Rugby Academy | Bats had a bumpy weekend at HK Festival

Fresh from their exploits in Bangkok, it was back to the latest Hong Kong rugby festival for the Macau Bats on Sunday. Hosted by Valley Fort, the Macau U6s team had just enough time to arrive pitch-side before starting their first early morning game against USRC Tigers which ended in an entertaining 2-2 draw. This was followed by two wins against Discovery Bay Pirates (2-1) and Hong Kong Football Club (3-2) before a second 2-2 draw, this time against Tung Chung, saw the young Bats head home undefeated.

The U7 team had a tougher start to their games, losing 1-3 to South China Athletic and 2-4 to East Kowloon. However, the team bounced back to win against both Football Club (3-0) and Tung Chung, also 3-0, in their final games.

The U8s were auditioning for the role of “great entertainers”, being involved in several high scoring games. They lost against Shatin Sha Pei (4-5), Football Club (4-6) and Tuen Mun Sharks (6-7) before rounding their games off with a 5-3 win over Discovery Bay Pirates.

The U9s were once again playing in the top tier and found the going tough against Sandy Bay (0-6), Sai Kung Stingrays (0-3) and Valley Fort (0-4) before achieving a good 2-2 draw against  Football Club.

The U10s were also playing in the top tier and began with a 1-1 draw with Football Club before three losses against Valley Fort (0-3), Discovery Bay Pirates (2-3)  and a strong Sandy Bay (0-5). 

Meanwhile the U12s were playing in the latest round of the Richard Hawkes league at the Happy Valley ground. The Bats led in their first game again Football Club before letting in a couple of late tries to go down 1-3. A similar story was the case against USRC Tigers with the Bats leading 2-1  until the Tigers ran in late scores to win 2-5. This set up an important game against Discovery Bay Pirates that saw the Bats win 4-3 in another entertaining match. The final game saw the Bats run Valley Fort close before losing 2-3 in a tight game.

The Bats now have a well earned break before the next Hong Kong festival in mid-March. Donald Shaw, Hong Kong, Special to MDT