Take from them everything and give to them nothing!

CBRE Club 13 - Valley 6

Alright, it wasn't quite as bad as the battle of Thermopylae (no-one was killed, for example, although I feared Churchy was quite close to death at one point). But Club v Valley on Saturday was the rugby equivalent of hand-to-hand combat. If you wanted running rugby and flash moves, you were at the wrong game. If you wanted backs-to-the-wall defence, guts, grit and determination, you were in exactly the right place. The Club steamroller drives on, but Kowloon - and now Valley - have provided the blue and whites with their toughest tests so far. At the end of a game in which the margin between the two sides was never more than a converted try, Valley's players were inconsolable. The look of pride and, frankly, relief on the Club side's faces told you both how close this game had been and how much it meant to everyone involved.

Like Napoleon at Waterloo, Valley threw everything they had at the Club defense for what seemed an eternity (there were at least 10 minutes of injury time), but could never quite do enough to dislodge their stubborn opponents. But Club's tenacity in meeting the runners head-on, or in hauling them down in more desperate circumstances, was admirable. Valley threatened again and again, but never crossed the Club line - an achievement of which the home side should be justifiably proud. At the other end, a typically robust run from Richard Rouse - who had a commanding game in defence and attack - gave Club its only seven-pointer, to which Mike McKee added with a conversion and two penalties.

The pressure exerted by Valley allowed them to slot two penalties, and it also resulted in two yellow cards: one for loosehead Pete Spizziri for not rolling away and one to replacement backrower Shannon Ford for, well, retaliation. Valley's onslaught took a physical toll as well. An early ankle injury to number eight Rob Mills meant Rupert "Churchy" Clarke had to come on and play the best part of a second game that day, which was an impressive effort from the big man. Rory Hussey was another casualty of the trench warfare, departing the field with a dislocated patella (that's a b*ggered knee to you and me).

It is on victories such as this that championships are built, and Club will know they can take a good deal more heart from this than walks in the park against Causeway Bay (81-3) or even their win against an oddly lacklustre HKCC (22-0). Once again the victory was bult on a solid forward platform (the scrum only wobbled when reduced to seven men after Spizziri's yellow card, but was otherwise dominant), intelligent play by the backs (bolstered by the return of Nigel D'Acre) and truckloads of grit. As we move into the business end of the season, there is every reason to hope that Club can deliver on their great start this year.

Harps

CBRE Club v Crown Valley

6pm, Saturday 10 November, HKFC

1.Pete Spizzirri
2. Tom Cameron
3. Nigel Hobler
4. Laurence Denvir
5. Tim Griffin
6. Tim Edgar
7. Rory Hussey
8. Rob Mills
9. Peter McKee
10. James Kibble
11. Dan Parr
12. Richard Rouse (try)
13. Nigel D’Acre

14. Andrew Chambers
15. Mike McKee (AQ), (1 conv, 2 pens)

Replacements:

Adam Harper (used, sin-bin replacement)
Ben Stobart
Jared Smith (AQ), (used)
Rupert Clarke (used)
Shannon Ford (used, yellow card)
Adam Raby (AQ), (used)
Callum Nieto