Hong Kong Scottish keep their play-off hopes alive
Gritty 35-31 win over Kowloon puts home side back on course for Grand Championship berth
Maybe it’s time for Hong Kong Scottish to adopt the 1970s Bee Gees hit Stayin’ Alive as their anthem after Saturday night’s powerful second-half performance against Abacus Kowloon kept them in the hunt for a Grand Championship play-off place.
A dogged 35-31 victory gives Scottish a realistic chance of finishing in the top four and qualifying for the season-ending finale.
Four tries in the match at The Rock in Shek Kip Mei also earned them a bonus point as they cut the between themselves and fourth-placed Kowloon from eight points to four.
Everyone dug deep. We got the first points of the second half and that changed the tune for everyone in our team
Both sides have three games left in the Paul Y Premiership. Significantly, Kowloon have the tougher run-in, when they will face the top three in the league – WhichWay Valley, Leighton Asia HKCC and Newedge Club.
“This is absolutely brilliant. We were down by 10 points at half-time, but we really thought we were still in the game and it just came through,” said Hong Kong Scottish skipper Adrian Griffiths.
“Everyone dug deep. We got the first points of the second half and that changed the tune for everyone in our team.”
Flanker Griffiths led the way by scoring a try in the first half. Scottish came back from a 22-12 deficit at half-time to turn the tables with a superb second half. Lex Kaleca, Charles Cheung and Dave Whiteford also touched down with fly-half Danny Kroll kicking 15 points.