bc magazine

Discovery Bay Win Mixed Tag Rugby League Championship

A Discovery Bay inspired team have won the inaugural Hong Kong Mixed Rugby League Tag Championship at an all day tournament at Kings Park. The team overcame a strong CWB team 5-2 in an exciting and competitive final with two tries from Tissia Polycarpe and a try from Guido Philips (female tries count for 2 points) to clinch the win!

The tournament featured 7 teams playing 15 minute games, firstly in a round robin pool to decide the four semi finalists. Then it was knock-out tag, except of course there’s no contact in tag.

Mixed Tag Rugby League is a low-contact version of Rugby League, which features seven players – four male and three female with rolling substitutions – on the field at any one time. Players wear Velcro tags around their waist, at least one of which needs to be removed to constitute a ‘tackle’.

Just like Tackle Rugby League, players are allowed six plays to try and score or attempt to move the ball as far down the field as possible. Players are also allowed to kick, making Tag Rugby League very similar in style to the Tackle version of the code..

Man of the Tournament was Discovery Bay resident Mathew Zoller – local DB Dragons Football coach and Most Improved Player went to Oliver Rendal – local Discovery bay Mobsters football player both non rugby player’s so for them to win is sweeter.

If you want to know more about Tag Rugby League contact [email protected]

Match Report: Valley Red 17-10 HKCC – 17 October, 2015

Week 3 saw HKCC travel to Happy Valley to play the undefeated Valley Red Ladies. HKCC were eager to get back on the pitch and brush off the frustrations of the previous week’s last second defeat to HK Scottish.

Straight from the kick off HKCC pushed up into the Valley twenty-two putting the Red’s defence under heavy pressure. Valley managed to keep calm and were able to clear their lines well. The first half saw both sides creating good opportunities in the backs and strong rucking and scrummaging from both forward packs.

In a closely contested first half HKCC seemed to be on the front foot with their line-out improving vastly from previous weeks and their scrum looking increasingly confident. Hard work from the forwards led to good clean ball for the backs and Izzy Rivers, (switching from second row to centre this week) took advantage, crashing through the Reds defence and scoring the first try of the match. Unable to convert HKCC went into the closing minutes of the half 5-0 up. Yet shortly after Valley retaliated, with their excellent centre breaking through HKCC defence, leveling the game, 5-5 at the halftime break.

The second half saw a fantastic battle between both sides, with each attack being held at bay by the opposition’s solid defence. HKCC showed some great structure, whilst Valley showed a wide range of skills, particularly from the centre, whose huge boot eased the pressure off Valley on a number of occasions.

HKCC’s scrum continued to dominate in the second half and the cracks in the Valley’s defence started to show. HKCC pieced at least 10 phases together and with superb work, particularly from the back-row, Lynda Nazer crashed over the line, to score a well-deserved second try.

Leading in to the final 15, after putting in a great shift on attack HKCC began to tire and Valley took the opportunity to creep up the field. After a clever chip and chase from the ever-present Valley centre, try scorer Nazer held the player back leading to a Red’s penalty and a yellow card shown. Valley used the extra woman to their advantage, charging through the HKCC line to level the score at 10 all.

Similar to last week’s match, HKCC were able to come out with points against one of the favourites for the league but for a second time in a row were unable to secure a victory. In the closing seconds of the game, having used the forwards to work their way up the pitch, Valley quickly spread it out to the backs who confidently scored a try under the posts. The conversion flew over and the referee blew the whistle for full time.

Both teams came off the pitch knowing they had been in a battle, Valley went and celebrated a well earned win while HKCC sat somber and reflected once again on what could of been.

But after the tears had stopped and some wise words from the coach (if I do say so myself) the HKCC Ladies picked themselves up and realised again what an achievement it was. Even missing out in the closing stages it showed again that HKCC are no pushovers and will be fighting to secure better results in the upcoming weeks.

Only 3 games in and so far it has been a roller coaster. Bring on next week!

Women of the Match:
HKCC: Lauren Petersen
Valley: Kicking Centre (Unsure of her name)

Valley Red 17-10 HKCC
@ Happy Valley, Kick-off: 18:00
HKCC Ladies: Jo Harvey, Wawa Li, Joan Yip, Lauren Petersen, Nobuko Oda, Lainie Man, Cheryl Gourley, Lynda Nazer, Emma Chung, Lucy Thomson, Christy Ma, Izzy Rivers, Tissia Polycarpe, Steph Zhang, Diana Li
Substitutes: Katie Rowbottom, Angie Ng, Mhairi McLoughlin, Charlotte Berry, Kassie Chapel, Elane Lau
Try: Izzy Rivers, Lynda Nazer

Photo: Panda Man

Match Report: Valley Black 54-5 Kowloon – 17 October, 2015

After a bye last week, the Valley Black Ladies were eager to get back on the pitch at KGV and were looking for their second win of the season against Kowloon.

It was a strong game for Valley right from the start, with ten tries coming in from all over the park. Bella (4), Karen (2), Jen, Deena, Jess, Jaz and Frenchie all got over the line for Valley. Kowloon struggled to compete with our forwards in scrums and lineouts, which gave Valley playmakers Bella and Colleen plenty of opportunity to create some plays.

Deserved MVPs Becky and Jess displayed strong athleticism, challenging the Kowloon ladies in both attack and defence throughout the entire 80-minutes. It was a solid win from the ladies, and a great platform to build from for the rest of the season.

Valley Black Ladies are looking forward to the challenge of playing against a strong HKFC side this coming Saturday, 6pm at the Football Club.

Match Report: DB Pirates 0-20 Revolution

The second round of the Ladies 10s league kicked off under vastly different weather conditions to the first and for the Pirates a squad of 11 took the pitch featuring four rugby debutants: Jackie Philbrick Douglas, Catherine Osburn, Gloria Lau and Louise Shepherd. A nervous start, thus was to be expected as many of the ladies tried to find their way around the rules and the game, and figuring out that ‘match day fitness’ is a very real thing.

The first half saw the Revolution cross the line three times with no conversions putting them up 15-0. The Pirates spirit was not to be deterred though!

Half time came with some words of encouragement, the nerves were gone and it was now time to prove what we were made of. A wonderful kick and chase from Shannon Tjon ignited the fire and got the Pirates very close to the line, however they were unable to convert good field position in points. More was to follow, an amazing line break from debutant Jackie Douglas had all of the sideline spectators up and cheering. The Revolution crossed the line only once in the second half, although a lung busting 70 meter chase down and fantastic tackle by Sienna Stubbs almost prevented that.

An inspiring game by our debutants, all coming off the field with massive smiles. An overwhelming sense of achievement and Pirate Spirit…. Take what you can…. Leave nothing behind!

Discovery Bay Pirates Ladies team are still looking for any players from around Discovery Bay and Lantau interested in joining the team. Any ladies 17and up looking to join the sisterhood please contact [email protected], no experience required – just passion to learn and play!

DB Ladies 0 – Revolution 20
Tai Hung Tang, kick-off 16:30

DB Pirates: Meg McGrath, Jackie Philbrick Douglas (debut), Catherine Osburn (debut), Sienna Stubbs, Rebecca Tomasis, Gloria Lau (debut), Oorja Goel, Louise Shepherd (debut), Paula Andrea (Captain), Shannon Tjon, Substitute: Kon Chan

Match Report: Valley Red Ladies 17-10 HKCC

It’s round 3 of the Womens NL1 and the Valley Red Ladies take on Hong Kong Cricket Club at Happy Valley

The HKCC Ladies soon made it apparent that they were in it to win it after last week’s literally last kick of the match defeat to Scottish Kukris. The undefeated Valley Red Ladies, who won their last game 42-10, were full of confidence that they could make it three wins out of three. Anita Vogel reports on a fantastic game.

An initial intense and powerful surge by HKCC, saw the Valley Red Ladies pushed back into their 22, but the Red’s managed to defend the line and exerting some pressure won the ball back and worked their way to the half way line. A see-sawing half saw both sides attack and stoutly defend their lines until Valley conceded a penalty deep in their own half. This time the hard working HKCC ladies took advantage to score the opening try.

From the restart, the Valley Ladies regained possession, working through several phases of the ball to probe deeply into HKCC’s half. The Valley forwards then combined for a classic pick and go as captain Ci Wong evened out the scores.

For the spectators on the sideline this was an exciting match between two evenly matched opponents with both sides working tirelessly to exploit any slight advantage or mistake. A great kick and chase from Valley speedster Zoe Schmidt, almost saw Valley break the deadlock, but it was HKCC who won the forward power struggle and scored their second try to lead 10-5 at half-time.

Re-energised after the break Valley attacked again and after a string of penalties and a yellow card for HKCC, Red’s Aggie Au Yeung and the forward pack battled their way to the HKCC try line and the score was tied at 10-10.

The last 20 minutes saw the fiercely contested match swing slightly one way then the other as both sides fought back and forth with only small errors allowing a glimpse of a chance of a break through. HKCC had most of the possession, but stout defense from the Reds was not allowing much gain and tiring out the HKCC attack.

With 5 minutes to go it was still anybody’s game, a penalty and a quick tap from captain Ci Wong saw Valley to the 5m line. Their two previous tries came from aggressive pick and go play and with HKCC looking for that, Valley put the ball out wide to Lewis Wong, who scored the game’s final try between the posts, which made it easy for Kay Wong to convert.

Valley Red 17-10 HKCC
@ Happy Valley, Kick-off: 18:00

Women’s Rugby Results – 17 October, 2015

Premiership
Valley Black 54-5 Kowloon
@ KGV, Kick-off: 18:00

USRC Tigers 54-0 Tai Po
@ King’s Park, Kick-off: 18:00

Gai Wu Falcons v HKFC Ice
@ HK Football Club, Kick-off: postponed

National League 1
HKFC Fire 0-56 CWB Pheasants
@ HK Football Club, Kick-off: 16:30

Tai Po Dragons 5-27 USRC Tigers
@ King’s Park, Kick-off: 16:30

Gai Wu Fawkes 0-33 City Sparkles
@ So Kon Po, Kick-off: 16:30

HK Scottish v SRC
@ Shek Kip Mei, Kick-off: 18:00

Women’s 10s
Tin Shui Wai 30-0 City
@ Tin Shui Wai, Kick-off: 14:00

SRC 0-20 DB Pirates
@ Tai Hang Tun, Kick-off: 16:30
DB Pirates: Meg McGrath, Jackie Philbrick Douglas, Catherine Osburn, Sienna Stubbs, Rebecca Tomasis, Gloria Lau, Oorja Goel, Louise Shepherd, Paula Andrea (Captain), Shannon Tjon Substitute: Kon Chan

CWB Pink 34-25 HK Scottish
@ Tai Hang Tun, Kick-off: 17:15

Photo: Panda Man

Match Reports: Women’s T20 Cup -18 October 2015

The first phase of matches in the Women’s T20 Cup was completed on Sunday with two games at PKVR Reservoir and one at Kowloon Cricket Club.

KCC Maidens enjoyed a rare day at home when they hosted HKCC Cavaliers at Kowloon Cricket Club. The HKCC women batted first and they scored 2/126 from their 20 overs. In reply, the KCC Maidens were restricted to 8/79 in their innings.
At KCC: HKCC Cavaliers 2/126 from 20 overs beat KCC Maidens 8/79 from 20 overs by 47 runs.

Over at PKVR Reservoir, DLSWCC Wasps defeated PACC by nine wickets in the first match. PACC could only muster 23 all out in just 5.1 overs with Shanzeen Shahzad claiming 5/11. The DLSWCC women only needed four overs to knock off the runs.
At PKVR Reservoir: PACC 23 from 5.1 overs lost to DLSWCC Wasps 1/24 from 4 overs by nine wickets.

The day’s final match saw HKCC Willow Wielders finish the first phase of matches unbeaten after knocking off CCC Fung Wong by eight wickets. The CCC women put up some brave resistance, scoring 69 from 17.5 overs but they couldn’t combat Mariko Hill who picked up figures of 3/14 from three overs. The Willow Wielders had to work for their runs, with Marina Lamplough scoring 23 and Mariko Hill finishing on 29 not out, after sharing an opening partnership worth 63 runs.
At PKVR Reservoir: CCC Fung Wong 69 from 17.5 overs lost to HKCC Willow Wielders 2/71 from 9 overs by eight wickets.

The women’s competition will now switch to the 35-over Women’s League with all teams playing each other once. The Women’s T20 Cup will resume in late February 2016 once all Women’s League matches are completed.

HK Cricket Match Reports: One-Day Premier League – 18 October, 2015

Two highly anticipated One-Day Premier League matches were played on Sunday 18 October, but both turned into low-scoring affairs as ball dominated bat.

HKCC v KCC KARP
At the Hong Kong Cricket Club, KCC KARP bowled themselves into the competition final by thumping hosts HKCC by nine wickets.

HKCC elected to bat first after winning the toss but they were soon on the back foot after losing opener Raag Kapur in the third over. Excellent bowling by the KCC opening attack of Najeeb Amar and Adil Mehmood tied down the HKCC top order, with Najeeb conceding just four runs in his first five overs, including four maidens. The pressure soon told and wickets started to fall as the HKCC batsmen got frustrated. Scott McKechnie was second to fall as he top-edged a pull shot off Adil Mehmood and Dan Pascoe took a stunning catch at deep mid-wicket after running back and diving full length to grab the ball just inches off the ground. Mehmood then trapped Isaac Poole LBW to leave HKCC in a hole at 3/15 in the 12th over. Worse was to follow for HKCC in the 14th over as Imran Arif grabbed the wickets of Nizakat Khan and George Clarke to leave them reeling at 5/28. Najeeb had Miles Richarson caught and bowled, Arif bowled Simon Cook and Dan Pascoe snared Courtney Kruger as HKCC wickets continued to tumble in the face of KCC’s determined attack. Giacomo Lamplough hit a couple of well-struck sixes but his was the last wicket to fall, LBW to Dan Pascoe, with the total on 82. Embarrassingly for HKCC, sundries were the top scorer with 18. For KCC, all the bowlers enjoyed success – Imran Arif was the most successful with 3/27 but none bettered Najeeb Amar who claimed 2/18 from ten frugal overs, with five maidens.

KCC’s reply started and finished before the scheduled lunch interval. Irfan Ahmed struck six fours and one six in his 27-ball 33 but he looked vulnerable to the short ball and was eventually bowled by Miles Richardson after bottom edging a pull shot onto this stumps. Ninad Shah struck three fours and a six to finish unbeaten on 29 as KCC wrapped up the match in just 14 overs.
At HKCC: HKCC 82 from 28.1 overs lost to KCC KARP 1/85 from 14 overs by nine wickets.

DLSWCC Prism v PACC
There was an equally one-side result at Mission Road where DLSWCC Prism thrashed PACC by seven wickets. As if mirroring the match at HKCC, PACC won the toss and elected to bat first but they too found themselves in deep trouble after slumping to 5/35 after 15 overs. Left-arm speedster Niaz Ali did the early damage, trapping Qasim Khan (0) and Skhawat Ali (1) lbw while having Ahsan Abbasi caught by Anas Kahn for 7. Tanwir Afzal scored 8 but his innings was cut short with Anas Khan taking his second catch, this time off Waqas Khan. Aizaz Khan (20) and Mohammad Ehtesham (30) stemmed the carnage with a 44-run partnership for the sixth wicket but the remaining wickets fell quickly once their pairing was broken. Ehsan Khan mopped up the middle and lower order batsmen with a spell of 4/20 from six overs as Pakistan Association capitulated for 94.

The DLSWCC Prism reply began brightly with Anas Khan hitting four boundaries in his 17-ball stay at the crease that contributed 18 runs. Jangzeb Khan (29) and Waqas Khan (17) also made useful contributions before Babar Hayat saw DLSWCC Prism home in the 23rd over with an unbeaten 28.
At Mission Road: PACC 94 from 31.1 overs lost to DLSWCC Prism 3/95 from 22.1 overs by seven wickets.

The outcome of the two matches determined the teams for the One-Day Premier League final. DLSWCC Prism will face KCC KARP in the grand final to be played at Mission Road on 31st October 2015 while HKCC and PACC will play in the 3rd/4th place play-off match on 25th October 2015.