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Match Report: HKCC Babes 5 – 0 Police Sirens

(note: the author takes no responsibility for the numerous, terrible, law enforcement puns in this article)

The Women’s National League 1 regular season drew to a close on Saturday, with HKCC Babes hosting Police Sirens at Aberdeen. Delays in earlier games meant kick-off was postponed until 18:45; with the sides opting to “play until the lights went out”.

The Police, in yellow, received the ball to start the first half, but good poaching from Winnie Cheung and Emily Tuck arrested their attack almost immediately, at which point HKCC turned on the heat. The second row partnership of Lauren Petersen and Cornelia Noren (making an exciting 15s debut) powered a dominant HKCC scrum, which perhaps let off Sirens lightly by not pressing its advantage in the drive. Babes set up camp in the Police 22, but it was only in the 20^th minute that points went on the board, returning centre Julia Mason displaying excellent skills in the midfield and making space via a loop ball; then resisting three defenders to score on the far left of the field. The conversion was narrowly missed. HKCC should perhaps have had the courage of their convictions more often, working hard to create the space but then under-utilising this by relying too much on crashing the ball through the forwards. In full-flow, however, the Babes looked threatening and full of promise; Tinley Wong and Lucy Thomson, carrying matching shoulder injuries, scampered through the Police defence time and again but excellent speed and awarenesss from the Siren’s scrum half saved their bacon, securing turnover ball in some sloppy rucks.

The second half was an equally scrappy affair. The Babes’ occupation of the Police half threatened to last the entire game, as the HKCC scrum brought the Babes to within the 5 yard line yet again. Several phases later the referee raised his arm to indicate a try. The decision was overturned on appeal, both Babes and officials having being deceived by extraneous white paint on the pitch and thus short of the true try line. With possession secured, Carolyn Champion peeled off the back of a subsequent ruck but couldn’t find the final yards as the ball was held up yet again. Sirens broke out of their 22 on the left wing and, at full flight with support behind, looked nailed-on to score. But full back Brenda Chan bailed HKCC out of trouble with spectacular reading of the play and a well-timed tackle that forced a line out. HKCC soon stomped back down the field, hackles raised by some subtle infringements in the ruck – well, as subtle as stamping and hair pulling can be. Scrum half Lynda Nazer’s prints were all over the ball as she distributed it throughout a stop-start series of phases that saw no real breakthrough.

The first significant defensive error from the Babes (forming a line more umbrella shaped than flat) allowed Police to break through again, with winger Steph Zhang halting the attack but earning a card for doing so with a high tackle. And as the minutes ticked down, a second error, in not retreating ten yards from a penalty, earned Sirens their chance in the Babes 22. An over-zealous quick-tap was firmly rebuffed by the referee, and then play halted for several minutes to deal with an injured Sirens’ player. In the cold, the Police massed around the ball. The Babes closed ranks on their try line, poised and ready. After nearly 60 minutes, the game hinged on what was deemed the final minute. The Babes held their line after four phases. Sirens looked to pass across the width of the field, to exploit the space of the extra player. Excellent blitz defending held out to the very end though, and Sirens couldn’t hold on to the ball; Harriet Jamieson kicking out to secure a win that, with a little more poise and experience in attack, could have been so much more convincing.

Next week is championship quarter finals; at the top of the bill Nataxis HKFC Ice will take on 8^th seeded Police Sirens and second seeds Bloomberg HK Scottish Kukri tackle Society General Valley Red Ladies. HKCC Babes face off against Comvita City, in what should prove an exciting contest.

Unfortunately, your correspondent won’t be here to see it, or any future matches, owing to an imminent departure from Hong Kong. As ever with stories about this beautiful city, the tale is one of endless arrivals and departures, of soaring summers and hot-pot winters. The centerpiece of my own version will certainly be the fantastic, utterly brilliant year with HKCC, both on and off the pitch; when the most drunken 7s declaration ever made (why yes, Anna Holmes, maybe I would be interested in playing rugby again) became one of the best decisions I ever made. My thanks to bc magazine for hosting these only-slightly-biased match reports; and most of all to the people who’ve appeared in them. Babes, you’re all awesome – Keep playing ‘til the lights go out. HK….CC!

Match Report: HKFC Ice 30 – 0 HKCC Babes

The penultimate week of Women’s Division 1 saw HKFC Ice maintain the momentum of their crushing defeat of HK Scottish the previous Thursday with a clear victory over HKCC Babes. The tale of the match, though, is incomplete without noting the staunch defensive performance and pack dominance of HKCC, including 8 minutes in the second half in which they were down to 13, and which should give other teams chasing the championship a small ray of hope as the post-season playoffs begin.

The match, kicking off at Football Club at 18:00, started with Ice displaying the same attacking strategy used throughout the season – kicking over the top and then probing with the backs to find an overlap. A fortunate bounce led to the first try after only a couple of minutes, but the Babes soon switched on and hunkered down to an effective blitz defence. After attempted chips down both sides of the park were frustrated by the Cricket Club backs, in particular Christy Ma on the right wing, Football Club opted to kick from a subsequent penalty (for not rolling away) to consolidate their lead after twenty five minutes. In the forwards, Cricket Club were dominating the scrappy scrums, with Winnie Cheung excelling at hooker and producing her best performance of the season securing turnover ball and sniping in the loose. Cricket Club soon trapped FC in their own 22, with the Ice forwards unable to hammer out a path, but the ever reliable boot of their fly-half released the pressure and returned the action to the Babes’ half. And the high intensity of defence took its toll on Cricket Club, with FC finally able to dive over from a close range penalty with the last play of the half, to put the score 17-0.

Coach Darren Cartlidge challenged Cricket Club to get on the scoreboard. And the Babes responded mightily, with huge breakaway runs first from full back Steph Zhang, and then prop Cheryl Gourley, each covering over half the field and, bizarrely, mapping almost identical routes. But, as ever, the Babes didn’t help themselves, with the first promising attack of the half ending in a yellow card, after a succession of warnings for not releasing the ball.

Two further yellow cards in quick succession (both of them, it should be noted, deserved but not incurred maliciously) reduced the team to 13 for a period of 8 minutes. FC took advantage of this superiority to first convert a resultant penalty, and then spin the ball out wide through the hands of all their backs for a classy and well worked try. Cricket Club continued to press and did not give up, Player of the Game Lynda Nazer distinguishing herself with a series of ferocious tackles. And when fly half Harriet Jamieson caught her own kick and Joanie Yip, in the second row, barrelled forward into the FC 22, it looked like CC might get the try they deserved. But it wasn’t to be, and in the final moments of the game FC touched over the line once more to cap another strong performance from their backs.

Next week, HKCC look to bring their regular season to a winning close against the Police Sirens, in the 18:00 kick off at Aberdeen Playground. The Babes will be looking to finally get both defence and offence firing in the same game, and if that happens, this is a team that has the potential to look very strong next year.

Match Report: HKCC Babes 7–0 CWB Phoenix

Ten seconds before kick-off at Aberdeen Sports Ground on Saturday evening and two thoughts are running through a player’s head: (1) Causeway Bay Phoenix (the opposition, in pink and blue stripes, comprehensive winners at the last fixture in October) are incredibly strong in the ruck and counter at pace and (2) don’t let it happen. HKCC Babes launch the ball high and wide. Thoughts stop; training kicks in. Run. White shirts flood the Causeway Bay half, the first hit connects and it’s good. Causeway Bay reset, probe left, try right, find no forward momentum against an onslaught of tackles. These are full, flying, wheeling tackles, fingertips connecting to pink jerseys and refusing to let go. Causeway Bay are pinned in their own half. Babes attack with aggressive runs breaking though lines of defence but can’t quite find the fourth or fifth phases needed to make it count. The referee intervenes, blowing against HKCC for a series of ruck infringements – hands on the ball on the ground, not rolling away, coming in from the side. Mainly down to exuberance or lack of experience – sweet relief to Phoenix. They smartly kick for position.

Line out. Pause, lift, release. That split second of confusion after a play, where’s the ball? Realise white shirts have shot up fast and pinned it down. Rejoice. Re-join the line. But Causeway Bay kick clear four times in quick succession to march up the field. At times like these, HKCC Babes have looked vulnerable in the past, a ragged defensive line. Not today. A streak of white sets determinedly across the field, players holding position. Approach as a line, retreat as a line. Tackle after tackle goes in; some of the smallest players in the squad hauling down the opposition with huge efforts. Tackle. Release. Roll away. Re-join the line. HKCC stands firm, even as the Causeway Bay scrum works well to disrupt the pack. Nearly 10 minutes of pressure in the Babes’ 22 and then, HKCC wins a scrum and the fly half kicks for touch; It’s halftime. Breathe. It’s still 0-0.

Kick-off is caught cleanly and the second half begins, HKCC in possession and determined. Determined not to let the shirt, or each other, down. Substitutes – debutants, those returning from injury, some probably still really injured – flit in seamlessly. There’s shouting on the sidelines, huge support in the ground; inaudible, but invaluable. It’s dark now, floodlights illuminating the pain on the pitch: tackle, release, roll away, repeat. HKCC stop giving up penalties quite so cheaply, discipline installed by a vocal captain who leads by example, firm on the ball. The backs, strung wide across the pitch, demand the ball more loudly. And this is all it takes, five or six minutes of controlled possession, a sudden streak of white from ten yards out to under the left post. A try! Fireworks! Seriously, actual fireworks, sparking in the distance with impeccable timing as the conversion is taken cleanly. Thanks Ocean Park!

Causeway Bay restart and reassert their game. Passing it wide, using their pace. Once again, kicking for territory. And now they’ve something to prove. But HKCC give up no weakness and cede no ground. Tackle, release, roll away. Nine minutes remain. There’s hurting, there’s mud, there are flashes of pink and blue attempting to barge through, and then there’s more pain, and more mud. Counter attacks are exchanged, there’s no time for a gasping recovery. Even the supporters are breathless. And then, the referee, “last play”. The HKCC scrum packs down; the front row is in agony, the second row on its third patched-up incarnation, the back-row eager and ready. The backs are able to do little but wait. The scrum half and fly half share a look – they have just one more job to do.

And then it’s done. Kicked out of play. All over, bar the hugs, the tears, the celebrations, the beer and, later, the pain. And, as always, bruised hands shaken between each and every participant, and thanks given to the referee. Leighton Asia HKCC Babes 7 – SCAA Children’s Cancer Foundation Causeway Bay Phoenix 0. All that fuss, you might question, for a middle-of-the-table, run-of-the-mill game? For a game settled by one measly try? Try telling that to anyone who was there, to anyone on that winning team. That’s rugby.

HKCC Babes:
Carolyn Champion (c), Cheryl Gourley, Jo Harvey, Lauren Petersen, Lainie Man, Rosie Wright, Emily Tuck, Sarah Higgins, Lynda Nazer, Harriet Jamieson, Christy Ma, Lucy Thomson, Tinley Wong, Steph Zhang, Wendy Sham
Substitutes:
Joan Yip, Ellie Storey, Jess Gilbert, Brenda Chan, Kirsty Reid, Serene Yee
Coach:
Darren Cartlidge

Tries: Rosie Wright
Conversions: Harriett Jamieson

Match Report: HKCC 22-24 Valley Red

A 2 point conversion was the sole difference between the teams as ‘Societe Generale Valley Black Ladies and HK Cricket Club Babes shared 8 tries in a great game at Aberdeen on Saturday. It was a spirited, full-throttle affair from the start, with HKCC pinning Valley in their own half early on and then whipping the ball out wide for an early try from WaWa. Valley punched back soon after with a great breakaway run.

Within five minutes HKCC had restored their advantage, some aggressive running and a well-timed penalty from scrum half Lynda creating the space for Sarah to fall over the line for her debut try (the two players rewarded for this effort with joint player-of-the-game billing). But Valley were on the prowl straight from the kick off, bursting through the line for a try under the posts, duly converted.

Valley was never able to establish a proper attacking platform though, with every lineout stolen away by HKCC jumper Winnie and the HKCC dominance also apparent in the scrum, with Rhonda making a number of powerful runs from number 8. However, HKCC’s backline struggled a little defensively throughout the game, and bunching around the breakdown created a gap in the line which Valley soon exploited, leading to their third try from scrum-half and Valley player of the game, Shanshan. And early in the second half, the lead was extended slightly with another breakaway try.

But the HKCC backs looked dangerous and creative with ball in hand, well-executed runs and excellent handling skills reaping dividends in the second half and securing a try for Tinley at 13 and the excellent Wuki at fullback (stepping in at very short notice whilst on Christmas vacation and now headed back to the snowy East Coast US). This latter try was converted by fly-half Harriet, setting the game up for a tense conclusion, as Valley sought desperately and successfully to win back possession, putting the ball out of play and settling the game at 24 points to Valley, 22 to the Babes.

Despite the loss, Babes’ Coach Darren Cartlidge was proud of the performance, noting, “This is a phase of rebuilding for the team, and the four well-worked tries indicate good progress. We have new players coming on board, including Ellie Storey who made her debut today, and much to look forward to as we head towards the business-end of the season”.

HKCC 17 – 31 Revolution – 6 December, 2014

This week’s match report for the HKCC Babes is going to read a lot like Kevin Pietersen’s autobiography. For one, your correspondent was named HKCC player of the game, so lot of it is going to focus on how awesome I am and how no-one else did anything (ed: don’t worry reader, we’ve edited all those bits out). Another reason is that it was a riveting game, with enough twists and turns and mini-plots for a whole novel.

Saturday’s game was the late kick-off at KGV, in dark and cool conditions. Revolution were gunning for revenge following the previous match-up between these two teams, on the same field, and started brightly, fielding the kick off well and making good ground. Revolution backs made great use of the full width of the field, with an especially impressive fly half distributing well. This lead to the first try of the game, as a well-executed loop play saw Revolution 13 cut through the defensive line to touch down. A second try soon followed, and as Revolution grew in confidence, they also began to kick more, testing HKCC’s fullback, Karen Chiu, who impressed in defence making good tracking runs and a number of try saving tackles in only her first season playing rugby. Finally, one such kick took an unlucky bounce, and with a third try secured (but unconverted), the Babes had a tough fightback on their hands.

The Babes attacking platform started with the scrum, which, though solid in the drive struggled to control the ball. Consequently, quick ball was proving elusive, and the game became bogged down in a succession of rucks. Direct running over the gainline soon fixed that, making good ground and allowing Captain Carolyn Champion, at 12, to feed Tinley Wong for Babes’ first try.

And the scrum dominance was asserted shortly after halftime, when Revolution were reduced to 14 following injury after HKCC steamrollered their scrum once too often (happy to report that none of these injuries were serious). Despite the deficit, the back and forth continued, so much so that your correspondent apparently lost track of two tries (one apiece). If found, please return these tries to their rightful owners. As in previous games, HKCC dominated possession but were vulnerable to breakaways. Jo Harvey went unrewarded for her sterling effort in making 20 yards with players hanging off her only to be judged held up over the line, but almost immediately the prospect of a fightback was dented by Revolution, kicking through again for their fifth and final try.

Undeterred, HKCC won turnover ball straight away from the kick off, and their Babes’ second try was brought about by quick thinking on the part of Lynda Nazer feeding quick ball down the line to Tinley Wong who touched down besides the posts, Harriet Jamieson adding the 2 points. One highlight of the game for the Babes is certainly the blossoming partnership between Nazer and Jamieson at 9 and 10, who had the back line moving much more fluidly in the second half.

But, unfortunately, like Pietersen’s England career, the game ended on a slightly sour note, as the referee missed a raised flag from the touch judge with Revolution sprinting downfield. Raised voices from the sidelines inflamed the situation, and play was suspended for several minutes. Although both team captains did a good job of ensuring that the full spirit of the game was maintained on the field, the momentum being built by HKCC was certainly stopped dead in its tracks and the game fizzled out, with Revolution kicking into touch to seal their hard-fought and well-defended victory.

And with that, the Ladies Division 1 season takes its Christmas Break. Happy Holidays!