From JP
Following a good second half demolition of Causeway Bay last week, Club came up a resurgent DEA whose tails were up following their victory over Aberdeen the previous week. Having already beaten DEA soundly in the pre-season Plate Knock-Out Final a few weeks previous, Club were quietly confident that they could repeat the feat up at King's Park on Saturday evening.
DEA started strongly and soon gained the upper hand, however. It was only due to a heroic tap tackle from Danny Parr on the right wing that saved us going down by a try five minutes into the game. The first half was one of the most frustrating 40 minutes of rugby the boys had probably ever played in, with a constant barrage of whistle-blowing from Hong Kong’s finest. Trying to be somewhat diplomatic, I must say I do not have the foggiest what on earth most of the penalties were for.
Naturally, "Left Hook" Rory Hussey was right in the mix and no doubt gave away a few penalties for being an Irish version of Michael Bolton. Tim Griffin stepped up in the heat of the battle and gave us an amusing display when taking on the four foot tall opposition scrum half. Other than that, we were penalized constantly in the scrums for no other reason other than pushing. This was hugely frustrating for the boys as it didn’t allow us to get into a pattern and get through some phases. The DEA line out was working well, helping them stay in the game and enable them to kick a few goals and keep things very tight going into half time. Thankfully we managed to get our noses in front with a superb try from Pat Foreman in open play with the ball changing hands many times and delighting the away crowd of the resident Scorps drunkards!
The second half was a better display albeit frustrating because of our decision making and pressing the panic button when in the final third. Despite that, there were a huge amount of positive factors in the second half as the Piggies stepped it up on the physicality front with the likes of Ridgeway, Watson, Bolland and Washington making some hard yards despite being about as mobile as parking meters. The back row also started to gel and get around the park negating the impact of the DEA back row led by Nigel Clarke who as always had a strong game. In Club's back row, there were solid performances from Marin, Michael Bolton & Tim Edgar.
There was some super stuff in the backs as well with the likes of Jimmy Kibble and Pat Foreman imposing themselves and getting across the gainline, bringing in the pace boys of Perkins, McKee and Raby. Unfortunately, when it came to making our mark from set pieces and finishing in their 22, we failed to deliver.
The good news is that the boys are coming close to gelling and being a much more complete unit, which is just as well with much harder tests to come. With the score at 13-6 with 10 minutes to go, we failed to take one or two kicks at goal that would have put us out of sight. The good news for the crowd and Q’s hernia was that this created a thrilling ending, with DEA camped in our 22 for the final 5 minutes trying to steal a draw from nowhere. Thankfully due to a gutsy defensive display, we held them out and breathed a huge sigh of relief when the whistle blew for full time rather than another penalty against Club! The final spectacle was watching Tim Griffin having a row with a dustbin.
Well done lads – plenty of positives to build on for the impending almighty smash against Valley next week at home.
Rugby Section – bring your vocal cords please and Man Up! Ta, JP
Showing posts with label marin. Show all posts
Showing posts with label marin. Show all posts
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Injury-ravaged Club stand firm against DEA
CBRE Club 20 - 3 DEA Tigers
It wasn't pretty. But, and it's as big a but as Ramsay Carter's, the result was absolutely what mattered. With eight frontline players missing through injury, Club were never going to achieve the kind of fluency they managed earlier in the season. And although DEA were not without their own casualties (including captain and coach Nigel Clarke), this was just the kind of game in which they might have sensed weakness and turned Club over. Club will be relieved to have returned to winning form after their disappointing loss to HKCC Aberdeen the previous weekend, although I feel reasonably certain that coach Quinton Wrigley will feel there was room for improvement in the execution of Club's gameplan.
First the positives. A weakened team stuck together well and played for each other. Tenacious defending meant DEA did not score a try. Pat Foreman showed his versatility (and an enormous boot) by filling in at fly half. Phil Reid, called into the side after Pete McKee broke down in training on Thursday, was a doughty replacement. Alex Gibbs returned to the side in decent nick. And Ben Stobart, who came into the side to deputise for hooker Tom Cameron, showed an accurate throw-in at the line out and good mobility around the park (as well as his ever-surprising ability to wind up opponents with decidedly average banter...). Indeed, the whole side played with commitment and energy; they simply lacked the degree of cohesion and control people have come to expect.
Club will admit that this was not a hugely convincing display and more an example of gritting the teeth and winning ugly than anything else. DEA dominated possession for long periods of the game and were perhaps unlucky not to break through. Their one penalty does not accurately reflect the balance of the game. Both sides were guilty of ill-discipline and both were reduced to 13 men at times. For Club, Tim Edgar was yellow-carded for not rolling away while Stobart was sinbinned for holding on, although it looked more like hands in the ruck to me. Both were perhaps harshly treated, but both were nonetheless booked and two yellow cards within moments of each other left Club dangerously exposed with a two man disadvantage. Oddly, this was when they conspired to play some of their best rugby of the match.
Some good forward pressure enabled loosehead Pete Spizzirri to crash over in the first half, Kris Marin also crossed and Foreman - who was well on target - added two penalties and two conversions. Fixtures at this stage in the season are always affected by injury, but Club will need to rally again and get as many players as possible out of casualty and back on the park before next weekend's clash with a powerful Kowloon team that ran a full-strength Club side close in October. Make no mistake, Club have had a fantastic start to the season with seven wins from eight games and they go into the final match of the first round in a well-deserved first place, 11 points ahead of HKCC. But they will be desperately keen to be sure they do not take the gloss off round one by finishing 2007 with a defeat. Club's strength in depth and ability to draw on the rest of the Club's players will be critical.
Harps
CBRE Club v DEA Tigers
HKFC, 6pm, Saturday 24 November 2007
1. Pete Spizzirri
2. Ben Stobart
3. Nigel Hobler
4. Tim Robinson
5. Tim Griffin
6. Tim Edgar
7. Jared Smith (AQ)
8. Kris Marin
9. Phil Reid
10. Pat Foreman
11. Callum Nieto
12. Richard Rouse
13. Nigel D’Acre
14. Dan Parr
15. Alex Gibbs (AQ)
Replacements
16. Kahn Rudolf
17. Ben Stobart
18. Steve Matthew
19. Duncan Robertson
20. Ramsay Carter
21. Adam Raby (AQ)
22. Troy Hogan
It wasn't pretty. But, and it's as big a but as Ramsay Carter's, the result was absolutely what mattered. With eight frontline players missing through injury, Club were never going to achieve the kind of fluency they managed earlier in the season. And although DEA were not without their own casualties (including captain and coach Nigel Clarke), this was just the kind of game in which they might have sensed weakness and turned Club over. Club will be relieved to have returned to winning form after their disappointing loss to HKCC Aberdeen the previous weekend, although I feel reasonably certain that coach Quinton Wrigley will feel there was room for improvement in the execution of Club's gameplan.
First the positives. A weakened team stuck together well and played for each other. Tenacious defending meant DEA did not score a try. Pat Foreman showed his versatility (and an enormous boot) by filling in at fly half. Phil Reid, called into the side after Pete McKee broke down in training on Thursday, was a doughty replacement. Alex Gibbs returned to the side in decent nick. And Ben Stobart, who came into the side to deputise for hooker Tom Cameron, showed an accurate throw-in at the line out and good mobility around the park (as well as his ever-surprising ability to wind up opponents with decidedly average banter...). Indeed, the whole side played with commitment and energy; they simply lacked the degree of cohesion and control people have come to expect.
Club will admit that this was not a hugely convincing display and more an example of gritting the teeth and winning ugly than anything else. DEA dominated possession for long periods of the game and were perhaps unlucky not to break through. Their one penalty does not accurately reflect the balance of the game. Both sides were guilty of ill-discipline and both were reduced to 13 men at times. For Club, Tim Edgar was yellow-carded for not rolling away while Stobart was sinbinned for holding on, although it looked more like hands in the ruck to me. Both were perhaps harshly treated, but both were nonetheless booked and two yellow cards within moments of each other left Club dangerously exposed with a two man disadvantage. Oddly, this was when they conspired to play some of their best rugby of the match.
Some good forward pressure enabled loosehead Pete Spizzirri to crash over in the first half, Kris Marin also crossed and Foreman - who was well on target - added two penalties and two conversions. Fixtures at this stage in the season are always affected by injury, but Club will need to rally again and get as many players as possible out of casualty and back on the park before next weekend's clash with a powerful Kowloon team that ran a full-strength Club side close in October. Make no mistake, Club have had a fantastic start to the season with seven wins from eight games and they go into the final match of the first round in a well-deserved first place, 11 points ahead of HKCC. But they will be desperately keen to be sure they do not take the gloss off round one by finishing 2007 with a defeat. Club's strength in depth and ability to draw on the rest of the Club's players will be critical.
Harps
CBRE Club v DEA Tigers
HKFC, 6pm, Saturday 24 November 2007
1. Pete Spizzirri
2. Ben Stobart
3. Nigel Hobler
4. Tim Robinson
5. Tim Griffin
6. Tim Edgar
7. Jared Smith (AQ)
8. Kris Marin
9. Phil Reid
10. Pat Foreman
11. Callum Nieto
12. Richard Rouse
13. Nigel D’Acre
14. Dan Parr
15. Alex Gibbs (AQ)
Replacements
16. Kahn Rudolf
17. Ben Stobart
18. Steve Matthew
19. Duncan Robertson
20. Ramsay Carter
21. Adam Raby (AQ)
22. Troy Hogan
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
.gif){kind=small}
.jpg)