Societe Generale Valley held out against Natixis HKFC in a thriller at Happy Valley, winning 28-21 despite a relentless attacking push by the visitors in the dying minutes. In other HKRU Rugbypass.com Premiership action, Bloomberg Hong Kong Scottish defended its home patch with a 24-17 win over Herbert Smith Freehills HKCC in Shek Kip Mei, while Kowloon beat Borrelli Walsh USRC Tigers 27-17 at Kings Park.

HKFC got within two points of Valley late in the game after a Jamie Lauder try, before winger Doug Fluker answered to give Valley what proved to be the winning lead.

Valley coach Andrew Kelly praised his side’s effort but heads into the two-week international break with plenty on his mind:

“It was absolutely fantastic, last line ditch defence, brilliant, but my problem is how we got there,” Kelly said. “We shouldn’t be in that position. We’ve got issues that we really need to address, turning over the ball, penalties and just relieving pressure on the opposition.”

In the first half, Valley jumped out to a 6-0 lead early on the back of two Ben Rimene penalties but then seemed to rest on its laurels, allowing HKFC to dictate play at times as the first half wore on. A Ben Axten-Burrett try opened the visitors account and Max Page’s extras put HKFC in front 7-6, a scoreline that would remain until the break.

The game opened up in the second half and when Rimene struck another penalty to give Valley a 9-7 lead, HKFC never again hit the front. Grant Kemp crossed for the home side soon after as Valley looked in control at 16-7, but HKFC wouldn’t lie down as prop Leon Wai dragged his side back into the contest with a team-lifting try.

“They are far better than the first time we played them at the start of the season, they’ve improved and they made us really work for it,” Kelly said.

A yellow card to Valley veteran Nick Hewson late in the match gave HKFC every chance, but Valley proved too strong again - remaining top of the ladder ahead of the international break.

For HKFC coach Phil Bailey, it was the second close game in as many weeks that has ended with a less than ideal result: “We left too many points out there, we missed three kickable penalties and our inconsistency at the breakdown didn’t help,” Bailey said.

“We were slow to start then we came home with a wet sail but it wasn’t quick enough. Our biggest problem is what we do after we score points. We usually score points and give them straight back within five minutes.”

In today’s other matches, Kowloon cruised past Tigers 27-17 after streaking out to a 24-3 lead by halftime off of three tries in the space of 16 minutes from flanker Phil Whitfield, winger Christopher Kinloch and centre Lewis Warner. Flyhalf Jack Neville was perfect on his conversion attempts, adding to his early penalty.

Tigers threatened late in the second half with tries from outside backs Eric Kwok Pak-nga and Salom Yiu Kam-shing narrowing the gap to 24-17 after two conversions from flyhalf Sam Ellis, who scored Tigers’ only points of the first half with a ninth minute penalty, but a late penalty from Neville quashed the late surge.

HK Scottish maintained its reputation for being a tough out at home with a fiery 24-17 win over HKCC in Shek Kip Mei. Cricket Club fullback James Love scored all of his side’s points in the first half after a well-taken try in the opening minute and two penalties later in the half, while Scottish fly-half Gregor McNeish kept his side within striking distance with two well-taken penalties of his own.

Scottish added two tries in the opening half with Lex Kaleca’s score giving Scottish a 13-11 lead, extended to 16-11 shortly thereafter off of a McNeish penalty following some argy-bargy as tempers flared. Scottish refused to relinquish their lead in the second half as winger Marcus Ramage added a third try for the hosts who ran out 24-17 winners.

Valley continue their run at the top of the Rugbypass.com Premiership table with 22 points ahead of HK Scottish in second with 19. Scottish further extended their lead over third-ranked HKCC, on 14 points, with today’s win. HKFC stayed in striking range with 12 points, while Kowloon’s victory today pulled them out of the cellar and level with Tigers in tied fourth with nine points.