Telea deflects praise to Valley teammates after hat-trick of tries

Like an unstoppable runaway train, Alex Telea is piling on the tries at such a rapid rate that he should easily become the highest try-scorer in the First Division this season.

The Asahi Valley winger scored a hat-trick of tries in yesterday's 53-9 rout of the PLA Sports Institute to take his personal tally to 15 this season, which is easily the highest scored by any player - not only in the First Division but across the board.

'I just finish the good work done by others. The forwards mainly do all the hard work and I'm just good at finishing it off,' a modest Telea said after his three-try rampage yesterday.

Thankfully for the mainland visitors, Telea was substituted on the hour by coach Semi Iafeta. Who knows what the former Samoan international might have done if he had stayed on for the full 80 minutes. He might have matched, if not bettered, his career-best four-try effort scored against Kowloon last week.

'I had never scored four tries in a match before. I might have done it when I was seven or eight, but never in a serious match,' smiled Telea, who won seven caps for Samoa in 1996 and 1997 during which time he also played for the Wellington Hurricanes in the Super 12.

Seven tries in the space of seven days. Amazing stuff, even if he is a player who is a cut above most others in Hong Kong. Telea is on a roll and could end up as one of the all-time top try-scorers for Valley. One such individual was young winger Ben Scott who scored a total of 15 tries during the 1999-2000 season. Telea has achieved this in half a season and in eight games.

'All I'm thinking about is winning. I just want Valley to win well. That is the first step. If I score tries, that is fine. And if I finish as the top try-scorer, then it is a bonus,' said the 30-year-old Telea.