Synovate HKCC used their 'get out of jail' card yesterday as they grimly hung on to a paper-thin 13-12 victory over Crown Valley at King's Park to keep alive their First Division League title hopes.
Valiant Valley not only had to battle their own demons - in the first half they were more interested in literally scalping their opponents than playing rugby - but also the referee's interpretation of the scrum as they fought back from trailing 13-0 to come within a whiff of nosing past HKCC.
'We were lucky to hold on. They were unlucky to lose,' HKCC player-coach Colin Bisley summed up succinctly. 'We sat back after scoring those early points and almost lost it at the end. We did get out of jail here.'
Valley were an aggrieved lot yesterday. While losing is part and parcel of the game, they would have felt robbed, especially in the scrum area where their forwards were penalised time and again - and sometimes even on their own put-in.
'I don't want to comment on that [the scrum]. I will get into trouble if I do that,' said an upset Valley coach Brian Higgins. Recently appointed as assistant coach to the Hong Kong national side, Higgins clearly didn't want to make waves.
HKCC began confidently when right wing Kenny Ng scored with his first touch of the ball in the opening minutes, latching on to a clever chip from Bisley.
New flyhalf Glen Dickson showed his pristine white boots were also made for kicking as he knocked over the conversion - but this was one of his few successes for the night as he missed five further attempts.