Boots and allThree keys to victory ‘all in the head’

There’s a scene in American Hustle when the character played by Jennifer Lawrence blows up a microwave (the “science oven”, as it is memorably called in the movie). You smile because the movie, set in the late 1970s, offers you a glimpse of the future, which even with the benefit of hindsight, was simply incredulous.

I guess it will be with this same sense of disbelief that WhichWay Valley will look back at the league and wonder how the title slipped from their grasp. But they won’t be smiling. Not after that 9-16 loss to Hong Kong Scottish on the day the league resumed after the Chinese New Year break. It was that result which opened the door for Leighton Asia HKCC to sneak in and steal the silverware.

Hong Kong Cricket Club had all-but conceded the title to Valley after they lost 21-8 to their rivals before the CNY break. The view was unanimous that Valley would not slip up in their final three league games.

But that was only for outward show. Deep inside, the Cricketers did not give up hope as coach Andy Hall related when he said there were three “key stages to winning the league” for the first time since 2007.

“The most recent stage was the way the squad reacted to the third defeat by Valley. This was the final and arguably the most important step. Everyone, including me, took a far harder look at our personal contribution, agreeing that we all had the responsibility to up our game,” Hall said.

“The outcome of that small but significant adjustment led to our performance in our last three games where we achieved three bonus-point wins, scored 138 points, conceded only 27 and of course won the Premiership league title.”