Verizon Hong Kong Scottish 30 – 29 Leighton Asia HKCC
Hong Kong Scottish made it 2 wins in a row to get off to the perfect start in 2012 with a 30-29 victory over HKCC. The result was sweet revenge for Scottish after they were humbled by the Cricketers back in October.
After some pre-game tension in the camp following Stephen “New Look” Dowse’s decision to take John “Gotta play well cos my parents are here” Aikman’s matress off his bed and take it to his new flat.After Dowse agreed to let John borrow his Cowboy boots twice a month, the tension soon simmered down.
Scottish got off to their usual slow start but for once were able to repel the opposition attack and not concede early. They were then able to break down field and force HKCC to throw in to the line out close to their own line. The HKCC lineout did not function and captain Niall “No Carbs” Shannon was able to swoop on the overthrown lineout for the first try of the game.
Fly half James “Always gets given Man of the Match” Murray, still a bit jetlagged after only returning to HK the previous day missed the conversion.
The lead was then extended again when Tom “Went to gym on Xmas Day” Bury was able to get on the outside of his man and get within inches of the line before being tackled. Thankfully he was able to keep his hands free and was able to offload to Craig “Grandslam” Wilson who waddled over from 3 yards out. The conversion was missed by Murray.
This try sparked HKCC into life and after some poor tackling from Scottish, HKCC got on the scoreboard with a try under the posts which was converted by Alex McQueen.
This sparked Scottish back into life though and after a quickly taken lineout from Sean “Lets go to Swindlers” Cowley, Dave Whiteford drew the HKCC defence onto him before returning the ball to Cowley who burst through some poor tackles. He then handed back to Whiteford, who despite seeming to be carrying some extra Christmas weight and moving in slow motion, was able to stretch over for the try. his time Murray converted.
Half time: HKS 17-7 HKCC
Scottish started the second half in the same way that they ended the first. Shannon made a busting run down the left wing and exchanged passes with Whiteford before being tackled within the line just out of reach. Again, there was great support play from HKS and Murray was able to touchdown under the posts. He was able to add the extras. He then followed this with a penalty which would prove to be vital in the final result.
With the bonus point already secured, Scottish took their foot off the gas and were punished with three late tries from HKCC that almost saw them punished for their poor defence late on.With the Christmas festivities having taken their full effect on the team and energy levels at an all time low, the referee thankfully blew the whistle for full time.
The boys celebrated the win by singing Happy Birthday to Aikman to make him feel popular in front of his watching parents.
Also special congratulations to Mike “Eggshell” Lees who managed to play the whole game having lasted one tackle in his debut also against HKCC.
Man of the Match: Niall Shannon
HKS Team: Whiteford, Lees, Bury, Wilson, Cowley, Murray, Dowse; Aikman, Burton, Forbes, Davey, Kaihau, Jones, Shannon, Brown
Subs used: Gunn