HKFC Ice and Kowloon Ladies kicked off at 6PM at King’s Park. Ice gained early possession utilising their forwards with a ton of crash balls and strong running lines to push Kowloon back into their own half. Kowloon gained possession from a turnover ball and chose to kick it down the pitch to get out of their half. After a knock-on, the first scrum was evenly matched – with both teams having a strong forward pack. Ice held their own and worked the ball to their back line, but some poor handling saw the ball again knocked-on. Scrum to Kowloon close to their own try line. Ice won the scrum and fly-half Rose Hopewell-Fong grubber kicked the ball to the corner where a chasing Stephanie “SSY“ Siu picked it up and dotted it down on the line. Rose Hopewell-Fong’s conversion was unsuccessful. 5-0 to HKFC Ice.
Both teams looked to utilise their strong forward packs, putting in big crash runners. The fiercely competitive nature of the game led to numerous handling errors, from both sides, throughout the first half. Ice began to dominate their scrum, which allowed number 8, Bobby Wilson, to get hold of the ball and gain several metres down the pitch. After popping the ball out to the supporting backline, outside centre Jamie Bourk slotted the ball down on the try line. Rose Hopewell-Fong’s conversion was successful! 12-0 to HKFC Ice.
Kowloon made a quick come back by breaking through HKFC Ice’s defensive line making it to the 22, but Rose Hopewell-Fong gave Ice a bit more breathing room putting boot to ball. Kowloon regained themselves, making another quick break with their speedy backline, however an outstanding tackle by Rose Hopewell-Fong forced Kowloon to knock on. The ball changed possession several times, with scrums happening all over the pitch. After 25 minutes of play, a scrum was spun by Kowloon, and their scrum-half, Chloe Mak Ho Yee, picked up the ball, ran down the blind side and scored a try for Kowloon. The conversion was flagged away. HKFC Ice 12 – 5 Kowloon.
Both teams were creating some beautiful running lines courtesy of their backs, and Kowloon kept HKFC Ice on their back foot and under pressure. Another handling error saw a scrum for HKFC Ice, a powerful forward push secured the scrum and scrum-half Sophie Short picked the ball up, went to the blind side and dived over the line, try! The conversion was unsuccessful. HKFC Ice 17 – 5 Kowloon Ladies at half time.
Denise Nga Chi Chan came off to give the infamous Royce Chan a chance to get on the pitch as Ice kicked-off the second half. Kowloon had a chance when one of their speedsters made a line-break, but she was taken down hard by Royce Chan on the half-way line and lost the ball. Kowloon later regained possession and sent the ball flying down the wing again with an 80m sprint but she was tackled out-of-bounds to give Ice a lineout on their own 22. Kowloon exerted tremendous pressure and Ice lost the lineout. Kowloon went straight for a try. The Ice defence held their ground and the ball was held up.
50 minutes in and Nina Pirie came off to give Cheryl Gourley a run out. Later HKFC Ice’s Angelina Cheung was substituted by Zuzanna Osinska. Kowloon fought back hard, broke the line with speed again and managed to score a second try. Conversion unsuccessful. HKFC Ice 17 – 10 Kowloon.
Royce Chan and Jaime Ho had to leave the game after an accidental clash of heads. Doris Chen and Rabbit Leung came on as replacements.
The intense match continued with both teams knowing the next score was crucial with Kowloon having most of the possession. A recurring injury forced Claire Hunter off, Apple Lau came on to replace her. Again a knock-on resulted in a scrum which Kowloon won, their fullback hit the line hard and scored the try. Conversion successful. HKFC Ice 17 – 17 Kowloon.
Tied with only 9 minutes left of the game both teams fought hard and well but it came down to teamwork with HKFC Ice pushing forward together, crash ball after crash ball then out wide to the wingers. Good defence from Kowloon saw HKFC pushed back, which resulted in a lineout. A clean lineout win and the forwards got the ball to the backs, Rose Hopewell-Fong dummied her defender and broke for the score. She was tackled just just short and off-loaded the ball off to #8 Bobby Wilson who barrelled herself towards the line. Ruck formed. Scrum-half Sophie Short secured the ball and down the backline it went to Emma Shields who drew the defenders in and passed a quick pop to Crystal Wray who used her strength and finally got the ball down on the try line in the far corner! Conversion unsuccessful by Rose Hopewell-Fong.
HKFC Ice 22 – 17 Kowloon. The ref blew the whistle to signal the end of the match.
HKFC Ice
Denise Nga Chi Chan, Shonagh Ryan, Megan Richardson, Angelina Cheung, Iris Chan, Claire Hunter, Nina Pirie, Bobby Wilson, Sophie Short, Rose Hopewell-Fong, Stephanie Siu, Jaime Ho, Jamie Bourk, Crystal Wray, Emma Shields.
Substitutes: Cheryl Gourley, Doris Chen, Zuzanna Onsinska, Royce Chan, Apple Lau, Helen Lee, Maggie Wong, Rabbit Leung
Tries: Stephanie Siu, Jamie Bourk, Sophie Short, Crystal Wray
Conversions: Rose Hopewell-Fong x 1
Photo: Phoebe Leung