The races for top spots in both halves of the KPMG Women’s Premiership were decided on the final day of the regular season last Saturday. ECO Gai Wu Falcons secured the overall title with a 79-0 drubbing of Natixis HKFC Ice.

Pushed into second place were the champions of the last three seasons, Societe Generale Valley Black Ladies, who beat third-placed finishers Borrelli Walsh USRC Tigers 38-20 but were undone two weeks earlier by the defeat, at the hands of perennial rivals Gai Wu, that ended their astounding 51-game streak.

In the KPMG Women's Premiership Development, TRANSACT 24 Tai Po Dragons did more than enough to take the section title, through a 20-0 victory over nearest rivals Kowloon, who were pushed down to third in the final standings, as SCAA First Pacific CWB Phoenix snatched second place with a 13-3 defeat of Comvita City Sparkle.

Gai Wu coach ‘Sailo’ Lai Yiu-pang was understandably elated with his side’s triumph.

“The team worked really hard, not just this season, but building over the last couple of seasons. The level [of the league] is getting higher and higher, so it’s a massive achievement,” he said.

“After the game, they were quite emotional – there were tears of happiness. “

But now Lai and the team are focused on the Grand Championships, beginning with a quarter final against overall eighth-placed City.

“There is plenty to celebrate and tonight we can have a bit of a rest and a laugh, but Tuesday and Thursday it’s back to work,” he said.

“I’ve said all season it’s about consistency. The way we played against Valley, was good, but against Tigers it was a bit up and down. Today was good again. So the way forward is to seal that consistency. “When we play against Tigers or Valley, we can’t be giving away the ball like we sometimes do. If we switch off like that, those teams will punish us.”

The other Grand Championship quarter-finals, all taking place on 24 February, will be Valley versus Kowloon; Tigers versus Causeway Bay; and Tai Po versus HKFC, with home advantage granted to the higher-finishing team in the league.

Also this past weekend, with one round to go in KPMG National League 1, Revolution Ladies eked out a 7-5 win over third-placed HK Scottish, to retain the KPMG NL 1 Challenge Shield for a record-defining fifth week.

In the league below, Police Sirens will be anxious to hold on to the KPMG National League 2 Challenge Shield through their closing match against RB-SRK Tin Shui Wai RFC, on 20 February.