Jockeying for the final spots in the HKRU Men’s Premiership standings will intensify this weekend as Round 13 kicks off with just two rounds remaining in league play.

Despite Societe Generale Valley securing the league title last weekend - and extending their record to a perfect 12 wins from 12 matches on the season, the rest of the table remains extremely tight.

Entering the home stretch, just eight points separate second ranked Natixis Hong Kong Football Club (28 points) from fifth ranked Bloomberg Hong Kong Scottish (20). Sixth-placed Sabre Kowloon (13 points) trail HKFC by 15 points while having – along with Leighton Asia Hong Kong Cricket Club – a game in hand on the rest of the pack.

The top two sides in the league after Round 15 will earn an automatic bye to the semi finals, while the bottom four finishers in the six-team league competition will contest the quarterfinal playoffs.

On Saturday, Valley ventures to HKFC for a clash between one and two in the standings, (16.30 at Sports Road). Trailing Football Club by a single point on the table, HKCC host Borrelli Walsh USRC Tigers at Sandy Bay (15.00).

HKCC, on 27 points, have a slender two-point margin over Tigers with a game in hand. The make-up match with Kowloon will be played next Thursday, (4 Feb.), before the Premiership takes a weekend hiatus for the Natixis Cup between Highlanders and Racing 92 on Saturday (6 Feb.) at Siu Sai Wan.

Depleted Scottish will need to call upon every ounce – and member – of its reserves to secure a vital win against bottom-ranked Kowloon on Saturday (16.30 at King’s Park) as they seek to improve their position ahead of the Grand Championship race.

On Saturday, HKFC will have their last crack of the league season at dealing their historic rivals Valley a blow by derailing their bid for a perfect season, but coach Phil Bailey is more intent on maintaining his side’s grip on second place over the rest of the pack and securing the first round playoff bye.

“Apart from Valley the rest of us are all in the same precarious position, at least from second to fifth in the standings,” says Bailey.

“Valley has earned their top spot and hats off to them. We can only go out and look to do it all over again on Saturday. We haven’t had three wins in a row yet so we are after consistency and Valley is just the next stage for us in that process.”

Bailey has yet to be able to field his full first choice side, a situation further exacerbated by no. 8 Dan Falvey’s now being ruled out for the rest of the season after being sidelined in November. “Fortunately we have some depth in the squad and other players have put their hands up to fill the breach,” said Bailey.

As the season reaches its climax, Bailey is not the only one eyeing the possible permutations.Tigers coach Craig Stewart says, “I’ve been taking a look at the ramifications of the table. Even finishing third or fourth wouldn’t be a bad thing. There are all sorts of outcomes and we just have to see how we go. Of course our objective is to be in the top four but the most important thing is to get to the playoffs with as fit a squad as possible. We need to be on our toes as Cricket Club and Kowloon both have a game in hand.”

With their most successful season in three years already in the books, Tigers enter the match versus Cricket Club in a good frame of mind. “The squad and management team are all really positive. We believe we can beat any team on any given day if we turn up,” Stewart added.

Tigers bring a primarily unchanged side to this weekend’s fray with the only exception being Samuel Hocking who was injured ahead of last week’s match. Hocking will be replaced by burgeoning sevens star Calvin Hunter who played well on his own return from injury last weekend.

Scottish meanwhile will travel to Kowloon in what is shaping up to be a crucial tie for the Shek Kip Mei outfit, which has been struck hard by injury and the untimely departure of key players in flyhalf Diggy Bird and lock Len Ashcroft due to visa complications.

“It’s kind of a must-win for us,” says coach Craig Hammond. “The boys have come to the same conclusion. We know we have a massive opportunity this weekend to keep things close and continue to chase those playoff spots but we are under no illusions about the challenge ahead. Kowloon has been really unlucky over the past few weeks and we’re expecting a battle, particularly up front. They’re playing good footy and we know that anyone in the league can turn each other over. It should be a very physical encounter as both sides look to move up from the bottom of the table,” Hammond added.

Women’s Premiership: Gai Wu Falcons look to make ground on Valley

In Women’s Premiership action this weekend, fourth-ranked Natixis HKFC Ice host title contenders CPM Gai Wu Falcons, second in the standings behind Valley, in the game of the week (Happy Valley 8, 18.00). Gai Wu have been struck with serious injury woes as the season winds down says coach Lai Yiu Pang: “We have had a plague of injuries at the moment and are down to only around 20 available players for HKFC, some of whom are having to play up from lower divisions which means they will be playing two games in one day. With a large part of our side committed to Hong Kong duty or injured we haven’t really been able to put out a full side for training or matches of late.

“At the moment we have achieved about 60% of our performance goal this season and we’re still confident that we can catch Valley at the top of the table. We’ll see what happens over the last few rounds of the season next month,” said Lai.

The rash of injuries were a major factor in Gai Wu’s surprising defeat to Tigers Ladies after the break but Lai said the team has taken the positives from the experience. “I was actually kind of pleased that we lost because we learned some very important lessons. Since then we’ve been working much harder in our training which is a great sign for the title chase.”

In other Women’s Premiership action, Societe Generale Valley Black Ladies, who are rapidly running away with the league title after extending their undefeated streak to nine games this season – and nearly two full years in domestic competition, host winless Sabre Kowloon Ladies at King’s Park (18.00), while third-ranked USRC Tigers Ladies play seventh placed Transact24 Tai Po Dragon Ladies at King’s Park at 19.30.