Workmanlike Valley push Club aside to take easy route to final

One try was all it took to lift defending league champions Asahi Valley into the final of the Grand Championship on March 17. A Pete Spizzeri steamroller gave Valley a 14-12 win over Hong Kong Football Club, who will now have to beat DeA to enter the final by the roundabout route.

So while Club and DeA - 20-17 winners over PLA Sports Institute yesterday - batter it out in the playoff this coming Saturday, Valley will luxuriously rest their limbs and prepare for their title defence.

'Club might think now that it is better to have another game. But it is better to relax and nurse those niggling injuries,' said Valley captain Paul Dingley after his side's workmanlike win at Happy Valley.

Dingley was a satisfied man, happy with the way his team had absorbed all the early pressure from Club, before clinically knocking the Sports Road outfit off their stride.

Club counterpart Adam Horler had asked his team to lift their performance for yesterday's game. But after a promising start, Club forwards and backs slipped into a familiar and tired old routine as they struggled to make any headway with the ball in hand.

For the second successive week they had to rely on goal-kicking winger Owain Morrison. The burly Morrison knocked over four penalties, two from near the halfway mark, to tantalisingly keep Club within sight. But although Club were in front for most of the game, it was always Valley who looked dangerous.

'We took a little bit longer than usual to settle down and were rattled at the start,' admitted Dingley. 'But we began to control the game as it went along and I knew we would win because the Club forwards were unfit and were tiring in the latter stages.'