we had such good momentum. (In extra time) I knew that we had to do something to score, otherwise it would have gone to penalties. And when the ball came to me, it was at the perfect height, I snuck behind the defender and headed the ball in.
'My mind went blank and I couldn't believe my eyes, but I couldn't contain my excitement and I had so much energy that I just decided to take my shirt off.
'It definitely is a full circle and I think we owe it to everyone.'
St. Joseph Institution's Darius Lim, who had also scored in the 2024 final, opened the scoring against Nanyang JC in the 2025 final.
ST PHOTO: BRIAN TEO
Applying early pressure, SJI set up camp in the Nanyang half for the opening 15 minutes.
And it paid off in the 18th minute after a long ball from Hugo resulted in a mistake from Nanyang defender Dwayne Goh, allowing Darius to fire past goalkeeper Khrist Chua.
But Nanyang responded just six minutes later, against the run of play. A cross from right-back Ang Kiat Han caused a mix-up inside the box and Brandon Ng's shot fell into the path of Atheeq, who slotted the ball into the bottom corner.
SJI nearly restored their lead four minutes later when Lim Kai Sheun found himself in acres of space in the Nanyang box. But the midfielder skewed his shot wide with only Khrist to beat.
Several crucial saves from Khrist after the restart kept the scores level as neither could find a breakthrough.
The Nanyang players looked spent as the game wore on, with several players collapsing due to cramp. With six minutes to go in extra time, Hugo delivered the sucker punch, rising highest at the back post to head home captain Kieran Tan's corner, sending the SJI supporters into raptures.
Hugo Gauthier (right) celebrating with vice-captain Soong Jan Tze, after scoring the winning goal in the National School Games A Division boys' football final against Nanyang Junior College.
ST PHOTO: BRIAN TEO
Kieran, who has two appearances for BG Tampines Rovers in the Singapore Premier League this season, said: 'When they equalised, to be honest, I was a bit stressed, because they had all the momentum, and I thought we may have lost the final (again).'
Nanyang teacher-in-charge Geoffrey Swee praised Kieran's 'well-taken corner', adding: 'There was a lot of talk before the game that we are the underdogs. What we really want was for both teams to play their best, so that they can push each other to reach their maximum potential. Unfortunately, maybe towards the end, there was a bit of loss in concentration and a well-taken corner by the opponents, and that's how we lost.'
Nanyang captain Darius Khoo, 17, shared his sentiments, adding: 'We came into the game as everyone said, as underdogs, but today we showed why we deserve to be here.
'Some people had doubted us, but we fought to the end and I couldn't be more proud of how the team played today.'
Meanwhile, VJC overcame Raffles Institution 1-0 to claim third spot at the Jurong East Stadium on May 20.
Melvyn Teoh is a sports journalist at The Straits Times.
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