HKCC ran in five tries to earn a season-winning bonus point in the final Premiership League match of the Hong Kong Rugby Football Union.
Leighton Asia Hong Kong Cricket Club (HKCC) romped home against Newedge Club at Sport Road on Saturday Feb 22, claiming the Paul Y Premiership League title.
The convincing win and subsequent bonus point resulted in HKCC finishing ahead of Valley, who had a narrow win against Abacus Kowloon.
HKCC vs Club
Leighton Asia HKCC were well in control from the outset and built up a 22-nil lead by half-time.
Dominant in the scrums and line-outs, a well-oiled halfback line and devastating speed on the wings produced one-way traffic in the early stages of the match. Club were outplayed and seemed to have no answer to the high percentage possession and continual drive of the Cricket Club machine.
Three tries in the first-half, a penalty and two conversions by Angus Cameron put HKCC well in the driver’s seat.
But Club dug deep after the interval and stopped the onslaught—although they were rarely able to get in striking distance of the try-line.
HKCC however, kept pressing and the players and supporters were delighted when their team scored the bonus-winning fourth try.
“This is just fantastic,” said Andy Hall, HKCC Director of Rugby and Coach. “We'll have a great night tonight, probably Sunday and maybe we’ll have a couple on Monday as well.
“But come Tuesday, we need to park this, as awful as it sounds, until the end of the year and the Grand Championships are over.”
Kowloon vs Valley
Meanwhile, WhichWay Valley had a tough match against a determined Abacus Kowloon –who were hoping to stay in fourth position and retain fourth-place and a finals’ spot.
Although Valley were leading 10-3 at the break, two second-half tries by Chis McAdam took Kowloon into the lead. Valley were hard-pressed right through the match, but a last minute try by Salon Yiu secured a narrow victory for Valley.
“Overall, we are happy with the win, but a little disappointed at not winning the League,” said Valley Coach, Dean Herewini.
“I suppose it’s nice to walk away with four points and having some positives going into the Semi-finals [Grand Championship].
“Kowloon had nothing to lose,” Herewini added. “They had a chance at a Semi-final spot and credit due they played some really aggressive rugby. A lot of our options were probably not that smart in terms of different parts of the field, but we showed a lot of character.”
HK Scottish vs Borrelli Walsh Tigers
A fine victory by HK Scottish 74-12 against Borrelli Walsh Tigers at Shek Kip Mei saw the Scottish finish in style.
This result added to the woes of the Tigers, who have not won a match all season and have just gathered two bonus points. But it was an important win for HK Scottish pushing them into fourth ahead of Abacus Kowloon.
Scottish have played well, particularly towards the end of the season, to close the gap and overtake a rather depleted Kowloon, who have been suffering with injuries over recent weeks.
Grand Championship Playoffs
The Semi-finals take place this coming weekend, Saturday Mar 1 when: Leighton Asia HKCC play Hong Kong Scottish at Aberdeen Sports Stadium; and WhichWay Valley play Newedge Club at Valley Ground 8.
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