Natixis HKFC Ice and SCAA First Pacific Causeway Bay notched bonus point wins over Transact 24 Tai Po Dragons and Plastic Free Seas City Sparkle respectively in today’s KPMG Premiership A action.  The wins are vital with the two top of the table contenders facing off next weekend.

The only KPMG Premiership Top 4 game played this afternoon saw Societe Generale Valley turn in a 62-0 win over Kerry Hotel Kowloon to further consolidate their position on top of the table.

The action was hot and heavy at Prem A level with HKFC coming back from a poor first half and a 17-8 deficit in the final quarter to escape with a 29-17 win over Dragons.

A slow start plagued Football Club and frustrated coach Wesley Feausi early on.

“As expected Tai Po came at us with everything and I thought we were a bit lazy in those first 20 minutes. Our basics were poor early on and we can’t afford that. If we don’t have our core skills together, we’re going to have a tough day at the office and it was.

“I’m happy we came back in the second half, but it was a first half I’d rather forget, frankly. At half time we were calm and we just spoke about playing how we trained and that’s what we did. There was no magic there,” Feausi added.

In this case workmanlike was enough for Football Club, with some of Ice’s young backfield stepping up to the occasion as centres Aileen Ryan and Jamie Burk figured prominently in the final quarter fight back.  Club’s Scotland Sevens star Elizabeth Musgrove was influential with and without the ball, scoring her team’s first and last tries of the match, but it was more about what she did without the ball this afternoon.

Ahead of the game, Feausi had wanted to see the ball shared out a bit more and Musgrove did well to facilitate from fullback.

“Her instructions were to use the ball more and not try to do everything on her own, which she did in the second half and that really opened up another dimension for us. They targeted her, which was fine as she managed to get the ball away and linked well with Aileen [Ryan] who played a really good game.  

“Credit to Fion Got and Royce [Chan], who is an absolute legend in this league and team, they both came right in the second half. It wasn’t until the last 15 minutes that we got that momentum and managed to find some much-needed urgency.”

By that time Dragons had built a 17-8 lead with a brace of tries from Liu Wan-man bookending a try from Chui Tung-yan.  A yellow card shortly after Liu’s second score in the 62nd minute provided Football Club the chance to mount the late comeback.

Bourk, who was sent to the sin bin to start the second half, made amends to her team-mates with her 65th minute try that closed the gap to five points after Ryan’s conversion at 17-13.

Ryan followed up with the game-winner three minutes later, converting her own score to push the lead to 22-17 inside the final five minutes, before Musgrove’s second sealed a memorable comeback for Club, 29-17.

It was easier sledding for Causeway Bay who collected their own bonus point win with a 36-5 victory over City Sparkle.  Centre Hau Sin-man led all scorers with a brace of tries, the second one a short-handed effort with Causeway Bay having a player in the sin-bin.  Phoenix scored 17 unanswered points in the first half and added oil in the second to push out to 36-0 before City scored a consolation try in the 80th minute through Cheung Hoi-ying.

Causeway Bay and Football Club will face off in a decisive encounter next weekend and Feausi knows that his side cannot afford another halting start.

“I watched a bit of their game today and they are playing really good rugby. That will be a good game.

“Relief was the first word for the girls today. The first two weeks of 2019 have been a bit challenging for us, but it’s going to get even tougher next week against Causeway Bay.

“They have a good attack and a strong scrum and lineout. Tai Po pushed us off our own ball today, so we have a lot to work on that’s for sure. We have got to be ready to play for 80 minutes next week,” Feausi added.