Club focus on Quaich as ‘under-pressure’ rivals eye title and play-offs
Sometimes not being in the crosshairs is just what is required – and that is certainly the case for Newedge Club as the Paul Y Premiership reaches a crescendo on Saturday with the penultimate round of league matches.
Sometimes not being in the crosshairs is just what is required – and that is certainly the case for Newedge Club as the Paul Y Premiership reaches a crescendo on Saturday with the penultimate round of league matches.
The pressure is on the other clubs, who will be battling it out at the top of the standings, or fighting for the fourth and final Grand Championship play-offs berth.
Scottish are in hot form, however, with the Broony Quaich at stake there should be plenty of motivation for our players
For third-placed Hong Kong Football Club, however, there is little stress apart from their own high expectations and pride – two factors that will make them a dangerous force as they travel to The Rock in Shek Kip Mei, where they hope to snatch the Broony Quaich from Hong Kong Scottish.
“We have guaranteed ourselves a semi-final berth [in the Grand Championship] and we are delighted with that,” said Kevin West, Club’s director of rugby.
While WhichWay Valley and Leighton Asia HKCC engage in the final sprint for the league title, and Scottish and Abacus Kowloon wrestle for that fourth spot, Club can go about their business nearly worry free.
“We are aware that Scottish are in hot form. However, with the Broony Quaich at stake there should be plenty of motivation for our players, as we performed badly in our last challenge for this trophy,” West added.
Club will need to raise their game, though, after struggling to a 14-10 win over Kowloon last week and with Scottish not likely to give up this particular piece of silverware without a fight.
“The boys now feel a special responsibility to retain the Broony against Club, having only held it for one week earlier in the season,” said Dave Whiteford, Hong Kong Scottish general manager and centre.
“But holding the Quaich may have just put a target on our backs, as I’m sure Club would love to finish the season with it in their possession.”
Over at King’s Park on Saturday, Valley will try to regroup against Borrelli Walsh Tigers following their 16-9 reversal at the hands of a motivated Scottish side, who edged home on a last-gasp try created by fly-half Danny Kroll and scored by their captain Adrian Griffiths.
It was a shocking result and one that has re-opened the door for HKCC.
The cricketers and Valley are tied on 49 points at the top of the standings, but the former club have a superior points differential – 190 to 165 – and with it, perhaps, enough of an edge to carry them through to the end.
With only one round left to play after this weekend, Valley will be eager to pile on the points against lowly Tigers.
“We will be looking to rectify the things that went wrong for us last weekend,” said Nick Hewson, Valley’s club coach and flanker. “We let ourselves down and have to get back on the horse and gather momentum again before the play-offs.”
HKCC will be away to Kowloon at So Kon Po intent on making the most of this second chance provided by Hong Kong Scottish.
“The Scottish win has certainly made the last few weeks of the league more exciting,” said HKCC coach Andy Hall. “But we need a strong performance against a Kowloon team fighting to maintain their top four position, and no one at the club is looking beyond that.”
