Macau Bats U12s went looking for cup success in Hong Kong at the Richard Hawkes Tournament on Sunday (23rd). Expectation was high but the team got off to an inauspicious start, going down 1-3 to a very good Valley Fort team in their first match. That result effectively made all subsequent games sudden death – they needed to win all games to make the final or return home empty handed.
A step up in performance resulted in a win over Shatin Shapei by 3 tries to 1 and the mood in the Macau team lifted.
The Bats then followed this up with further wins against Tai Hang Tung (3-2) and USRC Tigers (1-0) to book their place in the Division B final where they would once again come up against Valley Fort.
Keen to turn around their earlier defeat, The Bats took an early 1-0 lead and then had to show resilient defence to withstand some strong attacking play from Valley.
The Bats scored a second breakaway try to secure the win and the Shield.
This fine success capped a strong set of performances from the team across the season in Hong Kong.
A tired but very happy team of players, coaches and parents returned to Macau with the Cup.
Donald Shaw, MDT
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