After a disappointing opening game to the season against Gai Wu, when the Kukris failed to score, the HK Scottish players were understandably nervous ahead of the match against Valley Red. But a vocal home crowd proved to be just the encouragement they needed. The Kukris quickly settled, put Valley under sustained pressure, and it wasn’t long before Ket Robinson went over in the corner. Karis Cheng was unlucky with the conversion, which bounced off the upright. Before Valley could respond, Kukris had scored again through Fung Yuen-ting and Hui Man-ling, making it three tries in the spate of seven minutes. Again the conversions were unsuccessful. The pressure on Valley’s try line continued, but they managed to secure the ball and kick up pitch. Hui Man-ling caught the ball, accelerated away and scored in the opposite corner. No conversion. Half-time score 20-0 to HK Scottish Kukris.
The second half continued in the same vein. Nieve Heskin, one of the Kukris’ new players from Chicago, exploited a gap and scored under the posts. Karis Cheng made no mistake with the conversion. But Valley responded well, swiftly moving down the field and scoring, 27-5. Any thoughts of a comeback were quickly extinguished, as Crystal Lee, who had an excellent day on the pitch, powered over the line for a classic forwards’ try. But shortly after, as Valley again sought to break out of their own 22, fullback Ket Robinson was deemed to have tip tackled the ball carrier and shown a yellow card. Before Valley could make use of their numerical advantage, Kukris regained possession and passed to Hui Man-ling, who completed her hat-trick in the corner. But by now Kukris were looking ragged, and conceding penalties. Valley regrouped and swiftly scored two unconverted tries, but ran out of time to add to the score. Final score 37-15 to HKS Kukris.
Overall a great game for HKS Kukris, who, with the exception of the last ten minutes will be pleased with the performance. Next week the Kukris play Tai Po Dragons at KGV.
HK Scottish Kukris
Neon Chau, Po-Ki Chan, Tung-Hoi Jim, Crystal Lee Oi-Yan, Emily So, Myron Ng, Nieve Heskin, Kathy Yip, Karis Cheng, Hau-Yi Chung, Yuen-Ting Fung, Andie Ma, Ket Robinson, Man-Ling Hui, Lo-Ho Yau.
Substitutes: Yumi Fan Sau-Yi, Tiffany Tse, Nicola Yau
Tries: Man-Ling Hui (3), Crystal Lee Oi-Yan, Nieve Heskin, Yuen-Ting Fung, Ket Robinson
Conversions: Karis Cheng
