Verizon Hong Kong Scottish 19 – Kowloon 13, 8th October 2011
Hong Kong Scottish played their first ever regular season game against last years 3rd placed team, Kowloon at Kings Park on October 8th in what promised to be a real test of how much progress the team had made in a short space of time.
The game started slowly for HKS and they found themselves a try down inside the first 3 minutes after a lost lineout resulted in a try for Kowloon centre Mark Lawson.
HKS managed to establish themselves in the game and with incredible commitment in defence they managed to hold out a barrage of attacks from Kowloon as half time approached. Just as the half time whistle was about to blow, fly half James Murray swooped on a dropped Kowloon pass inside his own 22 and ran the length of the field to ensure the teams went in level at the break.
Half-time: Kowloon 7, Hong Kong Scottish 7
Kowloon came out firing in the second half and move ahead again through a drop goal from full back and coach Joe Shaw, who incidentally coached HKS at Melrose 7s in April. That lead was further increased through a penalty from Kowloon stand off Chris McAdam
As time wore on, HKS started to gain in confidence as they continually held out Kowloon. That pressure once again told as Murray sprung on another Kowloon error to fly hack the ball down the pitch. This time it was centre Tom Bury who latched onto the ball and showed great pace to finish under the posts and put HKS into a deserved 14-13 lead.
As the set piece began to function for HKS they were able to build pressure on Kowloon’s line for the first time in the match. This lead to a succession of phases for the first time in the match from HKS which allowed fly half Murray the space and time to beautifully chip over the Kowloon defence and regain the ball to score the match clinching try.
It was a famous victory for HKS as they opened their account with a win against a very talented Kowloon side.
Man of the Match: Lam Tank
HKS: Allan, Ho Yin, Bury, Wilson, Whiteford, Murray, Tank, Aikman, Chik, Forbes, Brown, Davey, Jones, Gunn, Kaihau