SINGAPORE -With just seconds left on the clock, Sherman Lim emerged the hero for St Andrew's Secondary School after his crucial try sealed a dramatic win over arch-rivals Anglo-Chinese School (Independent) and clinched the Singapore Schools Sevens Series Under-14 title at the National Stadium on Sunday (April 14).

The match was part of the line-up of activities at the HSBC Singapore Rugby Sevens tournament.

Sherman's try tied the score at 17-17 right at the death and, according to tournament rules in the case of a tie, St Andrew's were awarded two more points for scoring the first try of the game, and that gave them a 19-17 win.

"I feel very happy that I scored that try because we worked very hard to win this," said Sherman, 14.

"All the training that we had came down to this and it was important for us to win this for the school."

The result helped St Andrew's avenge a heavy 31-0 loss to ACS (I) in the corresponding final last year.

St Andrew's prop Ian Lee,13, scored the first try in the second minute, and the try was converted as the Saints took a 7-0 lead.

ACS (I) mounted a comeback and led 10-7 by the end of the first half, before extending their lead to 17-12. But they were crestfallen as the final whistle as Sherman's late heroics sealed a dramatic win for the Saints.

Saints captain Tristan Ang, 14, said: "We felt like we really had to win this back after losing last year to show the coaches, the school and ACS (I) that we can win and that it's not always just a one-sided game."

ACS (I) head coach Adrian Chong hoped this loss would prove to be a good learning experience for his charges.

"It was a big occasion for most of the boys," said the 52-year-old.

"There were a lot of Secondary 1 students in (the team), it's their first experience playing in a stadium of this size and some of them were still trying to find their footing even at half-time.

"We had three good tries, but I thought we could have capitalised a bit better and we didn't defend as well as we should have."