Kowloon take heart from defeat by Valley as league leaders Hong Kong Football Club top HK Scottish
- Coach Sneddon is happy with their counter attacks and scrum but bemoaned a number of line-out errors
Kerry Hotel Kowloon rugby coach Scott Sneddon has dealt with a swathe of injuries this season, however he said there was some good points from his team’s 36-27 loss to Societe Generale Valley on Saturday in men’s premiership action.
“We can take positives from some of our counter attack execution and our scrum was a weapon, however our line-out errors cost us good field position and inevitably the game.”
Hong Kong Football Club also sent a message to the rest of the premiership league on Saturday: they are the team to beat in 2019.
HKFC secured their 10th win of the season against HK Scottish, beating the team who led the standings for much of 2018 decisively with a 40-6 win. The win was the fifth in a row for HKFC.
First-year coach Jack Wiggins said he was pleased with his team’s play as of late.
“They lost a few guys in the warm-up, which obviously affected them, but it was a good game and one of the most physical we’ve played. They were really physical and we stepped up to that level like we knew we had to. It was a testament to the boys’ hard work.”
With the win HKFC moves to 10 wins and three losses for 47 points in 13 games, putting them six points ahead of Valley and Scottish, who both have 41 points.
In the other game of the day, Herbert Smith Freehills HKU Sandy Bay beat the USRC Tigers 29-17. Sandy Bay general manager Grant Beuzeval said he was happy with his team’s win.
“Today was almost a grand final for us,” he said. “Getting the five full points and restricting the Tigers to zero was the ultimate outcome. We survive another week, a top four finish is still our goal and the self-belief is growing after this and last week’s victory.”
Sandy Bay now have 22 points in 12 games, four behind the Tigers and six ahead of Kowloon.
Sandy Bay and Scottish will play a makeup game on the 12th, and regular premiership action will resume on the 16th.
