Eniola Gesinde, the Altus Kowloon captain, believes his team will be “in amongst it” at the end of the season. He spoke exclusively to The Epoch Times immediately after defeating reigning Grand Champs Newedge Hong Kong Football Club, 19:13.
“We just grow, grow and grow each year. This year we are feeling quite confident that we are going to do very well, very well,” said the 28-year-old, who lived in Newcastle in the North of England for seven years but went to school in Leeds, Yorkshire, in the UK.
The Match
Altus Kowloon defeated New Edge twice last year and their start to this season could only have been better had they collected a bonus point. Gesinde said that the team’s upsides stem from “phenomenal” tackling and defence.
“Absolutely phenomenal! From Mark Goosen, Alex Harris, big hits from David Tait, our new import from the UK. Generally across the board, from 1 to 15, we were fantastic. Tackling was just phenomenal.
“We worked hard in training procedures,” a still puffed Eni said, “… we did a lot of hard work in defence. But when we had the ball we tried to have a go at them; really, really batter them.”
A feature of Altus Kowloon’s play on Saturday Oct. 2 was hard work and its ability to steal the ball from Newedge.
“We worked hard. We had to work hard to make sure we attacked it and gave them scrappy ball, scrappy ball for the whole game,” Gesinde said.
“We knew they’d bring a whole new level of attacking rugby. They’re physical, they were aggressive and we had to match it with all 1 to 15. They came with everything they had and threw the kitchen sink at us. We had to be equally as good and give right back at ‘em,” said Eni in his rapid-fire breathlessness.
“They were strong as well [Newedge]. They came out at us so we had to have a go at them. We had to make sure that they weren’t the dominant team, and we had to have a go. We had some good drives ourselves – 10minute drives with mauls, put them on their heels.”
“The final score, I think it was 19:12 or 19:13. It was 19:6 during the second half. Last minute of the game we let them off a little bit and they scored and got it through the two sticks for the extra 2 points.”
The Season
Gesinde has very clear goals for this season and is “quietly confident” that, come the 2010–11 G4S Domestic League finals in February, his team will be there.
“Just to be in and amongst it at the end of the season. To really, really be amongst it. To be consistent every game. To make our defence the stalwart of our team. And make sure Kowloon are no a longer push over. We’re not just a social club, we’re a competitive club. The team spirit, the bond, the inspiration, the determination that comes is fantastic.
“We’ll just do our best and see how far we get this year.”
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Improvement
While confident, it is expected that most teams will improve as the year progresses, Gesinde knows where there is room for improvement in Altus Kowloon.
“I think just a bit more communication in defence and finishing. We got to finish our chances. We had three or four attacking chances where we should have scored a try—to really get ourselves clear of the opposition. And we got tackled and touched, and then it got turned over. So that’s a huge thing that we have to work on in the next few weeks, to make sure that we’re clinical and when we get chances we put them away.”
Strength
The team’s strongest point, according Eniola, is their “spirit and our comradery”.
“I don’t think anyone can come in here and break us. Once you’re in Kowloon, you’re in. Everyone has to watch from the outside. From within, we’re a strong, collective unit that goes forward and that sticks together throughout. We party off the field. We’re a family off the field. And we’re a fantastic unit on the field.
“A big shout out to our back row, Mark Goosen [No.7], David Tait [No.6] and Matt Stockdale [No.8]. Boys in mid-field, Joe Shaw [No.12], Mark Lawson [No.13] and our wingers and our fullback, Will Jones [No.11], Jonny Rees [No.14] and Tom McColl [No.15]. And a big shout out to our front five, Andy Li [No1] and Alex Harris [No.2], Mike Hayes [No.3] were fantastic. Myself [Eni No.4] and Alex Hickling [No.5], we had to just work in the engineroom, we had to just put in the dog-work and, of course, our number 9 Duncan Pollock and our flyhalf Chris ‘Macca’ McAdam [No.10].”
Altus Kowloon FC
The club has 110 playing members playing in many divisions according to Eni.
“We’re strong. We’ve got old boys far and wide across the boat. We’ve got a fantastic collective spirit in Hong Kong, we’re growing up in the season. So if you fancy a team spirit and a good game, come out to Kowloon,” Eni Gesinde spruiked.
This Weekend
The team’s next match is away to the Newedge Hong Kong Football Club at Aberdeen.
“They’re strong. They’re very strategic. They’re just very strong in all their attack, defence, clinical,” Gesinde said before he went for a well deserved drink. “So we’ve got to be as equally strong to match it.”
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