Valley Black thumped Tai Po Dragons 53-0 at Happy Valley. In a dominant display of skill and ‘professionalism’, Valley emphasised why they are the favourites to retain the league title.
“It was a tough game out there, especially at the breakdown they really came over the ball quite hard. They’re a good defensive team,” said Valley’s coach Bella Milo.
The game’s first try came inside 11 minutes at the hands of fly-half Milo, to put Valley up 5-0 and start their scoring spree. An inside pass to Riva Brill saw her split the Dragons defence but poor follow up play saw the chance wasted. A long pass out wide to Yuen Yin Lo saw her double Valley’s lead on the twenty-five minute mark, 10-0.
Tai Po suffered an injury early in the game to Fan Ying Tung who was substituted by She Ka Man. Valley’s relentless pressure kept the Dragons on the back foot and despite some strong defence the Black’s crossed for two more tries before the half ended – scored by Becky Lai Mang and Ying Tung Fan. Fullback Zoe Smith made both conversions, 24-0.
The break did nothing to stop Valley’s dominance and they needed just three minutes to add another seven to their total. Milo breaking through the middle dotted the ball down between posts for her second try of the day, Smith making the easy conversion.
The newly promoted Dragons responded with their best period of the match gaining and holding onto possession through multiple phases to push Valley deep into their half and force them to defend for almost the first time in the match. The Black defense kept their composure, turned over the ball and marched downfield to create a try for Rebecca Thompson who came on at halftime to replace Caitlin Spencer, 36-0.
Tai Po looked as if they had stemmed the flow of tries but their defensive effort caught up with them in the final 10 minutes and as they tired Valley took advantage scoring three more tries courtesy of Suzanne Sittko (converted by Smith). Coach Milo completed an impressive hat-trick as Nadia Cuvelier completed the scoring.
https://bcmagazine.smugmug.com/Bcene-photos/2017/Tai-Po-Dragons-v-Valley-Black-Happy-Valley-30-September-2017/i-4PP4cNc